Drives And Automation

Invitations to interview have now been sent out to selected applicants. We would like to thank everyone who applied for their interest in joining DnA.

Following a successful day at Sheffield University Autumn Careers fair, our team have been busy reviewing some really impressive CV's. Offers to interview will be sent out next week to selected candidates. If you haven't yet submitted yours, don't delay, we'd love to hear from you too.

We are hiring!

Graduate Electrical Design Engineer

What we are looking for:

A new graduate (or just about to graduate) who has completed their IET accredited under graduate first degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering (B. Eng) within the last 2 years.
Someone who is inquisitive, wants to understand how ‘things’ work and is able to offer creative solutions to problems.
Someone who is proficient in the use of MS Office programs, particularly Excel.
Demonstrate real interest in the role and curiosity to learn more
Someone who is capable of producing work to a high standard of accuracy.
Have excellent communication skills and be comfortable working with clients and others across the business.
Someone who is organised, able to balance workload and meet deadlines.
Someone who is able to work under pressure but maintain excellent attention to detail.
Someone who has an interest in motion control - how to make things move.
Someone who has experience of programming and basic control theory.
Someone who has a full UK driving license and access to a car as travel to clients’ sites across the country is a major part of the role.

The following would be a bonus, but don’t be put off if not:

Knowledge/Experience of 2D software – particularly AutoCAD LT
Have an interest in or experience of AC/DC Drives Systems & Motors

What are all the practical details?

Starting salary: depending on skills and experience.
Company benefits: 21 days holiday plus bank holidays ( increases to 25 days with length of service), employee ownership in the business after 12 months service (we are an EOT).
Office based with travel to customer sites for breakdown, commissioning, site surveys etc.
37.5 hours full time

What does the role involve?

We'll be honest, if all you want to do is CAD work and keep your hands clean, this role probably isn't for you. We are a systems integrator and our engineers work projects from cradle to grave. To begin with you'll be shadowing one of our engineering team, and that could be on a site visit to quote a project for a customer, it could be to apply software mods to one of our projects, it could be to look at a breakdown on a piece of equipment we've not seen before. And yes, you will get your hands dirty from time to time. Because of the variety of the work, and the variety of Drives, PLC's and HMI's out there; our engineers tend be a cut above the rest, we are looking for the brightest and the best to join them, we hope that could be you!

We'll teach you how to quote, from initial customer contact through to designing and then implementing the solution. We'll help you learn the different systems. We'll help you learn basic diagnostics, but Engineers are born not made, and you'll need a sound understanding of the basics and a desire to learn new things. If figuring out how things work and how we can make them better is right up your street, keep on reading..

What on going training do I get?

First of all you will need your CCNSG Safety Passport, without that you won't be able to work on customer sites. There's in house training on our own systems, and manufacturer led training on their products and software. There's also a lot of on the job training and we have our own training courses on motors and drives which you'll need to complete.

Will I just be stuck in the office?

Definitely not. To begin with a lot of your time will be office based, and our engineers will pass on basic design tasks and things like purchasing and drawing to help you build up your basic skills base. We'll also get you out on site as much as we can to assist with project, break down or quoting work. After a few months we'd like you to be capable of quoting simple jobs, carrying out PLC and HMI work, and towards the end of the first year we hope you'll be ready to attend your first breakdowns solo (don't panic, help is always just a phone call away if you need it, and we'd never send you out to something that we didn't think you were capable of fixing).

Do I need to have an M.Sc?

You do not have to have an M.Sc.; we place more emphasis on candidates having an IET accredited B.Eng in Electronic and Electrical Engineering. We will provide the rest of your job training.

Location:

Unit 11 The Stables, Staveley Hall , Chesterfield, Derbyshire S43 3TN
Start details: you will be required to work in the office.
Transport and parking: free parking is available
Start date: Varies

How to apply:

email your cv to [email protected]

What's the interview like?

To begin with we'll start with a telephone interview where we can get to know each other a bit better, this is your chance to show your passion for us and for engineering. If the telephone interview goes well we'll call you in for an interview at our offices.

The face to face interview will involve a number of elements:
We'll assess you knowledge of basic electronic components
We'll ask you what you know about VFD's and control systems
We'll ask you which of our projects most interests you and why, and what you would have done differently.

There's a practical assessment involving some PLC programming, usually using TIA Portal (if you haven't used it don't panic, we want to see your thought processes, so ladder logic on paper would be acceptable).

You will have been asked to prepare some work on either drives, hmi's, plc's, design a simple control system etc, and you will be asked to explain what each element does and why you chose it and assembled it as you did.

The interview will usually last around half a day, we aren't looking to catch you out, but we do need to understand your current skillset.

NO AGENCIES

DnA were recently asked to replace an obsolete control mechanism on a Hot Wire Cutter. Using a Control Techniques C300 drive and a Siemens PLC we not only replaced the obsolete and unsupportable hardware, but also doubled the production capacity of the machine.

We hope you've had a very good Christmas, as we step into 2024, we look forward to working with you on more exciting projects. Happy New Year!

A brilliant evening with everyone at the NEC Birmingham for DnA's Christmas Party! Delicious food, fantastic entertainment and great company! Thank you to everyone for making it a night to remember. Same again next year! 🎄🎉

A trip out to look at a paperline needing a little bit of DnA magic and TLC to get everything back up and running just the way the customer wants it.

Did you get your B.Eng in Electronics and Electrical Engineering in 2023? Fancy getting some real world experience on a project like this? Contact us today!

Got an Electronics and Electrical Engineering Degree? Just graduated or graduating in 2024? We want to hear from you! We’re . Know anyone who might be interested?

About the job...

What we are looking for:

A new graduate with an electrical & electronic engineering Degree
Be inquisitive, want to understand how ‘things’ work and able to offer creative solutions to problems
Be proficient in the use of MS Office programs, particularly Excel
Demonstrate real interest in the role and curiosity to learn more
Be capable of producing work to a high standard of accuracy
Have excellent communication skills and be comfortable working with clients and others across the business
Be organised, able to balance workload and meet deadlines
Be able to work under pressure but maintain excellent attention to detail
Have an interest in motion control - how to make things move
Have experience of programming and basic control theory
Have a full UK driving license and access to a car as travel to clients’ sites across the country is a major part of the role

The following would be a bonus, but don’t be put off if not

Knowledge/Experience of 2D software – particularly AutoCAD LT
Have an interest in or experience of AC/DC Drives Systems & Motors

What are all the practical details?

Starting salary: £24,000 - £27,000 depending on skills and experience
Company benefits: 21 days holiday plus bank holidays (gradually increases to 25 days with length of service), employee ownership in the business.
Office based with travel to customer sites
37.5 hours full time

Location:

Unit 11 The Stables, Staveley Hall , Chesterfield, Derbyshire S43 3TN
Start details: you will be required to work in the office.
Transport and parking: free parking is available
Start date: Varies

How to apply:

Send your CV in confidence to [email protected]

NO AGENCIES

Another week and another new customer. DnA helping a masonry yard complete a DC to AC conversion that they ran into problems with on a Carl Meyer Stone Saw. We'll be replacing the DC drive with a nice shiny new Invertek AC unit and integrating new controls into the existing system to get the cross travel back up and working again.

Another day, another site visit, and a new customer. DnA has been asked to look at the full retrofit of a bespoke vac former.

If you have custom applications and are starting to struggle to get spares or are suffering increasing downtime due to breakdowns, give us a call. From Vac Formers to Extruders, packing lines to CNC's and everything in between, we can usually help!