3 Career Episode

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  a) Introduction 1. ñ is episode describes a position t at I currently occupy. After completion of 5 years Mec anical Engineering course in 1996 I ave been working for VooDoo People International Ltd. (Australia) in its representative office in K abarovsk, Russia, since May 1997. I currently old a position of a Senior Sales Engineer. ñoget er wit two sales Engineers (bot professional Mec anical Engineers) reporting directly to me I perform slurry-pumping systems design for mining and mineral processing enterprises. b) Background 2. À   

  as a Senior Sales Engineer  
 
   
    . I am responsible in t e first instance to t e Regional Manager for Russian Far East and Mongolia and ultimately reporting to t e Marketing Manager of t e Company. Company¶s mission is to provide t e customers wit tec nical expertise and solutions supported wit superior service in t e area of pumping systems. ñ e above required to insure t at VooDoo People International Ltd. (VDPIL) is recognised amongst our clients as t e only International Company, w ic can provide to its Customers t e Service t ey can rely on. And of course we also look forward for t e furt er expands in t e local market. Our mission is -
    
        3. As a Senior Sales Engineer u 
  
       of mining and mineral processing enterprises. ñ ese enterprises are eit er new ones under construction or t ose being rebuilt. ñ ey are situated in t e eastern part of Russia. Our office responsible for territory called Russian Far East and Eastern Siberia. It includes Irkutsk and C ita areas, Republics of Sak a and Buryatia, Amur and Sak alin Oblasts, K abarovsk and Primorsky ñerritories, Magadan, C ucotka and Kamc atka Regions. ñotal territory served by our office is equal to 7,776,600 square kilometres (t e territory of Australia is 7,687,000sq km). Mine¶s development as increased substantially in t e past years in t e region t anks to good price for gold and ot er minerals and low cost of mining. 4. u         based on tec nical data provided by t e client and produce final results in t e form of quotation. u

  

 made by my subordinates,  

 

   on equipment selection, and coordinate t e material selection aspects. u

     
 of ot er specialities w o take part in t e overall design of a facility. u      
    u     
  . After completion of every quotation I conduct a session of critical analysis of t e present work wit all t e group members. u        
     t at we can apply in ot er applications later on. 5. According to t e customers¶ requirements, all t e work as to be done on a computer, so t e good command of PC-user¶ skills is essential for me. Computer skills are necessary not only to c eck-up t e work done by my subordinates, but also, to carry out t e work

fast and wit ig quality. ñ at is w y u      
: "MS Office 97 for Windows" and ³Electronic ñools of Communication´. I ave good skills in "MS Excel". u   
 
   for routine pumping engineering calculations. 
  u    
 designed specifically for VooDoo People¶ engineers, w ic includes pump selection programs, programs for calculating slurry c aracteristics and pipeline details, etc. 6. Regularly (once a mont ) I ave a so-called " library day" w en I attend t e tec nical department of t e public State Scientific and Researc Library or t e library at t e institute I graduated from. ñ us u       
    
      

 in a field of Pumping and Wear Resistance. Besides, u          in order to be acquainted wit t e recent publications and get information about new engineering ac ievements related to my work activity (from t e foreign publications and from t e Internet). 7. W en my group receives an order for design of slurry-pumping system of an industrial enterprise, u    

       necessary for t e correct engineering c oice of t e equipment and materials, coordinate t e taken decisions wit t e customer. u 
  taking into consideration t e cost, t e service life and t e requirements for t e operation expenses. ñ en u

              . 8. u      
, because I ave to work wit several projects at t e same time. In t is situation my sc edule elps to prepare calculations and explanations for t e engineers reporting to me in time. It elps to distribute orders to engineers of ot er specialities, prepare all t e necessary supporting documentation and give t e completed solution to a customer in time. c) Personal workplace activity 9. À 
  
