Monaghan Institute Learners visit Moffett Automated Storage

On Tuesday 15th November Engineering and Software Development students from Monaghan Institute visited Moffett Automated Storage in their innovative site, Clontibret, Co. Monaghan.

Moffett Automated Storage commenced research, design and development of automated storage and retrieval systems in 2017, with Monaghan Institute making their first visit in 2018. Five years on from our initial visit it was evident that Moffett Automated Storage is growing from strength to strength with a workforce comprised of Software Developers, Engineers, Designers and systems support specialists.

Sam Moffett, the Managing Director stated his enthusiasm for employing directly from the local area to the visiting students. The combination of skills and personnel aids in the Research, Design, and innovation, which is key to the growth of the company. From an initial concept and development in 2017 the workforce has now grown to 52 employees with a full in-house software development department offering remote support and diagnostic tools 24/7, engineering and design of 4D OEM systems manufactured on-site with rigorous systems deployment quality assurance. Providing solutions to more than 10 countries worldwide, Moffett Automated Storage informed the visiting students that they currently have 11 job opportunities available and offer a full on-boarding support for new employees with exciting opportunities to grow, learn and develop professionally within the company.

Monaghan Institute students learn a full range of skills within the classroom from Software Development and testing to Communications and professional development. To commence their visit the students were shown the manufacture and build area where the MAS Taxis, VTUs and conveyors are assembled. The students were informed of the importance of data control and LEAN management to optimise resources for the manufacturing process, further discussion enabled the students to learn that a bespoke Centralised Systems Management Database was in the process of being designed to meet the company needs as the off-the-shelf solutions would not meet future demand as the company begins to scale upwards. The students then received a full instructed tour of the MAS Taxi assembly and testing area, identifying the need for a full range of IT Skills from Networking, Hardware, Software, Logic Testing and systems integration, allowing the students to observe a full software testing and minimum parameters requirement check for calibration and basic operation. Adam Montgomery, Operations Manager then provided a full guided demonstration of an assembled system, explaining the operational procedures and core design elements for functionality. Leaving the manufacturing area, students got to observe an introduction to the Software Support element of the company. Offering 24/7 support the Moffett Automated Storage team can provide remote access control and maintenance to any of their locations worldwide. The MAS systems have a very detailed data management infrastructure with an advanced fully patented interface design, enabling diagnostics and evaluation on critical systems data while also providing preventative maintenance procedures. Offering customised dashboards for user interface and maintaining back-end server infrastructure, the Level 5 and Level 6 Software Development students could observe where they could apply the Database Design, Object Oriented Programming, Software Architecture and Maths for IT skills they learn in the classroom, while the Graphical User Interface and Mobile Technologies skills were core to the end user functionality. Key to the success of the MAS support system is communication and teamwork, as members of the Support team may often be onsite it is critical that the whole support team can continue to liaise and communicate ensuring customer satisfaction and grow their professional skillsets accordingly.

Before concluding their tour of the company, Adam introduced the full group of Engineering and Software development students to the design team within Moffett Automated Storage. Although the system deployed to customers worldwide has a high dependency upon software and IT infrastructure to operate. The overall solution must be designed and constructed to meet the customer location and storage requirements. The design teamwork upon 3D AutoCad layouts with bespoke needs requiring Mathematics and Engineering Technology skills. The completed solution must form and function together as one, therefore requiring essential communication throughout the concept, design and build process between all elements of the MoffettAS company. This attention to detail and awareness of significant factors was then tested when the students received a short quiz at the end of their visit. The prize offered was a MoffettAS branded leisurewear jacket and was won by Isabella Antonio of Engineering Level 5 with an impressive 100% performance on all questions.

Adam, Sam together with Ciaran Duffy, Engineer, then spoke briefly with the students to conclude their visit and re-assured them that the combination of skills that they are developing through their studies with Monaghan Institute along with their own determination, work ethic and curiosity for further development is the skillset which Moffett Automated Storage are interested in working with into the future. The students collectively agreed that the impact of visiting a new and exciting company, which is developing innovative solutions for industry worldwide, was astonishing and the potential which can be realised within a remote rural location through aptitude, design and combining various skills was re-assuring to think their future careers opportunities may be closer than they think, while also inspiring them to think bigger and broaden their horizons for the future from their courses at Monaghan Institute.

Monaghan Institute would like to thank Sam, Adam, Ciaran and all the team at Moffett Automated Storage for offering us this excellent opportunity and we look forward to continuing to build with them into the future.

If you would like any further information about the visit or courses at Monaghan Institute, please contact:

Fergal Sherry, QQI Level 5 Software Development – E: Fergalsherry@monaghaninstitute.ie

Matthew Ward, QQI Level 5 Engineering Technology – E: MatthewWard@Monaghaninstitute.ie

Ray Quinn, QQI Level 6 Software Development – E: RayQuinn@Monaghaninstitute.ie