Plastic Processing Technician / Machine Troubleshooter

Plastic Processing Technician / Machine TroubleshooterExtrusion, Thermoforming & Moulding

Location: Moorabbin, VIC
Company: Vacupack Pty Ltd
Employment: Cermanent full-time
Pay: between $36.00 per hour to $45 (for experienced candidates) , negotiable based on technical experience

About the role

Vacupack is a fast-growing plastics manufacturer supplying packaging products to some of Australia's largest food producers.

We are looking for an experienced plastics-processing technician/operator with strong machine troubleshooting skills to join our manufacturing team.

This is not a basic machine-operating or packing position.

The most important part of this role is your ability to understand how a plastics-processing line works, recognise when something is not running correctly, investigate the cause and make the appropriate process or machine adjustments to restore stable production.

You do not need to come specifically from thermoforming.

We are very interested in candidates with solid troubleshooting experience from:

• Thermoforming or pressure forming
• Plastic sheet extrusion
• Blow moulding
• Injection moulding
• PET / rPET processing
• Other automated plastic-forming or converting machinery

If you have spent several years working hands-on with plastics machinery and are the person people call when the machine stops, the process becomes unstable or the product quality changes, we would like to hear from you.

What you will be doing

You will operate and support our thermoforming and extrusion production lines while taking a much more technical role than a standard machine operator.

Your responsibilities will include diagnosing production and process faults; investigating machine stoppages and recurring issues; adjusting machine settings to restore stable production; identifying whether problems are related to temperature, material, pressure, vacuum, cooling, tooling, sensors or machine settings; monitoring product quality and correcting process variation; carrying out machine start-ups, shutdowns, product changes and material changes; assisting with troubleshooting alongside maintenance, tool setters and production supervisors; identifying defects before significant waste is generated; and supporting continuous improvement of machine reliability, output and scrap reduction.

You will also complete normal production responsibilities including quality checks, production records, GMP requirements, housekeeping and safe operation of equipment.

What we are specifically looking for

Minimum 3 years' hands-on experience troubleshooting plastics-processing machinery is required.

We are more interested in your technical problem-solving ability than the exact type of plastics machine you have operated.

You should be comfortable answering questions such as:

“The machine was producing good product and suddenly the quality changed — how would you investigate it?”

or:

“The line keeps stopping intermittently. What would you check before calling maintenance?”

The successful person will ideally have strong mechanical and process understanding, experience adjusting processing parameters, confidence investigating recurring production problems, an understanding of plastics behaviour during processing, good attention to product quality and the ability to work independently when troubleshooting.

Experience with automated machinery, PLC-controlled production equipment, temperature control, hydraulics, pneumatics, vacuum systems, material feeding or cooling systems will be highly regarded.

Available shifts

Afternoon: 02:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Monday to Friday.

Please apply only if you are currently located in Victoria, Australia and can consistently work your nominated shift.

This position is not suitable for applicants whose visa conditions prevent them from maintaining the required working hours.

Why join Vacupack?

Vacupack is continuing to invest heavily in new machinery, automation and manufacturing technology.

For someone who enjoys machines, troubleshooting and solving production problems, this role provides an opportunity to work with large-scale thermoforming and extrusion equipment and develop further within a growing Australian manufacturing business.

Experienced candidates from other plastics-processing technologies will receive training on our specific equipment.

Pay: $36.00 – $45.00 per hour

Expected hours: No less than 38.0 per week

Application Question(s):

• Important – Please answer all screening questions below. "Applications with incomplete or unanswered screening questions will not be shortlisted."

1. How many years of hands-on experience do you have troubleshooting plastics-processing machinery?

2. Which types of plastics-processing equipment have you worked with? (Thermoforming / Extrusion / Blow moulding / Injection moulding / Pressure forming / Other plastics machinery.)

3. Please briefly describe a machine or process fault you personally diagnosed and corrected. What was the problem and what did you do?

4. Are you comfortable adjusting machine/process parameters such as temperature, speed, pressure, vacuum, cooling or material feed to troubleshoot production problems?

5. Please note: "employer sponsorship is not available for this position". Do you have full right work for the next 5 years in Australia?

Work Location: In person