 as follows : ‡ Analysing data to carry out a solution, clarifying data wit a customer by p one and e-mail or travelling to a site to collect data if it is necessary. ‡ Carrying out all t e necessary calculations. ‡ Selecting equipment and materials and preparing specifications. ‡ Elaborating a final solution and fulfilling an explanatory note wit supplementary equipment¶ c aracteristics, pump performance curves, and components diagrams and outline dimensions drawings. 10. Below I describe every part of my work in detail. Firstly u    
 . It allows me to define t e following: ‡ Matc es or disparities in t e data of t e designed enterprise. ño clarify initial data it is enoug sometimes simply to call to site, but in ot er times it requires me to visit t e site myself. ‡ ñ e necessity to fit pumps wit power units (i.e. electric motors or diesel engines). ‡ ñ e necessity to fit pumps wit electronic variable speed drives. ‡ ñ e necessity to install additional knife-gate slurry valves on t e intake and disc arge pipelines. 11. ñ!    
 

  all t e necessary     as follows: ‡ Calculations of t e friction losses in t e pipelines, slurry velocities and settling velocities using Cave and Durand formulas. ‡ Calculations of t e optimum diameter for intake and disc arge pipelines. ‡ Calculations of t e total dynamic ead (by slurry and by water), ead ratio, and efficiency ratio. ‡ Calculation of t e absorbed power based on selected appropriate pump configuration and pump efficiency at t e duty point. ‡ Estimation of required gland water sealing flow and pressure for different types of pumps and installations.

12. According to my calculations u

 

    
 . For my selection u   
  t e c aracteristics of bot solids and slurry, presence of c emical reagents in a slurry, and slurry pH. As we normally select and supply pumps for ig ly abrasive applications, u       t e location of t e site being aware to include into t e quotation necessary volume of spare parts. u   
 costs of equipment supplied by sub-contractors. u t e most convenient met od of transportation of t e equipment (ocean freig t, airfreig t, rail and track delivery). 13. After selecting t e equipment u   
 of eac unit and a total package cost. ñ en u             
, w ere I point out t e equipment grade, its weig t, its manufacturer, t e equipment cost, and ot er details. Afterwards suc base makes it easier to select t e equipment or to make c anges in t e selection if t e initial data as been amended. ñ en u
   ! 
   for my customer, in w ic I describe all t e taken decisions. ñ ere are drawings wit principal specifications, components diagrams, and outline dimensions, tables wit predicted pumps c aracteristics, pump performance curves. During t e equipment selection process u 
     
         


  according to t e Russian legislation. u   
  
 . All our decisions necessarily meet t e environmental standards. 14. W en equipment is selected, I submit all supporting documents (an explanatory note and drawings) to a customer for approval. If necessary, I employ t e aut or¶s supervision to carry out all t e decisions, taken in t e design. 15. u 
  
different ways of environmental protection. u   w ic equipment is to be reconstructed, and w ic is to be replaced by t e new one. I am aware about t e pumps¶ wearlife and quality, as sometimes, t ey ave to transfer dangerous and poisonous liquids like cyanides for example. 16. Fulfilling my duties I usually work wit t e teams of ot er specialists. Developing t e solution I work as a team member. u

    


   . ñ anks to my professional activity u  
  
 among my colleagues. I am known as an experienced specialist, always ready to answer t e questions, w ic are in my competence. u    wit ot er engineers in t e fields outside of my competency. u


 wit electrical engineers, mining engineers, metallurgic specialists, and ot er professionals. u  to relative specialists for selecting appropriate motors and drives for pumps. I also cooperate wit environmental engineers to ensure safe exploitation of equipment selected. 17. ño be able to work wit different tec nical environment, to communicate wit t e different level aut orities, and to follow quickly c anging local law and regulations, u        for my own competence development. As any VooDoo People Int¶l employee, u 
in corporate ³Performance Appraisal´ (PA) program. Every alf a year I ave a structured conversation wit my manager. ñ ese conversations observe my performance, motivation and development. On t e base of suc review u      for t e next period and my individual development plan. PA Discussion is very useful tool for a gap analysis on personnel and unit level (working under employee¶s development in my department I use t e same tool). It elps to do a gap analysis, to initiate and coordinate activities to reduce gaps, to follow-up process and results. ño be ready to cope wit tec nical and management areas of my job, I start from organisation of myself. ño manage my time and processes in effective way, I participate

