What are the responsibilities and job description for the Skilled Trades Technician position at Metalsa Career Site?
Automation Maintenance Technician
About Metalsa: We are a global company with 70 years of experience in the automotive industry; we manufacture safe and sustainable products for people around the world. We are working for a better future where we enrich communities every day by being committed to people, innovation, and our planet. If you have what it takes to accelerate Metalsa’s vision of future mobility, we want you to join the team! For more information, visit metalsa.com
Position Summary
The Automation Maintenance Technician is responsible for troubleshooting, repairing, and maintaining automated manufacturing equipment to support safe and reliable production. This position requires strong electrical and automation troubleshooting skills, with an emphasis on Allen-Bradley PLC-controlled equipment.
The ideal candidate will be able to troubleshoot automation issues independently, identify root causes of equipment failures, and work with production and maintenance teams to minimize downtime.
No college degree is required for this position. Relevant industrial maintenance, electrical, controls, or automation experience is valued over formal education.
Key Responsibilities
- Troubleshoot and repair automated manufacturing equipment and production systems.
- Troubleshoot Allen-Bradley PLCs and PLC-controlled equipment.
- Use Studio 5000 / RSLogix 5000 to monitor logic, identify faults, and diagnose equipment issues.
- Troubleshoot electrical circuits, sensors, safety devices, I/O, motors, VFDs, servo systems, and industrial networks.
- Read and understand electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, and equipment documentation.
- Diagnose equipment failures and determine the root cause rather than only resetting faults.
- Troubleshoot HMI-related issues and use HMI/PLC information to assist with equipment diagnosis.
- Perform preventive and predictive maintenance on automated equipment.
- Support equipment improvements and modifications that increase reliability and reduce downtime.
- Assist with installation, startup, and commissioning of new or modified equipment.
- Respond quickly to production downtime and communicate equipment status and repair progress.
- Follow all plant safety procedures, including Lockout/Tagout and electrical safety requirements.
- Document repairs, recurring failures, and corrective actions.
- Work effectively with Maintenance, Controls, Engineering, Production, and Quality personnel.
Required Qualifications
- Industrial maintenance, electrical, controls, or automation troubleshooting experience.
- Working knowledge of Allen-Bradley PLC systems.
- Ability to connect to a PLC and use PLC logic to troubleshoot equipment problems.
- Strong electrical troubleshooting skills.
- Ability to use a digital multimeter and other electrical troubleshooting equipment.
- Ability to read electrical schematics and troubleshoot 24VDC and industrial AC circuits.
- Understanding of sensors, solenoids, relays, contactors, motors, VFDs, and industrial safety circuits.
- Strong mechanical aptitude and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to work independently during equipment breakdowns and make sound troubleshooting decisions.
- Ability to work required shifts, overtime, and weekends based on production needs.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with FANUC industrial robots is preferred but not required.
- Experience troubleshooting FANUC robot faults, I/O, programs, mastering, and recovery.
- Experience with Allen-Bradley ControlLogix/CompactLogix systems.
- Experience with FactoryTalk View HMIs.
- Experience with Allen-Bradley servo and motion systems.
- Experience with VFDs and industrial Ethernet networks.
- Experience with automated welding, material handling, assembly, or automotive manufacturing equipment.
- Experience with vision systems, barcode readers, and other automated inspection equipment is a plus.
Education
No college degree required.
Technical school, apprenticeship, industrial maintenance certifications, electrical certifications, or manufacturer-specific training are preferred but not required when the candidate has equivalent hands-on experience.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a hands-on troubleshooter who is comfortable connecting to an Allen-Bradley PLC, following the logic, checking field devices and electrical signals, and determining why a machine will not operate. We are looking for someone who can troubleshoot the problem—not simply reset the equipment and wait for the fault to return.