TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement....................................................................................................................................................3
Introduction..............................................................................................................................................................4

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In this section, I would like to express my utmost gratitude and appreciation for the following people for their
advice, supervision, assistance and guidance during the stated period for this report. Without them, these weeks
at Rolls-Royce would not have been so successful.
These people are:
Dr Sanjay Kumar Thakur: I would like to thank my supervisor, Dr Sanjay Kumar Thakur for this constant
help during these crucial weeks of my internship. Dr Thakur realizes that learning is a continuous process
there was a lot of me to learn about the job, despite the fact that I had already spent 12 weeks doing it.
Moreover, Dr Thakur was open to me getting involved with other departments in order to be able to learn more
about their work. This kind of understanding and willingness from Dr Thakur is what makes this internship as
enriching as it has been.
Mr Loh Pin Sun: The Business and Operations Manager and also my second supervisor, Mr Loh Pin Sun has
helped me understand the birds eye view of the business. As I was able to look at things from the top of the
hierarchy, I could better understand the procedures/permissions required to carry out every process. Having the
opportunity to understand and assist in how business performance is being tracked and quantified has allowed
me to appreciate the importance of proper accountability in the operations of the business in order to fulfil the
overarching strategic direction that Rolls Royce has as a whole company.
Dr Stephen Tuppen: The director of Advanced Technology Centre, working with Dr Tuppen helped me get a
birds eye view of the business. As I was able to look at things from the top of the hierarchy, I could better
understand the procedures and permissions required to carry out every process, the line of communication of
Rolls Royce Singapore and the working attitudes of each employee.

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INTRODUCTION
COMPANYS PROFILE
Rolls-Royce is a world-leading provider of power systems and services and has established a strong position in
global markets - Civil Aerospace, Defence Aerospace, Marine and Energy. Rolls-Royce has a broad customer
base comprising more than 500 airlines, 4000 corporate and utility aircraft and helicopter operators, 160 armed
forces, more than 4000 marine customers, including 70 navies, and energy customers in nearly 120 countries,
with an installed base of 54000 gas turbines. The Company believes that employees are critical to the success of
the business and hence it aims to create a professional culture of mutual respect, appreciation and knowledge
sharing. This, coupled with their emphasis on recognizing talent and offering brilliant training and development,
makes Rolls-Royce a uniquely rewarding place to work.

ROLLS-ROYCE IN SINGAPORE
Rolls-Royce has been in Singapore since the 1950s and Singapore is a key business hub for the group. It is the
global headquarters for the Groups Marine business and Marine services activities, as well as the Asia-Pacific
headquarters for their commercial marine and energy businesses. Rolls-Royce has expanded rapidly in
Singapore with the opening of their new state-of the-art facilities: Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus. The 65,000
square metre Rolls-Royce Seletar Campus is located at Seletar Aerospace Park and is the Groups most modern
manufacturing, training and research facility to date. The Campus significantly increases Rolls-Royce
manufacturing capacity, and provides greater proximity to the Groups growing customer base in the Asia
Pacific region. The different facilities and different units at Seletar Campus include:
1.

The Seletar Assembly and Test Unit (SATU) Trent aero engine assembly and test facility

2.

A Wide Chord Fan Blade manufacturing facility (FBSG)

3.

An Advanced Technology Centre;

4.

A Regional Training Centre;

5.

Shared services such as Finance, HR, HS&E, Group Property and Purchasing;

6.

The regional headquarters for the Group's Energy business

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This is the most modern Rolls-Royce assembly and test facility for large commercial Trent aero engines and also
the Groups first in Asia. The state-of-the-art facility has been specifically designed to allow simultaneous
assembly and testing of Rolls-Royce Trent aero engines under one roof. Trent 900 engines for the Airbus A380
and Trent 1000 engines for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be built here. A sister site to the existing RollsRoyce production and test facility in Derby, UK, the Seletar Assembly & Test Unit creates additional capacity
that will enable Rolls-Royce to meet global customer demand and increase proximity to its growing customer
base in the region.

JOB ROLE AT A GLANCE

My internship was centered around the Advanced Technology Centre (ATC). Based in Singapore, ATC is a
department oriented towards supporting the manufacturing processes either by research or standardization. It
comes under the ES&S umbrella of Rolls-Royce Plc. Often visited by a large number of government officials,
corporate behemoths as well as representatives of various airlines (most recently, SIA), the department, along
with Rolls-Royce Singapore, has gained a place for itself in countrys aerospace sector. The following is the
brief organizational chart of ATC with the department currently being headed by Dr. Stephen Tuppen.

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TRAININGS UNDERTAKEN
All the online trainings and other general trainings undertaken during the 6 month period of my internship has
been listed down as follows:
1.

