Mechanical Engineering Business

i4u_rahul asked:


I recently completed my mechanical engineering and joined my fathers business. Due to certain critical chain of events, i can’t work elsewhere, i can’t study further- mba or ms.

So i’m kinda stuck here, in the family business with lots of politics and nagging. With no training, no experience, and negligible practical knowledge, i feel like i’ve learn’t nothing at engineering. And its making me feel more and more depressed everyday.

All i’m told is that i need to learn everything. This is a question to all mechanical engineers. Can you learn and expertise in everything that you’ve learn’t in college? Or do you expertise only in a few areas?

In the past 3 months, i’ve realized the scope of a mechanical engineer in the company. From machines- automation, injection molding, plastic molds design, plastic components design, biomechanical science, design of implants, manufacturing, maintenance, HVAC, printing and packaging technology, etc- everything dealing in plastics.

I agree i did complete most of the above topics in my college. But i can’t remember everything done in college.

How much can i regain? I remember the basic principles of pump- but i cant remember every detail of it. So i go back to my books n revise the particular topics. Though it takes me less time to revise than before- the question is- Do i have to revise everything to be technically sound? I dont have to make a pump- i simply have to chose one. Likewise for machines- i want to learn how to chose a machine for a particular job, cost effectiveness, and technical aspect is fulfilled.
(anyone got any books for this one?)

Bottom line is- that my family members are expecting me to do wonders. Since i’m the first engineer in the family, i’m looked upon with cornered eyes, along with a lot of political drama and disputes. Mostly trying to test me, sometimes within my scope, and sometimes completely out of it.

I’m not sure if i explained it properly, but for those who understood me, please advise, how should i go about in my company, and regenerate my learning curve. Cuz the amount of work i did in college, i’m not even doing half of it now. And its making me very uneasy.

Most of my time is spent on the computer, researching on either a new machine, concept, process, or educational site, where i can revise some topic.

I find more fun calculating something, than knowing that its there. We manufacture healthcare devices. So i’m more interested to know why the particular device is designed in that fashion. If a catheter is designed in PVC, i want to know why its not manufactured in PU. I want to know why its dimensions are shaped as such. If we decrease its thickness, can we save costs? What is its maximum pressure capacity? How can i apply ergonomics into its design? What are its most desirable features? What can be an added feature to its design?

These are just a few questions that are racing through my head almost everyday.

Along with the biggest question of them all- how will i manage people, if i know nothing about management.

As of today- my position is on the managers seat. Which to me is fundamently wrong. But since the situation demanded a family member on that seat, i had to fill in. I can’t explain why. But now that it is happening- i’l have to adapt to it, and learn from here on.

But how. Should i revise my engineering skills? Or do a distance learning MBA? If i dont revise my engineering skills now- will it pose a threat to me in near future?
If i dont do an Mba, how can i handle a managers position?

What is the role of a manager + engineer? What should i do to develop a sharp learning curve, and gain confidence? (Which i’m begining to lose everyday- exponentially). How do i train myself. Cuz in the current scenario, i doubt i’l get any training. Everyone’s busy in a critical problem at hand. So i get no time to discuss anything, either wit dad or uncle.

Please help.

Tagged as: Packaging Technology, Technical Aspect