Engineering

Engineering offers a fast moving career with great potential for progression. The days of getting by with just a trusty box of spanners and a monkey wrench are long gone! With a grasp of sophisticated control systems and the application of Information Technology commonly employed in today's industry, the world can be your oyster.

Although there are two distinct career options, agriculture or forestry engineering, it is fair to say that each are founded on common engineering principles and similar technology.

Agricultural Engineering - UK Industry

This industry can be viewed in both a UK and global context.

In its broadest sense the industry supports the mechanised production of food for consumption by man and beast!

A number of major multi national manufacturing companies form the backbone of the industry globally, supplying tractors, farm machinery and horticultural equipment throughout the world. Many of the major manufacturers have factories in the UK, USA, Canada and Europe.

Over 6,000 companies in the UK sell and service agricultural and garden machinery. There are approximately 60,000 individuals working in the sector, 30% of which are service engineers. Only 3 major tractor manufacturers are operating in the UK and are able to satisfy world demand. A substantial number of smaller machinery manufacturers supply specialist equipment for the UK and global markets.

Employment within a dealership can fall in to one of 5 main areas: Service; Parts; Sales; Management and Administration. These broad categories are also applicable to the manufacturing industry with the addition of Product Design and Development.

Dealerships exist throughout the whole of the UK, with many dealers specialising in a product suited to their region or area. Some sell and support both agricultural and horticultural machinery which often includes professional ground care equipment used on golf courses and public parks.

Forestry Engineering

The forestry engineering industry can be viewed in a UK or Global context, its main purpose is to support mechanised timber extraction or processed timber production.

A number of specialist machine manufacturers provide equipment for this dedicated market, with a large proportion of the machines manufactured in Sweden, Finland or the USA.

The UK industry can be split into two main sectors:

Harvesting

This sector embraces timber production from planting to delivery of cut timber at the sawmill. A mechanised process of ground preparation, planting, harvesting and extraction would normally be used. Harvesting would be carried out by hand using chainsaws or by using specialist harvesting machines which can cut timber to the specification set by the sawmill while minimizing waste through "optimizer systems" built into the machines and controlled by an on board computer. The timber would then be extracted from the site by tractor skidder or purpose built forwarder where it could be uplifted and taken to the sawmill.

Production

Production begins when the timber arrives at the sawmill or paper mill. Handling equipment is used to move the timber for processing into paper or timber products.

In the case of paper there is a lot of mechanized processing of the timber to form an intermediary 'slurry' for the final paper production.

Sawmills will produce boarding, structural timber or composite products, normally used in the construction process. Some specialists may produce high quality products which are used for furniture manufacture.