Food and Drink Maintenance Engineer – Multi-skilled - Apprenticeship
Level: 3
Duration: Up to 4 years
Role Profile
The Food and Drink industry is an exciting place to be a Maintenance Engineer. World class companies in the industry use some of the most innovative, modern and technically automated equipment available to manufacture a wide range of food and drink products for consumers. Companies employ Mechanical and/or Multi-skilled Maintenance Engineers according to the type of products they make.
Food and Drink Mechanical Maintenance Engineers will mainly work with mechanical and electrical equipment and production systems. Food and Drink Multi-skilled Maintenance Engineers will work with mechanical and electrical equipment plus highly automated programmable control systems.
Both Mechanical and Multi-skilled Engineers need to maximise the benefits of the technology and equipment they work with. Depending on the type of product and plant in the company, engineering activities carried out will include routine maintenance, fault finding and diagnosis, testing and commissioning. They must ensure that maintenance activities contribute to optimising food and drink production levels.
Food and Drink Mechanical and Multi-skilled Engineers must ensure that all maintenance activities are conducted safely, and practices comply with food safety legislation in this highly regulated industry. They must understand the key features of working with consumable products and how they this affects food industry maintenance practices.
Entry requirements:
A minimum of four GCSEs at grade 4 (C) or above including English, Maths, Science and Technology.
Where will I study?
North West Training Council
How will I study?
Year 1 – Block attendance at NWTC with periods in your workplace / 1 day tech cert at NWTC
Year 2 – Block attendance at NWTC with periods in your workplace / 1 day tech cert at NWTC
Year 3 / 4 –Mainly in your workplace with periods at NWTC
SPECIFIC SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
What will I learn?
food processing/manufacturing and product knowledge (to meet company requirements e.g dairy/Confectionery/meat processing)
legislation and regulations in the food and drink industry, including understanding of:
food Safety
health and Safety
Hazard Analysis, Threat, Assessment Critical Control Point, Vulnerability Assessment Critical Control
basic principles of sustainability and environmental legislation
the impact of customer requirements and demands on the food supply chain
the key principles of cleaning and hygiene processes
the key principles of quality management systems and processes
materials science
types of best practice maintenance approaches and techniques in the food and drink industry
principles of fault finding techniques
the operation of mechanical equipment in the food and drink industry
how to produce replacement components using manual and machine processes
the function and maintenance of fluid power systems
the operation of heat exchange equipment
the principles of cutting and welding in the food and drink industry
principles of electrical systems, including their uses, safety and legislation
services and utilities knowledge, including the importance and impact of energy management and pollution control in food production
to plan and prepare for maintenance of engineered systems in the food and drink industry
first line routine mechanical maintenance, including removing and replacing components, cleaning, lubrication, inspection and fault finding
Application of mathematical techniques to solve engineering problems
SPECIFIC SPECIALIST KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS
What qualifications will I achieve?
After a period of foundation skills and technical knowledge development all apprentices will be required to achieve the following qualifications;
Level 3 Diploma in Food and Drink Engineering Maintenance
End Point Assessment
ROLES FOR FOOD AND DRINK ENGINEERS
Mechanical engineer
Electrical engineer
Process development
Project engineer
For more detailed information of this standard click on the link below: