4 answers
kage
Student
Antwerp, Ohio
2
Questions
Updated
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what's the day in a life of a factory electrician?
What's the average conditions for you guys?
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3 answers
Teklemuz Ayenew Tesfay
Electrical engineer, researcher and Software Developer
149
Answers
Ethiopia
Updated
Teklemuz Ayenew’s Answer
A factory electrician's day kicks off bright and early, usually around 6 or 7 AM, with a quick check-in to tackle any issues from the previous shift. Their main mission is to keep the plant's electrical systems running smoothly and safely. This means they spend a lot of time solving problems, like finding a tripped breaker, fixing a faulty motor, repairing bad wiring, or balancing phases.
Routine checks and maintenance are key parts of the job. Electricians regularly inspect electric motors, control panels, and circuit breakers, looking for any signs of wear or trouble. Preventive maintenance is crucial, involving tasks like tightening connections, cleaning parts, testing systems, and making adjustments to stop small issues from becoming big problems.
They also handle installations and system upgrades. This includes running conduit, pulling wire, setting up new machines, balancing loads, and ensuring everything meets safety standards. Reading schematics, understanding wiring diagrams, and using tools like multimeters and thermal imagers are all in a day's work.
When equipment breaks down, it's a race against time. Downtime can mean lost production, so electricians need to think fast and act even faster, all while staying safe. The job can be physically demanding and often takes place in hot, noisy, and tight spaces. Safety gear is always worn, and protocols are strictly followed.
This work calls for strong technical skills, keen attention to detail, and a calm mind under pressure. But for those who love solving problems and working with their hands, being a factory electrician is more than just a job—it's a challenging, respected, and fulfilling career.
Routine checks and maintenance are key parts of the job. Electricians regularly inspect electric motors, control panels, and circuit breakers, looking for any signs of wear or trouble. Preventive maintenance is crucial, involving tasks like tightening connections, cleaning parts, testing systems, and making adjustments to stop small issues from becoming big problems.
They also handle installations and system upgrades. This includes running conduit, pulling wire, setting up new machines, balancing loads, and ensuring everything meets safety standards. Reading schematics, understanding wiring diagrams, and using tools like multimeters and thermal imagers are all in a day's work.
When equipment breaks down, it's a race against time. Downtime can mean lost production, so electricians need to think fast and act even faster, all while staying safe. The job can be physically demanding and often takes place in hot, noisy, and tight spaces. Safety gear is always worn, and protocols are strictly followed.
This work calls for strong technical skills, keen attention to detail, and a calm mind under pressure. But for those who love solving problems and working with their hands, being a factory electrician is more than just a job—it's a challenging, respected, and fulfilling career.
William Vvuko
Retired engineer
70
Answers
Moyo, Northern Region
Updated
William’s Answer
Hi Kage,
It's a privilege having this opportunity to share experiences.
The work electricians do has evolved significantly over the last few decades. This is due to technological advancement in not only production equipment but also maintenance tools.
At the workplace, electricians are involved in routine & extraordinary maintenance, work management activities, problem solving and project work.
Ideally, all maintenance work should be planned. In practice, breakdowns do occur which must be attended to on emergency basis. Electricians therefore attend to electrical breakdowns. Best practice requires that time spent on breakdowns should not exceed 5 percent of the total time spent on maintenance. I have seen cases where this measure consistently runs between 1 & 2 percent.
Since most of the maintenance work is planned, electricians get involved in work management. A Work Management system, usually computerized/ERP, is used for this purpose. Work planning, scheduling & execution is therefore one the many activities electricians undertake as part of their routines. Such work is made up of system generated inspections and corrective work arising from previous inspections, problem solving activities & operator feedback. The computerized maintenance system acts as a database. Electricians get involved in analyzing this data in order to leverage it for continuous improvement. Usually, dominant failure modes are identified and problem-solving tools are used to identify underlying causes. Such root causes are addressed through system & equipment improvements.
Routine electrical work involves checking conditions of electrical panels often using infrared scans, integrity of field instruments, cabling, variable speed drives, programmable logic controls PLCs) basic control components, motors. More specialized tasks include calibration of field instruments, download of software backups, basic PLC troubleshooting etc. Electricians also perform maintenance tasks on inspection & coding equipment such as cleaning sensitive parts, fine-tuning etc. Replacement of faulty parts forms part of the routine work. Extraordinary maintenance involves major refurbishments: cabling, inspection & coding equipment, variable speed drives (VSDs) etc.
Major projects involvement occurs during replacement of ageing equipment & installation of new equipment.
In modern industry, operators are involved in reliability improvements (autonomous maintenance): equipment cleaning, lubrication & minor maintenance tasks. Electricians are required to train operators so they are competent in performing basic electrical tasks assigned to them.
Electricians need to upgrade their knowledge & skills continually. I have seen a few cases where electricians have turned into excellent industrial software engineers.
Electricians also need to be good communicaters & team players.
It's a privilege having this opportunity to share experiences.
The work electricians do has evolved significantly over the last few decades. This is due to technological advancement in not only production equipment but also maintenance tools.
At the workplace, electricians are involved in routine & extraordinary maintenance, work management activities, problem solving and project work.
Ideally, all maintenance work should be planned. In practice, breakdowns do occur which must be attended to on emergency basis. Electricians therefore attend to electrical breakdowns. Best practice requires that time spent on breakdowns should not exceed 5 percent of the total time spent on maintenance. I have seen cases where this measure consistently runs between 1 & 2 percent.
Since most of the maintenance work is planned, electricians get involved in work management. A Work Management system, usually computerized/ERP, is used for this purpose. Work planning, scheduling & execution is therefore one the many activities electricians undertake as part of their routines. Such work is made up of system generated inspections and corrective work arising from previous inspections, problem solving activities & operator feedback. The computerized maintenance system acts as a database. Electricians get involved in analyzing this data in order to leverage it for continuous improvement. Usually, dominant failure modes are identified and problem-solving tools are used to identify underlying causes. Such root causes are addressed through system & equipment improvements.
Routine electrical work involves checking conditions of electrical panels often using infrared scans, integrity of field instruments, cabling, variable speed drives, programmable logic controls PLCs) basic control components, motors. More specialized tasks include calibration of field instruments, download of software backups, basic PLC troubleshooting etc. Electricians also perform maintenance tasks on inspection & coding equipment such as cleaning sensitive parts, fine-tuning etc. Replacement of faulty parts forms part of the routine work. Extraordinary maintenance involves major refurbishments: cabling, inspection & coding equipment, variable speed drives (VSDs) etc.
Major projects involvement occurs during replacement of ageing equipment & installation of new equipment.
In modern industry, operators are involved in reliability improvements (autonomous maintenance): equipment cleaning, lubrication & minor maintenance tasks. Electricians are required to train operators so they are competent in performing basic electrical tasks assigned to them.
Electricians need to upgrade their knowledge & skills continually. I have seen a few cases where electricians have turned into excellent industrial software engineers.
Electricians also need to be good communicaters & team players.
Sundar Vokkarne
30
Answers
San Francisco, California
Updated
Sundar’s Answer
It's important to keep a calm mind. Focus when emergencies or distractions happen. Make sure you understand the basics well so you can fix electrical problems in the factory. Learn how grounding, power, and signals work. Remember, practicing and solving problems every day will make you better at handling electrical issues in the factory. Keep going, and you'll get better and better!