Engineer In Transition
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The Engineer In Transition (A.K.A. E.I.T.) program, at Rockwell Automation (formerly Allen Bradley) is a 6 month training program for newly hired Engineers. [1] Those accepted into the program are usually intended for Field Service assignments for Rockwell Automation, but will sometimes end up in other areas of the company. The employees in the program cover a broad range of topics which introduce them to the operation and troubleshooting of the full line of Allen Bradley and Rockwell Automation products. [2]
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[edit] The Program
[edit] Class Composition
The class is most commonly split half and half between Engineers originating from the U.S. and "International Students" hailing from a number of different Countries in which RA has plants/offices/business in. Some of the international students will remain in the U.S. after training, but the majority will return to their home countries to continue their work for RA/AB. Employees hired into the program all have a BS or better in a field of Engineering. Most commonly, Mechanical Engineers and Electrical Engineers compose the class, however, that is by no means a restriction, just a trend in interest in the program.
[edit] Segments
The 6 month course is subdivided.
- The first segment is the bulk of the general training, giving each Engineer the basic knowledge needed to operate and troubleshoot the full range of RA and AB PLCs's and other equipment. The first segment generally lasts 15 weeks.
- The second segment is a one week field assignment for most of the Engineers in the program. The engineers will take one week in the area in which they will begin work after the completion of the E.I.T. program. For the international students, many will travel back to their country of origin and begin their work immediately following the E.I.T. program, while a few will continue to the third segment.
- The third segment of the program will vary in length depending on the program in question. After determining their field assignment, the Engineers will be assigned an "Advanced Track" of study that will best apply to their intended field. The third segment separates the original class into different groups by their advanced topic. These topics include: Motion, Process, Software, Safety, and Drives.
[edit] Amenities
E.I.T. students are provided with a plethora of essentials to progress through the program, and ultimately take with them for work in the field.
[edit] Tools
Each student (U.S. only, because international transport of tools is cost/compatibility prohibitive.) is provided with a set of Craftsman tools, with a rugged travel case to store them. The size of the kit varies from one E.I.T. class to the next, depending on the deals Craftsman is offering at the time, but the kit is usually a 500 piece kit or larger, including the following: full socket and hex wrench sets, multiple Allen and Torx wrenches, full sets of various screwdrivers, jewelers screwdrivers, hammers (rubber and ball-peen), part grabbers and retrievers, and various other components. Craftsman tools are used because of their quality, and more importantly their lifetime guarantee to be able to take any broken Craftsman tool back to any Craftsman dealer (usually Sears) and they will replace it for free.
[edit] Electronics
Students are provided with multiple testing devices. First and foremost, they are each provided with their very own Dell laptop, for work in the field, which comes pre-loaded with the full gamut of Rockwell Automation software they will be using throughout the course and field work. They also receive multiple PCMCIA cards, and associated cables which allow them to communicate with the varying Allen Bradley devices they work on. While it may sound like a non-expense, the proprietary PCMCIA cards still come at a great cost to the company, who designs them, but still chooses to go through a third party manufacturer for their construction. Finally, students are provided with a number of diagnostic tools including, but not limited to the following: digital multimeter, portable digital oscilloscope, voltage testers, network analyzers (for multiple different network structures), cabling tools, and cable testers.
[edit] Safety
One of the most important aspects of field work is safety. For this reason, each student is provided with safety equipment, including: electrically rated hard hat, safety boots, safety glasses, electrical hazard lineman's gloves, flame retardant shirts and pants, Lock out, tag out (LOTO) locks, hasps, and warning tags, and caution tape for working in certain areas.
[edit] Program Importance
RA believes that investing in the E.I.T. program is essential to offering the best service to their customers. RA "spends" a considerable amount of money between the amount of gear they provide to the engineers in the program, coupled with the amount they pay the instructors, and the general loss of income from hiring engineers and paying them to learn instead of work for 6 months. Many customers value RA's Field Service above others due to the quality of the service. E.I.T. graduates are commonly able to diagnose and fix system problems at a rate nearly 30% faster than the competitors. In addition, RA service Engineers can and do regularly fix problems associated with competitors products, while certain competitors refuse to work with any hardware that is not their own.
