The Manufacturer
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday July 21, 1999
Computer literacy and management skills are needed for the best jobs in manufacturing today. Some require an apprenticeship and a TAFE course, others a university degree, writes PETER VINCENT. Toolmaker, mechanical engineer and sheetmetal worker are behind the job ads.
Manufacturing manager
Starting Out
JESSICA NGUI
Age: 21
Position: Part-time business development assistant, Utilux.
Salary range: $13,000-$18,000.
Ambition: "To get to a level where I'm making a significant impact, whether it's in one company or for Australian industry in general."
Coming soon: Jessica in charge
JESSICA Ngui is one of the bright young things at the forefront of the drive to make our manufacturing more competitive internationally.
She is a trainee manufacturing manager, a job which has been the preserve of tradespeople or engineers who climbed the ranks.
But because it is now crucial to continually improve productivity and quality, and keep up with technology, it has been recognised that management requires different skills - decision-making, communication and time management - from those needed on the technical side of an operation.
Ngui is doing a "sandwich" course, which means she shares her time between TAFE and her employer, the electronics component manufacturer Utilux.
This makes it difficult for her to take full responsibility for improving efficiency of any part of the company's operations, but eventually she is likely to take charge of an area, such as production planning or sourcing materials.
Was she hesitant about entering a sector that, despite the positive signs, is still "doing it tough"?
"It's a big challenge, but to me that means the rewards are greater if you succeed."
Getting a job: "It's important to get a theoretical grounding through TAFE or university, but also to get practical experience."
Qualifications: Ngui is studying a certificate in manufacturing management at UTS.
Course information: Manufacturing manager, back page.
What the employer wants
LEADERSHIP is the key requirement, says the human resources manager for Orica (formerly ICI), Kevin Lynch, when the company chooses its annual graduate intake to be fast-tracked into manufacturing management. "We want to know: have they been head of a sports team or a debating team? We're trying to find out whether these people have got the potential to be the manager of the future," he says.
Top job
SHARON MEAKER
Age: 35
Position: Manufacturing manager, Arnott's Biscuits, Brisbane.
Salary range: $100,000-plus.
1981 Work experience as a lab technician, United Dairies, North Rocks.
1982-86 Studied BSc in food technology, UNSW.
1986 Completed degree with honours and employed by the NSW Dairy Corporation as a microbiologist. Later made
scientific officer.
1987 Promoted to acting senior chemist, NSW Dairy Corporation.
1988 Employed by Nestle as a technologist.
1990 Made project technologist for the relocation of frozen pizza and quiche factory to Melbourne.
1992 Promoted to product superintendent.
1994-97 Promoted to production superintendent for 10 frozen food manufacturing
production lines.
1997 Promoted to factory
manager for a Nestle-owned pasta factory, Brisbane.
1998 Approached to join Arnott's Biscuits Brisbane as manufacturing manager.
What now? "I'd like to have broader management
responsibilities incorporating other areas such as marketing, finance and business
planning."
Draftperson
Starting Out
STEWART MARLER
Age: 24
Position: Draftsperson, Incat Designs Sydney, Lane Cove.
Salary: $35,000-$80,000.
Ambition: "I could end up running my own company, designing catamarans or motor yachts, but my dream job would have to be designing for a formula one [motor racing] team."
Stewart likes being away with the ferries
STEWART Marler used to think his grandfather, who was an engineer, was "a bit odd" because he couldn't look at anything without trying to find out how it worked. Then he started doing it, too.
Marler is a draftsperson for Incat Designs Sydney, a Lane Cove company that designs large catamarans, mainly for the North American market. Among the boats he has helped design is the world's second-largest catamaran - a 122-metre passenger ferry capable of carrying 1,000 passengers.
Marler's job involves meticulously drawing on screen every part of a boat's structure, often in 3D.
Where once the job involved hand-drawing intricate plans, it's now rare for designers in manufacturing to use anything but a computer-aided drafting program.
"The accuracy has to be better than millimetre-perfect because from these drawings the shipyards cut out the frames and all the bits have to fit together," he says.
Marler has also learned some basic computer maintenance skills, as well as programming the computer-aided drafting system Incat uses.
Getting a job: "You have to have a love of things mechanical and be interested in how they fit together. Also, these days, it's hard to get a start without a qualification. There are that many people out there who want jobs and employers have the right to expect either a qualification or experience in the industry."
