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- Practical, hands-on work maintaining, servicing, and repairing machinery
- You'll need technical skills, practical skills & excellent problem-solving skills
- You could progress into quality control, research & development, or a supervisory or management role
As a textile machinery technician you'll work to maintain the machines used at every stage of the textile production process, from fibre preparation, spinning and fabric construction, through to dyeing and finishing.
DAY-TO-DAY DUTIES
- Preparing and setting up equipment for operatives
- Responding to breakdowns during a production run
- Diagnosing problems quickly and fixing faults on site
- Reassembling and testing machinery to make sure it's safe to go back into production
- Carrying out maintenance
- Recording work in detail
- Informing shift managers of progress or problems
DAY-TO-DAY ENVIRONMENT
You may need to work shifts on a 24-hour shift pattern, and you'll be in a factory environment, which could be noisy. You'll normally wear safety clothing and ear protectors on the factory floor.
You may need to travel to other parts of the country to visit equipment suppliers or to attend workshops on new machinery.
You'll need
For this role you'll need to develop a high level of technical knowledge, strong practical skills, excellent problem-solving skills, the ability to follow set procedures, IT skills.
You could start as a trainee maintenance technician and learn while you work. You'll usually need GCSEs in maths, English, and design and technology, or equivalent qualifications for this route.
Or you can take a college course, which may help you to get a trainee technician job. Courses include Level 2 Certificate in Mechanical Engineering, Level 2 Certificate in Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology, Level 3 Diploma in Equipment Maintenance Engineering, and Level 3 Diploma in Engineering.
Alternatively, you could do a textile manufacturing intermediate apprenticeship or engineering technician advanced apprenticeship.
CAREER PROSPECTS
With experience, you could specialise in areas like quality control or research and development. You could also move into a supervisory or management post.