Case studies : Manufacturing graduate scheme at Cat: Phil Bradley.

Phil studied Mechanical Engineering at Bristol University and joined Cat on the Manufacturing graduate scheme undertaking several roles at the Peterborough Engine Centre. Phil now works as a Senior Engineer within the Manufacturing Department.

There were several factors that drew me to the Cat Graduate scheme – in terms of the scheme itself the flexibility and variety of the placements that were offered both within Manufacturing and throughout the business, the opportunity to work on projects that had real business impact and the immediate level of responsibility. I was also attracted by the opportunity to perform international secondments to other Cat facilities around the world and the career progression potential through working for a multinational company of over 80,000 people.

Following the initial company induction / training programme I’ve had several different rotations at the Peterborough Engine Centre. Initially I spent 6 months working as a Manufacturing Project Engineer on the installation of a new overhead conveyor, used for transporting the C6.6 engine from the assembly track to the test shop and to the finish facility. Following this I led a 4 month removal / renovation project, involving decommissioning the machining and assembly lines for a redundant product and then re-utilising the space to improve the throughput of the adjacent machining facility over the two week summer factory shutdown period. I then moved across into Operations for a 3 month placement as a team leader on our 3 litre engine assembly track, working with an existing team leader to supervise the 35 operators on the track and resolving day-to-day issues. After this I spent my final 3 month rotation in Applications, working with an Engineer on the AGCO account, working with the customer to integrate our new tier 3 emissions compliant engine range into their tractors, involving several visits out to their plant in Beauvais, France ranging from technical meetings to engine prototype upgrades.

The training and support has been superb – my graduate manager has overseen my placements for the duration of the scheme whilst for each rotation I’ve been assigned a line manager who has been my day-to-day contact. In addition to this I’ve had a mentor to bounce ideas / concerns off and a HR representative, as well as an informal ‘buddy’ system with previous graduates. During my two years here I’ve attended both in house and external training, ranging from a 4 day seminar held by the IMechE on essential management skills to Microsoft Office training, as well as being supported in working towards chartered status with the IMechE.

I think that the ability to communicate is one of the most important skills that I’ve developed - the significance of ensuring that the correct information is distributed to the required people in an appropriate format is a skill that I’m continuing to develop and appreciate. Especially when tied to how you analyse the situation that you are dealing with in terms of what the real issues are and how others will be affected by any changes you make.

One of the highlights of the scheme for me has been the Operations placement, which was very different from anything that I’ve done before – experiencing the everyday issues that occur on the shop floor and the different perspective it gives, not to mention the opportunity to work on a day/night shift basis. The level of responsibility from day one has been another highlight; the projects I’ve worked on have been very challenging with important deliverables for the company.

My time at Cat has been challenging! Each project has contained new issues that need to be approached in different ways and I’ve had exposure to several different areas of the business, each of which has different perspectives. I have been constantly developing new skills and an appreciation for the complexities of a large company.

Working at Cat is a great opportunity to take on a series of challenging roles that exposes you to a variety of different areas and will develop your leadership, communication and analytical abilities.

Following the graduate scheme I moved into a full time project based role in the Manufacturing Engineering department at Peterborough, where I was responsible for the installation of a Manufacturing Execution System onto one of our existing assembly facilities.  This involved compiling the financial justification for the project, presenting the proposal to the board members and then managing the project through design, manufacture, installation and commissioning through to completion of the project.

Following this project I was promoted into a process leader role for the 1204 NPI project, where I represented manufacturing on the core project team and was responsible for developing the manufacturing strategy, the financial management for the new facilities / upgrades and the project timing to ensure compliance with the programme gateways.

I have now moved into a more technical role as a Senior Engineer within Manufacturing with responsibility for our Tier 4 Functional Test development, which has involved reviewing our existing leak testing processes, developing improvements and implementing them on our new Tier 4 assembly facilities for our 4 and 6 cylinder products.  Part of this has included researching the opportunity to introduce cold test into our facilities as the next step in enhancing our product quality over the next 5 years.  The mix of working on strategic developments combined with continuous improvement on our existing facilities means that I'm involved in a wide range of activities, allowing me to continue to develop my professional knowledge and skill set, including recently achieving chartered status with the IMechE.