“The other day, I took on a repair job; the PLC fault light was on. I pretended to be busy all day, and when everyone left at night, I rebooted the PLC and pocketed 2000. Hehe…”
That night, during a dinner gathering, it was anything but a casual dinner; everyone raised their glasses and chatted happily. After a few rounds of drinks, we started boasting about ourselves. An electrical engineer told me about a repair job he took on where the PLC fault light was on. He pretended to be busy all day, and when everyone left at night, he rebooted the PLC and pocketed 2000.I said, it seems like you electrical engineers make money easily; going out to do side jobs is quite simple, just bring a laptop and you can earn for a day’s work.He replied, no, no, you mechanical designers make more money; just coming up with a plan can earn several thousand.I said, it’s not that easy; creating a plan involves reviews, client approvals, 3D designs, 2D drawings, BOM preparation, and if there are issues during assembly, you have to deal with those too. The timeline is too long, and on average, we earn about ten times less than you.
Electrician A:Some people seem to easily solve faults by simply turning the power on and off, while others may spend a whole day without identifying the fault. Why is that?This is about skill!!!Maintenance electricians rely on their knowledge and experience; a minute on stage requires ten years of practice off stage.
Electrician B:Back in the early 2000s, our company’s CNC machine assembly lead and electrical engineers were taking on private repair jobs outside.The prices were all inflated; a fitter replaced a sealing ring and charged four thousand. Later, the client found out and wanted to break his legs, so he was scared and refunded the money, leaving the client with three thousand and keeping one thousand for himself.
Electrician C:In our unit, the equipment department has a big trick: first reboot, and if that doesn’t work, use a hairdryer to blow out the dust inside the equipment, which can solve 80% of the problems. The rest requires calling in the original factory engineers for repairs.