PRODUCTION MANAGER ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
There are many ways to forge a career at McLaren, but the best is sheer hard work. We speak to one employee about his role in McLaren Electronic Systems. How he went from working in the stores to the firm's Head of Printed Control Board (PCB) production.
The job
"The Surface Mount Electronics department is where we assemble every electronics board produced by McLaren Electronic Systems. So from control systems for rally cars and racing bikes to the new standard Formula 1 ECU, this is where they all start out. We populate the bare circuit boards with components, often hundreds per side, and then assemble them into working units ready to go to customers. Some go to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, but the majority are distributed to other racing teams around the world. My role as Head of PCB production is to plan the manufacturing of the boards, carry out fault analysis of production procedures, and to find ways of continually improving the process, with the aim of achieving zero defects."
First steps
"After leaving school, I studied for an NVQ in Business Administration. However, I'd always been interested in Formula 1 so jumped at the chance when, in early 1994, I saw there was a vacancy in the electronics stores department. I got the job, and after several months I was given the chance to start training in electronics. I started work in surface mount electronics - where I've returned to - but back then I had a hands-on manufacturing role. In 1994, there were three of us in the department supporting Mika Häkkinen's MP4/9 and making parts for the McLaren F1 road car. Over the next few years, I worked my way around different departments to improve my skills and get an appreciation of the whole manufacturing process."
How has your role changed?
"My current role is project managing the department's operations, and ensuring that we keep abreast of the latest technology and production methods - it's less hands-on and more managerial. The department has grown personnel-wise, and the technology we use is now a lot more advanced. Not so long ago, we used machines that had a placement rate of around 1,000 components per hour. Now we're using ones that can do nearly that per minute! We also now make boards for control units used in many other racing categories, as well as for road cars and non-auto applications."
What qualifications would I need?
"No formal qualifications are required to become an Assembly or Test Technician, although relevant higher education or trade qualifications are an advantage. Getting a job as a Development or Production Support Engineer requires a good degree. One of the biggest challenges of my role is to achieve zero defects within the production process. So being very thorough, with good attention to detail, is important. And because things don't always go precisely to plan when you're producing new parts, it's also important to be able to analyse a situation effectively, and then quickly come up with a solution."
There are many ways to forge a career at McLaren, but the best is sheer hard work. We speak to one employee about his role in McLaren Electronic Systems. How he went from working in the stores to the firm's Head of Printed Control Board (PCB) production.
The job
"The Surface Mount Electronics department is where we assemble every electronics board produced by McLaren Electronic Systems. So from control systems for rally cars and racing bikes to the new standard Formula 1 ECU, this is where they all start out. We populate the bare circuit boards with components, often hundreds per side, and then assemble them into working units ready to go to customers. Some go to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, but the majority are distributed to other racing teams around the world. My role as Head of PCB production is to plan the manufacturing of the boards, carry out fault analysis of production procedures, and to find ways of continually improving the process, with the aim of achieving zero defects."
First steps
"After leaving school, I studied for an NVQ in Business Administration. However, I'd always been interested in Formula 1 so jumped at the chance when, in early 1994, I saw there was a vacancy in the electronics stores department. I got the job, and after several months I was given the chance to start training in electronics. I started work in surface mount electronics - where I've returned to - but back then I had a hands-on manufacturing role. In 1994, there were three of us in the department supporting Mika Häkkinen's MP4/9 and making parts for the McLaren F1 road car. Over the next few years, I worked my way around different departments to improve my skills and get an appreciation of the whole manufacturing process."
How has your role changed?
"My current role is project managing the department's operations, and ensuring that we keep abreast of the latest technology and production methods - it's less hands-on and more managerial. The department has grown personnel-wise, and the technology we use is now a lot more advanced. Not so long ago, we used machines that had a placement rate of around 1,000 components per hour. Now we're using ones that can do nearly that per minute! We also now make boards for control units used in many other racing categories, as well as for road cars and non-auto applications."
What qualifications would I need?
"No formal qualifications are required to become an Assembly or Test Technician, although relevant higher education or trade qualifications are an advantage. Getting a job as a Development or Production Support Engineer requires a good degree. One of the biggest challenges of my role is to achieve zero defects within the production process. So being very thorough, with good attention to detail, is important. And because things don't always go precisely to plan when you're producing new parts, it's also important to be able to analyse a situation effectively, and then quickly come up with a solution."
