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Manufacturing & ProductionISCO 8156

Footwear maintenance technician

A footwear maintenance technician is a person who installs, programmes and modifies the cutting, sewing, assembly and finishing machines used to make footwear, and who keeps them running.

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Rate 5 of the 15 essential skills of this occupation (European ESCO data). No account needed.

create solutions to problems

reduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturing

make technical drawings of fashion pieces

maintain footwear assembling equipment

use IT tools

About footwear maintenance technician

The technician carries out preventive and corrective maintenance on footwear production machinery, performs routine lubrication, and periodically checks working conditions and output. When a machine stops working properly, they analyse the fault, correct the problem and repair or replace components and parts.

The technician also sets up the machines: installing one, programming it for the model being made and modifying it when a new style needs a different cut, stitch or last. This requires knowledge of footwear manufacturing technology, footwear materials, footwear quality standards and the maintenance of footwear machinery.

The technician reports on machine use and energy consumption mainly to the decision-makers in the company, and works to reduce the environmental impact of footwear production, for example by cutting energy use. The technician uses IT tools and communication techniques for that reporting. The role also calls for the ability to find solutions to problems.

European Skills Framework

Skills and knowledge areas required for this occupation based on European classification.

Essential (15)

footwear equipmentsfootwear equipmentsFunctionality of the wide range of equipments and the basic rules of regular maintenance.maintenance of footwear manufacturing machinesmaintenance of footwear manufacturing machinesThe architecture and functionality of the various footwear manufacturing machines; the analysis of faults, the repair processes and substitutions of components/pieces, and routine lubrications, as wel...footwear materialsfootwear materialsThe characteristics, components, advantages and limitations of a wide range of materials used in footwear production: leather, leather substitutes (synthetics or artificial materials), textile, plasti...footwear machineryfootwear machineryThe functionality of the wide range of footwear machines, and the basic rules of regular maintenance.footwear manufacturing technologyfootwear manufacturing technologyFootwear processes technology and machinery involved. The footwear manufacturing starts in the cutting/clicking room , cutting the uppers and bottom components. The upper components are joined togethe...footwear qualityfootwear qualityQuality specifications of materials, processes and final products, the most common defects in footwear, quick tests procedures, laboratory tests procedures and standards, adequate equipment for qualit...footwear componentsfootwear componentsFootwear components both for uppers (vamps, quarters, linings, stiffeners, toe puffs etc.) and bottoms (soles, heels, insoles etc.). Ecological concerns and the importance of recycling. Selection of s...health and safety regulationshealth and safety regulationsNecessary health, safety, hygiene and environmental standards and legislation rules in the sector of particular activity.create solutions to problemscreate solutions to problemsSolve problems which arise in planning, prioritising, organising, directing/facilitating action and evaluating performance. Use systematic processes of collecting, analysing, and synthesising informat...reduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturingreduce environmental impact of footwear manufacturingAssess the environmental impact of footwear manufacture and minimise environmental risks. Reduce environmentally harmful work practices in different stages of the footwear manufacturing.use communication techniquesuse communication techniquesApply techniques of communication which allow interlocutors to better understand each other and communicate accurately in the transmission of messages.make technical drawings of fashion piecesmake technical drawings of fashion piecesMake technical drawings of wearing apparel, leather goods and footwear including both technical and engineering drawings. Use them to communicate or to convey design ideas and manufacturing details to...maintain footwear assembling equipmentmaintain footwear assembling equipmentProduce plans for the frequency, operations, components and materials to be used in the maintenance of footwear. Install, program, tune and provide preventive and corrective maintenance for different ...work in textile manufacturing teamswork in textile manufacturing teamsWork harmoniously with colleagues in teams in the textile and clothing manufacturing industries.use IT toolsuse IT toolsApplication of computers, computer networks and other information technologies and equipment to storing, retrieving, transmitting and manipulating data, in the context of a business or enterprise.
Optional (12) — show
assembling processes and techniques for cemented footwear constructionassembling processes and techniques for cemented footwear constructionTechnology, equipment, machines and tools for lasting and soling in case of cemented footwear constructions.pre-stitching processes and techniques for footwear and leather goodspre-stitching processes and techniques for footwear and leather goodsTechnology including machinery and techniques for the preparation for leather goods components and footwear uppers.automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goodsautomatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goodsThe use and description of automatic systems technologies used in footwear and leather goods industry such as laser cutting, knife cutting, punch cutting, mill cutting, ultra-sound cutting, water jet ...assembling processes and techniques for california footwear constructionassembling processes and techniques for california footwear constructionTechnology, equipment, machines and tools for assembling california footwear construction type.assembling processes and techniques for goodyear footwear constructionassembling processes and techniques for goodyear footwear constructionTechnology, equipment, machines and tools for assembling Goodyear footwear construction types.footwear stitching techniquesfootwear stitching techniquesThe technologies, equipment, machines and processes for closing the upper components of footwear by various seams such as closed, lapped, butted, welted, piped and moccasin.operate automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goodsoperate automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goodsWork with the equipment's software. Digitise and mark the leather areas with faults in order to avoid them. Establish nesting and cutting restrictions for each pattern. Pick up, sort, upload patterns,...apply machine cutting techniques for footwear and leather goodsapply machine cutting techniques for footwear and leather goodsAdjust and establish the machine technical operating parameters for cutting footwear and leather goods. Check and select the cutting dies, classification of the cut pieces against cutting restrictions...communicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languagescommunicate commercial and technical issues in foreign languagesSpeak one or more foreign languages in order to communicate commercial and technical issues with various suppliers and clients.apply assembling techniques for cemented footwear constructionapply assembling techniques for cemented footwear constructionBe able to pull the uppers over the last and fix the lasting allowance on insole, manually or by special machines for forepart lasting, waist lasting, and seat lasting. Apart from the main group of la...apply stitching techniquesapply stitching techniquesApply footwear and leather goods stitching techniques using the appropriate machines, needles, threads and other tools in order to obtain the required model and to comply with the sewing technical spe...apply pre-stitching techniquesapply pre-stitching techniquesApply pre-stitching techniques to footwear and leather goods in order to reduce thickness, to reinforce, to mark the pieces, to decorate or to reinforce their edges or surfaces. Be able to operate var...

