Mechanical Technician – Beverage Production Lines

About the role

Designer Water SA is seeking a hands‑on Mechanical Technician to own the mechanical reliability, maintenance and improvement of three beverage production lines and their supporting equipment. The role involves diagnosing breakdowns under pressure, restoring equipment safely, preventing repeat failures and establishing a disciplined preventive‑maintenance system.

Key responsibilities

• Maintain mechanical reliability and safe operation of all three production lines.
• Diagnose and repair faults on conveyors, fillers, cappers, labellers, pumps, motors, gearboxes, bearings, chains, belts and pneumatic components.
• Plan and execute preventive, predictive and corrective maintenance activities.
• Respond to breakdowns, restore production safely and record fault details, cause, repair and residual risk.
• Perform root‑cause analysis on repeat failures and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Inspect line condition before production and verify safe return to service after maintenance.
• Support line changeovers, alignment, commissioning and continuous improvement projects.
• Train operators in daily care, basic inspection, correct equipment use and early fault reporting.

Required profile

• Recognised mechanical trade qualification (e.g., Millwright, Fitter & Turner, Mechanical Fitter) or equivalent.
• Minimum five years of hands‑on maintenance experience in a production environment.
• Strong fault‑finding ability across mechanical drives, pneumatics, pumps, conveyors and packaging machinery.
• Proven track record of reducing breakdowns or improving equipment uptime.
• Ability to interpret technical drawings, equipment manuals and maintenance instructions.
• Experience using job cards, maintenance schedules and equipment‑history records.
• Knowledge of machine safety, lockout procedures and safe return‑to‑service checks.
• Willingness to support planned shutdowns, breakdown call‑outs and reasonable overtime.
• Legal eligibility to work in South Africa, a valid driver’s licence and reliable transport to Midrand.

Required skills

• Mechanical drives
• Pneumatic systems
• Pumps and compressors
• Conveyor systems
• Packaging machinery (fillers, cappers, labellers)
• Technical drawing interpretation
• Job‑card and maintenance‑schedule management
• Machine safety and lockout‑tagout procedures
• PLC diagnostic exposure (within legal scope)
• Computerised maintenance‑management system (CMMS) usage