Unit 1: Investigating engineering business and the environment
Activity Sheet 5
You work in the marketing/public relations department of a business that carries out the following manufacturing processes:
l stamping, forming and welding of mild steel plate;
l injection moulding small components made from polymer;
l metal cutting using machining centres;
l chromium and cadmium plating;
l spray painting;
l flow soldering of circuit boards (http://www.dna-automation.co.uk/soldering.php for information about this process).
The factory is long established on what was once a greenfield
To remain competitive the management would like to move from a 2 x 8 hr shift system to a 3 x 8 hr seven-day-a-week operation with the total number of people on site at any one time being about 160.
Lorry movements number about four per day with two of these being large articulated. Fuel oil is delivered by tanker and there are specialist chemical deliveries once a month by secure lorry.
Due to expansion over the years there is little room on site for car parking and most workers are brought in by minibus.
A number of residents living nearby have contacted the managing director about environmental concerns that they have, in particular:
l the proposed increase in operating hours;
l additional traffic movements;
l stamping, because it is a noisy process;
l plating, because it involves the use of dangerous chemicals such as cyanide;
l soldering and spray painting, because they give off toxic fumes.
(Activity continues overleaf.)
Additional data about the company:
Full time employees | Semi-skilled Technician Design engineers Manufacturing engineers Administration Middle managers Senior managers | 130 40 15 20 35 20 10 |
Part time employees | 20 | |
Apprentices | 10 | |
Cleaning and buildings maintenance | Contracted out | |
Catering | Contracted out | |
Annual turnover | £53M | |
Wage rates/salaries | Median rates for | |
Use the following link for data on wage rates and salaries:
http://www.instaffs.co.uk/Documents/WageRatesEngineering.pdf
The company has decided to make a presentation to the local residents’ association explaining how it complies with legislation and has good ‘green credentials’ – with specific reference to:
l discharge of waste water from its on-site treatment plant into a nearby river;
l removal/recycling of cutting fluids and other types of lubricant;
l removal/recycling of polymers, metal and packaging waste;
l sound proofing and thermal insulation of the building;
l low energy lighting in outside pedestrian areas;
l the use of low emissions minibuses.
And also the economic and social impact on the local community if the business decided to:
l outsource the plating and spraying operations;
l replace staff with workers from Eastern EU countries as natural wastage of labour occurs (e.g. retirement);
l relocate the factory to a country where wage rates are lower, and less stringent environmental controls apply.
Your manager asks you and an assistant to prepare a presentation. It must take the form of a 20-minute PowerPoint presentation, supported by handouts and followed by a 10-minute Q & A session. To counter the misinformed criticisms of some residents you should make reference to specific UK
Your audience will be other members of your group, role playing the people living nearby. Be aware that the outspoken chair-person (your teacher/tutor) of the residents’ association is an environmental campaigner who has little knowledge of engineering or the realities of running a business!
I will be looking for this to be done by next lesson !
