A collaboration between the Alabama Productivity Center (APC) and Shelton State Community College (SSCC) supported the ARC Alabama STRONG Internship Program which was piloted to engage two students from each institution with industry during the Spring 2021 semester. Alabama STRONG student internships are designed to provide work-based learning experiences that complement the student's related education and training provided by the university/college. The experience also allows interns the opportunity to work with someone from a different institution and discipline.
The companies selected to participate in the program was Samvardhana Motherson Peguform (SMP), a leading expert in high quality interior and exterior modules for the automotive industry and International Automotive Components (IAC), a leading supplier of automotive components and systems. Interns were assigned continuous improvement type work which aligned with the organizations' goals.
On January 11, 2021, the Alabama STRONG internship project began with two students from Shelton State Community College, Jonah Williams majoring in Industrial Electronics and Electrical Technology, and Jordan Cash majoring in Machine Tool Technology, and two students from The University of Alabama, Britt Ryan majoring in Mechanical engineering and Spencer Martin earning a Master's of Mechanical Engineering. Jonah and Britt completed their internships with IAC Group and Jordan and Spencer with SMP Automotive.
Project work for Jonah and Britt at IAC consisted of improving the overall timing of operations performed by robots on the FlexLine where door panels are produced. After conducting time studies and monitoring the operations of the FlexLine, the interns determined the primary bottleneck for the line was during the welding process specifically at the first weld station. Jonah and Britt changed several welding points by reprogramming the welding robots and balanced the production line.
These changes resulted in a cost savings of $320,141.
Jordan and Spencer were assigned process improvement work in the tooling department with SMP. They were responsible for developing standard work for cleaning and repairing tooling used in certain injection molds. Through SoildWorks, the interns designed handles and magnetic tooltips for production as well as mill stops for the tool shop. The financial impacts for the internship included avoided safety costs of at least $60,000 and a reduced of overtime totaling $57,242.
The total costs savings at SMP were $117,242
This piloted collaboration was a success for all parties; SMP and IAC management expressed intrest in repeating this type of internship in the future; the interns enjoyed sharing their knowledge with their teammates and learned new skills; and there has been discussion between APC and the Alabama Community College System about repeating this in other areas.
Interested in learning more? Visit our websites below.
Credits:
Created with images by jarmoluk - "robot arm technology" • Life-Of-Pix - "car doors industry automobiles" • BrooklynJohn - "construction plans square" • 1137303 - "men onsite man"