What does a Maintenance Planner do?
A maintenance planner is responsible for maintaining the efficiency and optimal performance of the operational tools, equipment, and machinery. Maintenance planners assist with the personnel's request for equipment repairs, requiring them to have excellent knowledge of the mechanical industry to identify inconsistencies and glitches and perform immediate troubleshooting. They schedule maintenance routine checks, upgrade component features, and replace malfunctioning parts as needed. A maintenance planner also supports the staff on the proper usage of machinery by creating procedural manuals and demonstrations.
Maintenance planner responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real maintenance planner resumes:
- Manage aircraft TCTO - organization, depot, safety, and commodity as the TCTO manager.
- Provide turnaround management services to support client's requirement in achieving successful projects.
- Develop and manage PC base computerized maintenance management and productivity management system (CMMS).
- Develop and implement safety preventive maintenance per OSHA guidelines.
- Utilize CMMS (computerize maintenance management system) for preventive maintenance scheduling, work order generating, and equipment management.
- Take part in BRC, GMP, and KPI audits.
- Certificate Allen Bradley PLC service, programming and training.
- Reconcile base flying hour data with operations and MOC.
- Monitor KPIs and ensure all relevant metrics perform in the desired target zones.
- Identify and submit budget proposals to address out date computer systems and PLC's.
- Care for establish lawns by mowing and edging, using power mowers and edgers.
- Assemble and install electrical, pneumatics, plumbing, mechanical, hydraulic and structural parts.
- Utilize IMDS and MSAT to track and schedule 1.3K weapon system hourly and cycle components.
- Train personnel into planning departments to be planning assistants using the training aid as well as created training aids using PowerPoint.
- Develop work instructions for maintenance work, PMs, and outage work using vendor manuals, drawings, or personal knowledge.
Maintenance planner skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Maintenance Planners are proficient in CMMS, Maintenance Planning, and Maintenance Tasks. They’re also known for soft skills such as Communication skills, Customer-service skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Maintenance Planners that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- CMMS, 10%
Utilized CMMS (computerized maintenance management system) for preventive maintenance scheduling, work order generating, and equipment management.
- Maintenance Planning, 8%
Provide constant oversight to company assigned flights advising the Supervisor, Maintenance Planning/Routing of any irregularities/conflicts affecting the maintenance plan.
- Maintenance Tasks, 6%
Scheduled and prioritized daily maintenance activities, administered repair work order system and managed preventive maintenance tasks.
- Maintenance Procedures, 5%
Create and supervise maintenance procedures on plant equipment using Lean Management System; monitor work orders with computer maintenance management systems.
- Continuous Improvement, 5%
Optimized Job and personal assignments to Facilitate efficient production performance and continuous improvement realizing 10% improvement in production efficiency.
- Predictive Maintenance, 5%
Collaborated with Maintenance, Engineering, and Operations teams to develop, implement, and audit Preventative/Predictive Maintenance programs.
Most maintenance planners use their skills in "cmms," "maintenance planning," and "maintenance tasks" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential maintenance planner responsibilities here:
Communication skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a maintenance planner to have is communication skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "material recording clerks are frequently in contact with suppliers, vendors, or managers and need to convey their company’s needs effectively." Maintenance planners often use communication skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided administrative support systems such as files, schedules, forms, documentation, preventive maintenance records, and communications. "
Customer-service skills. Another essential skill to perform maintenance planner duties is customer-service skills. Maintenance planners responsibilities require that "material recording clerks may interact with customers in order to respond to problems or complaints." Maintenance planners also use customer-service skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "provide technical support to external and internal customers. "
Detail oriented. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of maintenance planners is detail oriented. This skill is critical to many everyday maintenance planner duties, as "material and product inspecting clerks must pay attention to detail when checking items for defects, some of which are small and difficult to spot." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "developed detailed, step-by-step instruction sets for complex maintenance procedures in metal extrusion industry. "
Math skills. A big part of what maintenance planners do relies on "math skills." You can see how essential it is to maintenance planner responsibilities because "material recording clerks may need to calculate shipping costs or take measurements." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical maintenance planner tasks: "authored and presented asme publication #93-jpgc-pwr-5, the quantitative rcm study of oak creek's pulverized coal system. "
The three companies that hire the most maintenance planners are:
- West Fraser81 maintenance planners jobs
- Stepan52 maintenance planners jobs
- WestRock13 maintenance planners jobs
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Compare different maintenance planners
Maintenance planner vs. Supervisor of installation
A section chief's job varies with the type of organization. In most cases, a section chief is the head of a given section in an organization that is tasked with performing certain duties. A section chief is the head of a unit and provides leadership, motivation, and management of a section of employees. Their duties and responsibilities include reviewing and overseeing budgets, expenditure, and section activities.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between maintenance planners and supervisor of installation. For instance, maintenance planner responsibilities require skills such as "cmms," "maintenance planning," "maintenance tasks," and "maintenance procedures." Whereas a supervisor of installation is skilled in "customer satisfaction," "project management," "safety standards," and "safety procedures." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Supervisors of installation tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $57,497. In contrast, maintenance planners make the biggest average salary, $76,279, in the hospitality industry.supervisors of installation tend to reach similar levels of education than maintenance planners. In fact, supervisors of installation are 2.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance planner vs. Section chief
The electrical supervisor oversees electricians' performance, training them for the repair and maintenance of equipment. They are responsible for enhancing their skills to create and design electrical operating systems in order to prevent malfunctions causing electric short circuits or shock. They also initiate the monitoring of electrical equipment. They are to help electricians install electrical equipment in establishments and homes, following standard safety protocols imposed by the state. When a defect is observed, they can quickly troubleshoot and start repair.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, maintenance planner responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "cmms," "maintenance planning," "maintenance tasks," and "maintenance procedures." Meanwhile, a section chief has duties that require skills in areas such as "safety procedures," "training programs," "professional development," and "logistical support." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
On average, section chiefs earn a higher salary than maintenance planners. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, section chiefs earn the most pay in the government industry with an average salary of $59,842. Whereas maintenance planners have higher pay in the hospitality industry, with an average salary of $76,279.section chiefs earn similar levels of education than maintenance planners in general. They're 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance planner vs. Flight chief
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, maintenance planners are more likely to have skills like "cmms," "maintenance planning," "maintenance tasks," and "maintenance procedures." But a flight chief is more likely to have skills like "safety program," "emergency situations," "logistics," and "training programs."
When it comes to education, flight chiefs tend to earn similar degree levels compared to maintenance planners. In fact, they're 2.7% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance planner vs. Electrical supervisor
Even though a few skill sets overlap between maintenance planners and electrical supervisors, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a maintenance planner might have more use for skills like "maintenance planning," "maintenance tasks," "maintenance procedures," and "continuous improvement." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of electrical supervisors require skills like "electrical systems," "electrical equipment," "control systems," and "electrical code. "
Electrical supervisors enjoy the best pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $92,489. For comparison, maintenance planners earn the highest salary in the hospitality industry.In general, electrical supervisors hold similar degree levels compared to maintenance planners. Electrical supervisors are 0.8% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of maintenance planner
Updated January 8, 2025
