About This Career

Directly supervises and coordinates the activities of mechanics, installers, and repairers. May also advise customers on recommended services.

This career is part of the Manufacturing cluster Maintenance, Installation and Repair pathway, Manufacturing Production Process Development pathway.

A person in this career:

• Inspects, tests, and measures completed work, using devices such as hand tools or gauges to verify conformance to standards or repair requirements.
• Inspects and monitors work areas, examine tools and equipment, and provides employee safety training to prevent, detect, and correct unsafe conditions or violations of procedures and safety rules.
• Monitors employees' work levels and reviews work performance.
• Interprets specifications, blueprints, or job orders to construct templates and lay out reference points for workers.
• Performs skilled repair or maintenance operations, using equipment such as hand or power tools, hydraulic presses or shears, or welding equipment.
• Computes estimates and actual costs of factors such as materials, labor, or outside contractors.
• Monitors tool and part inventories and the condition and maintenance of shops to ensure adequate working conditions.
• Requisitions materials and supplies, such as tools, equipment, or replacement parts.
• Confers with personnel, such as management, engineering, quality control, customer, or union workers' representatives, to coordinate work activities, resolve employee grievances, or identify and review resource needs.
• Determines schedules, sequences, and assignments for work activities, based on work priority, quantity of equipment, and skill of personnel.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

People who do this job report that:

• You would often handle loads up to 10 lbs., sometimes up to 20 lbs. You might do a lot of walking or standing, or you might sit but use your arms and legs to control machines, equipment or tools.
• Work in this occupation involves use of protective items such as safety shoes, glasses, gloves, hearing protection, a hard hat, or personal flotation devices
• Exposure to pollutants, gases, dust, fumes, odors, poor ventilation, etc.
• Work in this occupation involves using your hands to hold, control, and feel objects more than one-third of the time
• Sound and noise levels are loud and distracting

Working in this career involves (physical activities):

• Picking out a particular sound in the presence of other sounds
• Seeing clearly at a distance
• Detecting sounds and hearing the differences between sounds of different pitch and loudness
• Seeing clearly up close
• Speaking clearly enough to be able to be understood by others
• Identifying and understanding the speech of another person

Work Hours and Travel

• Regular working hours and limited travel