• Workers learn their trade through a 4-year apprenticeship program, or through informal on-the-job training supplemented by classroom instruction.
• Despite slower-than-average employment growth resulting from technological advancements in machinery, applicants with broad skills in machine repair should have favorable job prospects.

Industrial machinery mechanics repair, install, adjust, or maintain industrial production and processing machinery or refinery and pipeline distribution systems. Millwrights install, dismantle, or move machinery and heavy equipment according to layout plans, blueprints, or other drawings. General maintenance and repair workers perform work involving the skills of two or more maintenance or craft occupations to keep machines, mechanical equipment, or the structure of an establishment in repair. Machinery maintenance workers lubricate machinery, change parts, or perform other routine machinery maintenance.

Much of the work begins when machinery arrives at the job site. New equipment must be unloaded, inspected, and moved into position. To lift and move light machinery, industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers use rigging and hoisting devices, such as pulleys and cables. In other cases, they require the assistance of hydraulic lift-truck or crane operators to position the machinery. Because industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers often decide which device to use for moving machinery, they must know the load-bearing properties of ropes, cables, hoists, and cranes.

Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers consult with production managers and others to determine the optimal placement of machines in a plant. In some instances, this placement requires building a new foundation. Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers either prepare the foundation themselves or supervise its construction, so they must know how to read blueprints and work with building materials, such as concrete, wood, and steel.

When assembling machinery, industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers fit bearings, align gears and wheels, attach motors, and connect belts, according to the manufacturer’s blueprints and drawings. Precision leveling and alignment are important in the assembly process; industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers must have good mathematical skills, so that they can measure angles, material thickness, and small distances with tools such as squares, calipers, and micrometers. When a high level of precision is required, devices such as lasers and ultrasonic measuring tools may be used. Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers also work with hand and power tools, such as cutting torches, welding machines, and soldering guns. Some of these workers use metalworking equipment, such as lathes or grinders, to modify parts to specifications.

Maintenance mechanics must be able to detect and diagnose minor problems and correct them before they become major ones. For example, after hearing a vibration from a machine, the mechanic must decide whether it is due to worn belts, weak motor bearings, or some other problem. Computerized maintenance, vibration analysis techniques, and self-diagnostic systems are making this task easier. Self-diagnostic features on new industrial machinery can determine the cause of a malfunction and, in some cases, alert the mechanic to potential trouble spots before symptoms develop.

After diagnosing the problem, the mechanic disassembles the equipment and repairs or replaces the necessary parts. Once the machine is reassembled, the final step is to test it to ensure that it is running smoothly. When repairing electronically controlled machinery, maintenance mechanics may work closely with electronic repairers or electricians who maintain the machine’s electronic parts. However, industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers increasingly need electronic and computer skills to repair sophisticated equipment on their own. (Statements on electrical and electronics installers and repairers as well as electricians appear elsewhere in the Handbook.)

Although repairing machines is the most important job of industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers, they also perform preventive maintenance. This includes keeping machines and their parts well oiled, greased, and cleaned. Repairers regularly inspect machinery and check performance. For example, they adjust and calibrate automated manufacturing equipment such as industrial robots, and rebuild components of other industrial machinery. By keeping complete and up-to-date records, mechanics try to anticipate trouble and service equipment before factory production is interrupted.

A wide range of tools may be used when performing repairs or preventive maintenance. Repairers may use a screwdriver and wrench to adjust a motor, or a hoist to lift a printing press off the ground. When replacements for broken or defective parts are not readily available, or when a machine must be quickly returned to production, repairers may sketch a part that can be fabricated by the plant’s machine shop. Repairers use catalogs to order replacement parts and often follow blueprints and engineering specifications to maintain and fix equipment.

Installation of new machinery is another responsibility of industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers. As plants retool and invest in new equipment, they increasingly rely on these workers to properly situate and install the machinery. As employers increasingly seek workers who have a variety of skills, industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers are taking on new responsibilities.

Because factories and other facilities cannot afford breakdowns of industrial machinery, repairers may be called to the plant at night or on weekends for emergency repairs. Overtime is common among industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers—more than a third work over 40 hours a week. During power outages, industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers may be assigned overtime and be required to work in shifts to deal with the emergency.

About 1 of every 3 worked in manufacturing industries, primarily food processing, textile mill products, chemicals, fabricated metal products, and primary metals. Others worked for government agencies, public utilities, mining companies, and other establishments in which industrial machinery is used.

Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers are found in a wide variety of plants and in every part of the country. However, employment is concentrated in heavily industrialized areas.

Trainee repairers learn from experienced repairers how to operate, disassemble, repair, and assemble machinery. Trainees also may work with concrete and receive instruction in related skills, such as carpentry, welding, and sheet metal work. Classroom instruction focuses on subjects such as shop mathematics, blueprint reading, welding, electronics, and computer training.

Most employers prefer to hire those who have completed high school or its equivalency, and who have some vocational training or experience. High school courses in mechanical drawing, mathematics, blueprint reading, physics, computers, and electronics are especially useful.

Mechanical aptitude and manual dexterity are important characteristics for workers in this trade. Good physical conditioning and agility also are necessary because repairers sometimes have to lift heavy objects or climb to reach equipment located high above the floor.

Opportunities for advancement are limited. Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers advance either by working with more complicated equipment or by becoming supervisors. The most highly skilled repairers can be promoted to master mechanic or can become machinists or tool and die makers.

As automation of machinery becomes more widespread, there is a greater need for repair work than for the installation of new machinery. Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers are becoming more productive through the use of technologies such as hydraulic torque wrenches, ultrasonic measuring tools, and laser shaft alignment, as these technologies allow fewer workers to perform more work. In addition, the demand for industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers will be adversely affected as lower-paid workers, such as electronics technicians, increasingly assume some installation and maintenance duties.

Unlike many other occupations concentrated in manufacturing industries, industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers usually are not affected by seasonal changes in production. During slack periods, when some plant workers are laid off, repairers often are retained to do major overhaul jobs. Although these workers may face layoff or a reduced workweek when economic conditions are particularly severe, they usually are less affected than are other workers because machines have to be maintained regardless of production level.

More than 25 percent of industrial machinery mechanics are union members. More than 67 percent of millwrights belong to labor unions, one of the highest rates of unionization in the economy. Labor unions that represent industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers include the United Steelworkers of America; the United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America; the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; and the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine, and Furniture Workers.

49-9041.00, 49-9042.00, 49-9043.00, 49-9044.00