In my first postcollege job, I was a manufacturing engineer for Cummins Engine Co. in Columbus, IN. Two weeks into the job, my boss came to me with a project to purchase an industrial wash system, and I leaped at the opportunity. It was a disaster.
I didn’t know where to begin searching for a supplier. I had never prepared a request for quote and our cleanliness specs were vague (how dry is dry and how clean is clean). I didn’t order some options that would have been helpful in cleaning filters, so we needed add-on equipment and the budget was busted. The equipment arrived and I had not prepared the area for its placement, so it sat on the dock for a couple of days. We scrambled to clear the area and set the drops for the machine. In short, my first project was late, out of budget, and borderline on performance.