��سԹ� students design uranium pellet transfer cart for AREVA

Maegan Murray — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 17:18:29 +0000

Six Washington State University Tri-Cities students sat in a conference room, anxiously waiting for their meeting with a group of AREVA’s engineering and project management officials to begin.

Many of the students didn’t know what to expect, as they had never worked on a project of this magnitude before. This was also their first time at AREVA’s Richland nuclear fuel manufacturing facility.

As part of their senior mechanical engineering capstone course, the team, which consisted of seniors Jared Beauchene, Jose Chavez, Juan Mejia, Travis Lewis, Alex Schwarz and Manuel Bustos Ramirez, learned they would re-design the AREVA’s current cart used to transport uranium pellets from one building, where they are pressed into shape, to a different building, where they are sintered at a high temperature into their final form.

AREVA Plant Operations Manager Barry Tilden said the problems with the facility’s current pellet transfer cart is that it poses several safety concerns. There are several potential finger pinch points and ergonomic challenges posed when loading the small but heavy trays of uranium pellets, also known as “boats,” he said.

In addition to overcoming those safety elements, the new cart design would have to ensure a safe transport of the delicate pellets before sintering and contain the pellets if it were to tip over during transport. The cart would also have to provide protection from weather during the short trip from building to building and interface well with the existing equipment in two separate pellet production shops.

The team spent the next seven months on the new design, balancing their time on the project with a full course load at WSU��Tri-Cities.

“It’s was difficult,” Chavez said. “We knew this project would come with expectations and responsibilities. But as we worked through the design challenges, the project has been very rewarding and has given us great experience as we start looking for jobs after graduation.”

Tilden said the team truly embraced the challenges of the design while working through many obstacles and business requirements.

“The team did a great job and can be proud of their work developing and producing a new pellet cart design,” he said.

The team documented their progress through a series of posts on AREVA’s blog site. The entries provide insights into the different stages of the project and the struggles the team overcame along the way.

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Tri-Cities business students help company improve

Maegan Murray — Wed, 29 Jun 2016 21:22:47 +0000

RICHLAND, Wash. – Four Washington State University Tri-Cities students are working with AREVA, a multinational group specializing in nuclear power and renewable energy, to identify real-world process and cost improvements for the company using the Six Sigma approach.

The effort is part of ��سԹ�’ master’s in business administration capstone course, which is led by Tim Baker, associate professor of finance and management science.

Tim Baker, background, with some of the Six Sigma students. (Photo by Maegan Murray, ��سԹ�)

“Through student-led projects, we either implement process improvements or new product designs and measure the benefits of each,” Baker said of the Six Sigma process. “It’s all about maintaining a continuous improvement in methodology.”

MBA students John Kummer, Kevin Sykes, Hongfei Rassmussen and Sammy Ernst are currently examining the processes and organizational structure within AREVA to identify cost and process improvements for production supplies.

Baker, who holds the highest certification in the Six Sigma process – a master black belt, said ��سԹ� has paired up with local organizations for the last eight years to complete similar projects, and that AREVA has been a primary customer since day one. The student projects, he said, has saved various local organizations significant time and money.

Baker said on one previous year’s project, the students worked out a procedure to save the Sandvik Specialty Metals company approximately $750,000 due to a 25 percent reduction in throughput variability in the pilgering process for their titanium rods production. Another student project reduced the average patient flow time for the Grace Medical Clinic by 17 percent.

This year’s student group hopes for similar results in their own project with AREVA.

What is Six Sigma?

��Baker said the purpose and goal with the Six Sigma process is to systematically assess the current state of a process, uncover and prioritize improvement and design goals and generate and prioritize ideas for improvements and designs.

Six Sigma professionals measure the benefits to the client for an implementation of an improved process or new design and set up a control plan for the client to ensure that performance does not regress once the Six Sigma project has been disbanded.

Paul Skilton, assistant professor of management, information systems and entrepreneurship, said one of the great aspects of the project and utilizing the Six Sigma approach in a real-world scenario is that the students actively see all the “worms” and the “mess” of systematic procedure within companies, which is also not unique to any one company.

“They’re working through organizational messes that end up generating real results,” he said. “They are able to work through what we call a wicked problem. It’s a problem that doesn’t appear to have nice answers, but they ultimately have to get to one.”

Value to the company and the student

For AREVA, getting students involved in the company’s process and procedures opens opportunities to evaluate both new and old strategies.

“Projects like these give us a fresh perspective on our own processes and identify previously unseen improvement opportunities,” said Lance Stephens, AREVA manager of operations strategy and supply chain.

Ernst said part of her job outside of school is recognizing a problem within her company, examining the root of that problem and determining a solution. Utilizing the Six Sigma process through a real-world scenario in her MBA class, she said, is instrumental both in her academic and professional life.

“My employer is currently trying to ramp up in Six Sigma and improve its processes,” she said. “There is a huge push towards Six Sigma in our career fields, so this is definitely a huge asset.”

Sykes said it has been rewarding seeing the “mess” of the internal company structure because it is useful in his own career.

“It’s real-world life experience and we get do dive into a project in a company and see the overall scope,” Sykes said. “It’s been a really good learning experience.”

Skilton said ��سԹ� also benefit from having Baker as their professor and mentor, as he is a world-class Six Sigma and operations research expert.

“As a result of his knowledge and experience in the field, our students here locally get to work on these exceptional projects,” he said.

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AREVA Archives - ���سԹ�

���سԹ� students design uranium pellet transfer cart for AREVA

Tri-Cities business students help company improve

AREVA Archives - ��سԹ�

��سԹ� students design uranium pellet transfer cart for AREVA