Tom: Experience in production
I am currently CAD apprentice looking to grow and develop my career in Engineering. This blog series aims to take you through my journey by sharing my experiences at HARTING.
I have completed my first year at college and passed my VRQ Level 3 Diploma in Engineering Technology. During the summer holidays, I spent one day a week in production at the Northampton office, this involved working with the HARTING Customised Solutions part of the production facility.
The opportunity to work within production has enabled me to broaden my knowledge, and now I am able to apply it when providing technical assistance and CAD drawings for customers. The tasks I have been carrying out include crimping with both handheld tooling and the in-house crimp machinery, pull testing, heat shrinking, and cutting cable and conduit.
The capabilities of the Northampton production facility include pull testing, AC/DC testing, and individual test reports. We are able to provide this service across a wide range of sectors and can meet different bespoke requirements.
My favourite part was making cable assemblies, this was carried out with an experienced cable assembly engineer. It was beneficial being able to see the assembly process, from design to production, as my role involves the CAD design for these.
It was great to spend time with production and get an understanding of what the team does and they all made me feel very welcome. This hands on approach has further developed my experience, as well as gaining knowledge and understanding on both products and processes.
Now the summer has come to an end I am preparing for my second year at college, which includes CAD, advanced milling and mechanical principles. I am interested in starting at HNC and really looking forward to this year.
