Certificate of Achievement in Maintenance Engineering (Level 2)

Course: MIT Certificate of Achievement in Maintenance Engineering (Level 2)

Where: Manukau Institute of Technology

Phone: 0800 11 10 30 or 09 968 8000

Email: info@manukau.ac.nz

www.manukau.ac.nz

Cost: 2006 course costs: $423 plus $15 NZQA credit fees

Pay: Starting hourly rate: Adult apprentice $18 an hour. Newly qualified $25-$32 an hour.

Companies face huge costs when machinery breaks down making it important for machine operators to be able to diagnose and repair faults and ensure reliability of the machinery.

To upskill staff responsible for machine maintenance, MIT offers a range of courses through its maintenance and reliability centre, including the Certificate of Achievement in Maintenance Engineering for plant operators.

As most trainees are in employment, the certificate runs on Friday mornings for 16 weeks.

The course is 50-50 theory and practical. Equipment such as a stethoscope, ultrasonic probe and vibration analysis gear is used in the classroom. Topics include the basic principles of pneumatics and hydraulics, the servicing of machines and equipment and the basic principles of machinery.

Trainees also learn about selection and replacement of static seals in machines and equipment, sealants and adhesives, threads and fasteners. Production machines are fully stripped and reassembled with faults deliberately introduced for identification and rectifying.

Up to 15 trainees are accepted per intake. Applications close when the class is full with the course rolling over during the year. Applicants need level one in maintenance engineering or equivalent industry experience.

Most are plant operators for light or heavy manufacturing companies. Companies sometimes use the course to find potential plant operators, says MIT senior engineering lecturer Larry Wiechern, and are always interested in attitude and attendance, as well as units achieved.

There is opportunity to move into apprenticeships.

The next course starts in February.

THE GRADUATE

Brendan Tiriaere. Contract Bottling. Apprentice engineer, maintenance and diagnostics

I'd always wanted to work with machines. The job involves maintaining the filling, labelling and packaging machinery in the plant.

The maintenance course got me into this apprenticeship. I had been working as an operator, second in command, on night shift when the opportunity to do the maintenance course came up. I knew a lot of the stuff already but it was good to brush up, especially on safety information. And there were things I didn't know about maintenance of hand tools, and how to check for some faults. We also did things such as dissembling and reassembling valves, practical things that helped us learn.

Larry [Wiechern] encouraged me to ask about an apprenticeship at work. I felt I was at the end of what I could do with operating the machines. He pointed out there was a shortage of maintenance and diagnostic engineers, so I discussed it with the production manager and got an [adult modern] apprenticeship.

A lot of what we did at night school in the first year of my apprenticeship was covered in the maintenance course, so it gives you a good idea of what is required if you go further.

The course gave me the confidence to open my horizons, recognise my strengths and see I could go further.

THE EMPLOYER

Logan Campbell. Contract Bottling Company. Engineering development manager and modern apprentice moderator

Our plant has a production capacity of 24,000 bottles an hour on one line; 6,000 on another and it's imperative the machinery keeps rolling them out.

The maintenance course gives operators a good understanding of how to view machines and see how faults occur.

Off-site learning is essential to increase theoretical knowledge and practice it. To get good at something you need to learn how to do it properly and then practice it in the workplace.

Brendan started operating the machines, did the course and is now in an apprenticeship maintaining the machines, which leads to higher skills, more challenges and more money.

Because Brendan was an operator, I think he has a good understanding of how faults occur, the history of faults and the way operators function - which all helps his current role.

Plant operators need an eye for detail, to be mechanically minded, be team workers, have problem solving skills and be able to read and write.

Maintenance and diagnostic engineers need the same skills but also need a high level of analytical skills, to be able to look at the bigger picture and to have forward thinking and planning skills.

In our industry, maintenance and diagnostic engineers need technical knowledge in areas such as carbonation and cardboard grades, ink specifications, capping and bottling.