Grangefield Young Engineers Club visit Douglas Tugmaster. (the aviation Ground Equipment specialists.)
As part of their research for their entry into this year’s Young Engineers BAA Challenge, Grangefield’s Young Engineers Club were invited to visit the manufacturing base of Douglas – the Cheltenham based company that manufactures tugs that are used all over the world.
Our students wanted to find out how tugs worked and how easy it would be to modify an existing design in order to fit a more environmentally friendly power source. Our designs called for a fuel cell to replace the traditional diesel engine. When we started out on this project we didn’t know if it was possible – so we asked the experts at Douglas.
When we arrived at the Douglas Head Office we were met by Mr Williams-Everitt, one of the Directors of the company and he briefed us all on the company and what the day would entail.
After our briefing, we followed the trail of manufacture. We were able to visit the design office to see how the Design Engineers worked on the various tugs, and how they adjusted the designs to meet the needs of each individual customer.
From there we were shown into the huge assembly area. The chassis of the tugs are made off-site by a sub-contactor and brought to Douglas already assembled and painted white.
Once the chassis is in place the various components are added. The whole process takes a number of weeks (depending on the size of the individual tug).
When the tug is completed it is taken outside to undergo a quality control check. If any little detail isn’t exactly right it is taken back into the workshop and it is put right.
When the Quality Control Engineer is happy that the tug has been built to the very highest standards it is then sent out to the customer – and this can be anywhere in the world. (One was about to be shipped to Dubai when we were visiting.)
We were delighted with our visit. The people at Douglas showed us some first class facilities, and some amazing pieces of equipment. Being able to follow the production of a tug from the initial design ideas right through to the final quality inspection gave the visit real context and a close look at how a commercial organisation has to operate.
Thanks to the expert advice from the staff at Douglas and their support during our research for the BAA Challenge, we secured 2nd place overall in the national competition – we are delighted with this success.
Article written by Mr. Steven Wilkinson of Grangefield School.
){kind=small}
