This Educational Plant Tour in Cebu is an insightful activity conducted by A group of 26

fourth-year Mechanical Engineering (ME) students from the College of Engineering

(CoE), led by ME Department Chair, Engr. Mary Fortune Daisy O. Espiña and faculty

member, Engr. Michelle M. Gallega, conducted a four-day Educational Inspection Tour

in Cebu, from March 13 to March 16, 2024 as part of the course 'Manufacturing and

Industrial Processes with Plant Visit, under the course code ME 425, of our respective

degree program. The tour aimed to showcase various manufacturing and industrial sites

and plants to students in person, enabling them to personally appreciate and

understand better the processes involved in manufacturing and industrial operations,

including the equipment used. The purpose of our educational tour is to expose

students in actual industries, manufacturing companies in order to acquire knowledge,

opportunities, experience rather than sitting alone in a four-corner classroom.

Our plant visit location was NORKIS/Porta Coeli a multicab remanufacturer, Treasure

Island Industrial Corporation - Packaging Division (iPak), a renowned manufacturer of

containers and packaging materials, such as food containers and plastic pouches, Linde

Philippines, Inc., a leading figure in the engineering and industrial gas market globally,

two giant shipbuilding companies, namely Tsuneishi Heavy Industries (Cebu) Inc. and

Austal Philippines, Carmen Copper Corporation, a mining company known for its

production of copper concentrates, and Lear Corporation, a leading figure in automotive

and electrical systems around the world.

On our first day in Cebu, we visited prime review center, a top performing review center

for mechanical engineering in Cebu, enabling students to prepare for the licensure

examination for mechanical engineering and pass the board exam. On our second day,
we visited Norkis/ Porta Coeli Industrial CO. INC. When we arrived, we are given a

short orientation and discussion about the company background and processes. For

touring inside the fabrication area, we are required to wear hard hat and safety vest for

our safety.

Norkis multicab is a remanufacturer company of multicab from scrap vehicles of Japan.

Their main source brand is the Suzuki motors in which they bought scrap vehicles from

japan in a cheaper price to remanufacture to a fully running vehicle. As they say "kaya

namin buhayin ang patay" which means they can bring back the scrap vehicle into our

roads again. During the tour in the fabrication area, our instructor explained the four

main processes in fabrication. The first is the Devanning or the process of taking the

scrap vehicle out of the container van, it is an outdated version in Japan that should

have been disposed. In which I observe that all vehicles are chopped down into pieces

to fit inside the container van. But, before it is ship down to the Philippines from Japan,

they make sure that the engine is in good running condition. The second process is the

repositioning, it is the process of repositioning the driver set from right to left, as we all

know that in Japan driver set is on the right side. the third process is the body filling and

painting of the chassis, it is done to smoothen the chassis and ready for painting and

buffing. after this process, the chassis undergo a quality inspection for the quality of the

car. The fourth process is the assembling of the parts for checking and testing. I

observe that, although it is just a scrap vehicle, Norkis are creative to have their own

design and customization of their cars and multicabs. This was show how creative was

the Filipino was.

IPAK

From our arrival at the IPAK, we are accompanied by human resource department at a

conference room to have a short program or discussion about their products and safety

precaution. Moreover, I observe the security and cleanliness they implement in the

company. As we arrived, we are checked by the security guard for security purposes,

and we proceed to washing area for handwashing before we enter the production area.

In the production area. The company is very strict when it comes in personal protective

equipment and cleanliness, visitors are required to wear disposable hair nets, goggles,

vest, and disposable shoe cover. Visitors also should wash their hands before entering

the working area of the company. Before hopping to the next section or department of

the company visitors should wash their hands again and change their disposable shoe

cover. The first station is the Kiefel Machine or a thermoforming machine that mold film

into a desired shape and design for packaging. As discuss by the instructor, this

machine has three processes which is the forming, cutting, and packing. In forming

process, the film is heated at 40°C to easily mold the film into a desired shape and

design. In molding section, the have what they called a trays and clamp that has a

variety of shapes and sizes.

