West Fraser’s Class of 2024, Michael Scott-Ramsey – Engineering Graduate

West Fraser, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of engineered wood-based panel products, is committed to “attracting and recruiting great people, and creating workplaces that are reflective of the communities we are a part of and where diversity in culture, experience and background are valued. The approach underpins our strategic objectives to attract, employ and retain engaged, talented and high-performing people, support better decision making, reach a broader pool of potential employees and maintain a more inclusive work environment.”  And here, in the third of a new series, we read the stories behind some of the young talent emerging today.

What first attracted you to the company?

After graduating from university during COVID, I was working for a retailer as there were very few companies taking on any new recruits at the time. I heard about an opportunity to apply for West Fraser’s graduate programme in the summer of 2021 and I was interested in finding out more about the opportunity and what it had to offer.

Having taken time to research the company, its values and core beliefs, I soon realised that this was the perfect place to make a start to my professional career.

What’s been your career path and how did it happen?

Having graduated in 2020, I began applying for engineering positions across various industries. Since this was during the pandemic, very few companies were taking on any new starts. In the summer of 2021, I applied for West Frasers graduate scheme and after positive initial conversations with HR, I was invited on site for an interview. Shortly after, I was offered the position as the sole graduate engineer for the intake period.

As a graduate engineer, your job specification and day to day working life can be very fluid. The scheme allows young professionals to explore and experience different areas of the business to highlight any interests or other strengths that they would like to pursue.

Having spent 11 months on the graduate programme, I was taken on full time as a ‘Reliability and Project Engineer’ where I learned a lot about the process, lean manufacturing and predictive maintenance. West Fraser also gave me the opportunity to lead my own projects, start to finish. This gave me the opportunity to show them what I was capable of but it also gave me a level of responsibility that would not normally be given to a graduate in any other business.

After just short of one year in the Engineering Development team, an opportunity came up to join the QEHS team as a ‘Quality Engineer’. Since joining the company in 2021, I had developed strong links and relationships with the members of the QEHS team and had worked closely with them in some of my projects. It was only through West Fraser’s graduate scheme that I was given the opportunity to explore what the Quality team had to offer, and to realise that is where my future was going to be.

I have now been a Quality Engineer since October 2023 and I am enjoying the challenging and demanding work that is expected of me.

What’s the best thing about your current role? /What is the most interesting thing you have gotten to work on so far in your time here?

I have been fortunate to be involved in several different projects which have increased my overall knowledge of the plant. Currently, I am the project lead for the installation of a new CNC router which will drastically increase the health and safety of our lab technicians and operators when producing lab samples for our regulatory testing. This has given us the chance to take traditional tasks and bring them into the new age of engineering by utilising new equipment and software to develop the accuracy and time frame in which these tasks are completed.

What do you hope to achieve at West Fraser?

I believe that with hard work, the right opportunities will arise. I will continue to keep my head down and work to the best of my ability to prove to the company that they made the right decision in hiring me, and hopefully, the company values me enough to progress through the business whenever they see fit.

Which of West Frasers core values do you identify with most?

Safety – Having a site that puts safety as the top priority means that I can go about my job knowing that people are watching out for each other to ensure we all go home safe to our families.

Trust – Trust is massive in the workplace. Since joining the business, I have worked with several people on several topics. You need to have the trust in that person to complete their side of the work and hold themselves to the same high standards that I put on myself.

Teamwork – Although the Cowie mill is a very large site, whenever I go on site, I am always stopped by another member of staff to either catch up or even just to say hello. This bond has been generated through working alongside different departments and gaining the exposure to other areas of the business. We can all do our part to make everyone else’s jobs easier and more enjoyable.

For further information on the graduate opporuntities on offer at West Fraser, please email  Graduates.UK@westfraser.com