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What does a Maintenance Technician do at Staples?

Are you curious about the role of a Maintenance Technician and the impact they have on a company’s operations? At Staples, our Maintenance Technicians play a vital role in keeping our supply chain running efficiently and effectively. Whether performing preventative maintenance or repairing critical equipment, they are essential to ensuring seamless operations for our customers. 
 

Key Responsibilities of a Maintenance Technician 

As a Maintenance Technician at Staples, you’ll take on a variety of responsibilities that contribute to the success of our supply chain: 
 
Critical Repairs and Preventative Maintenance: Rapidly address and resolve issues with essential equipment such as conveyor and sorting systems, electrical motors and controls, material handling equipment, and other operational machinery, while also performing routine maintenance to prevent future breakdowns. 
 
General Maintenance and Mechanical Repairs: Handle a variety of tasks, including general mechanical repairs, light plumbing and carpentry assignments, to maintain the facility’s overall functionality. 
 
Safety First: Embrace and enforce a strong safety culture, ensuring every task is carried out safely. 

Day-to-Day Life as a Maintenance Technician 

A day in the life of a Maintenance Technician at Staples is dynamic and hands-on, with no two days being the same. Equipment checks are a key priority to ensure smooth operations, followed by addressing urgent repair requests to minimize downtime. Preventative maintenance tasks, such as inspecting conveyors or material handling equipment, are integrated into the schedule to keep systems running at peak performance. 
 
Collaboration is essential in this role. Maintenance Technicians work closely with warehouse staff to resolve immediate issues, coordinate with supervisors or management to prioritize tasks, and occasionally partner with external vendors for specialized repairs. From troubleshooting electrical systems to verifying the safety of equipment, this role is central to the efficiency and success of Staples' supply chain operations. 

4. How do you stay up to date with trends and data in the merchandising field, and how does this impact your strategy? 

Staying on top of trends is essential.  I’m constantly analyzing internal data, listening to customer feedback, monitoring our competition, reading industry trade publications, meeting with manufacturers, and attending trade shows. Staying informed is critical to understanding shifts in customer needs and identifying opportunities before they emerge in the market. 

This information is fundamental to shaping a proactive merchandising strategy that keeps us ahead of both customer demands and competitive moves. 

5. How do you balance creativity and data-driven decisions in your role? 

For me, data-driven decisions are the foundation of creativity. Customer insights help identify problems or unmet needs, while data analysis highlights their significance and potential value. Once I have the insights, I apply creativity to develop solutions and strategies that truly engage our customers. 

At Staples, I’ve applied this balance of data and creativity over 17 years, developing hundreds of products and contributing to several patents. One of my favorite projects was the Cynthia Rowley Case Paper. Partnering with a fashion designer, we transformed ordinary office supplies by adding high-fashion patterns to the box of reams, recognizing that customers reused them for storage. This exemplifies how creative merchandising strategies, driven by customer insights and innovation, can deliver meaningful results. 

6. What key skills or traits do you think make someone successful in merchandising and how do you apply these in your role? 

First, you must be innovative. Innovation is a critical skill in merchandising, as it drives you to question, learn, and adapt quickly. This is essential in merchandising, where customer preferences and market trends change rapidly. Pairing innovation with important merchandising skills, such as like data analysis, allows you to deeply understand customer behavior and translate that understanding into real, customer-facing solutions. 

Strategic decision-making is also crucial. This decisiveness develops through continuous learning and is reinforced by testing, helping you make well-informed decisions and apply your skills effectively.  

Lastly, resilience is a core trait. Driving new solutions requires persistence. As a merchandiser, standing firm on the value of your recommendations and effectively communicating your recommendations to stakeholders are key parts of the role.  

7. How do you collaborate with other teams, such as marketing or supply chain, to achieve merchandising goals? 

I work daily with cross-functional teams, including pricing, marketing, inventory planning, supply chain, and sales. Collaboration starts with learning from these experts to build an effective, actionable merchandising strategy. Each team must understand, adapt, and execute the strategy seamlessly. 

At Staples, we are experts in the world of work, and our shared goal is to deliver the best solutions to meet each customer’s needs. Achieving this requires a single vision and unified voice that is conveyed through our marketing. This ensures that all efforts align with our goals and maximize impact. 

Our merchandising team is exceptional, and we’re always excited to welcome new talent. Explore merchandising job opportunities at Staples here. 

 

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