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The Manufacturing Engineering sector, July 15, 1980.
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A junior planner in Dept. 623 was Harry Szkwarek, a 1971 graduate of Red River Community College's two-year Mechanical Engineering program. He joined Bristol Aerospace in November, 1973. Harry felt he owed a lot to Dad, and appreciated his mentorship. He posted a nice tribute to Dad's online obituary, identifying himself as a "friend" rather than as a "co-worker":
I had the privilege of working with Murray at Bristol Aerospace from 1978 till the time of his retirement. As a young / green Engineering technologist starting with Bristol Murray became my mentor and helped me develop my trade as a manufacturing planner by sharing his wealth of experience. He was a person who was patient and respectful with anyone he was dealing with and was well respected by his working colleagues. Thru the working years Murray and I became good friends and shared our common factor of being parents of twins and continued to be friends during his retirement years whenever there was an opportunity and at functions, other Bristol retirements and occasional meetings in malls etc. If there was a person on this earth who should still be with us Murray was that person because he touched many people with his happy disposition on life, his many stories, and willingness to help anyone who would ask. I am thankful for having the privilege of knowing Murray and will miss him and my sympathy goes to the Fraser family for their loss.
-- Posted by: Harry Szkwarek (friend) on: May 01, 2013
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L-R: Bill Milne, Murray Fraser, Harry Szkwarek, Stewart Janke
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c. 1979. Bristol earned a solid reputation for its manufacture of turbine engine components. This exhaust frame was part of a GE F404 engine used in McDonnell Douglas F18 jet fighters.
L-R: W. Green, D. Wiebe, P. Verbeek, M. Fraser, E. Wall, J. Kurk. In front: K. Urich. |
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| L-R: Bob Power, Jack Sears, Bill Milne, Stewart Janke, Murray Fraser, Frank Reardon |
Harry Szwarek was grateful to have learned so much from Murray Fraser. The job of planner was not an easy one, and the stakes were high. The job description was a daunting nine pages long. Dad's copy below is likely from 1963, when he was promoted to Senior Manufacturing Planner.
In September, 1973 Bristol Aerospace Limited introduced a Salary Administration Plan for salaried staff like Dad. The plan's intent was "to ensure that salary Bristol Aerospace staff are paid on a fair and consistent basis" and its objective was "to recognize the contribution of each individual/position to the corporate objective." It was hoped that by maintaining equity and relating salaries to the local and national employment market, the Plan would "recognize an individual employee's growth in his position, exceptional performance, and the potential for greater responsibility in progressively senior positions."
The Plan's evaluation process included a questionnaire, interview, and preparation of a position summary. An internal comparison with other positions within the Company examined scope and impact, knowledge and skills, and difficulty and complexity. The position summaries would be reviewed annually to keep descriptions and salary ranges up-to-date.
Dad received the questionnaire in July, 1973, and answered as follows.
A DESCRIBE THE SCOPE AND IMPACT OF YOUR POSITION:
1) Identify by position title the people you supervise (directly on a full-time basis and on a work-assignment basis). Describe the purpose of each position and their contribution to the activities of the company.
Usually none, although a Senior Production Planner may have one or more junior planners assigned to assist him through the more active phase of a new job.
2) How many people do you supervise through subordinates?
None in the usual manner, but a great many people are directed by a Planner through the media of prime planning instructor sheets -- Production Order Cards, Tool Fabrication Orders, etc.
3) In what ways do you influence policy, objectives, programs or operations? (Provide 1-3 current examples.)
A Senior Planner is often consulted very early in a program; e.g. G.E. Lynn may send in drawings of small jet engine parts with a request for quotation. Our contracts people consult our Production Engineering and Manufacturing Planning supervisors for an appraisal of our capabilities to manufacture the parts. The planner assists in the preliminary decision -- to bid or not to bid -- by studying the supplied drawings and specifications, and reporting on such things as equipment and process capabilities and additional requirements.
A planner's major work, of course, begins when a bid to manufacture has been accepted, and the objective is to produce and deliver to schedule has been committed.
The L1011 'S' duct is an example of a current sophisticated aircraft structure planned and manufactured at Bristol, Winnipeg.
Another example of planning service to top management decision makers was a Manufacturing Feasibility Report on stator vanes for G.E. jet engines -- a high quantity, high precision type of detail. Our study indicated a capital equipment requirement of approximately $920,000 for one size vane only! Changes in vane design, e.g., to a vented precision casting, or political pressures, could have left us with a million dollar 'white elephant'. Our management wisely decided not to venture into this highly specialized branch of manufacturing activity.