Qualifications: Marler studied naval architecture, which is a two-year full-time course, at Ultimo TAFE.
Course Information: See draftperson, back page.
WHAT THE EMPLOYER WANTS
"THESE days draftsmen need to think in 3D; they need to grab a problem and think their way around it," says Greg Prudames, drawing office manager for Transfield Power. "It makes the difference between someone who's going to be a good draftsman and someone who's going to be mediocre." Prudames also rates practical experience - done in conjunction with a qualification - as crucial.
Top job
IAN RAMSAY
Age: 43
Position: Manager of computer-aided
drafting/computer-aided
manufacturing (CAD/CAM) section, Unique Tooling, Wetherill Park.
Salary range: $50,000-$75,000.
1973 Got a job as an apprentice toolmaker, Plessey Telecommunications, Meadowbank.
1976 Awarded NSW Apprentice of the Year on completion. Started as qualified toolmaker with Plessey.
1977 Started own business making scale models. A fully operational half-size locomotive he made is still used for children's rides at Cohunu Wildlife Park, in Kelmscott, Western Australia.
1980 Ceased trading because of a limited market and got a job as the toolroom foreman at Amtron Tyree, involving ordering, scheduling work and maintenance and some design.
1985-90 Did one-year part-time TAFE courses in CAD and CAM and also a three-year part-time qualification in business management.
1989 Employed by Unique Tooling as a CAD/CAM programmer. Most jobs involved designing home appliances and car parts, as well as the machinery to make them.
1997 Promoted to manager of Unique Tooling's CAD/CAM section. Job still involves about 90 per cent designing.
What now? "I don't think I'd be able to progress much further in Sydney. But I'm very happy with my position - the work is still challenging and creative."
Electrical engineer
Starting Out
AHMED ATIA
Age: 26
Position: Trainee electronic engineer, Email Meters, Waterloo.
Salary range: Industry average for an equivalent job would be $30,000-$50,000.
Ambition: "I'd like to move into the management side of the business."
Dentist?
He just
isn't the
type
GETTING an after-school job repairing electric typewriters - and having his wisdom teeth pulled out - helped Egyptian-born Ahmed Atia decide on an engineering career over dentistry.
Atia worked part-time in Year 10 as a typewriter
technician and found he loved working with electronics.
He was employed by the whitegoods giant Email as an electrical fitter and mechanic apprentice in 1993 and started a part-time electrical engineering degree at the same time.
In the final year of his apprenticeship, Atia moved into the high-tech electronics side of Email's operation. Now he helps prepare the final design of electrical meters - which measure and control power supply in homes and factories - for mass production.
His job is assembling,
testing and redesigning the prototypes to ensure their quality and safety.
Getting a job: Being confident with technology, Atia says, is a major part of the job. "There's new technology coming in every day. You have to keep yourself up to date by reading magazines and newsletters and looking on the Internet."
Qualifications: Atia is doing an eight-year electrical
engineering degree through UTS. When he graduates, he plans to study for his
electrical trade certificate and learn software programming and business management.
Course information: Electrical engineer, back page.
Top job
DAVID LAWRENCE
Age: 41
Position: National engineering manager, automation business unit, Schneider, Baulkham Hills.
Salary range: $100,000-$120,000.
1976 Employed as cadet electrician engineer, James Hardie, Camellia. Started a six-year part-time course at UTS, Sydney.
1981 Employed as qualified electrical engineer, James Hardie. Worked on several major engineering projects for manufacturing industries across Australia and in the United States and Malaysia.
1992 Left James Hardie when approached to join industrial automation
company, Online Control. Employed as a senior
systems engineer.
1995-96 Made NSW
engineering manager after the company was taken over by Schneider.
1998 Did graduate
certificate of management through Deakin University.
1999 Promoted to national engineering manager, responsible for all Australian automation projects.
What now? "I'd like to
consolidate our current
position and continue to develop a sense of teamwork throughout the company."
What the employer wants
Communication skills must be a strength, says Mark Dobson, of Penrith electronics contractor GPC. "They've got to be able to communicate well so they can express their ideas. They need to be able to quickly grasp the concepts of design and translate them into a finished product."
Toolmaker
Starting Out
JON ROMEO
Age: 24
Position: Toolmaker, Broens Toolmaking, Ingleburn.
Salary range: $28,000-$62,000.
