Types of Employees at Worldwide Automatins
A maintenance worker is responsible for maintaining a facility and the assets within it. But not every maintenance worker uses the same tools and tactics to achieve this. Different types of care workers collaborate as a team. Some teammates strategize and plan using maintenance software (eg maintenance planners); others get their hands dirty by doing repairs and inspections (e.g. maintenance technicians).
Delegating responsibilities between different types of employees strengthens an organization’s ability to plan further maintenance, improve program compliance, increase uptime, carry out repairs faster, and retain good talent. Saving money by assigning an employee the responsibilities of various job titles is tempting for organizations, but it’s not an effective approach. For larger organizations that need to meet production quotas, uptime SLAs or certain levels of customer satisfaction, hiring a team of maintenance workers with different skills is critical.
The type of maintenance worker you should hire depends on the type of worker you currently employ, your goals, and your industry (manufacturing, property management, etc.). For example, if you manage a manufacturing facility and have enough technicians but want to increase the percentage of work you plan, you should hire a maintenance planner. And if you manage a small property contracting repairs and want to reduce turnaround times for job demands, you should hire a maintenance technician.
Maintenance Technician
A maintenance technician is the maintenance worker who does the most hands-on work. They perform preventive maintenance tasks (eg lubrication), emergency repairs (eg parts replacement), and inspections. In some facilities, the maintenance technician is “an expert” and works on many different types of equipment. However, they do not make major repairs and rebuilds. This work is either tendered or given to a maintenance engineer.
maintenance engineer
A maintenance engineer is certified to repair and rebuild certain types of equipment. They also diagnose faults when equipment breaks down and help establish preventive maintenance programs. This combination of hands-on maintenance and maintenance strategy requires them to work with technicians and planners alike.
maintenance planner
A maintenance planner ensures that technicians and engineers have everything they need (tools, parts, documents, etc.) to perform the scheduled work as efficiently as possible. They coordinate with parts managers, maintenance managers and other teammates to make this happen. They also coordinate with managers from other departments, such as production, to plan plant-wide shutdowns. Depending on the size of the facility, there is either a separate maintenance planner and maintenance planner, or a single maintenance worker who performs both the planning and scheduling functions.
