POCLAIN INTERN EXPERIENCE – RYAN OTT, YORKVILLE, WI USA

Have you wondered what kind of opportunities a manufacturing engineering internship can offer at Poclain? University of Wisconsin Milwaukee senior year, mechanical engineering student, Ryan Ott, shares his experience as a Poclain Hydraulics manufacturing engineering summer intern.

What interested you in mechanical engineering?

I started out in mechanical engineering because it is the broadest and most versatile of the engineering disciplines. Anywhere from design engineering, to manufacturing engineering, to reliability, you can get there with mechanical engineering.

Are you looking to specialize or move into any specific area of engineering, and did this have an impact on the type of internship you were looking for?

Yes, I was looking for a wider range of engineering experience. Previously, I had done an internship in design and research, but I had not yet done any manufacturing engineering. This is why I was interested in Poclain, and Poclain’s engineering department has lead me to consider more of a manufacturing type role.

What projects have you worked on so far during your internship?

My biggest project is developing work instructions, checklists, and flow charts for our Yorkville paint line. The purpose is to get the production team easier access to knowledge, so when they are confronted with an issue they have the tools to solve it.

What have your interactions been like with your team?

The engineering department at Yorkville is very friendly and knowledgeable. I have learned a lot from them; asking them how certain steps may affect a manufacturing process or listening to them explain how engineering efforts affect the final product has been very helpful in learning more about engineering.

Has your internship helped influence your thoughts on manufacturing engineering?

Yes, significantly, just learning about all of the different factors that go into manufacturing whether it be cost, time, or efficiency. I’ve learned a lot from the other engineers here and what they need to consider when going through their day-to-day. Talking and working with the engineering department has helped me gain a better understanding of what manufacturing engineering is all about.

What are your goals for this internship, what do you want to get out of it?

I would like to learn more about engineering economics and the considerations that go into making engineering changes beneficial. For example, moving part of the paint line to a different spot and having engineers explain how and why that decision was made has helped me understand the strategy that goes into making engineering decisions. Learning how engineers weigh the advantages and disadvantages with cost justification of manufacturing changes is critical to effective engineering.

What do you think of the culture at Poclain and our values: people, innovation, independent, international?

It’s a great culture at Poclain, everyone is really friendly and ready to help. The facility is always very clean and well-organized and it shows how much the people here care about their jobs and this company. Our values are definitely the basis that we are built on. People here are valued, and I have seen the independence value in how we are structuring the company to be more self-sufficient. Innovation is easy to see by the way we are constantly tweaking every aspect of Poclain to get the best result. The international value has been a big one as well, in the consideration taken for global customers and the drive to be connected with what is going on at the other Poclain sites.

Where do you see yourself going in the future?

Well, I’m still not 100% sure. That’s part of why I accepted this position at Poclain, I wanted to learn more about different types of engineering. Ever since I started here, I’ve been leaning more toward the manufacturing side of engineering, seeing everything being built in-house and the steps that we take to continuously improve our work are fascinating.