1)This summer I interned at Yanfeng under the role of an Industrial systems engineering intern. I was apart of the continuous improvement(CI) team which lead many projects including labor analysis, time studies and layout planning just to name a few. Instead of one singular project, I worked along side the CI team and helped with the many projects they are working on as well as leading some projects myself.
2) Coming into this internship, I assumed everything I learned in the classroom would reflect into the workplace. I was wrong, although I used some of the knowledge from the classroom, most of the concepts I used and learned are definitely industry based. In the automotive industry there are many challenges that come, especially in a Just-In-Time(JIT) plant. Many considerations like adhering to a customer order instead of building things in batch. I also realized many projects are not just one person job or even a one team job. Most projects are a cross functional team job and getting everyone cooperation to get approval from all teams to make a change in the workplace.
3) My manager exposed me to many projects they were working on and made sure I understood what projects they were working on. She put me in many meetings with all different teams and see how each team is contributing to each respective project. I got to see first hand how many of their problems needed support from different teams and how they all had to keep in mind that they are in a JIT plant and that changes everything.
As for things I learned. My manager took time and effort to show me how they operated and how different skill sets, different from the classroom, were applied to their specific plant. She also walked through each different project and gave me a guide on how they should be looked at and approached and that cannot be taught in the classroom. This made me feel that I was apart of the team and anything I needed was just a question away.
This showed me that any project you are working on, you are not alone. If you ever needed help or support from another team they were all so willing to put in time and even set up a meeting to discuss and plan for different projects. It also showed me that not any project is just one team. They often are at least 2 different teams affect by each project and that can be hard sometimes as not everyone gets what they want. For example, I was tasked to make a layout change which affected 2 other teams space. No one wants to give up their space and getting both teams happy and willing to cooperate is quite difficult. This is because they both need to sign off on each project and these can take weeks even months.
4) This is valuable because I have an understanding how the industry works and how I can apply myself and think about different ways to approach problems other than honing in my skills i learn from the classroom. Also, in my professional endeavors, this change is transformative as it allows me to tap into a wider pool of expertise within my organization or company. By embracing cross-functional collaboration, I can build stronger and more versatile teams that can approach challenges from multiple angles and find more creative solutions.
I also learned that you are not alone. If you need help, all I had to do was ask for help and many people across different teams are willing to help so they can progress as a whole cohesive unit. This goes for academic, personal, and/or professional problems in life.