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THE ALL-ROUNDERS FROM MAINTENANCE

On the job around the clock to ensure smooth production

High workload: Mirko Wagner performs an avarage of 700 activities during his shift each year. 

 

Early in the morning at 4:00 am – Mirko Wagner’s phone rings in the workshop: one of the coating systems is stuck and has come to a standstill. Together with his colleague Stephan Dörre, he quickly prioritises the message and decides who should rush to the machine. An on-site check is carried out to determine where the fault lies and how quickly it can be remedied. By replacing a spare part that was in stock in the maintenance warehouse, they are able to get the machine up and running again after a short time. This is what a typical job for our maintenance department might look like.

Everything at a glance: From engines to conveyor belts and oil changes. The maintenance team takes on a wide range of tasks. 

A huge field of work

The employees in our maintenance department, including the electronics and mechanics teams and other specialists, need to be real all-rounders: they know our production like the back of their hand – everything from our oldest machines from the 1980s all the way through to our latest technology. The team in the workshop and the maintenance warehouse are faced with a huge number of tasks and challenges. Every day, our colleagues ensure that our production machines run smoothly and that all delivery dates can be met. The ultimate goal: avoiding downtime! This is achieved with good planning and a coordinated reporting system that takes effect whenever a defect appears. The  emphasis here is on repairing rather than replacing or using outside companies. This is both sustainable and cost-saving.

Working at great heights or in confined spaces: Our maintenance locations are part of the challenge. It takes courage and concentration. 

Specialists in almost everything

The 54-member maintenance department consists of electronics technicians and mechanics, obviously, but also project managers and employees in the technology warehouse. The two teams from electronics and mechanics work in three-shift operation. When the night shift ends on Saturday morning at 6:00 am, there is also on-call duty: this way, our production processes are secured around the clock. In addition to the maintenance department’s electronics and mechanics team, other specialists take care of the complex area of process heat: they know all about steam and heating technology and make sure that the energy for our plants can be generated sustainably in a cycle.

Ready at any time

The maintenance team can also help with problems outside production: for example, the building technology team is responsible for everything related to our buildings – heating, ventilation, or cooling – and is available on weekdays until 5:00 pm. Of course, the electrical or mechanical maintenance teams will pitch in if problems arise outside  these times. Faults in the building technology are also rectified in the evenings, so that break rooms or offices can continue to be used and all employees feel comfortable.

Shift handover in Maintanance: What happened during the night, is there a need for further testing?

Exciting field of training

Our maintenance professionals need to be experts in a wide variety of tasks and specialist areas, and this expertise is best learned directly in the company: for this reason, the department currently employs a total of seven trainees in the fields of industrial mechanics, mechatronics, automation technology and operating technology, and one vocational student in the field of industrial electrical engineering. This way, the great wealth of knowledge our experts have built up is not lost.

Read more in the ORAFOL magazine

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