Amman- 9 January 2023
The ultimate target of the Mechanical and Maintenance Engineering Department (MECH)/School of Applied Technical Sciences (SATS) at the German Jordanian University (GJU) is to equip its students with essential industrial practicability and link them to diverse industries locally and even globally. To accomplish this, Dr. Sameer Al-Dahidi planned and organized two educational field trips (as part of the Management of Maintenance Systems Course) to Siniora Food Industries Company P.L.C. on Saturday, 10th December 2022 and Saturday, 24th December 2022. In total, a group of 22 MECH students participated in the field visits.
Siniora Food Industries Company P.L.C. found in Jerusalem in 1920. In 1992, due to the growing demand for Siniora’s superior-quality delicatessen meat products, a factory was established in Sahab, Jordan, under the name of Siniora Food Industries Company P.L.C.
The visits began with a general introduction to Siniora’s history and the company’s marketing aspects, visions, and policies, given by Eng. Ihab Al-Rajabi (Plant Operations Manager) and Ms. Sawsan Abu-Jamnous (Marketing Leader). There was also a field safety orientation given by Eng. Montaser Abdelsalam (HSE Manager), a general introduction about the company's quality assurance aspects given by Eng. Saleh Farrah (Quality Assurance Team Leader), and a general introduction about the maintenance aspects of the company given by Eng. Omar Qasim (Maintenance Manager). After providing a thorough explanation of the maintenance management systems implemented at Siniora, Eng. Qasim gave the students the opportunity to engage in a detailed discussion and ask various questions.
Specifically, Eng. Qasim introduced the adopted maintenance intervention approaches (corrective, scheduled, condition-based, and predictive) and their detailed plans, the creation of the maintenance budget and its categorizations, the layout of the plant and its machines, a ranking system for the machines, the development of the maintenance team, maintenance cost control, and a system for managing the spare parts inventory.
The field trip was very informative and loaded with new aspects of knowledge, and most importantly, it was a great example of the application of our important thorough maintenance courses and materials. Dr. Al-Dahidi emphasized the importance of such educational field visits, stating that they are essential for every engineering student as it practically clarifies the significance of the maintenance management systems.
Dr. Al-Dahidi aimed to expand the cooperation with Siniora further by introducing the Dual Study (DS) program started recently at MECH, its definition, how GJU applies DS, benefits for students, timeline, and how Siniora and GJU can both benefit from such a collaboration. Further, Dr. Al-Dahidi discussed the opportunity of allowing MECH students to carry out their Graduation Projects at Siniora under the supervision of a MECH faculty member and establishing a research cooperation line between Siniora Food Industries Company P.L.C. and GJU via GJU’s faculty members and students.
Eng. Khalid Saleh, General Manager, appreciated and valued the field visits and welcomed any future collaboration with the GJU.
GJU and SATS valued the hospitality and cooperation of Siniora staff, represented by the general manager Eng. Khalid Saleh, and with factory employees. Both sides are looking forward to future collaboration.