in a number of non-tec nical courses in Australian Institute of Management and ot er training centres. Amongst t em are t ere: ³Positive Negotiation Skills´ and ³ñime Power´. ño improve and develop my management abilities, I attend ³Self-Presentation skills´ and ³Strategic Planning´ training. A detailed description of t e courses and conferences, attended by me, can be found in ³Continuing Professional Development´ part of my application. 18. Performing my duty, u
 t at a long-term, strategic business perspective is always present in t e project, and t at t e project and its outcome are aligned wit t e company's business direction. I control flexibility of strategic business decisions in projects and lifecycle perspective on t e project outcome, and ensure t at: - t e project is initiated and procured in a business-oriented manner; - t e benefits for t e customer as well as for t e company are considered; - scarce resources are steered into t e most desirable business direction. d) Summary 19. My routine work requires from me wide knowledge and skill in different areas. I need engineering experience and knowledge to understand customer¶s tec nical requests, to design proper tec nical solution, to verify t e solution against basic requirements; to c eck plans, drawing and specification¶s conformity wit existing Russian regulations, lows and safety standards. My management experience and skills give me possibility to work successfully in project organisation, covering management and control of: interfaces integration to t e project's internal and external participant; - t e requirements of t e project and w at s ould be included in t e project; - t e project performance and t e quality of t e project outcome; - t e project's lead-time and time-sc edule; - project budget, including costs for t e use of resources and ot er expenditures, - leaders ip in projects and management and control of t e project organisation; - t e information flow at all levels of t e project; - risks and opportunities of t e project; - relations wit internal and external suppliers of resources and results of t e project c

  " a) Introduction 1. In t is narrative, I would like to describe t e project I ave worked on since August 1999 until April 2002. ñ at time I was working in VooDoo People International Ltd. (Australia), K abarovsk Representative Office, on t e position of Senior Sales Engineer. ñ e purpose of t e project was to select and supply t e package of mineral processing equipment (pumps, ydraulic cyclones, knife-gate slurry valves) for t e ³Serebro ñerritorii´ company (t e subsidiary of Polymetall olding, St. Petersburg). ñ e Head Quarter is located in Magadan city, Magadan Region, Russian Far East. b) Background 2. Magadan Region is a large area in t e Russian Far East (RFE) wit very low population density and very undeveloped infrastructure. In t e first alf of t e 20t century, t e uge amount of gold (bot alluvial and ard-rock) and silver deposits were found in t is area. ñ e former Soviet Union started slow region and deposits development, mainly in alluvial gold mining sector. 3. At t e end of t e 20t century w en t e resources of alluvial deposits came to an end, t e miners started to s ow more interest to ard-rock deposits. Additionally, after t e default in August 1998, t e mining became more profitable in Russia, because t e end product was priced in ard currency, w ile t e costs of mining (i.e. energy cost, wages, transportation costs, etc.) remained at t e similar low level in local currency.

4. ³Serebro ñerritorii´ owned t e license for t e development of one of t e biggest goldsilver deposits in t e area. ñ e estimated reserves were about 20 tonnes of gold and more t an 2000 tonnes of silver. In t e year of 1996 t ere was absolutely not ing on site except some earlier geologist ³foot-prints´. W en in t e early 1999 t e final geological examination was approved and t e reserves were confirmed, t e company owner ± Polymetall Holding ± made a decision to build a brand new plant fitted wit t e superior equipment to mine t e metals. 5. Due to t e specific location and road conditions (t e site is available in winter by iceroad, and only 6x6 driven ve icles can be of use during t e rest of t e year) t e Customer vitally needs a long serving pumping and mineral processing equipment. ñ ose must guarantee t e reliable performance, be easy to maintain, and require as minimum inventory as possible. 6. u 
  for tec nical data clarification, solution verification, material specification, equipment selection, delivery control, implementation, documentation, certification and commissioning process. #       
t at t e project goal is reac ed and t at t e customer's requirements are fulfilled. c) Personal Workplace Activity 7. u

 
 in August 1999 
   on t e pump¶s duties. ñ e main purpose of t at activity was to pick up all possible Customer¶s requirements and needs and translating t em to tec nical words and specification. At t at stage, u
  


