Evidence of research and engineering techniques
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Scenario
You have recently been appointed as Assistant Engineering Project Manager within a global manufacturing
company “Tourat Industries” whose core business lies in the manufacture and provision of high-quality
engineering products and services.
The company brand is facing significant competition and aims to consolidate its position and improve its
place in the global market, with an increased emphasis on “Efficiency” across all their products and services.
Your line manager is the Senior Project Manager for Engineering Development and you have been seconded
to his team to provide project engineering support.
To test and improve your competency, you have been instructed to formulate and plan an engineering
project of your choice, using your own experience and technical knowledge.
Your line manager has requested that your project addresses the core theme of Efficiency, as highlighted in
item 1 below.
You have also been requested to provide evidence of collaboration with other company disciplines and team
members.
Your line manager has advised that you are to deliver a professional engineering project, therefore your
assignment will need to address a range of project topics in addition to engineering design. To support your
professional development your project will need to convey environment and ethical factors relevant to your
project and the company’s business activities.
You should also provide some evidence of original thought and innovation along with entrepreneurial skills,
applicable to your work.
In addition to the above your project should address the following key areas:
1. Efficiency
Define what this means and provide evidence of research and engineering techniques that can be im-
plemented to improve product or service performance in relation to your project.
2. Forecasting and Project Planning Methods.
Define the techniques which you have considered and used within your project.
(A sufficiently detailed Gantt chart along with any other appropriate methods can be included within
the submission format).
3. Project Risks and Hazards.
Define those which you have encountered and are relevant to your project and discuss the practical
methods and techniques that you have used to mitigate such risks.
4. Engineering Tolerances and Factors of Safety
Explain where these have been considered and applied within your project.
5. Examples of Relevant and Current Legislation
Explain those which are relevant to your industry and your project.
Task
Your assignment will require you to complete the following:
• Select an appropriate engineering-based project and formulate and develop a professional project plan.
• This will be in the form of a comprehensive report in which you will consider several engineering-based
options, appropriate for your own level of experience.
• You may carry out a feasibility study to help choose and to justify your final project selection from these
options, being sure to acknowledge the core theme of safety throughout.
• You may use a project plan template or any from your previous experiences, however your plan should be
clear and concise in its format.
• (Be sure to include a front title sheet and contents page with page numbers).
• You are strongly encouraged to demonstrate your own competency and professionalism.
• Your report should address all the previously listed factors where these are appropriate and you should
include a discussion on how your project has been influenced by relevant legislation and any important
ethical factors, both within your specific industry and in engineering in general.
Sample Solution
For my project at Tourat Industries, I was instructed to formulate and plan an engineering project of my choice while addressing the core theme of Efficiency. To this end, I first needed to define what “efficiency” meant in the context of my task. Put simply, efficiency can be defined as “the ratio between input and output” (Osman & Sami, 2019). This means that for any process or activity that is done within a system, it should produce desired results with the fewest resources possible.
In order to improve product or service performance in relation to this concept, I needed to carry out research into potential engineering techniques that could help me achieve this goal. For example, I explored various options such as process automation – which can reduce the need for manual labor – and lean manufacturing methods – which aim to cut out wasteful activities like overproduction (Wang et al., 2020). Additionally , I also read up on machine learning algorithms since they offer an efficient way of tackling complex problems by using data-driven models instead of traditional solutions (Zhang et al., 2019).
Finally , aside from researching suitable engineering techniques , I also had t o collaborate with other disciplines within Tourat Industries . By doing so , it allowed me t o gain insights from different perspectives which enabled me t o create a more well-rounded solution when approaching tasks . This included getting feedback from those outside of my team such as marketing personnel who could provide valuable insights into customer needs regarding products and services . Moreover , working closely together with colleagues in both technical and nontechnical roles encouraged original thought and innovation along with entrepreneurial skills applicable not only t o m y project but also other areas within the company itself.
