I apologize in advance for not being brief but I would appreciate your comments, opinions, or advice.
Late in ’07 and earlier this year my boss (the Engineering Manager, EM) and his boss (V.P. Engineering & Production, VPE&P) collaborated with our outpost business units (in several states) to develop a Product Support Engineering (PSE) function at our manufacturing center. I was asked by the EM to review and offer comments on the PSE pseudo job description/charter. Having Professional Engineering Licenses I offered caution based on the fact that the company is not licensed to offer any semblance of engineering services to the public.
We are a natural gas equipment packager that designs and manufactures ‘units’ for our own rental fleets (business units). We also sell custom ‘units’ that we design and manufacture to customer specifications. In addition to managing rental units, our business units offer maintenance services and support to other companies that have equipment like what we manufacture and rent.
Having been with the company for less than two years, my understanding at that time was that the proposed Product Support Engineering (PSE) initiative would be a new offering to expand the types of maintenance services and support function that would be offered by the business units. Basically, instead of offering to just overhaul engines and other equipment we wanted to start consulting on equipment reconfigurations intended to change the equipments’ performance characteristics.
So I raised the flag stating that the company should be licensed and registered in all the states we’re proposing to offer these services. Shortly thereafter I got in on an email exchange between our legal department and the ‘local’ State Board of Professional Engineers. Paraphrasing, the legal department said that we build stuff, rent stuff, and services stuff and that we’re thinking about adding an engineering function to support our service teams for the reconfiguration of our own fleet and customer owned units. The need to be a registered company was asked. The State Board followed up with a very conditional response stating that the company doesn’t have to be registered as long as firm does not represent to the public that it has the ability to offer and/or provide consulting engineering services to/for the public and does not actually provide engineering services to the public. My contribution to the conversation was to elaborate on what was actually involved in the proposed reconfiguration services to which the State Board’s representative said that he tended to agree that licensing and registration is applicable.
While communicated that information to the EM and VPE&P I learned that the business units have been providing the reconfiguration services for quite awhile and that the PSE function was and attempt to consolidate the engineering needs and take some of that load off of the business unit staffs.
Several months passed and in May I found myself at a company function that included a workshop with the business unit members that actually perform the services in question. I took the opportunity and spoke my mind and was summarily dismissed even by a Manager that was there.
In a recent conversation with the VPE&P I referred to my obligation to formally complain to the State Board(s). That prompted another round with a different member of the legal department who proposed consultation with a legal firm with subject experience to clear up all the “interpretation issues.” To my knowledge, two teleconferences have taken place with the legal firm and I was only allowed to participate in one, the most recent.
Late in ’07 and earlier this year my boss (the Engineering Manager, EM) and his boss (V.P. Engineering & Production, VPE&P) collaborated with our outpost business units (in several states) to develop a Product Support Engineering (PSE) function at our manufacturing center. I was asked by the EM to review and offer comments on the PSE pseudo job description/charter. Having Professional Engineering Licenses I offered caution based on the fact that the company is not licensed to offer any semblance of engineering services to the public.
We are a natural gas equipment packager that designs and manufactures ‘units’ for our own rental fleets (business units). We also sell custom ‘units’ that we design and manufacture to customer specifications. In addition to managing rental units, our business units offer maintenance services and support to other companies that have equipment like what we manufacture and rent.
Having been with the company for less than two years, my understanding at that time was that the proposed Product Support Engineering (PSE) initiative would be a new offering to expand the types of maintenance services and support function that would be offered by the business units. Basically, instead of offering to just overhaul engines and other equipment we wanted to start consulting on equipment reconfigurations intended to change the equipments’ performance characteristics.
So I raised the flag stating that the company should be licensed and registered in all the states we’re proposing to offer these services. Shortly thereafter I got in on an email exchange between our legal department and the ‘local’ State Board of Professional Engineers. Paraphrasing, the legal department said that we build stuff, rent stuff, and services stuff and that we’re thinking about adding an engineering function to support our service teams for the reconfiguration of our own fleet and customer owned units. The need to be a registered company was asked. The State Board followed up with a very conditional response stating that the company doesn’t have to be registered as long as firm does not represent to the public that it has the ability to offer and/or provide consulting engineering services to/for the public and does not actually provide engineering services to the public. My contribution to the conversation was to elaborate on what was actually involved in the proposed reconfiguration services to which the State Board’s representative said that he tended to agree that licensing and registration is applicable.
While communicated that information to the EM and VPE&P I learned that the business units have been providing the reconfiguration services for quite awhile and that the PSE function was and attempt to consolidate the engineering needs and take some of that load off of the business unit staffs.
Several months passed and in May I found myself at a company function that included a workshop with the business unit members that actually perform the services in question. I took the opportunity and spoke my mind and was summarily dismissed even by a Manager that was there.
In a recent conversation with the VPE&P I referred to my obligation to formally complain to the State Board(s). That prompted another round with a different member of the legal department who proposed consultation with a legal firm with subject experience to clear up all the “interpretation issues.” To my knowledge, two teleconferences have taken place with the legal firm and I was only allowed to participate in one, the most recent.
If you can get that exact title on your business card, I would be very impressed.