Arnold Du Plessis

Responsible for all maintenance-related activities within the department, including machine availability, breakdown response, and the administrative management of maintenance operations. The department supports CNC machining centres and an assembly line environment.

My primary function is ensuring the timeous repair and maintenance of production machinery to maintain optimal uptime and ensure that production targets are achieved on every shift. I am also involved in investigating maintenance-related issues such as machine availability, analysing mean time to failure of components, and identifying improvement opportunities to enhance reliability and efficiency.

I have extensive experience dealing with the practical challenges of maintenance in a production environment, including keeping older machines operating reliably and planning maintenance work for factory infrastructure and buildings. My role also includes coordinating and working closely with a team of maintenance artisans and mentoring young apprentices, supporting their technical development and practical skills.

Additional responsibilities include:

* Planning and coordinating weekend maintenance work
* Managing support staff and external contractors
* Scheduling annual machine services
* Compiling technical reports and maintenance data sheets
* Capturing and monitoring utility consumption such as fluids and water
* Providing data and reports for management when required
* Assisting with training and development of CNC artisans
* Supporting technical training on various types of CNC machines
* Sourcing and procurement of parts from local and international suppliers
Reference:
Mr. Ettiene Du Toit Cell: +2 7 82 884 6113

Extensive experience maintaining and servicing a wide range of production machinery, including Heller Horizontal CNC machines, Doosan horizontal and vertical CNC machines, Doosan CNC lathes, Chin Fong presses, DMG Mori CNC machines, and Sanco vertical CNC machines.

My responsibilities include machine and equipment installations, commissioning, and geometry testing to ensure machines meet required performance standards. I have strong experience in breakdown maintenance and fault finding on CNC machines, both mechanically and electrically, ensuring accurate troubleshooting and minimal downtime. This includes the replacement and maintenance of ball screws, pneumatic components, and hydraulic cylinders.

Additional technical responsibilities include vibration testing of machinery, compiling and maintaining critical spare parts lists, and conducting customer maintenance training and technical assessments. I carry out routine inspections and scheduled maintenance to ensure machines operate safely and efficiently, while also maintaining process security systems in line with production requirements and strict adherence to safe working procedures.

I also perform general maintenance on measuring equipment, presses, and torque tools. While I have limited experience with compressors, I am capable of performing arc and gas welding when required.

Further responsibilities include:

* Compiling and implementing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
* Developing preventative maintenance schedules and machine service plans
* Managing and maintaining strategic spare parts inventory
* Planning and executing multi-machine production line installations at various customer sites
* Designing factory floor layouts and machine line ergonomics
* Supervising machine run-off processes and part validation
* Conducting machine and full production line acceptance testing
* I also served as a Health and Safety Representative, responsible for conducting risk assessments for major installations and maintenance work in accordance with the company’s Risk Assessment Methodology. My role included compiling Health and Safety files for customer approval, investigating and documenting incidents and accidents, processing IOD cases, and participating in external customer safety audits.

Reference:
Mr J. Raubenheimer Cell: +27 83 460 1191

At this institution, I worked on a wide range of production equipment, including Mazak horizontal and vertical CNC machines, Sakurai transfer lines, Fanuc CNC drilling machines, Excello grinders, Froehlich leak testers, and Durr washing machines.

My responsibilities included working shifts to support production, attending to machine breakdowns, and performing detailed mechanical and electrical fault finding to minimize downtime. I assisted with major breakdown repairs and carried out both preventative and predictive maintenance to ensure machines operated reliably and efficiently.

Additional duties included mentoring and training apprentices and technical students, supporting their development in maintenance practices and CNC machine operation. I was also involved in retrofitting and overhauling older machines, helping to extend their service life and improve reliability.

Further responsibilities included machine relocation, levelling, and geometry alignment, ensuring machines met operational and production accuracy requirements.

Reference:
Mr B. Smuts
Tel: +27 83 611 6929

During my employment at Continental Tyres, I was responsible for a variety of maintenance functions within a high-volume manufacturing environment. My duties included shift work, machine fault finding, attending to breakdowns, and performing mechanical repairs to ensure minimal downtime and continuous production.

I worked on a wide range of industrial machinery, including Banbury mixers, extruders, batch-off systems, rubber mills, tyre curing presses, as well as conveyor and belt systems. My role required strong troubleshooting skills and the ability to quickly diagnose and repair mechanical faults in order to maintain efficient plant operation.

• During my employment at Continental Tyres as an Fitter and Turner apprentice we received the prescribed training mixture between office and on the job training in the different workshops. We received special training on bearings, lubricants, etc. I qualified at Olifantsfontein in 1994. My number is TYR 133.
• Reference: Mr Morne Van As Tel: +27 41 406 5111