Maintenance training

For over twenty years, market requirements and changes in production systems have led to profound structural changes in industrial maintenance. These changes have also led to the need for maintenance teams to acquire and develop a wide range of skills that go well beyond the traditional technical skills that were, until recently, the preserve of maintenance technicians. In some cases, the maintenance function has had to undergo a veritable "cultural revolution", as the maintenance "profession" has evolved: it is no longer enough to troubleshoot and/or repair; it is increasingly a question of guaranteeing the required availability of production systems at the best possible cost, and even increasing their performance. These imperatives have led the maintenance function to define four strategic lines of development:

• structure a "maintenance methods" function within the framework of a quality process and in compliance with maintenance standards;

• integrate "first-level" maintenance into the tasks dedicated to users ;

• optimize maintenance policy through the rational development of preventive maintenance;

• outsource all or part of maintenance.

The skills required of maintainers thus cover a very wide range:

• ability to choose a maintenance policy appropriate to the criticality of the equipment concerned;

• consideration of financial aspects (costs, etc.) as part of optimized asset management throughout their life cycle;

• organization and planning of operations ;

• technical skills ranging from traditional technologies (mechanical, electrical, etc.) to cutting-edge technologies now present in all means of production (automation, industrial computing, etc.).

Unlike users, who are increasingly distanced from direct intervention on machines, their actions being in almost all cases relayed by the inevitable PLCs, maintainers have seen their work impacted only slightly by the development of automation. Maintaining equipment still requires, and will continue to require for a long time to come, direct intervention on the material. This is why maintenance training must be firmly rooted in the technologies and scientific principles on which it is based.

This is why the training of maintainers at all levels, whether initial training or ongoing training throughout their careers, is becoming increasingly important in mastering the maintenance process. Playing a pioneering role, and under the pressure of a few visionary pioneers, the French Ministry...