Industrial Training at Mazagon Dock Ltd.

I spent my winter vacation working as a Student Trainee at Mazagon Dock Ltd., Mumbai. 

Since Mazagon Dock Ltd. allows children of employees to undergo industrial training, it just required a formal application procedure and a letter of recommendation from college to secure an internship. 

Mazagon Dock Ltd. (MDL) is India’s Premier shipyard. The shipyards of MDL were established in the 18th century and these yards have over two centuries of experience in shipbuilding. They manufacture warships and submarines for the Indian Navy, as well as offshore platforms.

Mazagon Dock Ltd.
(Image Source: myemploymentportal.com)

I was placed as a Student Trainee at Plater & Assembly Shop (P & A Shop). P & A Shop consists of Welding Shop, Mould Loft, Plater Shop & Assembly Shop. After discussing with the officers and considering my training period, we decided that I would spend a few days in the welding shop, then in the plater shop, mould loft and then the assembly shop at the end. My daily work hours were from 07:00 hrs to 16:30 hrs and my schedule involved visiting the shop for observing the work place and discussing with workers & officers to understand the working of different parts of the shop. It was more about experiencing the work environment and basic introduction to technical aspects. Below, I discuss my learning experiences in each shop.

Welding Shop: 

My training started from the welding shop. In the welding shop, I had a discussion with the person who was responsible for training the newly joined workers & students of the apprentice school of MDL. We discussed about welding technology, its history & gas cutting techniques. 

Mould Loft: 

I spent about half a day in the mould loft. I had a discussion with the concerned office to understand what mould loft is and its role in the shipbuilding. It is a shipyard facility with a large building or smooth floor in a building where the lines of a ship are laid down full size. The lines are then used to prepare templates for cutting out and bending individual elements of the shell plating and framing. The smooth floor is usually painted black. 

Plater Shop: 

On the first day in the plater shop, I was introduced to the workflow and different machines in the shop by the officer. Then I was given the task to understand the basics of all the machines in the production shop. I discussed with the operator of the each machine its working. 

Assembly Shop: 

Again in the assembly shop, I was first introduced to the workflow in the shop. During my training in the assembly shop I was introduced to unit (ship is divided into small parts called units) fabrication & assembly and skid (foundation or base required for unit fabrication) fabrication. I spent most of my time reading and understanding unit fabrication as per drawings. 

My industrial training helped me to understand the general workflow of various departments of the organization.

Following is the general workflow of any department: 

STEP 1: 
Receiving of plan/drawing from design/planning department of the organization. 
Procurement of required material at the department. 

STEP 2: 
Assigning of job to the respective project officer. 

STEP 3: 
Project officer assigns jobs to a team leader with a team of workers and maintains records of job progress. 

STEP 4: 
Work in progress. Regular inspection & monitoring of work for accuracy & quality of work by workers & officers. 

STEP 5: 
If work is completed, Project officer sends the work for inspection & testing. 

STEP 6: 
Inspection & Testing of work 

STEP 7: 
Preparation of Test Report. 

STEP 8: 
If the test report is OK, step 10 is carried out otherwise step 9 is repeated. 

STEP 9: 
Investigation of the reason for failure &corrective actions are taken, step 4 is carried out. 

STEP 10: 
Preparation of Dispatch Report. 

STEP 11: 
Dispatch of the job/work. 

I also learned the basics of 5S methodology, to effectively manage the workplace. 5S methodology implies to have only what is needed in the workplace, a designated place for everything, a standard way of doing things and the discipline to maintain it.

5S is considered as a base for implementation of different quality improvement concepts. Originated from Japan. The 5S is set of 5 Japanese words: Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke. Translated to English: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. 


Kaizen (Japanese word for Improvement) Methodology is used by the organization for continuous improvement. 

In conclusion, I had an awesome and memorable winter vacation at Mazagon Dock Ltd. It was great to interact with the officers and workers. Also I made new friends and connections. It gave me a good opportunity to experience the work environment of the organization. 

I hope you enjoyed reading my internship (or industrial training) experience.

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