Internship report Jan Bachelet
1ere SBC
For my internship in Great Britain, I went to Bristol. The internship that I completed has taken place in a company named DPGE Rebuilds LTD.
The company was created in 2002 by 4 persons.
A the beginning, the 4 owners were on their own and worked only handy in a little industrial unit in Kingswood, Bristol. In 2005 they moved to Marshfield, Bristol, out of town, where there is much more space. Since then, they have stayed in their building and the company has grown, now having 7 salaried employees in addition to the 4 owners. The company builds pieces for machines cutting metal. They also make the whole creation process themselves with a program and also repair the pieces in case the customers send it back. The building is divided into several rooms. Each of them has a different utility. In one room, the pieces are invented and measured by an engineer, who types a program corresponding to the piece. In another room there a lots of machines to build the pieces. When you need multiple copies of one piece you use the NC lave (Numerical Controlled) with the program because it is quicker than handmade. But if you only need one exemplar, it is cleverer to make it by hand on the other machines. Once the different pieces have been made, other engineers assemble them to put them together. Then the tools are packed to be sent to the customers. There is also a room where the old pieces that have been sent back by the customers can be washed, smoothed and then blacked.
A few other employees are working in the office to communicate with the customers.
In fact each worker in the company has his task.
I’ve found this company very interesting because I did not know that these pieces are so special to build and that expensive. The smallest precision error can cause the fail of the machine. To prepare myself for my stay I had to buy security shoes in case something heavy falls on my feet. I also had to wear hand gloves, security glasses and an overall. Before beginning my internship I had a look at the website of the company and at a few videos to try to understand what they were doing.
In the two weeks I have seen all machines and I have talked with all the workers about their work. They explained to me in detail what they were doing and I could see that everybody had his speciality, his strong points, so that all of them together complemented each other well. I noticed that the people working in the office weren’t engineers at all and couldn’t do the mechanical work. The other way round the engineers couldn’t do the work in the office. The work atmosphere wasn’t stressed because the company has no competition with other companies.
At the beginning of my internship the workers explained to me a lot and showed me how they work, so that I could help them with the simple tasks during my stay.
To start the first day I did a few exercises with the most important things to know from this mechanical domain: measuring, pressing signs on metal with the hammer...
I worked particularly to maintain the old pieces: I washed the dirty pieces, smoothed them, sandblasted them and finally put them in different chemical liquids, so that the pieces came out black and more aesthetical to be sent back.
I also had to disassemble big tools into smaller pieces.
I was surprised that it consisted of so many parts. I had to use many tools to put all apart. Every time I thought that I had finshed, somebody told me I still had a long way to go.
One evening I was even able to make a tool myself using the different machines in the workshop.
My general opinion about my stay is very positive. I didn‘t know this industry very well. I was able to ask all the questions I wanted and got a detailed answer every time. To understand this work you really have to come and see because it is not easy to imagine what the pieces are for and how they are built. This work has taught me that it is always possible to solve all problems by hand. I recommend this work to all people who have a practical thinking and like to work handy. But you also need to have a solid mathematical basis to get along with all the components. Of course it is easier if the noise, the dirt and the smell do not bother you. To do this work you do not need study a university, because you can learn it by being an apprentice and by practising, still, you need good communication skills because you have to work in a team to be efficient.