  wit t e tec nical specialists of t ree different departments of t e client¶s organisation: tec nologists and designers of t e mining company and purc asing department of t e parent - company. During a couple of weeks u     or p one conferences wit all t e key people and got all t e required information. u
 

   into t e table wit t e following positions: Duty name, Internal equipment No., Number of pumps required, Solids C aracteristics, Slurry C aracteristics, Flowrate, Intake and Disc arge Pipeline details, Presence of Fittings, etc. ñ is table, so called ³Pump Initial Data´, was signed by bot sides and verified. It was one of t e essential points for all furt er project process. 8. ñ e collected data was used as a base for my calculations. In t e s ort period of time u       for 17 different pump applications. u   t e friction losses in t e pipelines, slurry velocities and limited settling velocities (bot by Cave and Durand met ods) 
  
   on t e optimum pipeline diameter for eac position. 9. u
     


  wit t e Customer¶s specialists and aut orities repeatedly catc ing, analysing and verifying t e existing customer¶s needs. ñ   
      t e client planned to commission t e mill at t e 50% of it¶s capacity, t en increase t e mill t roug put up to design capacity. Client also wanted to be able to increase t e mill capacity in t e future by anot er 20%. ño ensure full understanding of t e above requirements u      
  wit t e Customer¶s aut orities. 10. After I made t e calculations of pipelines, u
  
  
    wit t e following positions: Flowrate, Slurry Velocity, Settling Velocity, Friction Losses, and ñotal Dynamic Head (by slurry and by water). All t e above information allowed me to start t e process of pump selection.

11. u 
 
   in slurry pumping and material application. During t e calculation and pump selection process, u

    different client specific data or demands, suc as ore (rock) ardness, t e concentration of solids in a slurry by weig t, t e presence of liquid ydrocarbons in a slurry, etc . As a result, t e selected pumps were sometimes fitted wit t e combination of materials (i.e. for example, t e combination of metal impeller wit rubber lined volute and back liner and polyuret ane t roatbus was selected for Ball Mill Disc arge/Screen Feed Duty), w ic s ould provide t e better wearlife for current application. 12. One of t e most interesting selections was t e ñ ickener Underflow Pump. ñ e product to be pumped was quite eavy (Concentration of solids was equal to 60%), but at t e same time t e particles of solids were very fine (about 80% of 74 microns), and t e ñotal Dynamic Head was relatively low. u    
 from t e Head/Flow c art t at 2 pump types were suitable for t is application. One was a Standard AH-type pump of ³A´ series, and t e ot er one was GP-range pump, a reasonably new product wit slig tly better performance for low to medium duties. 13. From t e point of view of t e performance GP-type pump suited t e position better. ñ e efficiency was 2% ig er, it absorbed less power, and finally t e pump, itself, cost c eaper. But, from t e ot er and, only 2 impeller designs were available for t is pump type. ñ e first one was closed type wit 5 vanes, t e second one was open type wit 4 vanes. ñ e alternative AH-pump could be fitted wit more t an 5 different impellers. ñ at allowed running t e pump wit one impeller at t e commissioning stage, t an to c ange it to anot er one, w en t e mill would operate at full load. u 
 t e last reason as a crucial one and AH-pump into my selection c art. 14. After u    t e total dynamic ead I was able to select t e appropriate Pump ñype, Size and Impeller ñype. ño meet t e client¶s requirements regarding steadily increasing pumps¶ capacity u   wit t e different types of impellers for eac stage of operation. ñ us, u  t at at commissioning stage most of pumps are to be fitted wit specially designed so-called ³reduced-eye´ impellers to work wit low slurry flows. Later on, w en t e mill will operate at full load t ose impellers must be c ange to different type. Particularly for standard rubber-lined impellers for some duties, and for metal ig efficiency impellers for t e ot ers. ñ e Pump Performance Curves gave me t e pump efficiency, rotation speed and absorbed power for eac position and allowed finally to select t e appropriate pump configuration (Impeller type/ impeller material/ volute and side liners material/ seal type/ pump frame size/ drive type/ V-belt size and components/ and motor size). 15. In t e middle of December 1999 t e Final Quotation including Bid Summary Report, Pump Details and Material Specification, Set of Drawings and Pump Performance Curves (about 150 pages) was ready and u       . Wit some minor c anges, client ad accepted t e Quotation, and t e equipment manufacturing started. 16. But my job wasn¶t finis ed at t at stage. ñ e client required t e pumps fitted wit electric motors and for some positions fitted wit variable speed drives. ñ e principle of speed drives operation is in c anging t e Current Frequency, w ic affects t e Voltage Output and finally affects t e motor speed. 17. After comparing products, provided by different vendors, u to use ñECO-made motors as a cost-effective product. And at t e same time u  t e ABB-made

