Leather goods maintenance technician

Leather goods maintenance technicians programme and tune different types of cutting, stitching, finishing and specific equipment related to leather goods manufacturing. They take care of the preventive and corrective maintenance of the various equipment by periodically verifying their working conditions and performance, analysing faults, correcting problems, repairing and substitutes components and performing routine lubrications. They provide information on the usage of equipment and its energetic consumption to decision makers inside the company.

The following job titles also refer to leather goods maintenance technician:

A high school diploma is generally the minimum required to work as a leather goods 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.

Leather goods maintenance technician is a Skill level 2 occupation.

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

leather goods finishing operator
leather goods warehouse operator
leather goods packing operator
leather goods hand stitcher
leather goods quality controller

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of leather goods 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 leather goods maintenance technician with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

leather goods quality control laboratory technician
leather goods quality technician
leather goods manufacturing technician
leather goods product developer
footwear quality control laboratory technician

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

• Leather goods manufacturing processes: The processes, technology and machinery involved in the leather goods manufacturing.  
• Leather goods components: The various procedures and methods in the processing of leather materials and leather goods components like manufacturability and properties.  
• Leather goods quality: The quality specifications of materials, processes, and final products, the most common defects in leather, quick tests procedures, laboratory tests procedures and standards, and the adequate equipment for quality checks. 
• 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. 
• Leather goods materials: The wide range of materials used in leather goods production: leather, leather substitutes (synthetics or artificial materials), textile, etc; the way of distinguishing among various materials based on their properties, advantages and limitations.

These skills are necessary for the role of leather goods maintenance technician.

• 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.
• 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.
• Use communication techniques: Apply techniques of communication which allow interlocutors to better understand each other and communicate accurately in the transmission of messages.
• 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.
• 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 leather goods maintenance technician. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

• 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.

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

• Practice innovative thinking in the footwear and leather goods industries: Innovate in the footwear and leather goods sector. Evaluate new ideas and concepts to turn them into marketable products. Use entrepreneurial thinking in all stages of the product and process development to identify new business opportunities for the targeted markets.
• 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.
• Plan supply chain logistics for footwear and leather goods: Plan, organise and monitor logistics and supply chain activities based on the footwear or leather goods company’s main objectives regarding quality, cost, delivery, and flexibility.

8156 – Shoemaking and related machine operators

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References

1. Leather goods maintenance technician – ESCO