Drilling, bending, folding, threading – visit to MangualTécnica

Introduction

In a large group, in a company meeting room, the company’s general manager gives a brief overview of the company’s history, the materials they produce, and the different types of raw materials, the manufacturing process at MangualTécnica — focusing on the stations where students will be actively involved — the importance of the company for the region and the country, main clients and suppliers, business strategies, and future planning.

Activity Development

The class is divided into 4 groups, each accompanied by a company staff member and teachers.

Upon entering the factory, each group receives a part that they will work on across 4 stations, using 4 different machines, along with a table of questions to answer at each station (see Student Guide).

Each group follows a clearly marked route, during which a company employee presents and explains the manufacturing process.

Students are asked about organization, logistics, and operations, among other aspects related to the company’s activities:

• Why are parts identified with a date and a number upon arrival?

• Why are transport boxes of a certain size used, and why do operators use bearings?

• Why does the cut made on this part have a dimension X instead of dimension Y?

When the group reaches a station where they must perform an operation on the previously received part, the machine operator explains and demonstrates the purpose of the operation. Then, students are asked to answer the station’s question. The operator highlights all necessary safety precautions and distributes protective equipment as needed (gloves, safety glasses). Students then carry out the demonstrated operation on the part they received.

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After going through all the stations, the students obtain the final product (the part with all the operations completed).

Imagining that the part they designed was an order from the company that produces the Farmbot (a machine available at the STEM Academy), the groups are asked to study the best way to ship it to a client in London (England). In the plan they develop, they must take into account aspects such as:

• Type of box (material and shape)

• Type of transportation (Mangualde – London)

• Costs, considering the EUR-GBP exchange rate

Conclusion of the activity

After completing the activity at the company, students are asked, in groups, to reflect on the impacts on biodiversity caused by the human actions necessary for extracting minerals indispensable to the metallurgical industry. They should present a summary of ideas highlighting these impacts, as well as measures to adopt in order to reduce or eliminate them.