Engineering Apprenticeship Scheme

My apprenticeship

Working within key areas of the business I gathered
a wealth of information and experience:

  • Goods in
  • Inspection
  • Main inspection
  • Tool room
  • Jet cell
  • Manual grinders
  • CNC lathes
  • Hub cell
  • Milling section

‘ The opportunity to understand technical drawings and have an appreciation for the tools and methods used to check parts’.

The tool room is still a crucial learning process that really helps you understand the core processes in engineering. This gave me the grounding necessary to later help me understand the more complex aspects of engineering. This is an area that most of the apprentices find the most enjoyable’.

Apprenticeship
completed!

After my apprenticeship finished I was asked if I would like to work within the hub cell milling section. This was a role I enjoyed for the next 5 years.

Promotion

In April 2011 I took the position of technical sales and estimating. This role taught me a great deal about how a business runs and what is required. During my time in this position I had varied roles which included account management, project management, estimating, building quotations, and cost based exercises.

Career progression

In mid 2015 I then joined the supply chain department. My main duties include carrying out supplier audits, cost and quality based improvement exercises with our suppliers and other projects internally and externally. Again this position has let me experience yet another side of the business and gives me a greater appreciation of how the company operates.

BCOT Qualifications and extensive training programme completed:

  • NVQ Level 3 in engineering production#
  • City & Guilds certificate in Mechanical
  • Production competences part 2 and 3
  • CNC Machine Set and Operating
    and Part Programming
  • Engineering Advanced Modern
    Apprenticeship
  • Middlesex Group Ltd apprenticeship
    training qualification

Other great courses include:

  • Workshop on key account management
  • Microsoft office packages including excel, access
  • Finance for non-financial Managers course
  • Project Management Skills workshop course
  • Business improvement NVQ
  • BSI Internal auditors course ISO 9001
  • Effective Manufacturing 2 day course
  • Transition training EN9100 2016
  • Self Awareness, motivation 2 day workshop
  • Lead Auditors course ISO 9001 2015

Working at Middlesex Aerospace

‘ Throughout my time at Middlesex the company has always been extremely supportive in ensuring I have had the correct training and skills to back up current and future roles. As the company has grown within the aerospace industry so have its employees.

When I started my apprenticeship if someone would have asked me what you think you will learn and gain during your time at Middlesex it would have been fairly brief, a good solid grounding in advanced engineering.

However 14 years on not only has my knowledge in engineering grown but equally as important I have grown as a person. When I started I was quiet, shy and in honest lacking self-confidence. For me this has been so important.

The journey I have been on has taught me so much about myself. Leading meetings, presenting and working with senior company executives internally and externally’.


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Customized Kitting of the A320 Damper Unit

Challenge

  • To introduce a proactive lean initiative which will optimise the flow of products to the production line.
  • Drive multiple process improvements within the inventory and manufacturing platforms.
  • Design a usable kit that can be integrated into the production line
  • Manage cost reduction (year on year) through waste elimination and process innovation

Solution

Eliminating waste and adding value to production lines is a deep-rooted focus of Middlesex Aerospace. Through joint lean events and project coordination with KLX, jointly resourced service teams have designed a best fit kitting solution to enable clear visibility up and down stream of the supply chain. Full traceability, certifications and customized labeling requirements are supported through the kitting infrastructure.

Design

Cross functional teams took assembly detail directly from the Bills of Materials and Assembly Work Details. Kitting design experts then delineated all the data, part numbers, and tribal knowledge into clear visual instructions printed directly on the custom-designed kit box.

KPIs, Business Intelligence and
Contract Management

A comprehensive suite of management reports were also defined to ensure clear visibility of the supply chain capacity and identify any early warning signals. KPIs and business intelligence have been tailored to meet the needs of Middlesex Aerospace teams and provide a basis for all contract management meetings.

Global Contract Management Report

  • Global Revenue Development
  • Market Development
  • Supply Chain Capacity
  • Delivery Performance
  • Quality
  • Program Health

Site Specific Business KPIs and Operational Business Intelligence

  • Revenue Development
  • Delivery Performance
  • Quality
  • Weekly Bin Management Report and/or Open Order Report
  • Kitting Statistics & Capacity Planning
  • Quarterly Usage Analysis
  • Lean Scorecards and Continuous
    Improvement Plans
  • Monthly Management Reporting
    including programme health, review of
    slow moving parts and asset management

Effects

The results are clear and offer a multitude
of benefits program wide.

Procurement

46 separate part numbers, including
16 drawn items and all associated requirements now reduced to 1 part number

Stores

Booking in/out reduced from 4 hours per batch to 30 minutes

Assembly

Operation sequence part lay out, mistake-proof coordination, exact unit count
preparation, full customization to part
type, size, quantity and integration of
specific assembly instructions (i.e. peer
check, stop points, etc.)

Quality

Reduction of 60% in generation of C Of C’s

Assembly

Collect and layout reduced from 3.5 hours per batch to 30 minutes – time saved equal to 1 day per week

Accounts

8 hours saved per month, reduction from 102 invoices per month to 1

Admin

Reduction from 7.5 hours per month to 1 hour

Space

Saved valuable floor space in stores area

Reducing waste

The expectation from the joint initaive is that this activity will result in a 50% reduction in kitting time and eliminate shortages at the site level.

This will be accomplished via precounting and presenting parts within the same operation sequence as the aforementioned kits.

Operation excellence

Middlesex Aerospace have worked collaboratively with the cross functional teams to deliver a world class service model enabling greater visibility of supply chain capacity.

The outcome of this collaboration is a shared vision of success for the future, the flexibility to respond to a changing market and enhance our ability to surpass the service expectations now and drive continuous improvement into the future.


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