As we move to another station of the production area which is the flexible printing and

discussed by Ma'am De Castro. For printing, they have machine from Taiwan, Japan

and Germany. For printing process, they discussed that every color has its own cylinder

and printed it gradually from darker color to lighter color and especial ink is intended for

flexible film and this machine can print 120 meters per minute. For converting process,
they have roll form, bag form, stand up pouch, centered sealed, free size sealed, three

side sealed.

There are also 4 Blown Film Extrusion Machine, it has all the same process, but the

difference is the size of the machine. The production process begins by placing the

plastic pellets into the hopper, which is the feeding zone of the machine. The material

enters the machine as a screw inside the extruder rotates, here the plastic pellets get

mix and melted. Next, the material is filtered to remove any minor impurities, and then it

moves to the die head, where the melt comes out in a circular gap. Then the material is

blown upwards by an air ring creating a bubble. This bubble gets cooled as it goes up in

the machine and is flattened by the rollers at the top, creating a tubular film. The film

continues to move to the take-up unit of the machine to get cooled further. Finally, the

film gets winded into a film roll.

The making of packing like sachets and pouches undergoes different machines and

other process are needed the help of the workers. The starting process is the cylinder

making, this where the film will be put in roll. The next process is preparation of the roll

form plastic film, then proceed to the printing process where the printed design of the

package will be print like logo and information of the product. When printed the

rewinding/inspection process is next, it is fed into the next machine, which checks the

printed roll for errors. If any are found, the machine stops, and the assigned workers will

manually remove the error. Then put to lamination process, so that the design will not

be easily damage. The next station is the bag making process which form the product to

the actual design that we see in the market or the sachets and pouches. Finally, the

packing process which are ready to deliver to the customer.

Linde

Linde Is a leading global industrial gases and engineering company, they live in a

mission of making our world more productive everyday- by helping to make their

customers more successful and helping to make our planet. Linde in San Fernando

Cebu are intended only for refilling tank for their respective customers.

Southern Industrial Gases (Philippines), Inc. (SIG) and Consolidated Industrial Gases,

Inc. (CIGI) rebranded as Linde Philippines in 2010. This business produces and

supplies industrial, medicinal, and specialty gases. They also offer a variety of allied

services, such as the installation of pipelines, on-site facilities, and related engineering

services. In the Philippines, they have air separation plants in Pampanga, Laguna, and

Cebu; we also have production hubs for industrial, specialty, and medical gases, and

roughly twenty-five sales outlets.

Before we enter the working area of the plant, the engineer assigned in the plant

discussed the process of separating air elements. As discussed, the air is composed of

78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 0.93 argon, and 0.04 carbon dioxide. To separate those

elements, Linde created an air separator unit (ASU). This provides a reliable and

efficient method for producing these gasses at the required purity levels. At the same

time, the air separation process offers a cost-effective means of producing high purity

gasses compared to other methods, generating them in large quantities, leading to

economies of scale and reduced per-unit production costs over time. ASU units are
typically composed of elements such ad air compressor, an air purification system, heat

exchangers, cryogenic cooling systems and distillation columns, among others.

The main working principle behind an ASU is the separation of air via its liquefying and

distilling processes. A simplified overview of how an ASU typically operates looks like

this:

Compression: in this stage, atmospheric air is drawn into the ASU and passed through

a series of compressors to increase its pressure. The purpose is to make the

subsequent cooling and separation processes more efficient, with typical pressure

ranges going between 5 and 10 bar gauge.

Purification: before further processing, the compressed air is typically purified to remove

impurities (including moisture, carbon dioxide, or trace contaminants). This step ensures

that the separated gasses are of high purity and avoids issues such as the freezing or

plugging of the cryogenic equipment.

Cooling: the now purified, compressed air is cooled down to cryogenic temperatures

using a series of heat exchangers and refrigeration cycles. This results in liquefying the

air, as cryogenic distillation relies on the differences in boiling points of the various

components.

Separation: the now cold, liquefied air is fed into a distillation column (or a series of

distillation columns), so that the air is separated into its primary components based on

differences in boiling points:

Nitrogen has a lower boiling point (-196°C or -321°F) than oxygen (-183°C or -297°F).
Argon, if being separated, has an even lower boiling point (-186°C or -303°F).

