What are the tasks of an industrial maintenance technician?
Production stoppages, technical problems, processing delays: when industrial equipment breaks down, the whole company can be paralysed. To compensate for these malfunctions, which can have serious consequences for a company's performance, industrial maintenance is the essential solution, and is widely favoured by production companies. In this sense, the industrial maintenance sector invests the equivalent of 22.6 billion euros of expenditure in the industry each year, according to the AFIM (French Association of Maintenance Engineers and Managers).
At the head of this preventive and curative activity, the industrial maintenance technician plays a key role in keeping the company at the top of its productivity. With their in-depth technical knowledge, they ensure that production activities continue and that the company remains viable.
Find out about the tasks of the industrial maintenance technician and its importance within the company.
What is industrial maintenance?
Industrial preventive maintenance
In the industrial sector, preventive maintenance refers to all maintenance operations carried out on technical and electrical equipment. Its aim is to avoid or reduce the risk of a breakdown. Industrial equipment and machines are regularly checked and inspected in order to repair or replace parts before they fail. Industrial preventive maintenance is established by means of regular visits by the maintenance technician to the production site.
Curative industrial maintenance
Curative industrial maintenance aims to correct malfunctions in faulty equipment in order to restore its functionality. The repair of equipment, or replacement if necessary, is a sustainable solution for industry. Curative industrial maintenance intervenes as soon as a breakdown occurs. This requires a high level of reactivity on the part of the maintenance technician in charge of repairing the faulty industrial equipment.
What are the tasks of an industrial maintenance technician?
Definition of the trade of industrial maintenance technician
The importance of the industrial maintenance technician profession
The industrial maintenance technician is one of the most important links in the operation of a production company. His or her main mission, to repair equipment breakdowns and failures, is to guarantee the productivity of an industry. In this sense, this job is an emergency. His or her role is divided into various closely related tasks to ensure the optimal functioning of the company:
> Repair of technical faults in automatically or mechanically operated industrial apparatus and equipment;
> Carrying out preventive operations through regular maintenance and monitoring of machines;
> Diagnosis of a malfunction ;
> Checking the safety of the equipment or machine;
> Improved business performance by ensuring that operations are not interrupted, even in the event of a proven failure;
> Checking the equipment and changing defective or outdated parts;
> Spare parts inventory management ;
> Process optimization and adaptation to new technologies;
> Modification or updating of computer programs and recurrent testing before re-commissioning.
If remote maintenance is possible, the industrial maintenance technician intervenes or works in situ, generally as part of a team of technicians who accompany him in his diagnostic or repair missions.
Tools of the industrial maintenance technician
With a strong technical background, rigorous training in many areas of expertise and a mastery of the most advanced technologies, the industrial maintenance technician uses high-performance tools designed to streamline his activity and assist him in his tasks:
> CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) software is a tool for managing equipment, purchases, files and stocks related to industrial maintenance activities;
> ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software ensures a more global management of all the activities of a company, including industrial maintenance.
What are the qualities and skills of a good industrial maintenance technician?
Being in charge of industrial maintenance operations in companies cannot be improvised! This job, with its many challenges, requires many qualities and skills that are essential for the smooth running of maintenance operations. This is why this job is very often a permanent position and requires excellent training.
> Reactivity is the most important aspect of this job, which is subject to a permanent sense of urgency. The maintenance technician must be able to intervene quickly to solve technical problems before or after a breakdown;
> Organisation and great rigour are also necessary for this job. If done properly, they will lead to the continuity of production activities, which are essential to the company's survival;
> In-depth technical knowledge of the machines and equipment to be maintained, regardless of make or model;
> A great deal of versatility in its expertise;
> Excellent interpersonal skills and a keen sense of listening to work in perfect synergy with the logistics teams.
What training do you need to become an industrial maintenance technician?
The job of industrial maintenance technician requires a mastery of highly specialised technical skills. To occupy this position on a permanent contract, a variety of training courses and diplomas are available to cover all the specificities of this job:
> Short courses such as the vocational baccalaureate in industrial equipment maintenance or the ST1 2D technological baccalaureate;
> Bac+2 level such as BTS systems maintenance or DUT industrial engineering and maintenance;
> Training at Bac+3 level such as the professional licence and maintenance of energy installations or the professional licence maintenance of industrial systems;
> 5 years of higher education, such as engineering school, to become an industrial maintenance technician with high responsibilities, such as a team leader.
Training can also be envisaged in the form of a sandwich course or apprenticeship so that the future industrial maintenance technician can experience the reality of the job by working in a company. As soon as the maintenance technician qualification is obtained, the new holder will be able to apply for various job offers on fixed-term, permanent or temporary contracts.
The job of maintenance technician offers wide-ranging prospects for development:
> The maintenance supervisor is responsible for managing and leading several maintenance teams. He/she organises interventions and the management of industrial equipment;
> The maintenance method manager is responsible for establishing a maintenance plan and ensuring that a good working methodology is established with the teams deployed to optimise the means of production;
> The safety and industrial risk prevention officer ensures that the safety conditions of the equipment and maintenance teams are respected, by means of annual preventive measures and by holding health and safety committees.
Viaposte ensures the reliability and performance of all your industrial equipment!
We take care of the maintenance of your industrial equipment and machines and ensure their continuous optimisation to guarantee their proper functioning. Our teams of industrial maintenance technicians have a multi-technology knowledge thanks to recurrent training that allows them to maintain the highest level of competence. Based throughout France, the technician offers industrial maintenance services:
> in shifts ;
> in partial attendance ;
> in customised intervention.
The maintenance of industrial equipment carried out by Viaposte technicians is both preventive, thanks to constant maintenance and recurrent checks, and corrective when a breakdown is declared. The industrial maintenance technician is supported by state-of-the-art methods (CMMS, supplier sourcing, method audits, performance reporting, etc.). He provides your company with comprehensive support to control downtime and the costs generated by a production break. Viaposte industrial maintenance: by and for logistics!
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