Andrew Meyrick

Name
Andrew Meyrick
Job Title
Design & Projects Engineer
Company
RPC Containers Ltd

Time in employment: 9 years

Company Activity: RPC Hereford is a member of the RPC Group, Europe’s leading manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging. RPC offers a wide range of standard and customised products using injection moulding, thermoforming and a variety of decoration techniques. The Hereford site has been manufacturing plastics packaging for over 30 years.

What is your educational background?
1983 - 1988 Kingstone High School, Herefordshire – 8 GCSE’s
1988 - 1990 Hereford Sixth Form College – 2 A – Level’s : Geography, Geology
1990 - 1994 Hereford Group Training Association/Thorn Lighting Ltd – BTEC NVQ Level 3 Craft Apprenticeship (Engineering Manufacture and Mechanical)
1990 - 1992 Hereford College of Technology – BTEC National Certificate in Engineering
1992 - 1994 Cardiff Institute of Higher Education – BTEC Higher National Certificate in Engineering
2002 - 2006 The Packaging Society – Diploma in Packaging Technology
What subjects did you like at school?
Physics
Chemistry
Craft Design & Technology (CDT)
Geography
Geology
Mathematics
Who influenced your decision making?
Parents
Career Advisors
A close friend had undertaken an Apprenticeship and recommended this career path if I was not keen to attend University
What has been your career path so far?
Craft Apprentice with Thorn Lighting Ltd, working as a Tooling Development Engineer for 4 years followed by a further 3 years fully skilled. I then moved to RPC Containers Ltd as an opportunity opened for a Computer Aided Design Draughtsperson (CAD) within their New Product Development Department. During the 9 years I have been with RPC my job has evolved to my current position as a Design & Projects Engineer, still within the NPD dept.
What is your current role?
Design & Projects Engineer within the New Product Development Department at RPC Containers Ltd in Hereford.
What would a typical day contain for you?
General office tasks including completing documentation required to manufacture new or modify existing products. Controlling drawings held within the Drawing office, printing, copying, e-mailing CAD models/drawings to various locations.
Working on specific projects in detail including 3D CAD design, specifying tooling, developing quality control specifications, talking with tooling manufactures and specifying prototype models for trials. Visiting existing or new customers and attending their manufactures facilities to implement new packaging formats or respond to issues. Attend external/internal meetings to presents design work, offer NPD/Technical support.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
It requires a wide variety of skills/tasks and I get to work with many different people and departments during a products development through to manufacture. I enjoy travelling to attend meetings with customers, monitoring their production lines and meeting Toolmakers. Finally it is very satisfying to see packaging that you have had a large part in developing, working well and receiving complements form our customers.
What skills are important in your job?
Using the latest CAD software,
Knowledge of Injection moulding and Thermoforming component design
Injection moulding and Thermoforming tooling design
Drawing standards and understanding Technical drawings and Engineering drawings
General Engineering skills
Good Communication skill
Working as part of a team
What are your main responsibilities?
Managing and controlling all Drawing Office drawings.
All CAD design/drafting from component design to factory layouts.
Responding to customer enquires by gathering necessary information so accurate costings can be calculated.
Specifying and ordering production tooling.
Creating specifications for manufacture departments to work with including quality control and transport packaging.
Liaising with customers and responding to issues reported.
What training (on & off the job) has helped you perform your role or progress?
Solid Edge CAD training – user update training for new versions of software.
Diploma in packaging Technology
Personal Development program – Presentation skills, Time Management etc…
Microsoft Office software training
Why did you choose a career in the Polymer industry?
Herefordshire has a number of Polymer Processing companies and I was interested in moving towards CAD design with Engineering, these two factors came together and I was given the opportunity by RPC Containers.
What advice would you give to someone considering your career?
Completing an Apprenticeship with Engineering is an excellent way to develop many sought after skills and allows you to advance your academic studies while you earn.
If you are interested in Computer Aidied Design there are many schools and Universities using free software supplied by manufactures trying to encourage you to use their software in the future. Subjects at School that complement Mathematics and English and can really help a career like mine includes Craft Design and Technology, where you can learn things about Technical drawing, manufacture etc… Science subjects and languages would also be a very good addition to any CV.