manufacturing engineer Review

I have college on mondays which involves studying 5 different subjects: maths, manufacturing, electronics, business management and CAD. For the rest of the days I am in plant, I work with the manufacturing team and this includes working on different projects to try and improve the performance of the plant. This could include reducing cycle times on the machines, improving the process when they change derivative or changing programs within the machines to improve performance.

The main skill I have improved is problem solving skills. This is because my role is based around finding a problem and then investigating how to fix this problem. There is no set procedure for finding the solution as every problem is different so this has lead me to develop a wide range of problem solving skills so that I can apply the most suitable one to the problem.

I enjoy the college aspect of it a lot, as I enjoy learning and I get to see the other apprentices when I am at college. However, when I am in plant my job sometimes gets boring as I struggle to find work to do sometimes which then makes the days go slow and boring.

The academic side is very well structured. We go to college for two years and then study at Warwick university for four years. However, my experience in plant has been very unstructured. This was due to me being placed into a department with no manager and they had no experience dealing with degree apprentices. This means that I have been doing work that sometimes feel is useless in developing me for the role that I will be moving into once I finish the course.

We receive all the support we need from the college for the academic side and we are allowed a minimum of 5 hours during work hours to study for college. However I rarely see my work based learning manager who is supposed to make sure I am on the right path on my apprenticeship and in the right area.

We have on online classroom with loads of different resources and we can always email the teachers if we ever need help with anything. Sometimes the teaching or the facilities is not the best but for the most part I believe I receive sufficient help in order to help me gain a good qualification.

Since I am on a manufacturing course, studying manufacturing and materials has benefited me when looking at how parts are cut and made. Most of the other subjects are yet to benefit me in my role as I have not had the need to use electrical or CAD knowledge thus far.

JLR run a programme called ELS where you are given a value of money, to be able to spend on lessons to learn a new skill such as a musical instrument. This can also be used for experiences such as driving on a test track and can be joined with your friends to do a team building day out. I also partake in a 6 a side football team but this was set up by the apprentices and not the company itself.

Yes

Although I have had my problems throughout the apprenticeship, they are a prestigious company and the qualifications gained throughout the apprenticeship are very valuable. I do still gain a good understanding of life in plant and it is interesting to see all the different steps that go into making a production line run smoothly.

Make sure you read the role you are applying for thoroughly as I wasn't 100% what a manufacturing engineer was when I applied. Also check the location that the site is at as my application stated west midlands so it could be any plant in the west midlands and I was based in the furthest one away from my house.