Job Title: Mechanical Maintenance Engineer
Department:
1. Job Summary
The Mechanical Engineer is responsible for the operation, maintenance, troubleshooting, and improvement of mechanical equipment in a nylon extrusion plant. The role ensures maximum equipment availability, smooth production, product quality, workplace safety, and minimum downtime through preventive and predictive maintenance.
2. Key Responsibilities
A. Mechanical Maintenance
- Carry out preventive, predictive, and breakdown maintenance of nylon extrusion machinery.
- Maintain extruders, gearboxes, motors, screw and barrel assemblies, heaters, cooling systems, pumps, blowers, and material handling equipment.
- Troubleshoot mechanical failures and identify root causes of recurring breakdowns.
- Inspect bearings, couplings, seals, belts, chains, shafts, and lubrication systems.
- Ensure proper alignment of motors, gearboxes, pumps, and rotating equipment.
- Coordinate screw and barrel cleaning, replacement, and refurbishment when required.
B. Nylon Extrusion Process Support
- Understand the mechanical operation of nylon polymer extrusion lines, including feeding, melting, metering, cooling, and pelletizing systems, as applicable.
- Monitor extrusion equipment performance and identify mechanical issues affecting product quality.
- Support troubleshooting of pressure fluctuations, abnormal vibration, overheating, material leakage, and inconsistent output.
- Coordinate with production and process teams to minimize machine stoppages and improve line efficiency.
C. Preventive Maintenance and Planning
- Prepare and implement preventive maintenance schedules.
- Maintain equipment history, maintenance checklists, breakdown reports, and spare-parts records.
- Plan shutdown maintenance and equipment overhauls.
- Identify critical spare parts and ensure their availability.
- Monitor maintenance costs and recommend equipment improvements.
D. Utilities and Auxiliary Equipment
- Maintain cooling water systems, chillers, pumps, compressors, cooling towers, and ventilation systems.
- Inspect hydraulic and pneumatic systems.
- Support maintenance of material conveying, drying, and dehumidification equipment where applicable.
- Coordinate with electrical and instrumentation teams for integrated equipment troubleshooting
E. Safety and Compliance
- Follow plant safety procedures, permit-to-work requirements, and lockout/tagout (LOTO) practices.
- Ensure machine guards and emergency stop systems are maintained.
- Follow safe work practices when handling hot polymer equipment, heaters, rotating machinery, and pressurized systems.
- Maintain housekeeping standards and comply with applicable environmental and safety requirements.
F. Continuous Improvement
- Analyze breakdown trends and implement corrective and preventive actions.
- Improve machine reliability, equipment efficiency, and production uptime.
- Support root cause analysis (RCA), 5S, Kaizen, and lean maintenance initiatives.
- Recommend modifications to reduce energy consumption, maintenance costs, and unplanned downtime.
3. Qualifications
- Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.
- Experience in a polymer processing, plastic extrusion, nylon extrusion or similar manufacturing plant is preferred.
- Knowledge of industrial mechanical maintenance and rotating equipment.
- Familiarity with preventive maintenance systems and maintenance documentation.
4. Technical Skills
- Extruder, gearbox, screw and barrel maintenance.
- Bearings, seals, couplings, and shaft alignment.
- Pumps, compressors, chillers, and cooling water systems.
- Hydraulic and pneumatic systems.
- Mechanical drawings and equipment manuals.
- Breakdown analysis and root cause analysis.
- Basic knowledge of PLC-controlled machinery and electrical troubleshooting.
- CMMS, maintenance planning, and spare-parts management.
5.
- Reduction in unplanned equipment downtime.
- Improvement in machine availability and reliability.
- Preventive maintenance schedule compliance.
- Reduction in recurring mechanical failures.
- Maintenance cost and spare-parts consumption.
- Improvement in mean time between failures (MTBF).
- Reduction in mean time to repair (MTTR).
- Compliance with safety standards and maintenance procedures.
6. Key Competencies
- Strong mechanical troubleshooting and analytical skills.
- Effective communication and teamwork.
- Ability to work under production pressure and during planned shutdowns.
- Good maintenance planning and documentation skills.
- Commitment to equipment reliability, product quality, and workplace safety.
