Journey of an engineering student from the Enac at her summer internship in Mexico

Thursday June 1st impending take-off for Mexico City for a few weeks of discovery and adventure. Eager to learn about aeronautical manufacturing after my 1st year’s internship at AIRBUS final assembly line, I chose SAFRAN for my 2^nd year’s internship. Landing at Querétaro (QRO), in the evening, where my internship takes place. I move into the flat the local company has provided. Just a week-end to fight off the jetlag and get used to the heat. I am ready to start my internship on Monday!

Discovery of Safran’s brand new production plant at Querétaro, central Mexico. This plant is built to produce the new LEAP engine blades and more precisely LEAP 1B engines designed for the Boeing 737 Max, given the location of the facility. Here, I work at the « Supply Chain » along with a team of 4 engineers. What makes the plant outstanding is that it is a brand new facility and therefore, full production process must start. A lot of work in prospect, from training a large part of the staff to various problems to deal with arising from brand new equipment.

One of my main assignments was the partial implementation of MPRII (Manufacturing resource planning). It is about starting various processes in order to achieve a better planning of the plant’s production chain. More specifically, I had to put in place the Master in Production Schedule (MPS) as well as Material requirement Planning (MRP).

These processes are about planning the manufacturing of a specific number of production parts every week in order to meet demand, taking into account parameters such as manufacturing time, failure rates, the plan’s production capacity and last, planning the number of the production part necessary for the final product. All these steps are compulsory to achieve a perfect planning of the ordering process.

My internship in Mexico helped me on a personal level on opening my mind but also on a professional level on working methods and human relations. I learned that with some basic safety rules one can feel and stay safe. Mexicans are lovely people, very helpful, always ready to help when needed. They are very eager to spend their time with foreigners showing them around.

So let’s talk a bit about the country! The sheer diversity of climates and landscapes is just incredible. Sandy beaches, volcanoes peaking at 5000m, rainforest to name a few, there is enough for all kinds of tastes.

The rest of my curriculum is about going back to Bordeaux, France to attend a dual graduate degree at the National School of Arts and Crafts in order to complete my knowledge allowing me one day to work full time in aeronautical manufacturing.