For a maintenance engineer working in the aircraft engine manufacturing industry, a typical day at work looks like this:

First off, when there’s no emergency, the day starts with a briefing, where the previous maintenance team explains what happened during their working time. That is, what equipment failures they encountered and whether or not they are done with troubleshooting or repairing. They may also have started an installation, and need to explain specific things for the next team to be able to continue their work.

In short, the briefing is used to maximize the quality of the transition from one maintenance team to the other.

Briefings are not the only thing that’s used to keep an eye on maintenance tasks. Maintenance teams also use Computer Maintenance Management Software (CMMS), which is used to keep track of various data with regards to equipment failures troubleshooting, and preventive maintenance planning. Filling in data within the CMMS is another aspect of the maintenance engineer’s work.

Apart from maximizing clarity and effectiveness through maintenance task tracking, the maintenance engineer spends the rest of the day either continuing or taking on new troubleshooting, repair, or preventive maintenance tasks, using his various technical skills and knowledge.

A CNC machine’s lubrication tank on its way to periodical maintenance

Pros

First, let me say that in my opinion, what’s mainly required to do this job is a substantial interest in machines’ proper operation and process optimization.

Some of the most enjoyable parts about being a maintenance engineer, as far as I’m concerned, are the continuous improvement of technical skills and the personal satisfaction that comes from being able to solve technical issues. These two qualities give rise to another one, which I like even more. And it’s the ability to help and teach technical solutions that work to others. I just love transmitting knowledge to my colleagues, so they can quickly troubleshoot and do away with technical problems similar to those I’ve already encountered. This makes everybody happy and somehow improves the skill level of the whole maintenance team at once

Cons

But, it is to be mentioned that working in the manufacturing industry often means shift work, which I personally find much less fun. Also, to do well in this job, you have to be able to handle a little – or more – pressure when everybody’s waiting for YOU to find a solution to get the manufacturing process back on its feet.

Every job has its cons. Can’t have it all!