Health Safety and Environment (HS&E) and Occupational Health (OH) for Employees - The
main objective of this training was to familiarize all employees with the key messages and learning to
fulfil their Health, Safety and Environment (HS&E) and Occupational Health (OH) responsibilities.

2.

Hydrofluoric Acid (HF) and Chemical Awareness Training - This training was about general risks
and hazards of working with chemicals, HF in particular. We were informed about the deadly effects of
coming in contact with HF, protection and precaution measures to be undertaken and also various aftereffects of any injuries.

3.

Air Cargo Security Training Level A - This course helped in understanding the different types of
threats to the Aviation Industry and the different legislations involved in Aviation Security. Training
was also given on how to respond to suspicious circumstances and threats

4.

Environmental Awareness - This program is designed to give all employees awareness training on
environmental matters and the requirements of ISO 14001 and Environmental Management Systems
(EMS).

5.

Display Screen Equipment-Workstation Essentials - This course provided information and advice
on working with Display Screen Equipment (DSE), arranging and adjusting our workstations to have
maximum comfort. It also covered controlling hazards connected with the use of DSE and the actions
to be taken in the event that any problems are experienced during its use.

6.

Evacuation Awareness - In this training course I learned the evacuation procedure in place in the
workplace, how to use an extinguisher, and the correct procedure to follow if a fire is discovered.

7.

Manual Handling Refresher - The course reminded me about how I might be affected by the manual
handling regulations and company guidelines, illustrates incorrect and correct handling techniques in
different situations. It discussed musculoskeletal disorders as a result of workplace activities and the
key steps to remember when lifting and lowering any heavy object.

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8.

Slips, Trips and Falls - Slips, Trips and falls was designed to heighten awareness of how easy it is for
an accident to occur. Indeed, slips, trips and falls can be attributed to 1 in 3 accidents in the workplace!
This course encourages employees to be risk aware, to look out for hazards and to maintain good
housekeeping procedures.

9.

An Introduction to Intellectual Property Through this training, I was familiarized with the
fundamentals of Intellectual Property (IP) and its value to the Company. IP training also helped to
understand what actions are needed to safeguard the Companys IP and respect the IP Rights (IPR) of
others.

10. Introduction to Business Ethics This was another training that I undertook on the online training
portal which highlighted the importance of business ethics. The training was interactive and used
various ethical dilemmas and situations to suggest the right ethical behaviours that was to be followed
by the employee of the organization.
11. Introduction to Conflicts of Interest - This e-learning package provided me with an introduction to
the Companys Global Conflict of Interest Policy and Procedure. It also explained the implications of
this policy and procedures on both my and the organizations end, including the actions that I am
required to take if faced with a Conflict of Interest.
Thus, I was able to undergo a holistic training program during the period of my internship that has helped me
develop both my technical knowledge and other soft skills.

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INTERNSHIP OBJECTIVES
CONDUCT VALUE STRAM MAPPING
The value stream mapping project was enriching in the sense that it gave me a deeper understanding of the
various processes in the company. The project required me to map out all the significant processes in the
company, understand their flow, calculate their total lead-time and suggest improvements that could reduce this
lead time and make the processes more efficient. I developed 3 major Value Stream Maps (VSM):
1.

Research & Technology (R&T) Group VSM

2.

MSL Failure Investigation (FI) VSM

3.

MSL Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) VSM

Each of these VSM was conducted seperately, as they involved completely different processes.
The R&T VSM was conducted with the purpose of ensuring that all 3 Research & Technology groups
ManTech, EPACS and CE were following the same processes. Falling under the R&T umbrella, the 3
subgroups were formed under the Advanced Technology Centre with the intention that they would follow the
exact same processes for research in 3 different fields Mechanical, Electrical and Computational. Therefore, I
had to work closely with representatives from each of these research groups, monitor the processes for each
research group by shadowing various lab technicians and advanced technologists and collaborating with various
other stakeholders, who knew the processes inside out. Upon discussing with these people, I was able to
understand the process that was being followed by each research group, and how similar/different these
processes were. I discussed my findings with the higher management, in specific, with the then acting head of
ATC Mr PS Loh. Taking into consideration the feedback from every department, and the suggestions by Mr.
Kumar, I then mapped out a Future State Map, which was a flow of processes that was agreeable by all
departments and could be followed without any interruptions to the current workflow. However, this Future
State Map did not simply combine the processes of the three research groups. After understanding the process
and how close it current was to its optimal state, I was able to identify the various bottlenecks in the processes bottlenecks that were causing inefficiencies and increasing the total lead time. The root causes of these
bottlenecks were identified, and various steps were taken by me to try to eliminate these causes. The Future
State Map included these various steps that were taken to eliminate the bottlenecks.

