Are there any such people as Work Study Engineers now? At one time there were dozens about employed by the likes of the following:
James Neill
Sheffield Twist Drill & Steel Company(Dormer Tools)
Stanley Tools
Spear & Jackson
Easterbrook & Allcard (Presto Tools)
Rothervale Joinery(John Carr)(Rugby Joinery)
and many more.

I worked and trained originally at Sheffield Twist Drill for 9yrs then Moved to Rothervale Joinery in it's many guisers for 20 years.

Please get in touch if you were an engineer there I am certain we can connect a few old friends. Here are a few names: Michael Pennington, John Hinch, Richard Hardy, Brian McGrail, Derek Yeardley, Lewis Thompson, Alex Marsden, Ken Smith, Geoff Wood, Michael Bruck, Barry White, Barry Black, Maurice Owens, John Beeley, Ron Allen, Eddie Wing, Denis Dunne, Gareth Jones, Ken Wilson, John Dix,Terry Andrews, Tony Cowley, Roy South, Les Perkington, Peter Wright, Ken Mountain, Jim Allen, Pat Hopwood, George Hill, Gary Bullivant. Davi Hague, Julie Farrington, Malcolm Storey, Jim Hallam. Steve Cade, Keith Horner, Jim Patton
I am sure there are others I can remember the faces but the names have gone.

I should imagine you and I are two of a dying breed these days with the state of Engineering in this country.

I was told the other day that there are 3 or 4 engineering cincerns closing each week.

The secondhand dealers are awash with unwanted machinery and sadly it is mostly going abroad.


Happy Days Gone By!

Originally posted by PopT
I should imagine you and I are two of a dying breed these days with the state of Engineering in this country.

I was told the other day that there are 3 or 4 engineering cincerns closing each week.

The secondhand dealers are awash with unwanted machinery and sadly it is mostly going abroad.


Happy Days Gone By!

This job was not just limited to engineering any type of manufacturing production. I know which in Sheffield is a great deal less now

Spooky cus I was only thinking of the same question the other day.

I was a WSE at Woodhead Components, James Neil and then Sanderson Kayser during the '70s

I spent my last year in the 'profession' as a contractor at Bramah Engineering - then the recession hit and I was unemployed for six months until I changed career completly and went into Telecommunications which has paid my wages ever since.

Crookesmoor and careers converge god.

Remember when Tidmans recruited WSE to go and work in the US with promises of great wages.

When I was made redundent in 1998 it wasn't till 2003 I saw the first job advertised at Birds in Derby.

My Dad was a Work Study engineer for Rolls Royce. He died
in 2000 following Hospital complications for an inguinal hernia.

Originally posted by HateTesco
My Dad was a Work Study engineer for Rolls Royce. He died
in 2000 following Hospital complications for an inguinal hernia.

I knew a couple of the Rolls Royce WSE's when I did a contract for them in the Turbine Blades division - if you dont want to go public, HateTEsco, would you PM me his name - long chance but I may have known him

Isnt this now known as systems re-engineering aka downsizing, ie make as many people redundant as possible so that the company becomes leaner, fitter and more cost-effective? Or is that me just being cynical?

Originally posted by wendygs
Isnt this now known as systems re-engineering aka downsizing, ie make as many people redundant as possible so that the company becomes leaner, fitter and more cost-effective? Or is that me just being cynical?


cynical

Making the company cost effective, more efficient, improving methods,better product efficiency. Also you did not have to have a paper degree, that when you went into a company, with a load of Bu** S*it in the head and muck it up on the shop floor as I have seen before. That's why people are made redundent +Accountants

There are still work study engineers out there but their job description has changed.

You will find that the ones that are left have at least a "Dual Role"

These people are still required, for as we go to the Japanese way of working and introducing "Kaizen" methods of work where 1 person does what used to take 4 people.

These new methods still need evaluating.

I think they used to be called Time and Motion study blokes. Anybody on piece work hated them, because they would try and reduse the time allowed for each job. :suspect:

sorry to hear that Peterdo. My dad was all right - really!!!

LOL,

I didn't have much to do with them, but my sister worked for Tempered Springs, and every time she got on a machine where she made good money, the Time and Motion men would cut back the time so she made less money. :mad:

Originally posted by peterdo
LOL,

I didn't have much to do with them, but my sister worked for Tempered Springs, and every time she got on a machine where she made good money, the Time and Motion men would cut back the time so she made less money. :mad:

Depends on whether the method the time for doing the job had changed. If it did then the original time was invalid.

jobcentreplus has a small team of qualified Work Study consultants, trying to make sure that the government dont waste any tax payers money, they are very very busy!

take that as you will

It's unlikely but thanks for asking

It's unlikely but thanks for asking.

Give a lazy man a difficult job to do and he will always find the easiest way to do it.Or find another job !

Or find some body elsr to do it

I recently read that 'Kaisen' is Japanese for continuous improvement. British industry suffered for a lack of this in the 1970's and the Japs stole a march. Shame really.

I think they used to be called Time and Motion study blokes. Anybody on piece work hated them, because they would try and reduse the time allowed for each job. :suspect:
I think any left moved to China, but to be honest I loved them because they allowed me to use my inventive brain, jobs that had been done for 50 yrs was so easy to change I know I saved United Shoe Machine many thousands of pounds I never got a penny but stood me in good stead when later on I built many high speed machine's,one i built right off the 4yr old's tele program just had to see it once and start building next day

Dont be so cynical peterdo not all work study engineers went out on jobs to skin the workforce,And a smart operator who knew is job would always find a way to cut corners after the W,S,E,or Fatefixer as they were originally known had gone back to his comfortable little desk to write it up and and slot it into the system.I know because i have done both jobs,When they brought in time and motion at Warren Lane Factory it made it a more level field,but the guys who were the best paid before generally still were,Bri Bloomer.

The " cauldron " of work study engs, I believe that was the collective name for them, were a very mysterious bunch at the company I started work for in the early 70s.
The grand Poo-Bar would hold court in the Shiny Sheff pub and the wannabes would turn up in their droves to buy his ale and wonder at the regalia. Stars adorned with £ signs, calculators were a no no, the machine man had these, so they invented their own version of a slide rule. Whatever the time was for the job was halved with a quick shuffle of the knuckles, we had to accept it because they were the only men that had time to perfect this manouvre. Another name for these men arose from this action, it doesn't spring to mind at the moment !! :hihi:
In all the years I worked with these people, a group consisting of failed machinists, there were very few I would trust. :( :(

Remember when Tidmans recruited WSE to go and work in the US with promises of great wages.

When I was made redundent in 1998 it wasn't till 2003 I saw the first job advertised at Birds in Derby.

I remember that and actually knew some of the people who went. Some of them did Ok and stayed there, most came home