4) What financial responsibilities do you have for the operations within your department and what decisions do you make that affect the financial position of the company?
Decisions made by the Planning Department -- Tooling and Manufacturing Methodology, have profound effect on the efficiency of relevant manufacturing operations and the veritable profit or loss of the corporate venture. "Bottom line consciousness" is not the concern of the accounting department alone.
Tool expenditure should be kept within the estimated budget, but total part quantity, required production rate, and quality control are all factors the planner must evaluate in selecting the optimum tool design parameters.
5) Describe the authority you have to act independently in the various aspects of your position (e.g. technical, supervisory, or managerial or administrative).
The individual planner is expected to direct the technical -- tool design and production methods, managerial and administrative -- preparation of Tool Fabrication Orders, Production Orders, associated documentation logical progress and sequence to meet or better the schedule requirements of a program, with the concurrence and guidance of Planning and Engineering supervisors.
6) What possibilities exist for error in your position and what are the specific consequences of error?
There are many possibilities for planning error, e.g. an error of calculation, whether of typographical or judgment origin, on a Production Order could result in the manufacture of scrap parts. If the scrapped material is titanium, high nickel alloy, or other 'exotics' commonly used at Bristol, the value in material loss, plus the labor invested, could reach a shocking figure. A more serious result of such loss could be the delay of sub and prime contract commitments, pending replacement of material and labor.
The specific consequences of errors, in addition to the above, could be a request that the planner take his talent(?) in hand and seek his fortune elsewhere.
7) Give examples of typical decisions that are made in your position. List in order of importance.
Typical decisions made by a manufacturing planner, in order of importance:
a.) The selection of tools for a new manufacturing program. "Make or buy" decisions.
b.) The selection of plant equipment to be utilized -- (existing or additional).
c.) The direction of sequencing, (PERT -- Program Evaluation and Review Technique basics) to ensure that the delivery schedule is met. Coordination of tool issue and priority, Experimental and Development work, Prototyping proving of details and assemblies, alternate "back to the drawing board" schemes, shop liaison to "make it work."
8) Describe your major internal and external contacts with individuals, organizations, etc.
A planner is occasionally sent by Bristol management on trips to other firms such as General Electric, De Havilland, Boeing, Lockheed, Edo, or Rolls-Royce for technical liaison. A planner may also meet with people from such 'primes', whether resident (e.g. Quality Assurance) or visiting -- Management Engineering or Contracts representatives.
More commonly, a planner must cooperate with his supervisor, Contracts, Engineering, Estimating, Production Control, Stores, Tool Build, and Production shop people in his day-to-day routine.
B WHAT KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS ARE REQUIRED TO EFFECTIVELY CARRY OUT YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES?
1) What formal education and training would a replacement in your position require today?
An aspiring Senior Manufacturing Planner should have a minimum of Senior Matriculation academic achievement, with a good record in Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics and English subjects. Education as an Engineering Technologist would be a desirable asset, as would experience elsewhere as a manufacturing planner in the Aerospace Industry. Training or experience in the related shop skills -- sheet metal work, machining, welding, chemical treatments, plastic, cement and paint work is very desirable.
2) Define the 'know how' that should have been acquired through experience by a replacement in your position, i.e. technical knowledge; occupational knowledge; management skills; knowledge of this industry or company.
In addition to the above background, he must be trained in the specifics of Bristol Wpg. operational procedures and equipment, and in the particular specifications of the "majors" (e.g. Lockheed) drawings, processes, quality assurance requirements, etc., with which he maybe involved.
3) What abilities are important to achieving results in your position, e.g. the ability to communicate, to motivate others, to persuade, to analyze, to create new ideas or concepts, to make judgments, etc.
The constantly changing technology of the 'avant garde' aerospace industry requires the ability and desire to keep pace with new developments, the intelligence to select or design the optimum tools and methods. Consideration must be given to the quality, tolerances, and delivery (first off commitment, max rate, total quantity) requirements of the manufacturing project. The planner must coordinate the effort, skill and ability of many people involved in a project, to maintain the Bristol reputation of high quality products delivered on schedule.
C DESCRIBE THE DIFFICULTY AND COMPLEXITY OF YOUR POSITION
1) What type of planning is involved in your position, e.g. is planning of a short term or long term nature? Do you determine schedules for courses of action to be taken? Is planning you do based largely facts established by research or on your own judgment, and how significant are unknown factors in your planning?