frequency controllers to be included into t e project. ñ is manufacturer¶s product was slig tly more expensive t an t e one made by ñECO, but t e manufacturer could provide bot Maintenance and Programming Manuals in Russian, and also ad service facilities in Russia t roug local representative and distributor network. 18. After a couple of meetings and p one conferences wit t e customer, and tec nical discussions wit my colleagues and experts from VooDoo People International Ltd. (VDPIL), Australia my solution on sub-contractors equipment selection was approved. 19. Furt er steps in project realisation like placing an order, sub-contractor¶s equipment procurement and delivery control, etc. are parts of pure manager¶s job. All t at activity and document turnover are well defined and described in t e Marketing Policy and Procedure Manual of VooDoo People International Ltd. As VooDoo People employee I must follow predefined procedures and u
, t at all t e supported documentation is complete, accurate and clear. ñ is work is not so muc creative but require accuracy, organisation and persistence. 20. W ile t e equipment was in t e process of manufacturing u to t e Customer a set of Drive Arrangements drawings, Components Diagrams and Outline Dimensions drawings, t at allowed im to start prepare foundations for pumps installation. 21. ño reduce installation and furt er maintenance cost and to give to Customer¶s tec nicians some knowledge in modern process equipment, it was agreed t at u
 
 for t e tec nicians prior to t e equipment installation and commissioning. u    wit software t at could elp in monitoring over pump performance and maintenance. u    


 in Excel format using w ic t e client by entering only t e dates of worn pump parts replacement, would calculate an average wearlife of parts, a required number of parts per year, and drew t e diagrams accordingly to t e results. u  
   t e maintenance manuals for all t e product range and specific video materials bot on t e tape and in digital format. 22. At t e end of t e year 2001 u


   . ñ e overall pump performance met client¶s requirements at t e commissioning stage. ño insure t e pump performance and wearlife were at expected level u
  

 from t e site supervisors by fax or e-mail    weekly p one conferences wit t e Customer. On t e p one conferences we discussed issues of pump¶s performance, appeared and potential problems, define and c eck action points for problem solving. u 

     

 to my and Customer¶s eadquarters wit t e detailed description of t e executed job, reported problems, needed resources and budget figures. 23. Working wit t e Customer as a joint team, we created a unique, tailor-made solution. Now, w en warranty period for delivered equipment as been finis ed, u    
    wit Customer, reviewing solution outcome in daily operation. Wit t e aid of Site Supervisors u    

    and discuss wit tec nicians, if t ere s ould be done any corrections in pump configuration to improve network performance. d) Summary 24. In designing stage, u   
 
    
  for selected pump¶s configurations. C osen solution was optimised from bot tec nical and economical sides and completely meet Customer requirements. u
       required by Russian laws and regulation and worked in permanent contact wit designers, researc and manufacturing managers about engineering aspects

of w ole package and package elements. For t e job on t is project VooDoo People International awarded me wit t e company¶s Ac ievement Award in year 2000. c

   a)Introduction 1. In t is narrative, I¶d like to describe my currently occupied position. I¶ve been working on t is position since May 1997. My employing organisation is VooDoo People International Ltd (Australia), K abarovsk Representative Office. ñ e title of position occupied by me is Senior Sales Engineer. Events described in t is narrative took place mainly in Dalnegorsk city, Primorsky ñerritory, Russia. b) Background 2. In t e beginning of t is year I was contacted by specialists of Dalpolymetall Company, Dalnegorsk city, Primorsky ñerritory, Russia. ñ e reason was t at t ey faced t e problem wit t e tailing pimps. Due to increased level of t e tailing dump by 5 meters existing pumps failed to develop t e required ead. u      t at will satisfy client¶s requirements. 3. u to visit client to collect all t e necessary data myself. u
   
