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Sparking a New InnovationWinner of Australian Industrial Product of the Year, K-TIG has developed an ultra-high-speed, full penetration welding technology that welds up to 100 times faster than conventional welding in materials up to 16mm in thickness, in one pass.
Controlled Fluid Heating: A new and innovative type of instantaneous water heater.
President Interview: An engineer, salesperson and passionate about people.
University of Canterbury Motorsport: Third Year. Third Place.
Excellerate Australia: A small-scale manufacturer rises, producing tough off-road vehicles.
July 2016Issue 10
Representing Mobility Engineers, Since 1927
www.saea.com.au
V E H I C L E T E C H N O L O G Y E N G I N E E R
Print Post: 100019997
Tell us about your experience in the Automotive industry?I've spent the majority of my working life in Automotive tier 1 manufacturing, supplying to Holden, Ford, Toyota and Mitsubishi, starting as a product engineer and developing into senior management roles in engineering, programs, commercial, operations and purchasing sectors.
While studying mechanical engineering I had the chance to complete my Industry Based Learning at BTR Kennon in Preston, Victoria - a part of the Nylex group of automotive companies. We hot-form moulded, trimmed and assembled floor carpets, including extruding the yarn and tufting the carpet all under one roof for the major OEM’s - Ford, Holden, Mitsubishi and Toyota.
For nearly 10 years I worked across a number of the Nylex automotive business divisions - both in Melbourne and Adelaide. Devel-oping, manufacturing and selling various types of automotive trim systems, plastic injection moulded and blow moulded interior and exterior trim products.
My key achievements included the introduction of Australia's first Polyurethane moulded floor carpet and production line for the
Holden VT Commodore, as well as quoting, negotiating, winning new business and program managing the products into production for the Holden GTO Monaro engine covers, the Holden VY and WH instrument facia and console package, the VE Commodore A,B and C pillars, wheelhouse liners and the HVAC ducts.
While a program manager, I was fortunate to be offered the oppor-tunity to work overseas in Asia. Not only did this opportunity allow me to hone my skillset to operate cross culturally, but it also enhanced my communication skills to ensure successful and profitable outcomes for new product programs.
I was then fortunate to work for Plexicor Australia, a leading Tier 1 manufacturer and supplier of interior and exterior formed and moulded products. And to work with a highly successful senior management team responsible for rapid year on year growth in such a highly competitive market. A year after joining Plexicor, the business was acquired by Futuris Automotive, the largest Tier 1 automotive manufacturer and assembler in Australia. Futuris designs, manufac-tures and assembles Just in Time (JIT) seating systems as well as door trims and headliners for Ford and Holden.
When at Futuris I was fortunate to work in a business focused on continued growth that didn't see distance or countries as an inhibitor. While l was there, Futuris grew its footprint in China, set up plants in Thailand and the USA supplying global OEMs.
What are the important skills, and attitudes you gained from the automotive industry?Automotive is an industry where just one miss, disruption or delay severely impacts productivity and impacts the efforts and rewards of the 10’s of thousands of stake-holders in the manufacturing supply pipeline. I gained many skills, which included multi-tasking under pressure, negotiation against global competition and tight margins, prioritising, problem solving, team work, the importance of getting it right first time and ensuring that it remains right to the last.
The key to profitable and efficient manufacturing is the 80% of activities that occur up front; understanding work targets, the results that are required in 3-6-9 months’ time, perfecting the design for manufacture (DFMEAs and PFMEAs) and creating the all-important accelerated perfor-mance and design validation, and supplier evaluations. Getting these
In recent publications, the Victorian Government's Department of Education and Training (DET) and SAE-A's Industry Programs Working Group (IPWG) has been publicising the successful transitions of engineers from automotive into alternative industries.
The IPWG was established to provide specialised support for Automotive Engineers directly impacted by the imminent closure of the Australian automotive OEM assembly plants.
The IPWG was privileged to interview Brett Hernardi about his transition experience.
Industry Transition Success Story With Brett Hernardi
15VTEwww.saea.com.au
Special FeatureControlled Fluid Heating |
preparations right ensures that production runs more smoothly, whilst staying within the budgeted operating margins (even with the most difficult of product designs and supply pipelines).
Above all else, being immersed in the automotive industry taught me the importance of effective team work. Producing a vehicle involves multiple teams with diverse ranges of skills and experience to manage and deliver complex products into a high volume manufacture; with complex design interfaces, convo-luted and multiple supply pipelines, several tiers deep. The challenge (and the enjoyment) is in keeping the teams focused on the outcomes for today and the next month, the pilot builds and then final production.
No matter how much good work is done, there's always room for improvement from design, manufacturing and supply, to quality, performance and cost.
Tell us about your current role at Microheat?I am the General Manager Opera-tions at MicroHeat Technologies. We have recently commercialised the world's first electrode water heating system, the Continuous Flow Electric Water Heater (CFEWH), to the Australian market and are now poised to export the product to other regions such as the US, Asia and South America.