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The FI and NDT VSM also involved collaboratively working with various stakeholders. There were different
sides to the story while the management wanted a short lead-time, the lab staff had justifiable reasons as to
why the lead-time was not optimum. The concerns of the staff ranged from lack of resources such as time,
manpower and equipment to inexperience with the process. It was my responsibility to understand their
concerns (which varied drastically from person to person), put them in a quantifiable manner and resolve them
without affecting other processes. To resolve the issue of resources, I had to work closely with the higher
management in order to provide the resources. There were costs involved with providing these resources,
therefore, I had to justify these costs and ensure that the promised improvement was obtained upon
implementation of these resources.

CARRY OUT EVERYDAY OPERATIONAL TASKS

These tasks included facilitating the monthly ATC HS&E Meetings, the quarterly Quality Board meeting, the
JtPE team meeting, Process Council meeting and responding to various queries related to my projects as well as
updated the relevant authorities on my progress. Other than this, it was part of my job role to be on the lookout
for any hazards, and brief anyone who may be in doubt about the companys safety regulations or policies. My
day started with replying to a significant number of emails, and it was being involved in this way that made me
feel like a significant part of the organization.

OVERSEEING THE LAB

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As part of the HS&E and Quality team at ATC, a critical part of my job role was to ensure that ATC labs were
functioning properly, as per the standards set by EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) and CAAS (Civil
Aviation Authority of Singapore). This job role encompassed different things:

5S
The 5S process Sort, Straighten, Sweep, Standardise and Sustain a place for everything and everything in
its place is commonly used at Rolls-Royce to maintain and evaluate lab standards. This ensures that items and
equipment required to perform activities at the workplace are always to hand. It makes it easier to locate the
required items. I was required to organize the lab and label the locations with the items accordingly, and ensure
that others did the same as well.

SAFETY INSPECTIONS
Monthly lab walkabouts were conducted to ensure that the all required safety procedures were being followed at
the labs. The walkabouts were led by my supervisor Mr. Sanjay Kumar Thakur and the lab HS&E Inspector
from each department. Over the course of my internship, I was a part of 6 HS&E Walkabouts, and these
walkabouts were effective in bringing forward findings that could have potentially led to serious problems in the
future. For instance, bacterial growth was found in coolant tanks. If this contamination had not been found
earlier, it could have severely affected the accuracy of results from the experiments conducted in the ManTech
lab.

INCIDENT INVESTIGATION

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It was under my domain to analyse the minor injuries or incidents that occurred in the lab, find out their root
cause and decide on the right corrective and preventive actions. The root cause analysis was conducted in depth
using various tools like Ishikawa Fishbone Diagram, 5 Whys analysis, etc. One significant incident that
recently occurred was when a lab staff accidently got injured by the sharp corner of a linishing robot (Robot cell
in ManTech laboratory). There was a 3.5 cm laceration on his scalp, and significant bleeding. Upon conducting
the root cause analysis, I discovered that the incident had occurred because the staff had tripped on a cooling

wire that was jutting out of the ground, near the linishing machine. Moreover, there wasnt enough space around
the linishing machine for the staff to go through when he was trying to exit, and upon tripping, when the staff
tried to balance himself, he ended up hitting his head against one of the sharp corners of the machine. After this
analysis, relevant steps were taken to ensure that this does not repeat in the future. Protective padding was added
to the sharp corner, the cooling wire was covered (to prevent trip and fall) and the linishing machine was repositioned to ensure that there was enough space around it.

ASSET CARE
Every equipment in the lab needs to undergo maintenance to ensure its proper function. There are two types of
maintenance planned and unplanned maintenance. My job was to ensure that the equipment was serviced as
planned and that the total equipment breakdowns were reduced significantly. Being regular with planned
maintenance was essential to make this happen.

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TRAINING LOG
It is not possible for one person to be trained at everything. Therefore, each lab staff was trained for different
things, which made division of labour easier. Throughout the lab, various training logs were put up so that
anyone could find out which staff was training in which field. This way, if there was an issue, there would be no
confusion about who to look for. It was my responsibility to ensure that this training log was up-to-date, and that
the staff underwent regular refresher trainings. This meant that I had to work closely with Simitri Group, which
is the official training vendor for Rolls-Royce Singapore Pte Ltd, to schedule trainings for the lab staff.

