Engineering Department Sandvik Swadlincote

Sandvik as a company recognises that growth of departments like engineering are very much talent led.  What this translates to is the view that, the departmental structure is there as a guide to the departmental functions.   Within that structure is flexibility to develop responsibilites and reporting in line with the talents and aspirations of the people who make up the department. 

The team at the Sandvik Swadlincote plant designs and produces mobile screens and crushers, therefore the engineering department represents the hub of virtually all activity at the plant.   New product development, manufacturing, sales and marketing, after-market and service all have a line into engineering, getting the team's input on customer requests, build issues and field service issues.

"It's hectic at the moment, so there's no chance of ever getting bored!"

Much of the structure, lines of reporting and operations are currently under review and development, so it's very much a place of change at the moment; some might say "not before time!"   For example, historically, the engineering department has worked particularly long hours.  In line with Sandvik policy, however (see Working with Sandvik), more productive and sustainable employee policies are currently being introduced which will see working hours being reduced and new resources being brought in.

It's fair to say that, right now, the team are working flat out due to a big increase in workload.  Whilst this has its down-side, of course, all of the team members we spoke to seem to get a buzz out of being busy.  The new appointments being made at the time of writing will, of course, help reduce that down-side, both by having more skilled resources available, together with some new positions to improve work scheduling and project planning.

"Sandvik stands for good R&D and you get the feeling that it's all happening and moving here now"

There is a good mix of work between existing product improvement and modifications, and new product development.  These are central to the company's stated objectives to be the customer's preferred first choice - highlighting just how much responsibility goes with a role in the engineering department.  Quite simply, in the engineering department here, you are at the forefront of everything the company stands for.

The 3-D CAD modelling system currently in use is Inventor, although this is expected to also change during the current year in order to bring it into line with other parts of the group.

"More structure, less fire-fighting and being part of a group gives more scope to move around - which it looks like they encourage if you want it"

Dress code is relaxed, as is the manner and the team share a level of friendly banter during our discussions and you get the impression that, although they are a diverse bunch, what unites them is a common passion for the product.  Some appear to socialise together out of work, whereas others focus on family time when out of the office.  There's no hard and fast rule.

One point that is very important to make about the way engineering runs at Sandvik Swadlincote Plant is that you will have to be the kind of engineer who gets down to the manufacturing facility and becomes involved.  There will be more structure coming to this over the coming months, but that connection between the design and the build is an important part of the engineering set-up.