As the air ascends the column, it is gradually warmed, and different components

evaporate at their respective boiling points. For instance, oxygen-rich vapor rises to the

top of the column, while nitrogen-rich liquid collects at the bottom. The argon, if present,

is usually extracted as a side product at an intermediate point in the column.

TSUNEISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES

Tsuneishi heavy industries is a shipbuilding company located in West Cebu Industrial

Park, Buanoy, Balamban Cebu. Shipbuilding, ship repair and manufacturing of outfitting

for ships and vessels constitute the main business of the company. THICI ships out

medium sized vessels to different parts of the world from the town of Balamban, Cebu in

the central Philippines.

Tsuneishi Heavy Industrie (CEBU), Inc. main facilities are in a 147-hectare land area

consisting of a Slipway No. 1, Slipway No. 2, a Building Dock, a Warehouse, an

Assembly Factory, a Hatchcover Factory, a Pipe Factory, a Paint Shop, a machine

shop, Floating Cranes, Training Center and an Office Building.

As we arrived in the factory, we are checked by the security guard and did not allow us

to bring our phones to take a picture inside the shipyard. Afterwards, we are

accompanied by training instructor to their session hall for the orientation and

discussion about the company. We are also given a chance to ask questions about the
company but there were questions they decline to answer. During the discussion, our

instructor discusses the processes in making a ship/vessel.

The first step is the Planning / Designing. The main purpose of using 3D software in the
designing is to be able to accurately define each detailed part of the vessel to avoid
mistakes such as inconsistency of adjacent parts and difficulty in production process.

The Second step is the Steel Processing. It is the construction of a hull involves
complex works equipped with advance technologies. (Shot Blasting, NC Cutting, Heat
Bending)

The Third step is the Hull Fabrication. It is where the shaped steel plates are then
passed to the fabrication shops where they are assembled into units and parts the
fabricated as hull block.

The Fourth step is the Pre-Outfitting. Outfitting techniques are used to produce more
complex units already equipped with pipes and other fittings.

The Fifth step is the Hull Erection. It is the prefabricated blocks are transferred to the
building berth to form the hull of the ship. Transfer may be made by crane or special
vehicle (e.g. Kamag block carrier). Portable automatic electric arc welding machines
and manual electric arc welding are then used to assemble the units.

The sixth step is the Accommodation Loading. The whole Accommodation of the ship
has five storeys and each is fabricated separately with its interior. Then, it will be loaded
into the vessel by a floating crane before launching.

The Seventh step is the Launching. After the completion of the hull and superstructure
and the installation of some of the parts and machinery, the ship will be launched.
Christening is often conducted during the Launching or during Delivery.

The eighth step is the Hull Outfitting. After the launching, the ship enters the outfitting
phase. This is the time when there is a great deal of activity installing and protecting a
considerable number of parts and equipment.

The Last step is the Sea Trial. Before the ship will be delivered to its owner, it must
undergo sea trial during which shipyard workers go onboard to engage testing of all
parts of the ship to ensure that everything is satisfactorily operational.
AUSTAL

Austal Philippines was established in Balamban, Cebu in 2012. Drawing upon the global
resources of the Austal Group and utilizing local skills and expertise in design,
engineering and shipbuilding – Austal Philippines has completed a number of major
commercial contracts for vehicle-passenger ferries and offshore support vessel for
customers around the world. As the world’s largest aluminum shipbuilder, Austal has an
intrinsic understanding of aluminum and its outstanding capabilities as a construction
material - and has developed highly specialized, proprietary process to design and
construct vessels with optimal strength and minimal weight. Austal’s ‘Finite Element
Structural Analysis’ allows the optimal design solution(s) to be developed for customers,
based on their operating requirements. The utilization of laser welded and composite
aluminum structural panels in construction are just some of the many innovations that
highlight Austal's dedication to meeting customer needs and continually advancing its
vessels.

Unfortunately, because of the shortage of time for touring the shipyard. We did not
experience the laser welding which is the latest technology they have in their shipyard.