BTEC Assignment Brief
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in
Electrical/Electronic Engineering
Qualification
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma in
Manufacturing Engineering
Unit number and title Unit 5: A Specialist Engineering Project
Learning aim(s) (For NQF A: Investigate an engineering project in a relevant
only) specialist area
Investigating an Engineering Project
Assignment title
Mark Rosenthal
Assessor
w/c 10.10.22
Issue date
w/c 28.11.22
Hand in deadline
You are working as a final year engineering apprentice with
a large engineering organisation that operate within your
chosen sector.
Your supervisor is pleased with the work that you have
done, and is impressed by your understanding of ways in
which problems can be solved effectively. He is also looking
at adopting lean manufacturing and sustainability into the
Vocational Scenario or
company and reducing the amount of waste.
Context
As a result, your supervisor has asked you to investigate a
product, system or process within the organisation that can
be improved. You have been asked to research the
engineering problem and to generate alternative solutions
to the problem, and to suggest a preferred idea. There is a
possibility that the solution may be implemented later if it is
an improvement and feasible.
You are going to investigate and evaluate an engineering
project/problem on the theme of lean manufacturing in
order to produce a range of three possible solutions. You
will initially research the engineering project/problem before
producing a specification which scopes out potential
technical solutions.
Task 1
, To do this:
You will choose an appropriate engineering product, system
or process where there is an opportunity for you to be able
to introduce lean manufacturing and/or sustainability by
improving the product, system or process.
You need to:
● Conduct and record your initial research so that you
can clarify the details of the engineering project and
identify the problem(s) to be solved. Your research
should make use of a wide range of suitable and
relevant resources that will assist you in solving the
problem.
● You should then document your use of a range
of appropriate creativity tools to help you come
up with three potential solutions for the given
engineering project/problem. This could be
done through a combination of different
approaches.
● Finally, use your research/creative thinking to
produce a technical specification from which you can
establish the key design features needed to scope
out possible technical solutions. Your technical
specification should include information including
graphical solutions to the problem, an outline of the
required processes and costings and initial technical
information.
Having completed your research and devised a technical
specification for the solution to your given engineering
project/problem, you are now to produce a feasibility study
on the three alternative solutions. You should use the
results of your feasibility study to justify a preferred
solution to the project/problem.
You need to:
Identify the criteria on which to base your feasibility study
of the three alternative solutions to the engineering
project/problem. Your feasibility study should consider a
range of factors, and provide information on:
● the potential size and complexity of the
problem to be solved
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BTEC Internal Assessment QDAM January 2015
, ● the potential size of the benefits and
performance improvements the solutions
will bring to the problem
● The cost and time that would be needed to
develop each solution
● any specialist expertise which is required to
develop the solutions
● the risks in developing the solutions
● sustainability issues
● legal constraints which are relevant to the
solutions
Finally, you should analyse your designs through the use of
feasibility assessments and by considering the iterative
steps which you followed. You should then justify a
preferred solution to the engineering project/problem by
carrying out objective testing of each of the proposals.
Having identified a preferred solution through your
feasibility study/testing, you should get your tutor to sign
off your preferred solution as being possible and achievable
given the constraints of both time and resources in your
centre.
Checklist of evidence Research report which includes evidence of investigating
required initial ideas and possible solutions. Alternative technical
solutions should be scoped out and a feasibility study report
of the possible solutions included. Other related documents
may include diagrams, sketches, photographs, costings and
spreadsheets.
Criteria covered by this task:
Unit/Criteria
To achieve the criteria you must show that you are able to:
reference
5/A.D1 Evaluate, using language that is technically correct and of a high
standard, at least three realistic solutions to an engineering problem
on a given theme and justify a preferred solution.
5/A.M1 Assess consistently at least three solutions to an engineering problem
on a given theme and recommend a preferred solution.
Research an engineering problem based on a given theme and scope
5/A.P1
out at least three alternative solutions.
Outline at least three alternative solutions to an engineering problem
5/A.P2
and select a preferred solution.
