Maintenance Planner & Reliability Lead

ROLE PURPOSE

This role exists to ensure maintenance at Ameritex is planned, prioritized, documented, and executed in a disciplined, repeatable manner. The Interim Maintenance Planner & Reliability Lead owns maintenance readiness, work order flow, preventative maintenance discipline, spare parts and tooling availability, and maintenance decision-making required to protect equipment uptime and production reliability.

This role requires working knowledge of the specific equipment used in Ameritex's fabrication process, including CNC lasers, press brakes, and related metal fabrication machinery. Candidates should be able to speak credibly to failure modes, common repairs, and reliability considerations for this equipment class.

CORE PHILOSOPHY OF THE ROLE

This role is not a people-management position. It is a system-ownership role. The individual in this role does not manage technicians, but does own maintenance clarity, planning, and follow-through.

THIS ROLE IS NOT

1. A maintenance manager or supervisor
2. A people-management position
3. Responsible for discipline, payroll, or timekeeping
4. Primarily a wrench-turning role

THIS ROLE DOES

1. Own the maintenance system and backlog health
2. Determine maintenance priorities and sequencing
3. Evaluate technical capability and internal capacity
4. Decide when work should be outsourced
5. Coordinate OEMs and third-party service providers
6. Ensure spare parts, replacement parts, and tooling readiness
7. Drive preventative maintenance discipline
8. Protect equipment uptime and reliability
9. Maintain working knowledge of core fabrication equipment — CNC lasers, press brakes, and related metal fabrication machinery

WORK ORDER EVALUATION & OWNERSHIP

1. Review all work orders daily
2. Evaluate urgency, scope, and clarity
3. Close duplicate or invalid requests
4. Ensure proper documentation before closure
5. Maintain a target backlog of no more than one week of open work orders

CAPABILITY & CAPACITY DETERMINATION

1. Assess technical complexity
2. Evaluate internal skill capability
3. Confirm available maintenance capacity
4. Determine production impact
5. Decide internal execution versus outsourcing

OUTSOURCING & THIRD-PARTY COORDINATION

1. Request and evaluate third-party quotes
2. Review scope, cost, and schedule
3. Recommend outsourcing for approval
4. Coordinate approved vendor work
5. Ensure outsourced work is documented and closed

SPARE PARTS, REPLACEMENT PARTS & TOOLING

1. Identify critical spare parts
2. Order replacement components and tooling
3. Track long-lead and high-risk items
4. Prevent downtime caused by missing parts

PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE OWNERSHIP

1. Maintain PM schedules
2. Track PM compliance
3. Identify missed or ineffective PMs
4. Recommend PM improvements

RELIABILITY & CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

1. Track repeat failures
2. Analyze downtime trends
3. Escalate chronic issues
4. Support long-term reliability improvements

EQUIPMENT KNOWLEDGE REQUIREMENTS

Working familiarity with the following fabrication equipment is required for this role:

1. CNC laser cutting systems
2. Press brakes
3. Related metal fabrication and forming equipment used on the Ameritex shop floor

Candidates should be able to discuss common failure modes, typical repairs, and reliability considerations for this equipment class during screening.

RELATIONSHIP WITH MAINTENANCE TECHNICIANS

Maintenance technicians report to the Maintenance Supervisor. This role sets priority and sequencing of work but does not manage personnel or dictate repair methods.

RELATIONSHIP WITH PRODUCTION

1. Coordinate equipment availability
2. Communicate risks and timing clearly
3. Balance uptime with production needs

AUTHORITY & DECISION RIGHTS

1. Prioritize maintenance work orders
2. Evaluate feasibility and timing
3. Initiate third-party quoting
4. Recommend outsourcing with approval
5. Order spare parts, replacement parts, and tooling
6. Escalate safety or uptime risks

KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

1. Maintenance backlog at or below seven days
2. Preventative maintenance compliance of 90 percent or greater
3. Reduced unplanned downtime
4. Reduced repeat failures
5. Accurate maintenance documentation

ROLE EVOLUTION

This role is designated as Interim while maintenance systems are stabilized. Following stabilization, the role may evolve into a permanent Maintenance Planning and Reliability position within Manufacturing Excellence.