Week 2: Civco's Concerns/Solutions

This week started out a little slow.  Initially, I was unable to work on my project, as I had no new times to input.  So, I played around with the data and tried to rearrange things a little more logically.  I can connect this experience to my classroom though.  Sometimes my students finish their work early and then become a distraction.  Well now I understand why.  They need something to do- to be mentally stimulated, and I need to provide that for them.  Students become distractions or act out because a need is not being met.

Tuesday was a much better day.  I was able to get into the clean room and actually assemble and wrap some of the products.  This gave me a better understanding of what it takes to put the products together, as well as putting images to the words I've been reading.  Leslie, my externship supervisor, stopped by and visited with me and my Civco supervisor, Mike.  In previous conversations with Mike, I knew that he was very excited for me to get into a business, but was also anxious about what exactly I would be doing.  He wants the experience to be beneficial to Civco but also to be a great learning experience for me.  At the meeting, that concern was still there.  He was afraid that Civco was letting me down and wasn't providing me enough opportunities.  He then brought up some great additional projects that I could work on while there was downtime on my current project.  Now we just had to put some of those in motion.

Later in the week I consulted with another engineer on my time study project and received more times to input.  This meant that I had a lot to work on with my project.  I am finally getting comfortable interpreting the engineer drawings, even though I still ask lots of questions.  I also was able to start designing test sheets for a second project that I will be working on.  For this project, we will be testing the burst strength of brachy balloons.  Before we do that, I need to write the test form and data sheets.  The rest of the week I continued to work on the two projects.  It is great to be making progress in my original project, and I am excited to be able to do some quality testing, too.  Despite Mike's concerns about me not learning anything- he need not worry!  I am learning lots and am finding connections to take back to my classroom.

Pictures

Here are two of the spreadsheets I am working on.  I am comparing the two and consolidating them into one new sheet.  I am also working on filling in the white boxes with times from the clean room.

The spreadsheet contains data from the cleanroom.  We have to time how long it takes to complete various processes.  Here are some pictures from the cleanroom and some of those processes.

Me in the cleanroom-wear.

This is telefolding. You can see the square-like package on the middle of the table- they all need to be folded that way.

This worker is placing a needle guide and gel on wrap.  Then the next person will fold it into a smaller package.

This machine takes two workers to operate.  They are cutting cover to certain lengths.

Applying a label to the package.

Assembling kits- adding a cover and two bands.

Here are a few picture of the multivac.  Two workers place wrapped product into the pouches.  The multivac then seals, prints a label, and cuts the product into individual packages.

The other side of the multivac.

After inspected, the packages leave the clean room to be sent out to be sterilized.

Week 1: Initial Concerns/Solutions

I am wrapping up my first week at Civco Medical.  It has been a very informative week.  Before starting, I was very apprehensive.  I was entering a new environment and a new profession.  I have only ever known education, whether being a student or teacher, so this was scary.  Prior to this week, I came in for 2 days of orientation.  In those two days, I was able to spend time with different departments in the building.  I toured labeling and shipping and was able to speak with some of the employees about their jobs.  I then spent time shadowing a worker who built a CAD design from scratch to meet the specifications of a new prototype sent over from the engineers .  He then transferred his file from the computer to a machine where it cut out the design.  He had to verify all of the measurements and make sure the met the engineers specs.  I toured the mold room, where they took those manufactured pieces and used them as a mold to make parts.

The second day I spent time in the clean room, which is a positive pressure room, used to control the level of particles in the air.  Before entering the cleanroom, you enter a gowning area.  Here you put on a head cover, gown, and booties, as well as wash your hands thoroughly.  Once fully suited, you may enter the clean room.  However, only one door at a time may be opened to prevent air contamination.  In the clean room I was able to watch workers cut and fold covers, assemble product, wrap packages, and then send them through the mutlivac (machine that packages the product).  In the afternoon I met with the engineering team about what they work on and what some potential projects would be.  We came to the conclusion that I would work on finishing the project an extern started last year.

Starting Monday, my biggest concern was 'what exactly would I be doing?'  As a teacher, I know exactly what I'm doing- well most of the time anyway- but an engineer? I've never done anything close to this before.  I know teaching- I don't know the business side of things.  I wanted to make sure that I was learning something, but that I was also helping in some way and not being a burden.  Fortunately on Monday I was given a computer and my own work area.  I was shown where the files I'd be working on were located and what I'd be doing with them.  I had a task, and I knew how to accomplish it.  Throughout the week, questions have come up, but everyone is quick to answer my questions. 

As I've worked this week, a new concern has crept up.  Part of my task relies on having data (times) to input.  Unfortunately, it takes time to get time.  So I am at a standstill with my current project until we get some times to input.  I have talked with my supervisor and there are some other potential projects/ things for me to work on.  I have enjoyed my first week here and am looking forward to the next weeks.

Job Description

I have finished my first official week at Civco.  Last summer, Civco had an extern, and she started a project on charting the products Civco made and how long it took to make them.  Here is what she worked on:

• Create a list of all of the products made at Civco
• Create a chart with the products and all of the processes used to make/assemble them
• Gather the times the processes took
• Record these times in an Excel sheet
• Group the products into families (similar processes and total time)
• Calculate the average production time per family
• Analyze the production time + 15%

My task this summer is to continue her work on this project. Mackenzie Myhre, one of the industrial engineers at Civco, has worked with this project on and off for the past year.  We talked more about the specifics of the project and what I would be doing.  Currently, here's what I am working on:

• Creating a 'to-do' list of times still needed
• Inputting newly gathered times for the processes
• Analyze current family groupings
• Make sure family times are with 30% of each other
• Make recommendations for new families if needed

The ultimate goal of this project is to be able to use the information to chart/analyze current production times.  Then, take that information and apply it to the future.  This information would allow one to make recommendations for new machines and scheduling hours for workers.

As this project is dependent on me receiving times to put into the spreadsheet, it can be 'stop-and-go.'  Because of this, I may be working on additional projects over the next weeks.  I will keep you updated!

Hello

Hello! My name is Briana Goodenbour and I am a high school math teacher.  I teach Algebra, Geometry, and Pre-Calculus at Mid-Prairie High School.  I have taught for 4 years and really enjoy seeing my students grow.  This summer I am participating in an externship at Civco Medical Solutions.  Here is a link to more information on the company: http://www.civco.com/story/.
For those, who don't know, externships are experiential learning opportunities, similar to internships, offered by educational institutions to give students short practical experiences in their field of study.


I am excited to learn how math is and can be used in the company and then to take my experiences back to the classroom.