My experience with Lothian Electric Machines Ltd

Materials Engineer: 1978

Throughout 1978 I was a Materials Engineer for Lothian Electric Machines Ltd (Lemac). With two factories in Haddington and a Research & Development facility in North Berwick, Scotland, Lemac manufactured fractional horsepower electric motors for a variety of domestic and industrial machine applications, and rotor/stator units for hermetically sealed refrigerator and freezer compressors.

The Materials Laboratory dealt with all of the materials used in the construction of the company’s products: copper winding wires, sheet steels, aluminium alloys, rubbers and plastics, felts, paints and metal finishes, etc.; as well as the monitoring and control of many production processes. As one of two Materials Engineers in the company, I was responsible for

• developing and maintaining materials and process specifications;
• conducting approvals testing on new materials and sources, and maintaining an approved materials and suppliers list;
• performing routine testing of materials on receipt;
• investigating and resolving materials and process related problems;
• liaising with suppliers on material specification, approval and ongoing quality issues.

Additionally, I worked with the R & D department on materials and processes relating to new product development.