Jacob Ward, Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician

Maintenance and Operations Engineering Technician

Jacob is a Mechanical Engineering Apprentice at Abraham Moon in Leeds

What I do

I work at Abraham Moons, a wool mill, where we make high-quality woven fabrics for everything from furniture to clothing for designer fashion brands. I’m hands on with the machines, making sure everything runs smoothly – the building is over 100 years old and has unique challenges! We need to keep everything working and in great repair, I love that the machines have been weaving for so many years. You really feel like you’re part of something when you see the history and are part of keeping the history and traditions alive.

In my role, I’ve helped in weaving, the yarn store, maintenance, everything really, I fix and maintain all the machinery and equipment we use, and parts of the building too, to keep the mill running.

Hear more about Jacob's role by watching the video below...

How I became a technician

I fell into this job by chance, to be honest.

Before this, I worked in accounts in an office, which I went into straight from school, I didn’t feel like I had the chance to really think about what was out there. Then I had a taste of working with my hands when I helped build pianos for a bit at a friend's work.

That made me realise I wanted a more practical job where I could really get stuck in and I saw a Warping Operative job advertised and applied for it. I didn't know anything about textiles or what Moons did, it was just a big factory to me. When I started, I hit the ground running and picked things up as I went along.

I jumped at the chance to do a Level 2 Textile Operative apprenticeship, which gave me a real understanding of the textile process from start to finish. Now I'm moving on to do a Level 3 apprenticeship in Mechanical Engineering with a focus on textiles, which is exciting. I'm constantly learning and developing my skills here.

It goes to show you can end up in a totally different career than you expect, I didn't even know this job existed, and now it's a massive part of my life and I absolutely love working here.  

A typical day in my
working life

I work rotating shifts, so one week I work 6am - 2pm, the next week it's 2pm - 10pm. When I get in, I check the job list for the day and start setting up my first warping job. That means creeling up the yarn cones in the right pattern and colours and getting the machine running. To do this, we take the yarns, which are each wound on cones, and add them to the correct pegs on the machines according to the pattern for that job.

It’s like colour by numbers, putting the right colour in the right place on the machine to make the woven fabric. 

We're a fully vertical mill, which means we do everything from receiving merino or lamb’s wool into the factory and producing yarn, right through to the finished goods.

There are a lot of stages before the yarn reaches me, there’s blending, carding, spinning and winding. All of those come first, and then we start the warp, which is the weaving process. It’s unusual to work somewhere where you see the complete process, which really fascinates me. 

Once the first warp is done, I'll beam it off onto a big cylinder, then start on the next one - it's all about staying a step ahead.

There's always something to do - whether it's creeling up new jobs, running the machines, beaming off finished warps, or doing checks to make sure everything's running smoothly. I'm on my feet most of the day, which I like as it keeps things interesting!  

Explore different industries, for example, look at engineering - you could be working in mechanics, textiles, refrigeration - there are so many possibilities.  

Expand your horizons, it's ok if you don't know what you want to do right away. I ended up in a completely different career than I planned, and I love it!

The skills I use most

The maths from my accounting days comes in handy – there’s a lot of multiplication and adding up to do when we set up a job. Problem-solving is a big one too. When something goes wrong with a machine, you need to figure out what’s causing the issue and how to fix it, and often we’ll work together to solve a problem.

Communication is important too, you need to explain problems clearly to your team if something needs fixing. You also need to be able to read and follow instructions accurately – one wrong colour in a pattern, or not fixing something properly mess up a whole job. And practical skills too, having good hand-eye coordination and even knowing your left from your right is important when you’re turning bolts all day!

A little more about
my everyday role

What I love most about my job

I get to work with my hands all day, which I enjoy. Another thing I love is that every day is different, every day is exciting working here, especially when you realise you are working on a job for a well-known client like Ralph Lauren or Prada. It’s exciting to know that something you are working on is going to top fashion designer, it makes me feel pretty proud to be honest.    

I also love learning about the whole textile process. When I started, I knew nothing about how fabric was made. Now I understand the whole journey right from the wool to the finished product, and it's fascinating. It's cool to be able to look at a piece of fabric or a chair covering and understand how it was made.  

The best bits about working in a team

The best thing about working in a team here is the camaraderie. Everyone's friendly and open, and you can chat about anything with your workmates. It's different from office jobs I've had before - there's less politics and it just feels more like a real team.  

Another great thing is how everyone jumps in to help if there's a problem. You never come in and feel stressed because you’re working alone, if you went over to anyone in the factory and asked for a hand, there's no one who would turn you down. Sometimes you ask someone who has been here 20 or 30 years and you find out about a whole new process which is so interesting.  

What I wear for work 

Workwear is pretty relaxed as long as we have headphones (as it’s noisy working with the machines) and steel toe-capped shoes to protect your feet. 

What I like to do in my spare time

In my spare time I love tinkering with cars - it's a bit of a family thing as my dad, grandad, and brothers are all mechanics. There's something satisfying about figuring out how to fix things. I'm also into 3D printing. I've got a few printers at home and I'm always making stuff with them. It's amazing what you can create, friends are always asking me to make things for them. Working at Moons has given me quite an insight into textiles, so I’m trying to get my own carding machine so I can make yarn at home, which would be pretty fun.  

My school days 

At school, I wanted to become a pathologist, so I took subjects like biology, chemistry and physics for my GCSEs, but when I got to A-levels, I was told I'd taken the wrong subjects to continue so I lost interest in education. Looking back, I wish I'd had more information about different career options. I had no idea about all the different jobs out there, especially in manufacturing and engineering, and options where you can work and learn at the same time, like I do now. If I'd known about jobs like the one I have now, I might have gone down this route straight away.  

The advice I'd give to someone younger   

Open your eyes to all the different job options, don't just focus on the typical careers they tell you about in school. Explore different industries, for example, look at engineering - you could be working in mechanics, textiles, refrigeration - there are so many possibilities.  

Expand your horizons, it's ok if you don't know what you want to do right away. I ended up in a completely different career than I planned, and I love it!

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