Tag: Apex Tool Group

Today was my last day at Apex Tool Group. I started the day off with Ms.Stone — we visited Mr. Scott Kolodziejski, who I spent the second part of the day with. We returned to her office, where she organized and planned out topics and things she would have to work on during her business trip next week. She also showed me some of her spreadsheets that she had created. She taught me about the different kinds of information she had to keep and organize — costs, parts, tests, and more. She also showed me a presentation created by the sales team, who went out and interviewed prospective customers, getting information on what things they liked and didn’t like. It was very interesting to see the different kinds of information she had to consider and fix to create the best possible product. She then took me to the warehouse, and showed me some of the products they had created and tested. It was really fun to think about the different components of all the products — how they could be fixed, how they were beneficial, what they had to change and work around. She also took me to the packaging part of the warehouse, where I was able to see all of the conveyor belts and machines that process and sort packages that are received and delivered from the warehouse. Before lunch, I had some spare time to give out thank you notes to everyone who worked with me. I then went for lunch at Mr. Dumpling with Matthew, Cecil and another one of our office neighbors (Ms. Stone sadly wasn’t able to come).

After lunch, we returned to the office and Ms. Stone took me to Mr. Kolodziejski. He toured me around his lab and taught me about the different testing equipment — what they do, how they work, and how they are useful. Some of their testing equipment was created by the workers of the company themselves, so I can’t share pictures of them, but I got to see and learn about a lot of their different machines. I particularly enjoyed learning about their salt fog chamber (I have attached a picture of it below), which tests the corrosion of their different metals and products. Mr. Kolodziejski taught me about the importance of limiting the variables while testing, and explained to me how their machinery (for example, their very precise and complicated drop test machine) ensures the accuracy of their tests. I also enjoyed visiting their Met lab, where their materials are tested on a more microscopic level. I learned about some of their machines that take microscopic pictures of their material, and then allow them to measure the distance between different points on the image. I also learned about one of their machines that tests for what materials actually make up the product by creating a spark and analyzing the particles that come from the spark. I found these machines very fascinating— it’s impressive that the company takes such small details into account when they are making their products. We returned to the main lab, where I was able to watch some of the workers testing and inspecting their products. I was also able to help them with a hardness test — I had to place the product onto the machine and tighten the hold until the machine gave the reading. It was very interesting to see this more active and tangible side of engineering — I enjoyed watching them test and work out different problems to look for ways to improve their products.

I returned to the office with Ms. Stone for the last time. Ms. Stone gave me some final advice on finding jobs and choosing career paths before we parted. Thank you for everything, Ms. Stone! Matthew, Mr. Wilson and I took pictures, and Mr. Wilson told us about how he first got into mechanical engineering and why he loves it. Thank you, Mr. Wilson! I then left Apex Tool Group for the last time. I am so grateful for this opportunity — I really enjoyed shadowing in and exploring the many different different departments within the company, and seeing the wide reaches of engineering in real life. I really thank my many mentors at the company for teaching me about their jobs and sharing their stories.

Today, Ms. Stone took me to Ms. Jessica Greene, a packaging engineer. She showed me some videos about packaging programs being taught at Michigan State (where she went for college) and Clemson. She also talked to me about her experience interning and working at different places as a packaging engineer— she has worked for General Motors, BMW, Rubbermaid and many other companies. One of the most important things I learned from her is the necessity of organization, especially as an engineer. She shared with me her carefully created excel spreadsheets for her schedules and projects — I certainly hope to one day reach her level of organization! She showed me some of her responsibilities and challenges as an engineer: designing dielines (packaging templates), choosing the best material for the packaging, simulating and inspecting package transport, communicating with and combining ideas from the many different departments within the company. After showing me some of her dielines, she took me to the design department, where I shadowed Ms. Christina Opel. I was able to see and better understand the design aspect of packaging. She was working on printing out different labels for some new products— some of her main responsibilities are drawing icons and designing the packages in accordance with the needs of the packaging and marketing departments. Along with designing the packages, Ms. Opel also had to form models by hand, printing out the labels, cutting them, and pasting them onto foam or poster board to manipulate them into a shape similar to what is actually created and sold. Ms. Greene then took me with her to pick up a package she had received from China— she had to check the products and packaging. She gave me a lot of useful advice for finding internships and exploring different careers to find a niche. She then gathered her colleague Zach and manager Mr. Steve Hoskins, and had them introduce themselves and tell their stories of how they got into packaging and how they ended up working for Apex Tool Group. I am very grateful for all of the advice she gave me, and for everything she did to show me the different aspects of her job and different journeys taken to find jobs in general. I was very impressed by the wide range of departments she had to work with, and by the intricacies involved in packaging — choosing materials, designing the shapes/types of packages, and organizing the order in which packages are sent and processed.

After lunch, I met up with Ms. Donna Armocida, who is a project manager. She has a lot of different responsibilities, and mainly works on organizing and setting the pace of the different projects she oversees. She first gave me an overview of how the projects at Apex Tool Group are organized and pushed forward — with different tasks that need to be completed by specific dates, and presented to management/administration. She also taught me about the different challenges that a project may face, how that affects the schedule, and how she would try to overcome them. She gave me a lot of insight into how the wheels of the company turn — I was very impressed by the level of organization and communication that she preserves and supports. To help me understand the many complicated components of the schedule, she gave me multiple examples of different projects she has worked on or is currently working on — I was truly blown away by how much work she has done and how many products she has helped create! After showing me some of the products and projects being created/processed in the company, she took me to two meetings for two different projects she was supervising. I was able to see and better understand the challenges that come up in engineering and business in general— especially in international relations. I enjoyed learning more about engineering and its ties with business and communication. I was really impressed by Ms. Armocida and her work — I hope all of her projects work out smoothly!