Ambition: "I'd like to stay in the industry. I want to learn all the aspects and hopefully one day get off the shop floor into management."
It's all about fitting the mould ...
TOOLMAKING is regarded as the basis of manufacturing - but it's one the least understood of all trades.
For a start, toolmakers don't make spanners and hammers. They make the moulds and dies that are used to make almost every mass-produced component that is manufactured and assembled. It is a job that has been transformed with the mechanisation of manufacturing - computerised milling machines have replaced hand-operated cutting tools - but it is still as important as ever.
Jon Romeo knew nothing about it before he did work experience at Broens Toolmaking, which led to an apprenticeship.
"It wasn't until I did work experience that I realised that even the most basic parts, such as a car door handle, have
hundreds of thousands of
dollars invested into designing and producing it," he says.
Romeo also did work
experience as a plumber,
carpenter and mechanic, but was put off by the grime.
"That's one of the reasons why I like this job - you never get dirty," he says.
Getting a job: Good toolmakers are widely sought, especially by any company that makes plastic components. Toolmaking
companies are often set up
to take outsourced contracts.
Qualifications: Romeo did a four-year apprenticeship, which included a three-year TAFE trade certificate in toolmaking. He has begun a four-year course in mechanical engineering at Campbelltown TAFE.
Course information: Toolmaker, back page.
What the employer wants
"They've got to be someone who wants to work with their hands, but has a reasonable level of intelligence," says Stephen Rich, director of Taren Point toolmaking
company CA Rich. Good marks in industrial drawing, a practical studies subject such as metalwork or woodwork, and maths - preferably at HSC level - are a big plus, he says. Applicants must also be comfortable with computers.
Top job
MARK BENNETT
Age: 46
Position: Managing
director, Bennett Precision Tooling.
Salary: "I'd
prefer not to answer that."
1970 Did a toolmaking
apprenticeship with Plessey Telecommunications, Meadowbank.
1974-79 Worked as a qualified toolmaker with Plessey.
1978 Did a two-year part-time supervision certificate at Meadowbank TAFE.
1979 Employed as a toolmaker by a hearing aid manufacturer, Techmin, North Rocks.
1980 Promoted to toolroom supervisor, Techmin.
1981 Started Bennett Precision Tooling at North Rocks.
1988 Moved company to a larger premises at Seven Hills.
1990 Moved company to larger premises at Blacktown, expanding to include manufacture of sheetmetal parts.
1993 Made education director for Australian Toolmakers' Association.
1996 Moved company, which now employed 20 people, to larger premises at Kings Park. Concentrated on managing the
business.
1999 Company turnover reached $2 million, twice the 1994 amount.
What now? "I'd like to continue my involvement with developing training for the industry, but I also want to spend more time with my family."
Mechanical engineer
Starting Out
STEPHEN EMMAS
Age: 25
Position: Manufacturing
engineer, BTR Automotive, Fairfield.
Salary: $45,000.
Ambition: "I'd like to take on a role where I wouldn't only manage the technical side of the job, but also the
people side."
Pump up the volume: one man's mission
STEPHEN Emmas works in a new area of manufacturing employment, programming a computer that instructs a digital milling machine to cut out car axles from metal.
His job is the link between the engineering side of manufacturing and the "making" part. The machines he programs make more than 150,000 axles a year, so he has a vital role in the efficiency of the operation.
"A lot of things we do are in such high volume that we could run a [production] cycle for two years. Even if you can take five seconds off the cycle time of a machine, you're improving the efficiency, which would in turn allow you to make a higher
volume," Emmas says.
At school he was interested in computer programming, but after doing some short courses he wanted to find a job with more people contact. His
present job also involves
planning production schedules, fixing mechanical problems and working with staff.
"Personally I find computer programming quite interesting, but it's just the fact that you're stuck there all day in front of a computer that puts me off."
Getting a job: "You can either go for an apprenticeship and work up, in a similar way to what I've done, or go to university and get a degree, but you'll need to get lots of work experience on the way."
Qualifications: Emmas did a
fitter machinist apprenticeship, which included a three-year TAFE trade certificate, and
completed a four-year part-time associate diploma in mechanical engineering, also at TAFE.
Course information: Mechanical engineer, back page.
What the employer wants
"Every successful person is the correct mixture of theory and practice - go too far in either direction and you've not got the right balance," says Colin Edwards, the organisational development manager for heavy
engineering company MainTrain. Edwards looks for graduates of TAFE or
university mechanical
engineering courses,
preferably those who have done "sandwich" courses.
