Manufacturing Engineer Review

Manufacturing Engineer Done several placements around the business; Firstly in a purchasing team where we visited suppliers around the country and ensured they were conforming to all the necessary standards. Next; a Part Ownership role where I was responsible for managing fixed process approval documents and managing the certificates of conformity that were sent with turbine blades to a coating supplier. I completed a project on this team that automated this and saved an estimated £40000 a year. And a Producibilty role where I am using my Siemens NX plm skills to aid the process of improving our quality standards for the manufacturing plant.

External Qualifications FDEng - Integrated engineering foundation degree Level 2 NVQ - Machining Internal Courses 10 Weeks Manual Drawing 10 Weeks PLM & CAD on Siemens NX Manual Handling Slinging and Lifting PPAP Introduction Holistic Gas Turbine appreciation Personal Integrity Business Improvement Training Loads more safety type courses back when we started in 2013 Skills Visual Basic programming

Its alright, Placements can be fun when they are planned properly and you are given proper roles. Some placements are not fun at all, I had considered leaving after completing a 9 month placement where I was under-utilised and left to do unstructured work. It has pretty much met my expectations, I'm happy that I've been given the chance to complete my education only a year slower than if I had gone to uni but without taking on massive debt.

Reasonably, but our business does not have Roles lined up for us unlike other businesses within roles Royce and hence I feel less valued. Recognition for work completed is very good however, our manage recently presented a project that myself and another apprentice completed which was good. .

It wasn't at all organised last year as we were completing very boring placements outside of the business that we are meant to be getting jobs in due to our Apprentice Development Leader leaving the company. Last year I only had a handful of reviews when I absolutely needed them. This year however we have a proper plan and more foresight thanks to a fantastic new manager. This year reviews are far more frequent and our manage is easy to contact when we have issues. With regards to studying it is generally well organised. We have a set day of the week when we are excused from work to go to university. In addition to that we are able to take 5 days per year as study leave when needed before exams.

Yep a good amount. The training school are generally easy to get in contact with when we have issues.

Some managers are really helpful when on placements, a few will actively try to avoid you or give you rubbish work. In my current placement I am sat next to my mentor and he is extremely helpful whenever I have problems

It covers it quite easily. The only slight issue is the commute to Uni as this is around a 100 mile round trip and can be quite expensive.

Yep, Rolls-Royce have an Apprentice and Graduate Association that organises events similarly to a students union.

Yes

With good management it is an excellent place to start a career in engineering

If you don't like a placement then it can be faster to simply arrange your own rather than waiting for it to run its course