Related Occupations

Occupations that need many of the same essential skills, so the move between them is shortest.

footwear production supervisor11 shared essential skillsfootwear production technician11 shared essential skillsfootwear assembly supervisor10 shared essential skillsfootwear product developer10 shared essential skillsfootwear product development manager10 shared essential skillsfootwear designer9 shared essential skillsfootwear quality manager9 shared essential skillsfootwear quality technician9 shared essential skills

Frequently asked questions

What does a footwear maintenance technician do?

Footwear maintenance technicians are the professionals who install, program and tune different types of cutting, stitching, assembling and finishing equipment used in footwear production. They perform preventive and corrective maintenance, and verify periodically working conditions and performance. They analyse faults, correct problems, repair and substitute components or pieces, and do routine lubrications, providing information on their use and energetic consumption mainly to the decision makers inside the company.

What skills does a footwear maintenance technician need?

A footwear maintenance technician needs 15 essential skills, including footwear equipments, maintenance of footwear manufacturing machines, footwear materials, footwear machinery, footwear manufacturing technology.

Will AI replace footwear maintenance technician jobs?

The AI disruption score for footwear maintenance technician is 26/100 (low risk). Skills most exposed to automation: health and safety regulations, footwear quality, make technical drawings of fashion pieces. Most resilient: pre-stitching processes and techniques for footwear and leather goods, automatic cutting systems for footwear and leather goods, apply stitching techniques.

Quick Facts

SectorManufacturing & Production
ISCO GroupStationary plant and machine operators
Essential Skills15

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