Look beneath the surface ... Become an Engineered Timber Products Technician!
For most people, buying beautiful tables, benches and other goods can be expensive.
So how do you get the look and feel of luxury without the cost?
This is where the Wood Panel and Board Production and Manufacturing sector comes in.
This sector specialises in wood veneers and laminating - putting a coating over a basic material. It also makes particle board, medium density fibreboard (MDF) and plywood - things we rely on for making offices, kitchens, tables and much more.
It's a big sector and one that requires people who can work with high-tech machinery and adapt themselves to many tasks. Learning is on-the-job, and the many different processes in this sector mean you'll learn plenty of skills that will be with you for life.
What jobs are there?
Some people start with a traineeship. Jobs at Certificate II or III qualification (combining on and off-the-job training) include:
Producing veneer
Laminating boards
Machining panels
Heat treatment of boards.
There are also opportunities for skilled tradespeople (requiring an apprenticeship), such as:
Electricians
Maintenance fitters
Boiler operators.
Roles at a supervisor or manager level include:
Quality control
Marketing/sales management
Business management and planning
Information technology.
The industry is very supportive of people who want to better their skills and keep learning. There are many types of jobs, so you can really make a career of it.
Did you know?
Wood veneering has been going on for centuries.
In the old days, though, it involved putting a thin layer of a very expensive wood (e.g. mahogany) over a less expensive wood (e.g. oak).
Who are the employers?
Companies in this sector work in:
MDF and particle board manufacture
Panel and veneer manufacturing
Laminated products.
A lot of businesses are based in regional Australia and are big enough to offer genuine career paths in the one enterprise. Lots of people have begun on the factory floor and progressed through the sector to become experts in their field.
To read about career and jobs in the other sectors of this industry click on the articles below:
From family farm to a career in the forest industry... “Every day offers a new challenge making work exciting and rewarding,” says Ian Fish. At the age of 19 Ian Fish left the family farm to start a career in the timber industry. He started in the... more »