A lot of what I saw/learned/worked with involved products and information that I shouldn’t publish online— I instead have attached pictures of the building (which I haven’t posted a picture of yet), and some snapshots of the videos I watched with Ms. Greene.

Continue reading Day 3 at Apex Tool Group

Today, I spent the day exclusively shadowing my main mentor Ms. Heather Stone. I started the day off checking the details of some of the drawings — checking that the gages were correct for each part and component. Ms. Stone was working on placing a label on her product. She was fiddling with different colors, sizes, and placements. As a quick break, Ms. Stone took me into the warehouse area, where we met Matthew and Mr. Wilson walking back to the office. They made a U-turn to show us what they had been looking at — the old engineering drawings from the company records. It was very interesting to look through the drawings that had been made by hand — especially after working on the CAD software and creating computerized images. After looking around, Ms. Stone took me back to the office and brought me with her into a phone meeting. Their meeting was very interesting and enlightening. I must admit that I didn’t understand a lot of it — due to the advanced lingo and professional discussions– but I was able to see a surprising side of engineering. This was the first of a handful of different phone meetings Ms. Stone had throughout the day, and I was able to see the more collaborative and business-y side of engineering. I was once again impressed by the wide range of different skills and responsibilities that engineers have. For example, Ms. Stone also had to book a flight to Tennessee for the next week — I learned that she travels fairly often (every few months) for her job. At the end of the day, I helped Ms. Stone edit and fix typos from the drawings that we had marked earlier in the day. She also worked on completing tasks that came up in her meetings — updating information on costs and materials, talking with people in different departments/levels, completing and sending out different visuals for her products. Shadowing Ms. Stone, I was able to better understand the daily life of an engineer. I am incredibly grateful that Ms. Stone let me follow her and listen in to her meetings, explaining terms and discussions that I didn’t understand. Thank you, Ms. Stone!

Additionally, throughout the day I was very fortunate to receive some cool gifts and goodies. Mr. Thompson dropped by to give me the completely finished 3D print and metal carving of the flanged nut we created yesterday. Thank you again, Mr. Thompson! I also received my own craftsman caliper. I was thrilled, being able to check the real measurements of the flanged nut models (they were pretty exact!). I also received a Husky cap from Ms. Yessie Ortiz, who is in charge of the mail and company store — thank you so much! It was a very rewarding day in many ways. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to see the everyday routine of an engineer with Ms. Stone and being able to feel like a real engineer with my own caliper. Once again, I am very grateful for these opportunities given to me by Apex Tool Group and their kind employees.

 

Today was my first day shadowing at the Apex Tool Group. I was a bit nervous at first, but after meeting many of the nice people working there, I am now only excited for the days to come! Matthew and I started the day off with a tour around the building. We got to greet many people working in different departments — there were departments for engineering, design and packaging, machinery, human resources, management, and more. I was very impressed by how massive the building (and company) was, with so many different people with different specialties working together to create their products. After the tour, I shadowed my main mentor, Ms. Heather Stone, as she was checking the labels and information on drawings for her products. I was very happy to be able to help — we had to look for typos and spots where information was missing or the drawings were overlapping the boundaries. Ms. Stone also checked over the dimensions and labels on the drawings. She very kindly (and patiently) taught me how to fix the mistakes on their main CAD software, Creo Parametric. We then went out for lunch at Panera with Mr. Welch, Matthew, and Matthew’s mentor Mr. Cecil Wilson. After lunch, I met up with Mr. Bob Thompson, a Senior Pro E Technician. He is an expert at using CAD software — he taught me how to create 2D and 3D drawings from scratch. We started by measuring all the dimensions of a flange nut. Mr. Thompson then showed me how to create a 2D drawing of the side view of the nut. We then moved onto the 3D software, which is much faster and easier to use. While I say that it was “easier” I simply mean in comparison to the 2D software — creating drawings is incredibly difficult and intricate work. Drawing the flange nut would be considered easy and basic work by Mr. Thompson, but I would have taken days trying to do it by myself. Luckily, Mr. Thompson speedily got the work done, creating the drawing I have attached below. While the attached drawing seems to be 2D, it is actually 3 different perspectives of the 3D drawing Mr. Thompson created. I contributed in only small parts, but still felt incredibly proud of and amazed by the end product — to me, the drawing is a work of art. After creating the drawing, Mr. Thompson showed me how to format the drawing to send off and be 3D printed. We moved to the machinery room, where Brett adjusted the 3D model and simulated its creation with the metal carving machine. Mr. Thompson also started the 3D printing of a plastic version of the product — created with layers of resin. Brett started the process of carving the flanged nut from a block of steel — I attached a video of the machinery at work (it’s very cool). Sadly, we had to cut the printing and carving short, but I was still able to see most of the final product. The 3D printed nut was also mostly finished, so Mr. Thompson rinsed it off with a high-pressure rinser (which took off the outside layer of resin) and gave it to me along with the drawing we had created. Mr. Thompson showed me one of the most beautiful aspects of mechanical engineering — seeing your ideas form into 3D models, and then seeing those 3D models built as real and functional products. I learned so much from Mr. Thompson and everyone I met and talked with throughout the day. I would definitely consider pursuing mechanical engineering to someday create more CAD designs — thank you so much, Mr. Thompson! I am very excited to see what other skills I may learn in the days to come.

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