First Time Around
Nick
Experience Information
Employer: Best Metal Products
Job Title: Intern
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Received Credit: Yes
Paid: Yes
Abroad: No
Description of the Organization
Best Metal Products is a leader in the design, prototyping, and manufacturing of hydraulic cylinders for the industrial and mobile markets. For over 60 years BMP has been delivering the highest quality custom hydraulic cylinders.
Description of the Tasks/Projects Completed
I had three major projects during the semester along with many other small ones. My first project was to fix the steel plug problem. Some customers request steel plugs which cost about $0.75 per plug and some cylinders require up to four. All other customers get plastic cap plugs which are fractions of a penny. My job was to find the jobs that required steel plugs and add them to the bill of material so the inventory was correct and our costs were accurate. My next job was to try and standardize the tangs. First I had to clean up the descriptions and dimensions so the parts could be easily searched. The overall goal was to find parts that are used repeatedly and have high usage. Out of about 370 tangs we have, about 40 of them consisted of 70% of the tangs used in the last year. By making these parts standard we can order larger amounts and save money making less custom parts. Another benefit was to have a list of parts that can be made from a standard part which will add to the total usage of the standard part. My final project of the semester was to design a torque multiplier or a "Nut Buster". Basically we will be having some large cylinders come through the shop and we needed a device that will be able to torque the nut on and off. By bench-marking I was able to find a design another company had used and was able to make a similar design, why reinvent the wheel was my though. So by using two cylinder and a ratcheting system we can create about 26,000 foot pounds of torque. This system is mounted to a 14 foot long table with adjustable v-block rests and a brace to hold the other end of the cylinder. Very fun project to end the semester and it was nice being trusted with designing a machine we have never made before.
Skills/Knowledge Gained Through The Experience
I know a lot about hydraulic cylinders, how they are built, how they go together, and how they work. I gained a lot of SolidWorks skills since it was used extensively on my final project. I also got a feeling for the professional atmosphere and how business is handled.
Favorite Part of the Experience
My favorite part of this semester besides meeting a ton of nice and interesting people was working on the "Nut Buster". This was my favorite because I got to design something on one here had ever built. I got to think through the processes of design, assembly issues, and cost effectiveness. I felt like they trusted me to design this not only to test my skills but to see if I could work through some of the design processes. When I was wrapping up the design we had another experienced employee look at some things I had not considered which helped me in the long run understand it is not just about designing it. The design is nice but sometimes you need to think about practicality and machining and sometimes small alignment issues can cause major issues. It was great to design it and have a review of it so I could better the design and learn from it. I am hoping to see this machine fully functional when I come back for my second co-op semester.
How the Experience Influenced Future Career Goals
This experience had made me want to do something that will allow me to have options. I do not want to be stuck in a chair in front of a computer for the rest of my career. I would like to have the option to get up and do some hands-on work from time to time.