A look at the extraordinary career of Frédéric, Workshop Technician

Frédéric joined Safran Transmission Systems in 1999, straight after completing his professional Baccalaureate in mechanical computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM).

 

From Operator to Workshop Technician

Frédéric began his career working as a Turning Operator for three years, supervising the machining of rotating parts (pinions) to plan. Driven by a desire to progress and enhance his career with new and varied experiences, Frédéric became a Workshop Technician in 2002, managing and providing technical support to a team of operators.

Frédéric reached this position so early in his career largely thanks to his trainer, to whom he paid tribute: "I owe a lot to the Workshop Technician who trained me during the three years I spent working as a Turning Operator. He taught me the trade from A to Z and I took over from him when he retired. " According to Frédéric, being a Workshop Technician requires a number of both technical and people skills. "As the first point of contact for operators, the Workshop Technician must be calm and attentive and be able to do what is necessary to meet their needs as quickly as possible".

 

Extensive experience in Methods

In 2004, Frédéric moved on to the Methods division, working as a CNC machine programmer. "For someone who didn't go to university, moving to Methods was a real positive development in my career. At the time, it was very rare for an operator who only had a professional baccalaureate to be hired by the Methods division! " explains Frédéric.

So, what's the secret of his success? "There's no mystery to it!" he says with a smile. "When I joined Safran Transmission Systems in 1999, I was immediately put to work on new machines and was tasked with programming and fine-tuning, which gave me a certain edge in my profession."

The many years Frédéric spent with Methods gave him exposure to  various trades and fields (e.g. grinding, technical processing, gear cutting, providing drawings of parts), as well as opportunities to work with other departments such as Quality and the Design Engineering Office, and have direct contact with suppliers.

 

The need to go back to his passion for machining

In March 2018, almost twenty years after starting his first job in the workshop, Frédéric decided to go back to the role of Workshop Technician. With this move, he became the right-hand man of Pascal Nercam, manager of the sprocket production line grinding workshop. "I decided to follow my heart and go back into machining! " he says. So what does he like most about everyday life in the workshop? "Definitely the contact with the operators and the satisfaction I get from helping them solve technical problems."

The role of Workshop Technician has evolved considerably since the first time he took it up,  in the early 2000s.  Frédéric must now ensure that the operators have a varied skill set and are able to work on several machines, where previously they would work on one. He therefore trains operators to use new machines, as well as training new arrivals. He is also the first point of contact among the turning team and provides support to several departments (e.g. Quality, Methods, Supply Chain) across all technical issues related to machining.

This is the inspiring career of a self-taught professional who, through sheer persistence and perseverance, has seized career opportunities in order to pursue his passion!