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BTEC Internal Assessment QDAM January 2015
,Sources of information Books
to support you with Runco, M.; Problem Finding, Problem Solving, and
this Assignment Creativity; Greenwood Publishing Group 1994; ISBN
9781567500134
De Bono, E.; Six Thinking Hats; Penguin 2010; ISBN
9780141033051
Websites
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/main/newMN_TMC.htm
problem solving techniques
http://www.debonogroup.com/six_thinking_hats.php
https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/elements-of-a-good-
feasibility-study.php
Above are some examples of websites. Further
useful resources may be found at
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/publishe
d-resources.html#step1
Other assessment N/A
materials attached to
this Assignment Brief
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BTEC Internal Assessment QDAM January 2015
, Specialist engineering Project
Key Points to Talk about:
Environmetal
impact
Machining
material
time
Machine
Vice
cost ease of use
effectiven
ess
• One of the main issues with machine vices and other
clamping methods for a milling machine is that they
are very heavy, and it takes a long time for you to
unclamp and clamp a new piece of material into it
this can take up to 30 to 35 seconds. Due to this it
will make machining times longer this is decreasing
efficiency of the company, and this also wastes a lot
of money for the company.
• Another issue is the material of the original machine
vice, which is made from Cast iron which can rust
over time if it comes into contact with Figure 1 Example of Already existing Product
moisture, this can decrease its life cycle to
prevent this on the original/existing vice
the main body is painted and covered in a
specialized oil which does not let moisture
penetrate it but this an have a very
negative impact on the environment
because the oil coating is very toxic. A
much more suitable material to use is Low
Carbon steel as it has a similar strength as
cast iron, low carbon steel does not rust
and it’s lighter than cast iron.
, • Another issue with the already existing Toolmakers vice is effectiveness as when you require
adjustments on the work pieces due
to being too small it is very hard to fit Figure 2 Article based on the issues with
uneven small workpieces in it, the Toolmakers Vice
main reason because it has a very
smooth surface inside its clamping
parts, and this might cause a slightly
uneven part to slightly move during
manufacturing due to vibrations. (The
new design must require small teeth
or a new system which prevents
Figure 3 Cost of already existing machine Vice
materials from getting loose because of
vibration)
• The already existing vice which is used in industry is very bulky and due to this it costs so
much money because cast iron is fairly expensive to create such a component which has
moving marts and very good surface finish for accuracy. Also, a lot of material is wasted
when creating the cast iron vice due to it requires certain adjustments and the area where
the moving mechanism goes needs to be slotted which also adds extra cost to the final
product.
• A cheaper alternative for cast iron can be mild steel however the one we have available in
the workshop is only 3 mm this which is still good however when we bend it it might cause
some crack which can be an issue in the future. Nevertheless, we can still use it however in
the places where we have to bend it we can work around it and make it out of 2 part this will
reduce the surface cracks on the material. By using the material that is available to us in the
workshop will help the environment as we do not have to
buy new materials and we could re-use the older ones
which are still in decent condition.
• In certain parts of the vice, we require corrosion
resistance we can tackle this by using a corrosion resistant
spray paint which is only 11 pounds, and it will increase
the lifespan of our product, also the spray paint is
nontoxic to the environment but it does have a very
strong smell which means we require a good ventilation when using this product.
• We must also look at the ease-of-use aspect of the existing product. The existing machine
vice is fairly easy to use the only downside is that it does take a lot of force to untighten the
part from the vice as its common for the lead screw in the vice to get stuck due to not having
enough lubrication in it. This issue is mainly due to the mechanics of the existing vice as
there is too much friction is present between the moving parts which overtime causes the
material to slowly get out of alignment and by this it makes it harder for moving parts to
rotate and to move as initially planned.
• When we are thinking about our project the most important aspect of it is the
environmental impact as we should try to use scrap material or re use material from older
products which can’t be used anymore this will decrease the build price of our new product
and it enables us to help the environment by decreasing waste on landfills or fumes
produced by melting processes which turns the scrap material back into its pure form and
into standard sizes for the industry to use it again.