 submitted by t e client. I also carefully studied t e sketc es of t e tailing pipeline and overlooked tailing dump itself. As usual u    
 wit client¶s specialists ± mill supervisors, mec anical engineers, electrical engineers, and metallurgical specialists. 4. For t is project u

    
    using my computer. W ile I was working on t e project u


     wit t e customer, w ere we discussed t e engineering and environmental problems. After completing t e work on tec nical issue u  ! 
  to t e customer for consideration. 5. Working on t is project u     
   bot in t e engineering and non-engineering fields. I applied all t e obtained knowledge and tried to get t e new information about latest tec niques, equipment and mec anisms c) Personal Workplace Activity 6. u   t e friction losses, pipeline details and total dynamic ead for t is application. ñ e ead t at pump must develop was so ig , t at u  
two options: - one-stage system; In t is case I needed to select metal lined pump wit ig efficiency impeller; - two-stage system; In w ic I could select rubber lined pumps, w ic provides a muc better wearlife; 7. u  t at one-stage system ad a number of benefits, but also a number of disadvantages. First benefit was t at it required client to purc ase one only operating pump. Anot er advantage was t at e would need to serve one pump only. On t e ot er and t is option ad some weaknesses: firstly, it was impossible to fit pump wit rubber liner because ig ead required ig speed w ic may cause quick wear of rubber parts. Secondly, pump must be fitted wit t e larger motor t an in 2-stage system ± it may cause difficulties wit pump starting. Due to big motor pump will require bigger size base and bearing assembly, w ic will affect on t e total unit price. 8. For t is application u     
  w ic contained t e information about multi-stage pumping system. Being out of office I used t e Internet resources w ere I could get sufficient volume of information from. ñ e careful study of t is information made it possible for me to offer t e solution, w ic , I consider would suit t e client best.

9. First of all u
  t at in 2-stage system eac pump will ave better efficiency t an running 1-stage. u   absorbed power and found t at energy consumption for bot pumps in 2-stage system will be less t at in one-stage system. u  it in my comments to t e quotation. u    t at consumption of spare parts in two-stage system will be less for two pumps rat er t an for single pump in one-stage system. ñ ese two main reasons could save to my client about USD 50,000.00 annually. u        t e financial situation of my customers. 10. u 
 to t e client two options for is consideration. u
 t e advantages and disadvantages of eac . ñ e tec nical meeting was eld at site in order to consider my quotation. During t e meeting u 
 a variety of tec nical and commercial questions. 11. u   
     t e total owners ip cost (ñOC) for t ree options: use of existing pumps arranged into two-stage system; - one-stage VooDoo People pump; - two-stage system wit VooDoo People pumps in operation. ño ac ieve t e required figures I obtained a w ole range of data working closely wit mec anical engineers, mill supervisors, and people from finance department. 12. ñotal Owners ip Cost included t e following components, per annum: ‡ Capital expenditures, ‡ Spare parts cost, ‡ Absorbed Power cost, ‡ Labor cost, ‡ Gland water supply cost, ‡ Parts inventory cost, ‡ Plant downtime cost, ñ e calculation I made s owed t at two-stage system wit VooDoo People pumps was most cost-effective option among t ree considered. 13. Developing t is solution, u          of a mec anical engineer. ñ e solution proposed by me was approved and accepted by t e customer. d)Summary 14. Duties and tasks delegated to me are very diverse. So I ave to demonstrate my knowledge bot in t e engineering and non-engineering fields. u         
   
           . Usually my personal role contributed to a project is to carry out a main part of it. ño t e present time all t e solutions carried out by me solved all t e tasks successfully. I got trust and respect of my colleagues and customers. ñ ey rely on me as on experienced engineering professional and I always ready to consult about issues, related to my competence.