Learning About the Factory
Discuss about the Demystifying The Empirical Link Between Safety.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on three main activities:
- Orientation on the overall company
- Orientation at the mill department
- Familiarization with the milling machinery
The week at the factory was an orientation week. My supervisor at this company took time to take me round the factory introducing me to his colleagues. I noticed that the factory is largely divided into five departments; administration department, the finance department, cane department, chemical department and the mechanical department. At this factory the milling department is where the sugarcane juice is extracted using the milling machinery. There are huge rooms with massive machines. It was my first time in a real sugar factory and there was a lot to observe and learn. The experience here echoes the words of Huhman (2011) on the importance of internships in the learning process. Allowing students to experience the real environment they are being trained for. The specifications of the machines are one thing that I observed on this week. The cane unloader had a capacity of 5mt SWL. Its type was the E.O.T , outdoor, three-motion. The cane unloader hoisted cane into the milling system through the feeder table. Most of the work at this stage is done by the machines. I had a chance to be at the operators’ room where the operators keep watching to make sure that all systems are working simultaneously. On each day of the week I got to learn the different stages that cane undergoes before it is finally sugar. I kept taking notes of the machines that I came across and their duties.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
- leaning when cane comes from
Week two was a little different. I was going to learn about cane before it comes to the factory. My supervisor emphasized the need to understand what is cane and where it all began. There was literature to read that I available at the factories library. I then visited the cane research department. This is where researchers are busy finding better cane varieties better than what is available. From there I visited a trial farm where the factory tries out the varieties they have come up with. The factory also researches of best fertilizers, insecticides and pesticides for maximum crop production. I also had an opportunity to visit the farms and see where the trucks have been bring the tons of cane from. It was interesting to see the vast pieces of land on cane as well as see the machinery that harvests cane at work. This week I got to learn about cane from planting, caring for the plant up to harvesting.
Learning About Cane Harvesting
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on two main activities:
- Orientation at the water purification plant
- Actual machine repair
A lot of water is used in this factory. The fact that sugar is a food product the water used here must be very clean. This factory has five water purification plants. At the time of my internship one of the plants had broken down. My supervisor told me that he was not going to assign me a duty jet but I would take the opportunity to interact with other engineers that were working on the purification plant to have it come back to operation. I got to meet each of the engineers and understand their roles and learnt that this team also had a team leader. It is the team leaders that would take the round the water purification plant explaining to me the various stages that water goes through. He also introduced me to the machinery at this plant. After the orientation I was given a brief on the machine that had broken down. I was informed of the diagnosis that the engineers had made and the steps they are taking to fix the system. The work lasted some three days and it was great to part of the team that saw the return to normalcy of this system. The diagnosis has seemed complex but with each member of the team giving their best it was finally done. It was the first time that I had worked with a team of very competent and experienced engineers. The engineers may not have let me change anything but they would alsways give me a tip on why they would something rather than another.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
- Duty assignment at the cane unloader area
This week my supervisor is assigning me a duty. The week started off with a minor test on the various safety rules and regulations. I had to be sure of what is required of me. My supervisor informs me that in the weeks that follow I will be following through the sugar production process. I will be spending a week at every stage. So for this week I am back at the cane receiving area where the cane unloader brings cane to the feeding table. At every stage I will find the engineer in charge and that will be the person I will be answering to. the cane unloader scoops a large chunk of cane from the delivery trucks. I noticed the careful flow of the delivery trucks and their patience as they wait for the unloader to unload. It is a relatively noisy and accident prone area. Pieces of cane can easily fall during thev unloading process. Therefore caution should be observed. I had a chance to sit with the technicians that control the unloader. They taught me on how to move the unloader forward, how to scoop and how to empty. I was also taught on what not to do and also the usual problems they encounter and how to solve them. I learnt that it is always important to make eyes on the unloader to avoid accidents. I had an opportunity to climb up one of the trucks together with other workers and tie the cane to the unloader.this is a job that one must break a sweat. It is however interesting tio see how the unloader driver and guys hooking the cane to the unloader communicate. The unloader engine is placed on a steel tower.
Working on Water Purification
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
- Duty assignment at the feeder table
From the unloader, the cane goes to the feeder table. My supervisor had advised me that at all times I should have my protective gear on. I however noticed that most of the workers that worked at the unloading section were not really keen on wearing their protective gears maybe because they felt they are experienced enough and can save themselves whenever there is an accident. I however feel that it is always important for each individual working in such an environment to take their safety as an individual responsibility even before the company makes the environment safe for all. With the use of a chain and sprocket system, the feeder table carries cane to the cane carriers. At this stage, we watch that the machine is working on well while monitoring the speed and its functionality on a computer. This is to ensure that the machine does not work too fast or too slow. In case of a change of speed, I was informed of the initial possibilities that the technicians would check out for. I was also introduced to how to do a diagnosis when the common possible reasons for a malfunction are okay. The size of the feeder table was 6m*7m, and moved at a speed of at most 3m/minute. From the feeder table the cane is moved to a system where is is cut in to smaller pieces and the cane carries take over.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
The government is always keen to make sure that its citizens are getting products of the highest quality. Thd government has put in place systems such that from time to time there will be audits on the safety in the factory not only in the products they are manufacturing but also on the safety of the employees as well as using the environment responsibly. At the start of this week, there were officers from the quality control department. My supervisor was kind enough to let me into the audit process. He informed me that mostly these audits are done unannounced. He explained to me all that the auditors needed from records to samples. As the records were provided I was let to see some of the documents that the auditors were provided with. It is a process that would take up to five days. After reading through the books they went ahead to do some tests on the samples provided in the company laboratory. Since I am not qualified personnel, I was not allowed in the laboratory. The auditors would interview the factory workers from time to time and the exercise flowed smoothly I had a chance to read a few of the previous audit reports. It was interesting to note that one audit had recommended that workers needed to have protective gear at all times. It is in the same spirit of safety that Johari et al., emphasized that safety is a collective responsibility. This is a company that adhered to rules and regulations and therefore they had passed most of the audits. Having seen the keenness in the auditors I had more confidence in manufactured products.