The globally patented, direct energy transfer technology, owned, developed and manufactured in Australia, changes the way water is heated, through controlled energy delivery, while eliminating the inherent failure mechanisms that exist in traditional heat exchanger methods.
We have taken the first technology application from prototype, to certification, to manufacturing and then supplied units into homes and businesses, delivering highly efficient, reliable and safe hot water every day, across the Australian market.
In addition, we are looking for OEM partners in the automotive industry to apply our technology to glycol fluid heating systems across all combustion and electric vehicles. This technology can deliver higher efficiencies than existing systems, with a smaller footprint and lower mass.
How has your experience in the automotive industry helped you in your current career?The many skills I have gained from Automotive are embedded into all my day to day activities:
Commercial negotiation: Under-standing the difference and long term effects one dollar can have on the profit line and how currency exchange rates affect commercial outcomes.
Competitive market analysis: Understanding what competitors are offering, the technology cost and quality gaps that exist in a highly competitive global market.
Identifying productivity improve-ments: Finding opportunities for improvement at every level of the production process, which continues through the product’s life cycle.
Program management: Under-standing the influences the timeline, the team and third parties play on a product’s development from concept to delivery; it’s the unexpected and overlooked factors that can and will catch you out.
Design for manufacture: Getting this right, up-front, improves the ease of manufacture and helps to reduce complexity and avoid costly failures.
Quality: A culture from the start, not to be left to the end.
Monitoring the supply chain: Sometimes it’s the unseen suppliers, 2-3 tiers deep that may cause the biggest delays and costly repairs to a product’s production and the seemingly easiest compo-nents are often those forgotten.
Using the right procedure: Utilising the best fitting product development and production procedures, are fundamental to properly managing the multiple products, teams, third party suppliers and stakeholders interfacing everyday in production and projects.
Focus on the customer: Commu-nication is critical and especially important, when there is potential impact to their plans.
Across the Automotive industry, my experience has shown me that every manufacturer and supplier is passionate about the same thing - to produce their best product, at their best price and deliver the best experience to all customers. With all the friends and acquaintances I have made through this journey whether we were customers, suppliers or competitors, we all wanted one thing: vehicles to be built, shipped and sold in this great land.
Making products in other indus-tries is not really that different and the skills learned in automotive are highly transferable and highly sought after and regarded.
Bosch Motorsport. Race components for more than a century! We develop and manufacture motorsport electronics and motorsport components suited to all levels, from weekend racer to Formula 1.
We offer our customers a comprehensive product portfolio, as well as tailored engineering solutions, for a variety of automobile and motorcycle applications. Our customers benefit from the Bosch Group’s systems expertise, as well as from its integration know-how as one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers.
We deliver our products to complete racing series’, as well as individual teams. For example, for the DTM series we have exclusively supplied the engine control unit and the digital display used in the cockpit since 2000. We are also the sole supplier of electrical and electronic components for Formula 3 and the U.S. Grand Am racing series. Moreover, many teams competing in the Le Mans 24-hour and numerous other races rely on our systems and components.
Contact Motorsport Email: [email protected]
Bosch Automotive Technology is responsible for developing innovative components, systems and functions in the fields of vehicle safety, vehicle dynamics and driver assistance as well as non-automotive applications.
We specialize in delivering turnkey solutions from quotation through to mass production and have capabilities in robust embedded software, CAN, network protocols, customer specific application and sensing technologies ranging from radar to acceleration sensors. With a global customer base, having engineered projects for Europe, North America, China, Japan, Malaysia and Korea, we can offer solutions to an array of industries.
Bosch Australia’s Chassis Control Systems Engineering team provides specialist engineering services:
3 Vehicle ADR testing to ensure ESP® systems meet the Australian Design Rule guidelines
3 Measurement services for vehicle modifiers to assess impact of changes on OEM safety systems
3 Motorcycle ABS and Stability Control
3 Rail vehicle braking and detection systems
3 Collision avoidance in mining, off road, materials handling
Bosch Australia’s Automotive Electronics Engineering team provides specialist engineering services:
3 Hardware, Mechanical & Software Design
3 Engineering Validation Services – EMC (with NATA accreditation available on request), Electrical Interference Testing, Environmental Testing (temperature, humidity, salt spray, dust), Mechanical Testing (vibration, shock), Metrology and Materials Analysis (inc. X-Ray & Scanning Electron Microscope)
3 Sample Shop – surface-mount technology, selective solder, single pin insertion, measurement & test
Contact Automotive Electronics Email: [email protected]
Contact Chassis Control Systems Email: [email protected]
Product Categories:3 Engine Control Units3 Injection & Ignition components3 Alternators & Starters3 Sensors3 Brake Control3 Displays3 Data Logging Systems3 Software3 Accessories
Bosch Automotive TechnologyDeveloping innovative solutions
16 July 2016
Special Feature | Controlled Fluid Heating
