Obtaining resources for engineering activities
Overview
This standard identifies the competences you need to obtain resources, such as materials, drawings, people, equipment and documentation, for the implementation of engineering activities, in accordance with approved procedures. You will be required to apply appropriate methods and approaches for specifying and obtaining the resources. You will also be required to highlight any deviations from agreed schedules, to the relevant people.
Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for obtaining resources for the engineering activities, and to report any problems that you cannot personally resolve, or are outside your permitted authority, to the relevant people. You will be expected to work with a minimum of supervision, taking personal responsibility for your own actions and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.
You will be expected to have underpinning knowledge that will include evaluation methods for assessing the operational requirements. Your underpinning knowledge will provide a good understanding of your work and will provide an informed approach to obtaining resources for the specified engineering activities. You will understand the engineering processes within your area of responsibility, including quality assurance, resource management, and problem-solving principles and procedures, in adequate depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out your activities to the required standard.
You will be aware of any company, legislative or regulatory health, safety and environmental requirements applicable to the engineering activities for which the resources are being obtained. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout and will understand the responsibility you owe to yourself and others in the workplace.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- work safely at all times, complying with health and safety legislation and other relevant regulations, directives and guidelines
- assess the operational requirements and any factors that could affect their achievement
- determine and define the resources required to implement the agreed operational methods and procedures
- consult with all relevant people on the resources that are available
- obtain the required resources using the appropriate organisational procedures
- resolve any issues relating to the resources in the appropriate manner
- record information on the resources in the appropriate information systems
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- how to access information on health and safety regulations and guidelines relating to the engineering activities to be used and resources required
- the implications of not taking account of legislation, regulations, standards and guidelines when determining resource requirements
- how to obtain information on the engineering activities and resource requirements, and the type of information that is available (such as customer requirements and instructions, quality control requirements, product specification, manufacturing methods)
- how to check the validity of documentation used in the resource planning activities
- the organisational procedures that should be used when obtaining resources
- how to access and use the appropriate information and documentation systems
- organisation procedures for access to purchase orders and other relevant technical documentation
- the types of resource that will need to be determined and obtained for the planned engineering activities (such as people with the right skills, materials, equipment, documentation, space required, support services, utilities, safety equipment, transportation, customer consent)
- how to assess the need for resources
- the main types of resources involved with different types of engineering activity, and the typical timescales for providing them
- the factors to be considered when determining resources, especially those covering working conditions and safety
- how to verify that the resources identified are suitable, and are available within or to the organisation
- the issues that could occur when obtaining resources, and how to resolve them
- the obvious (and hidden) costs of obtaining resources, especially those that have to be contracted out
- the development of the resource documentation (to include both master documents and working instructions, along with their purpose, content and status)
- how to prepare the resource plans (to include the structure, style, clarity and compliance with relevant organisational standards)
- the process used in the organisation to validate the resource plans produced
- the procedures for changing the resource requirements, and why control procedures are used
- the importance of maintaining records on resource requirements; what needs to be recorded and where records are kept
- the different ways of presenting information to different people
- the importance of providing the right information at the right time
- the roles and responsibilities of key personnel in your organisation
- problems that can occur when obtaining resources, and how these problems can be overcome
- the extent of your own authority, and whom you should report to in the event of problems that you cannot resolve
- the sources of technical expertise if you have problems you cannot resolve
- the organisational procedures for providing information to different people
Scope/range
Carry out all of the following when determining and obtaining the required resources:
- use the correct issue of company information
- check that all essential information and data needed to determine the resources is available
- collect relevant information on the engineering requirements
- use the information collected to determine the resources required
- identify potential problems which may influence the provision of the resources
- check that the appropriate resources will be available at the time they are required
- ensure that health and safety regulations, environmental issues, safe working practices are taken into account
- ensure that resource requirements are met
Determine and obtain resources for one of the following engineering activities:
- drawing/design activities (such as mechanical, electrical/electronic, motor vehicle, aerospace, marine)
- manufacturing activities (such as machining, detail fitting, fabrication of components, pressing)
- material processing activities (such as heat treatment, casting, injection moulding, purification)
- composite manufacture (such as wet lay-up, pre-preg laminating, resin infusion, blow moulding)
- finishing activities (such as stripping finishes, painting, plating, anodising, veneering, lacquering)
- assembly activities (such as mechanical, structural, fluid power, electrical/electronic, woodworking)
- installation activities (such as mechanical, electrical/electronic, avionic, structural, environmental equipment)
- plant and equipment (such as site preparation, plant layout, equipment changeover, equipment replacement)
- equipment capability studies/performance measurement
- movement of materials, components or finished goods
- engineering safety audits or risk assessments
- business improvement activities
- quality control/quality assurance
- maintenance activities
- modification and repair activities
- commissioning/decommissioning
- testing and trialling
- research and development
- engineering support services
Obtain relevant information from the appropriate information source, including two of the following:
- work orders
- purchase orders
- plans/designs
- contracts
- schedules
- planning documentation
- quality standards
- standard operating procedures
- equipment or materials supplier information
- production control documentation
- customer requirements
Define the resources required, to include four of the following, and check their availability and suitability:
- the documentation to be used (such as drawings, specifications, quality assurance, surveys)
- the people required with the necessary skills and knowledge
- the space/work area in which to carry out the engineering activities
- the raw materials required (such as type and specification of material, form of material, amount of material)
- consumable materials required (such as welding accessories, masking mediums, oil, cutting compounds)
- bought-in standard components (such as bearings, electrical or electronic components, fluid power components, mechanical fasteners)
- equipment required (such as hand tools, power tools, machinery, lifting and handling equipment)
- measuring or test equipment (such as mechanical measuring, electrical measuring)
- any outside support services required (such as material treatments, specialist lifting and moving equipment)
- special/specific safety equipment required (such as fume extraction, fire equipment, environmental protection)
Obtain the resources, and resolve any supply issues, using two of the following organisational procedures:
- ordering procedures
- hierarchy of control
- authorisation procedures
- organisation procurement procedure
- organisation communication systems
Carry out all of the following on completion of the resource gathering activities:
- validation and evaluation of the systems and procedures used to obtain the required resources
- suggested improvements to your process of obtaining the required resource
- recommendations for improvements or changes to the resources required by the engineering activities
Record the resource details in the appropriate information systems, and inform the appropriate people that the required resources are available, using the following methods:
- specific company documentation
Plus one more method from the following:
2. written or typed report
3. verbal report
4. electronic mail