Footwear maintenance technician

Footwear maintenance technicians are the professionals who install, program and tune different types of cutting, stitching, assembling and finishing equipment used in footwear production. They perform preventive and corrective maintenance, and verify periodically working conditions and performance. They analyse faults, correct problems, repair and substitute components or pieces, and do routine lubrications, providing information on their use and energetic consumption mainly to the decision makers inside the company.

A high school diploma is generally the minimu required to work as a footwear maintenance technician.

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

• the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
• the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
• the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Footwear maintenance technician is a Skill level 2 occupation.

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to footwear maintenance technician.

footwear hand sewer
footwear stitching machine operator
sole and heel operator
footwear factory warehouse operator
footwear quality controller

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of footwear maintenance technician. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of footwear maintenance technician with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

footwear quality control laboratory technician
footwear quality technician
footwear assembly supervisor
footwear production technician
footwear production supervisor

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of footwear maintenance technician.

• Footwear equipments: Functionality of the wide range of equipments and the basic rules of regular maintenance.
• Maintenance of footwear manufacturing machines: The architecture and functionality of the various footwear manufacturing machines; the analysis of faults, the repair processes and substitutions of components/pieces, and routine lubrications, as well as the preventive and corrective maintenance and verification of working conditions and performance. 
• Footwear materials: The characteristics, components, advantages and limitations of a wide range of materials used in footwear production: leather, leather substitutes (synthetics or artificial materials), textile, plastic, rubber etc. 
• Footwear machinery: Tthe functionality of the wide range of machines, and the basic rules of regular maintenance.
• Footwear manufacturing technology: Footwear processes technology and machinery involved. The footwear manufacturing starts in the cutting/clicking room , cutting the uppers and bottom components. The upper components are joined together in the closing room by following a precise order of specific operations: skiving, folding, sewing etc. The closed upper, the insole and other bottom components are brought together in the assembling room, where the main operations are lasting and soling. The process ends with finishing operations in the finishing and packing room.
• Footwear quality: Quality specifications of materials, processes and final products, the most common defects in footwear, quick tests procedures, laboratory tests procedures and standards, adequate equipment for quality checks. Quality assurance of footwear production processes and fundamental concepts on quality including footwear quality framework and standards.
• Footwear components: Footwear components both for uppers (vamps, quarters, linings, stiffeners, toe puffs etc.) and bottoms (soles, heels, insoles etc.). Ecological concerns and the importance of recycling. Selection of suitable materials and components based on their influence on the footwear style and characteristics, properties and manufacturability. Procedures and methods in chemical and mechanical processing of leather and non-leather materials.
• Health and safety regulations: Necessary health, safety, hygiene and environmental standards and legislation rules in the sector of particular activity.

These skills are necessary for the role of footwear maintenance technician.

• Create solutions to problems: Solve problems which arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising information to evaluate current practice and generate new understandings about practice.
• Exert a goal-oriented leadership role towards colleagues: Embrace a leadership role in the organisation and with colleagues as to provide coaching and direction to subordinates aiming at the achievement of specific objectives.
• Reduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturing: Assess the environmental impact of footwear manufacture and minimise environmental risks. Reduce environmentally harmful work practices in different stages of the footwear manufacturing.
• Use communication techniques: Apply techniques of communication which allow interlocutors to better understand each other and communicate accurately in the transmission of messages.
• Make technical drawings of fashion pieces: Make technical drawings of wearing apparel, leather goods and footwear including both technical and engineering drawings. Use them to communicate or to convey design ideas and manufacturing details to pattern makers, technologists, toolmakers, and equipment producers or to other machine operators for sampling and production.
• Maintain footwear assembling equipment: Produce plans for the frequency, operations, components and materials to be used in the maintenance of footwear. Install, program, tune and provide preventive and corrective maintenance for different machines and equipment involved in the footwear manufacturing. Assess the functionality and performance of the various equipment and machines, detect faults and correct problems, make repairs and substitute components and pieces, and perform routine lubrication as well as perform preventive and corrective maintenance. Register all technical information related to the maintenance.
• Work in textile manufacturing teams: Work harmoniously with colleagues in teams in the textile and clothing manufacturing industries.
• Use IT tools: Application of computers, computer networks and other information technologies and equipment to storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data, in the context of a business or enterprise.

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of footwear maintenance technician. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Assembling processes and techniques for cemented footwear construction: Technology, equipment, machines and tools for lasting and soling in case of cemented footwear constructions.
• Pre-stitching processes and techniques for footwear and leather goods: Technology including machinery and techniques for the preparation for leather goods components and footwear uppers.
• Automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goods: The use and description of automatic systems technologies used in footwear and leather goods industry such as laser cutting, knife cutting, punch cutting, mill cutting, ultra-sound cutting, water jet cutting and the cutting machinery such as swing beam cutting presses, traveling head die cutting presses or strap cutting machines.
• Assembling processes and techniques for california footwear construction: Technology, equipment, machines and tools for assembling california footwear construction type.
• Assembling processes and techniques for goodyear footwear construction: Technology, equipment, machines and tools for assembling Goodyear footwear construction types.
• Footwear stitching techniques: The technologies, equipment, machines and processes for closing the upper components of footwear by various seams such as closed, lapped, butted, welted, piped and moccasin.

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of footwear maintenance technician. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• Operate automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goods: Work with the equipment’s software. Digitise and mark the leather areas with faults in order to avoid them. Establish nesting and cutting restrictions for each pattern. Pick up, sort, upload patterns, check and complete cutting orders. Adjust the machines and equipment parameters and perform simple procedures for maintenance.
• Apply machine cutting techniques for footwear and leather goods: Adjust and establish the machine technical operating parameters for cutting footwear and leather goods. Check and select the cutting dies, classification of the cut pieces against cutting restrictions, specifications and quality requirements. Check and complete the cutting orders. Perform simple procedures for maintenance of machines.
• Communicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languages: Speak one or more foreign languages in order to communicate commercial and technical issues with various suppliers and clients.
• Apply assembling techniques for cemented footwear construction: Be able to pull the uppers over the last and fix the lasting allowance on insole, manually or by special machines for forepart lasting, waist lasting, and seat lasting. Apart from the main group of lasting operations, the responsibilities of those assembling footwear cemented types may include the following: bottom cementing and sole cementing, heat setting, sole attaching and pressing, chilling, brushing and polishing, last slipping (before or after finishing operations) and heel attaching etc.
• Apply stitching techniques: Apply footwear and leather goods stitching techniques using the appropriate machines, needles, threads and other tools in order to obtain the required model and to comply with the sewing technical specifications.
• Apply pre-stitching techniques: Apply pre-stitching techniques to footwear and leather goods in order to reduce thickness, to reinforce, to mark the pieces, to decorate or to reinforce their edges or surfaces. Be able to operate various machinery for splitting, skiving, folding, stitch marking, stamping, press punching, perforating, embossing, gluing, uppers pre-forming, crimping etc. Be able to adjust the working parameters of the machinery.

8156 – Shoemaking and related machine operators

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References

1. Footwear maintenance technician – ESCO