See reply to question A 7) for a brief outline of the type of manufacturing planning operations required at Bristol.
Planning methodology must conform to the requirements of the drawing, and associated specifications, processes, and treatments. Such mandatory methods may have been established by research and development departments of the 'Prime' contractor. For example, Lockheed's specifications for fabricating titanium alloy provide us with guidelines for the forming, heat treating, machining, welding, etc., of this difficult to work with 'space age' metal.
2) Are you involved in the creation of new concepts, or in the development of new applications for established concepts? (Give examples)
Notwithstanding the information provided by Lockheed on fabrication of titanium, problems have arisen which required a local solution, e.g. new concepts in welding technology -- special joint preparation to eliminate excess porosity in T.I.G. welds; mechanical cleaning before welding, in lieu of prohibitively expensive and hazardous nitric-hydrofluoric acid tank dipping; new techniques in hot sizing large titanium parts in existing stress relieving furnace.
Another example of a new planning concept was the improved method and new dies designed and developed for the production of the swirl cup (J85 annular combustion liner), resulting in a unit standard time 1/25 of the 'old' method.
3) What kind of pressures and disruptions do you experience?
It is part of the responsibility of a planner to 'aid and succour' to the best of his ability, all and sundry who come to him for advice and assistance. Demands on a planner's time are unfortunately heaviest during the 'heat' of a project, when he has the greatest work load at his own desk. The impending delivery date is a pressure on all concerned with a project, and progress analysis, reports, and meetings provide continuing interruptions. Necessary consultation with engineering, tool design, contracts, production control, estimating, quality control, scheduling, tool build, test lab, inspection, and various shop people demand considerable planning time.
Recorded checks of 'unsolicited' interruptions (June 8/67 and Dec. 11/69) revealed an average interference in this planner's routine every 11 or 12 minutes -- often enough to make concentration difficult.
4) Give examples of the major difficulties and problems in your position and the usual methods of solution.
Major difficulties and problems (in addition to the preceding) are the daily routine of a planner. A recent problem concerned the disposition of a quantity of nome honeycomb strip for the L1011 RA519. The strip had been ordered to the neat proven width of 1 1/8 + 1/32 tol. Hexcel, the supplier, offered a unilateral tolerance +1/4~0, which was accepted by Bristol purchasing. The problem was not just how to cut honeycomb to a closer tolerance than the maker could supply, but to accurately remove such a small surplus on this flexible material. Collaboration of planning, tool build and department 211 solved the problem using a special set up of the 'valve stem' rebate cutter.
Another example of a problem referred to planning concerned the forming of seal retainer, part #1541441 (L1011). The press form die designed and developed for this job produced too high a percentage of malformed parts. Straightening parts after forming, while possible, was too time consuming and costly. Forming study revealed that parts with minimum distortion after heat treat, were formed by the die to the correct contour. The solution then, was to prevent or correct the distortion. The latter, in the form of a roll-straightening operation, proved to be the optimum solution.
A major difficulty for a planner, facing such a problem as the above seal forming, is to keep his 'cool' and objectivity in the face of disaster and criticism, and select the best 'way out' without panic, bias, or false pride. Sometimes, an honest "painful reappraisal," indicates a scheme should be abandoned and a new 'back to the drawing board' approach taken.
D SUMMARIZE IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE THE MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES OF YOUR POSITION.
1.) It is often the responsibility of the planner to study drawings and specifications submitted with a request for quotation, and advise management of new equipment and/or processes that would be required. (See A 3 for further detail.)
2.) The project planner is responsible for planning the methods to produce quality hardware in time to meet the 'first off' deadline at a production rate to meet or better the projected schedule requirements, and at a cost no greater than that already committed by estimating.
3.) The planner must outline and scheme design the tooling requirements for the project. He must schedule the sequence of tool design and tool build such that tools are available in a logical sequence to suit the part schedule target dates.
4.) The planner must be capable of 'trouble shooting', finding solutions to problems that arise in the development phase of new manufacture, and promptly correcting and improving the methods to keep the job moving.
5.) The planner is responsible for the 'paperwork', Production Orders, Tool Fabrication Orders, Production Order Amendments, Rejection Rework Orders, Technical Queries, Tooling and Progress Records, etc. The five "C's" of business letter writing -- clear, correct, concise, complete, courteous -- apply to planning communications both written and verbal. Parkinson (of Parkinson's Law) has stated that "the effectiveness of communication is inversely proportional to the length of the message." After consideration of that sobering thought, this would seem a good place to conclude this document.
