Maintenance Technician VRT

Responsibilities

• Ensure health and safety policies are followed.
• Implement existing planned maintenance PMs and work orders to maintain all VRT equipment in proper working order.
• Work with supervisor and PM coordinator to build, improve, and expand the planned maintenance program for VRT.
• Collaborate with VRT production staff to determine improvements for workflow and coordinate with the maintenance supervisor to implement planned improvements.
• Troubleshoot and repair all equipment within the VRT area using hand tools, multimeters, amp probes, meggers, and other diagnostic tools.
• Work with equipment OEMs to troubleshoot, repair equipment, and quote parts for stock creation or vendor changes.
• Perform walkthroughs during production hours to identify equipment wear, plan preventative maintenance, and prioritize repairs; report findings to the maintenance supervisor.
• Coordinate with the maintenance supervisor, other technicians, and refrigeration to perform equipment repair and maintenance for all VRT equipment.
• Assist other areas of the processing plant as required for plant operations.
• Request assistance from maintenance technicians in other areas as needed to safely perform maintenance and repairs.
• Meet daily with the night shift VRT maintenance technician to ensure all information is passed along and there are no gaps in scheduled maintenance.
• Share all information with the maintenance supervisor for incorporation into the maintenance department shift pass down.
• Maintain and repair the extensive VRT conveyor belt, sorting, and labeling systems, including over 180 individual conveyors and an Intralox S7000 high-speed sorting system.
• Maintain VRT robots, including mechanical maintenance, programming diagnostics, and troubleshooting of Fanuc R-30iB Plus robotics.
• Maintain racking and other cold storage and packaging-related systems.
• Troubleshoot, maintain, and repair VRT rapid roll-up doors, freezer doors, cooler doors, and man doors to preserve facility workflow and climate segregation (primarily Rytec high-speed roll-up doors).
• Perform routine and emergency repairs on the facility variable retention time (VRT) freezer equipment in temperatures reaching -35°F.

Requirements

• Experience in poultry processing maintenance, electrical troubleshooting/repair, conveyor belt systems, pneumatics, and hydraulics preferred.
• Experience with industrial robots, CFS, strappers, and sorting systems is a plus.
• Experience with cooler/freezer racking, rapid roll doors, and other cold storage-related equipment is a plus.
• Understanding of preventative and predictive maintenance.
• Understanding of manufacturing technologies and standard software applications.
• Demonstrated self-motivation and pride in work.
• Strong communication skills between technicians, supervisors, and other departments.
• Strong interpersonal skills, professional attitude, and strong work ethic.
• Ability to work in extreme cold conditions as low as -35°F for planned and emergency maintenance operations.

Physical Requirements

• Work in a manufacturing environment with increased noise levels from equipment and environmental conditions ranging from wet and cold to hot and humid.
• Perform maintenance requiring heavy lifting (up to 75 lbs), bending, stooping, kneeling, and squatting to access hard-to-reach areas.
• Walk through all areas of the processing plant and facilities in the complex.
• Perform some sedentary work in an office environment.
• Work around raw, live animal odors, process chemicals (e.g., peracetic acid, pH adjuster, CO2, anhydrous ammonia, chlorine), and moving equipment.
• Work in noisy environments (>85 decibels).
• Work nights, weekends, holidays, and long shifts as required by plant production needs.