Tebogo Maruma has been a plant technician at soft drinks company Coca-Cola for the past five years.
QUESTION: When did your career as a plant technician start?
ANSWER: My career as a plant technician started in 2008 when I worked for Coca-Cola SA Bottling Company as an apprentice.
After qualifying, I then moved to Valpre Coca-Cola as a fitter artisan for two-and-a-half years where I was later promoted to a mechanical specialist, which is the position I am currently holding.
Q: What does being a plant technician entail?
A: It entails performing preventive, corrective and scheduled maintenance and ensuring that the production lines are running effectively at all times and that repairs are performed in the shortest amount of time to alleviate downtime as it results in production loss.
Q: What do you like about your job?
A: The unpredictability of the job, technological challenges that come with it and knowing that every day comes with new challenges and learning new things.
Q: What challenges do you face frequently and how do you deal with them?
A: I am fortunate to be working with a team that is very supportive and managers from whom I've learned immensely.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: I see myself as a plant engineer and studying towards an MBA.
Q: What academic qualifications does a person need to be a plant technician?
A: They need to study in the faculty of engineering with emphasis on mechanical engineering.
Q: Explain the process in which a machine undergoes maintenance and what regularly causes machines to break down?
A: We first identify what needs to be done on maintenance day; arrange for spares to be available; arrange resources; schedule a day for maintenance; issue a job requisition for that particular maintenance that needs to be done; and after that we execute the job that has been planned.
sibanyonim@ sowetan.co.za
Taking up new challenges
Tebogo Maruma has been a plant technician at soft drinks company Coca-Cola for the past five years.
QUESTION: When did your career as a plant technician start?
ANSWER: My career as a plant technician started in 2008 when I worked for Coca-Cola SA Bottling Company as an apprentice.
After qualifying, I then moved to Valpre Coca-Cola as a fitter artisan for two-and-a-half years where I was later promoted to a mechanical specialist, which is the position I am currently holding.
Q: What does being a plant technician entail?
A: It entails performing preventive, corrective and scheduled maintenance and ensuring that the production lines are running effectively at all times and that repairs are performed in the shortest amount of time to alleviate downtime as it results in production loss.
Q: What do you like about your job?
A: The unpredictability of the job, technological challenges that come with it and knowing that every day comes with new challenges and learning new things.
Q: What challenges do you face frequently and how do you deal with them?
A: I am fortunate to be working with a team that is very supportive and managers from whom I've learned immensely.
Q: Where do you see yourself in five years?
A: I see myself as a plant engineer and studying towards an MBA.
Q: What academic qualifications does a person need to be a plant technician?
A: They need to study in the faculty of engineering with emphasis on mechanical engineering.
Q: Explain the process in which a machine undergoes maintenance and what regularly causes machines to break down?
A: We first identify what needs to be done on maintenance day; arrange for spares to be available; arrange resources; schedule a day for maintenance; issue a job requisition for that particular maintenance that needs to be done; and after that we execute the job that has been planned.
sibanyonim@ sowetan.co.za
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