REPORT FINDINGS AND CLOSURE

Civil Aviation is a highly regulated industry. Therefore, there were several routine audits done by EASA
(European Aviation Safety Agency), CAAS (Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore) and AS9100. As part of the
quality team for ATC, it was my responsibility to ensure that the the Advanced Technology Centre at RollsRoyce Singapore Pte Ltd met the standards put forward by these regulatory authorities. Before every audit, I had
to ensure that the machines had been calibrated and that the documentation was as per the standards. My
supervisor would often request my presence during the audit, in order to ensure that we could provide the
auditors with any evidence that they required (I was aware of the location of most of the evidence in the
companys shared drive). After the audit, it was also under my job scope to ensure that the findings from the
audit were communicated to all relevant personnel, and were closed before the designated deadline.

JOURNEY TO PROCESS EXCELLENCE (JTPE)

JtPE took up a significant portion of my November at Rolls-Royce. JtPE is a set of standards that are delineated
by the companys higher management in order to ensure a base quality level. The standard integrates various
aspects of a successful workplace such as Leadership & People, Planning, Operation Control,
Management Review, Objectives & Strategies, etc. November was a crucial month as the JtPE audit was
held at the end of the month. There are three possible outcomes of the audit Gold, Silver or bronze. Having
achieved Gold last year, everyone had an expectation this year that I had to match up to. Responsible for
ensuring that all standards were being followed and we were set to achieve Gold for this years JtPE audit, I
spend most of my November pointing out any processes that were not being followed, any improvements that
could be made and correcting the errors that occurred last year so as to avoid repetition. The audit went on for 5
hours, and after going through all of the companys processes in great detail, the auditor concluded that we had
achieved Gold again. Being the sole person responsible for this process, it was certainly a moment of great
pride and joy.

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OVERALL EXPERIENCE
The internship program at Rolls-Royce was quite a well-structured and organized program whereby the interns
were given various opportunities to do impactful work and also opportunities to present themselves and learn
more about the company itself. They were involved highly in the various meeting and tours were arranged for
them to learn more about the operations at the Seletar campus. Below is short summary and overview of all the
general meetings, team-building sessions and tours attended during the period of the internship

ALL HANDS MEETING

This meeting was a general update session held for all the employees of the Advanced Technology Centre and
across all the different departments like MSL, ManTech, Computational Engineering, etc. In this session, the
head of ATC shares all the updates and developments within the company, followed by operational, HS&E and
other team updates. Thus, through this session, all the employees are constantly updated on the companys
progress and current market situation and this certainly helps them relate with the impact of the work that they
do. Moreover, the session is also used to recognize and appreciate some employees through awards for their
extra efforts to complete an exemplary task.

OTHER GENERAL TEAM MEETINGS

Being a part of the HS&E team, I had to work collaboratively with all research groups. Therefore, I was often
invited to the team meetings of all departments in order to provide HS&E and Quality updates, as well as
updates on my specific projects that were pertinent to the departments.

RECREATIONAL EVENTS
One thing that significantly contributed to my pleasant internship experience at Rolls-Royce was the companys
attention towards the welfare of its employees. In August, in order to celebrate Singapores 50 th birthday, Rolls
Royce Singapore organized an event for all employee called the Rolls Royce SG50 fiesta. I had the opportunity
to be the photographer for the event as well as also participate in one of the bicycle race events.

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HS&E WEEK
The Health, Safety & Environment awareness week was held to make everyone aware of the hazards that are
likely to occur in the workplace and to celebrate the work that is done by my department the HS&E and
Quality department in order to ensure that these hazards are kept at a minimum.

VISITS TO ROLLS-ROYCE CORPLAB @ NTU

It was during the term of my internship that Advanced Technology Centre Rolls Royce opened a new Corporate
Lab in collaboration with NTU. I was responsible for reviewing the risks pertinent in the lab, and suggesting
feasible measures to reduce them. This was done by conducting various Business Continuity Reviews that took
into consideration key resources, key personnel and key equipment during a disaster. I also identified the key
process owners, inputs, resources and the backup strategies.

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FBSG (FAN BLADES SINGAPORE) TOUR

This was a tour organized by my supervisor, Mr. Sanjay Kumar Thakur, in order to familiarize me with the
manufacturing process at FBSG. I was shown around FBSG and all the processes and various cells involved in
the manufacturing of the fan blades in Rolls-Royce Singapore. I was able to get an overview of how the blades
are manufactured, and we were also able to relate some of the work done in our projects.

SATU (SELETAR ASSEMBLY AND TESTING UNIT) TOUR

Similar to the FBSG tour, Mr. Thakur also organized a tour of the SATU facilities. Here, I was able to see how
the whole engine is made using the various and modules that is shipped from UK and other suppliers I was run
through the entire engine assembly process under the different cells and was also briefed on how some of the
processes have evolved as a result of automation and other developments. In another rare opportunity, I was also
given a chance to view the test bed of the engines and how engines are mounted and tested before they are sent
out to the customers for delivery and service usage.

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TAKEAWAYS

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