My Mentor - Reflection

Personal Tutor/Mentor Meeting Reflection

I currently run the NPI (new product introduction) facility at Perkins Engines, where we are going through an aggressive NPI engine program, I have just started a foundation degree at Peterborough University and I have a new born son who is now 9 weeks old. At the moment I am on top of my work, although there is a lot. I found the mentoring session very useful, as when you have so much going on in your life, be it on a professional level, or a private basis, it is always good to have somebody, who has experienced all the thing s I am currently going through, give you reassurance that you are going in the right direction. There was also an opportunity for my mentor to give me some guidance to show how I could improve the way I am doing things with some constructive criticism.

How the Mentor Meeting Helped Me

The mentor meeting, for me, was more about reassurance than anything else. The mentor did a good job in reassuring me that my PDP work was good and that my research paper was heading in the right direction. This reassurance was like a second wind to me. It gave me the confidence to throw myself into the work I was doing knowing full well it was what the tutor wanted to see. I think it was important to me that my mentor was a lot more experienced than me, and that they possessed the skill to pass the wisdom that they have gained, through experience to me. The informal approach to the mentoring session also suited me, as it helped me to relax, which in turn meant I felt I could be completely honest with my mentor.

Vark Questionnaire

Vark Questionnaire Results Reflection

My results were as follows:

Visual: 7

Aural: 8

Read/Write: 7

Kinesthetic: 9

The Vark Questionnaire recommends I:

SWOT - Study without tears

Convert your lecture “notes” into a learnable package by reducing them (3:1).

Your lecture notes may be poor because the topics were not 'concrete' or 'relevant'.

You will remember the "real" things that happened.

Put plenty of examples into your summary. Use case studies and applications to help with principles and abstract concepts.

Talk about your notes with another "K" person.

Use pictures and photographs that illustrate an idea.

Go back to the laboratory or your lab manual.

Recall the experiments, field trip...

Most elements of these results are quite relevant to me. I think I see my self as quite tactile and thrive on all things visual. I can relate to real examples, which I study and then can put into practice. I think this may be why I struggle with some of the complex mathematics, as, of yet, I have not had an application for them in the work place, and as such, I feel I have to put in more effort into this subject than most others. A subject such as materials however, which uses terminology that I hear regularly at work, and where you can actually view and partake in experiments seems to suit me a lot better.

My Learning Line

The Use of 6 Sigma in Manufacturing Engineering

The Use of 6Sigma in Manufacturing Engineering

6 Sigma is a business management strategy originally developed by Motorola, USA in 1981. As of 2010, it is widely used in many sectors of industry. It uses techniques such as Lean Manufacture and Just in Time practices to improve business and manufacture processes.

6 Sigma seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects and minimising variability in the manufacturing and business processes. It uses a set of quality management methods, including statistical methods, and creates a special infrastructure of people within the organisation ("Black Belts", "Green Belts" etc.) who are experts in these methods. Each 6 Sigma project carried out within an organisation, follows a defined sequence of steps and has quantified financial targets (cost reduction or velocity increases), although its use is not without controversy.

Juran, Joseph M states that 6 Sigma is merely a basic form of quality improvement, with nothing new or ground-breaking other than flamboyant terms. He also asserts that the majority of people do not fully understand what it means.

Ahmed, Yousuf claims that 6 Sigma is groundbreaking and it makes sense to at the very least evaluate its use within business. He says the use of 6 Sigma tools offer a pioneering way to reducing defects and increasing customer satisfaction.

George (2003) argues that 6 Sigma’s main strengths are its combined approaches to lean manufacturing. He states that the approaches compliment each other in no other way that has been carried out before, with the use of Just in Time and Lean practices.

Cusumano, (1994) counters this with the argument that Just in Time practices can hold up the supply chain, lead to a shortage of workers and ultimately lead to customer deadlines being missed.

Demming (Dr) argues that 6 Sigma’s cold hard bottom line focused stance can lead to the business strategy becoming unstable, and functions of the business focussing on inappropriate things. He argues that a business cannot be run by figures and must not substitute business strategy planning for 6 Sigma

SWOT analysis

Strengths	Weaknesses
Enjoy my job Am able to work calmly while under pressure I am flexible within my job Ensure that all my goals/open actions are closed or completed very quickly I like to learn	Find it hard not to bring my work home Do not delegate enough tasks to my team Have little time or patience for colleagues who's standards do not meet my own.
Opportunities	Threats
Perkins is in a power up phase after last years recession I have full control of the brand new NPI facility at Perkins	I have a lot going on with a new family, new college course and an increasing work load My current role leaves me open to becoming a scapegoat for my function