Following Sugar Production Process
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
- Assignment at the cane carriers.
Once the cane has been split, it is next going to the mill. It is taken to the mill by cane carriers. Before the cane is taken to mill is first crushed into small fiber like pieces. These are the pieces that the cane carriers carry to the mill. The machine that crushes cane is a hammer like. It was an interesting week tio see how cane is moving from one machine to the nest. I was also keen to note that at every speed the machines operated at different speeds. Each of the machines required specialized attention at all times. The operators had to always have their eyes on the machines through the computers. I was also informed that they always have to trouble shoot to make sure that the machines are in their best state even as they are working.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
I had looked forward to this week at the milling stage. I felt it was the stage i would have learnt the most. The mill is the equipment that will press the fiber like cane and extract juice before it is collected in a raw juice tank. This is the stage that I first felt that there was sugar coming at the end of the process. The next stages would move very fast as the speed of the machines was beginning to take a new level. In the milling stage, the juice carriers carry the juice to the next stage that is the evaporation and boiling stage. Sometime at this point, I wondered where the water from the purify plant would be added into this sugar making process. I asked my supervisor at and he was kind enough to show me how water is incorporated in the process. It was also interesting to see through the process through some special cameras. With the change in temperatures and speed, the machines were also changing. This company works round the clock. I wondered what happens if there is a breakdown. My supervisor at this stage told me that they also kept doing audits on the machines as well as routine maintenance so that they are never found off guard by a machine breakdown as it would lead to great losses.
Observing the Feeder Table
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
This was going to be a very different week my supervisor advised. My supervisor was taking away from the machines taking me to the office. I was going to understand how it is like to manage a sugar processing factory. He emphasized the need to be able to understand all the structures of the factory right from the top to the bottom when sugar is leaving the factory. There were many departments that I was to visit; the human resource, the finance department, the marketing, the distribution, the procurement department among others. It was interesting to see how much workload these people actually work. I appreciate having this chance as I now value the work of the non-technical staff more. Without the input of each of them this company wouldn’t have been what it is. I realized that there was never enough time that I spent at each of these departments. There was a lot more that I had to learn.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
- Assignment at evaporation and boiling stage.
I had a very interesting week on week nine. I however had to go back to my main are of interest one more time. The evaporation machine is a vessel which used vapor from the exhausts of power turbines and heats up the raw juice. Clean juice is the collected as vapor in specified temperatures with the help of a tube. The end of this equipment is whereby the clean juice syrup is collected. At this stage the machine operators made sure that the temperatures were always at the specified ranges. This ensured that the correct amount of vapor is collected and that there is no waste in case the temperatures are low. Much as the temperatures involved were really high, the temperatures and the vapor were tightly and safely contained within the machines with control only being observed at the evaporator control room. The evaporation vessels were of different capacity so as to balance the pressure that the vapors produce.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on one main activity:
- Assignment on the remaining part of the process
Time has moved really fast. I have learnt a lot especially on the control of the machines. Each machine requires that the operator has intense knowledge of how it works. I was informed that manufacturing companies also train engineers periodically so that the engineers are kept in the know even of emerging trends in the machine manufacturing field. Engineers are also required to constantly seek to improve their knowledge on specific machines in their jurisdiction as well as be informed on how other machines work to avoid a crush of duties. Since I may not be in a position to follow up on each stage per week, I will have to combine stages. I am following the clean juice through the heavy duty boilers where the syrup is put on fire and it boils until it crystallizers. Then some gases is passed through it and then it is moved to the packaging plant. The speed at this point is magnificent. I even get a chance to taste the sugar when it is taken to the lad for testing. Samples have to be taken from time to time to ensure that the right product is what is leaving this chain of stages. The sugar making process and the machines involved is a complex process with a lot to learn as each stage has a unique machine. At the end of this week I looking forward to working in such a machine packed environment so as to well put to practice what I have been learning through my engineering course management.
Name: Start date:
Company: Hours worked:
Principal supervisor:
This week I spent time on three main activity:
- Assignment at the workshop
- A visit to the chemical department
- Report writing
My time is coming to an end. However my supervisor advises that it will be a good idea if I spend time at the workshop and a short visit at the chemical department before I can write a report on how my experience has been like this whole time. This report was about putting down the notes I have been noting down all week into a meaningful document. When I arrived at the workshop, I was fascinated. It is interesting to see engineers and other processionals open up machine parts and putting them back together, this is where to actually test if one understand how a particular machine works. The engagement here was excellent as I had a chance to express my knowledge on machines and how they function. Some machines were new to me but the people here were really kind to share the information necessary. I then had a short visit to the chemical room. This room is highly protected that I actually never got in. I only talked to the person in charge and he explained to me what they kept in that room and why is highly protected. It was interesting to learn the different chemicals involved in the sugar making process and how they are incorporated in the process. It was then time to sit and document my 12 weeks in a sugar making company management .
References
Huhman, H. R. (2011). Lies, Damned Lies & Internships : The Truth About Getting From Classroom to Cubicle management . Cupertino, Calif: Happy About.
Johari, J., Tan Fee, Y., & Adnan, Z. (2017). Demystifying the Empirical Link Between Safety Climate management, Safety Communication, Work Environment and Unsafe Behaviour at Work. Jurnal Pengurusan, 501-15
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