Top job
TONY
CAROLAN
Age: 51
Position: CEO, Hawker de Havilland, Bankstown.
Salary range: More than $150,000.
1965 Employed by Hawker de Havilland as a cadet engineer, Lidcombe. Started part-time mechanical engineering degree at UNSW.
1971 Finished cadetship and degree, then made a qualified engineer with Hawker de Havilland.
1973 Transferred to Britain to work on the design of a new aircraft, called the Hawk.
1975 Returned to Australia to work as industrial engineer with Hawker de Havilland. Began postgraduate diploma in industrial engineering at UNSW.
1976 Promoted to chief production engineer.
1978 Made fabrication division manager.
1983 Left company to gain experience in other manufacturing industries.
1986 Headhunted to rejoin Hawker de Havilland as general manager of Melbourne operations.
1987 Made a director of Hawker de Havilland.
1992 Promoted to group general manager of manufacturing, based in Sydney, after the company was taken over by BTR Nylex.
1998 Made CEO of group after takeover by Tenix Group.
What now? "To further stimulate the direction and the growth of the company in the global marketplace."
Sheetmetal worker
Starting Out
MATTHEW OHLSEN
Age: 18
Position: Apprentice sheetmetal worker, Bosco Manufacturing, Minto.
Salary: $14,000-$25,000 (second-year industry range).
Ambition: "I want to keep learning the computer side of things. Everything starts from the computer room upstairs, so I'd like to go that way."
Making a living from heavy metal
APPRENTICE Matthew Ohlsen is learning a new take on one of the jobs that used to underpin manufacturing.
Sheetmetal workers once shaped a flat sheet of steel or aluminum into pipes, cabinets, machines and appliances using basic tools, or by hand.
But it's a job that has been radically changed by technology - and it is changing still.
By the time Ohlsen qualifies, his job will be closer to that of a computer operator than that of the old-fashioned "sheetie".
His skills will be in using high-speed programmable computer punches, metal-folding machines and industrial lasers.
"I'm all over the factory at the moment because the boss wants me to learn everything that's here,"
he says.
"You'd be amazed at how much technology is used in the sheetmetal industry."
He did work experience at Bosco at the end of Year 11 and took up the offer a full-time job as an apprentice sheetmetal worker a few weeks into Year 12.
Ohlsen says that taking a flat sheet of metal and turning it into a usable object is fascinating. "I found it very interesting from the start - the way metal was formed and the techniques they used to get to the final product."
Getting a job: "I think doing work experience is a really good option because you can show someone who could be your employer how well you can adapt and how quickly you pick things up. Also you'll find out whether you like the job or not."
Qualifications: Ohlsen is doing a three-year certificate in fabrication engineering at Miller TAFE.
Course information: Sheetmetal worker, back page.
What the employer wants
SHEETMETAL workers are part of a collective process, says Michael Ham, operations manager for Pierlite, so job candidates have to work well with others. "We want people who can demonstrate that to us in some way - even if they've been part of a sports team," Ham says. "They've got to have a good work ethic, which is sometimes difficult to come across in teenagers. And they've got to be interested and willing to learn."
Top job
IAN STONE
Age: 49
Position: Managing director, Advance Metal Products, Ingleburn.
Salary range: An industry average would be $100,000-$150,000.
1965-69 Apprentice sheetmetal worker, Malleys-Bahco, Revesby.
1971 Worked as a qualified sheetmetal worker on Sydney building sites for Carrier.
1974 Began own business making garden products.
1978 Ceased operating due to lack of business. Took job as sales rep for Expamet, Revesby, selling metal mesh.
1981 Began three-year part-time management certificate at Liverpool TAFE.
1984 Employed by Alcan Building Products, Girraween. Took up job offer to lecture part-time in management studies at Liverpool TAFE.
1985 Headhunted to work as sales and office administrator for George Ward steel merchants, Smithfield.
1987 Started Advance Metal Products at Ingleburn.
1990 Worked full-time managing the growing business, which by then employed 15 people.
1996 Invested $8 million in sheetmetal manufacturing equipment. Today the company employs 140 people, with international clients in electronics and aerospace.
What now? "I want to continue to grow the business nationally and internationally. There is no limit if you're in the pursuit of excellence."
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald