A millwright is a tradesperson who installs, repairs, and reassembles machinery in factories, sawmills, or on construction sites.
The trade dates back to the 12th century, when millwrights built flour mills, sawmills, and paper mills powered by water or wind.
Today, millwrights are high-precision tradespeople who install, dismantle, repair, reassemble, and move machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites.
Industrial machinery mechanics and machinery workers are often involved, along with millwrights, in installing, maintaining, and repairing factory equipment and other industrial machinery. This may include such tasks as leveling, aligning, and installing the machinery on foundations or base plates, and may also involve the setting, leveling, and aligning large electric motors or other power sources, such as turbines.
Millwrights are often employed full-time in manufacturing facilities, or may be on call or working nights or weekend shifts. Millwrights are often contractors who might be on a job site for only a few days or weeks, depending on the type of job.
As millwrights work on the construction and decommissioning of various types of machinery, common duties include reading drawings, blueprints, schematics, and manuals to establish procedures. They may use rigging equipment or a dolly to place, hoist, and transport heavy equipment or machinery. They fit, align, attach, or disassemble mechanical components. They may test equipment to determine efficiency and to troubleshoot issues, making adjustments as necessary.
Other tasks might include completing inspections, replacing defective equipment, servicing hydraulic systems, performing routine maintenance on industrial machinery, and maintaining an inventory of any parts worked on during an installation.
Millwrights, industrial machinery mechanics, and machinery maintenance workers generally need a high school diploma or the equivalent. Mechanics and millwrights will sometimes complete a two-year associate's degree program in industrial maintenance, typically taking courses in welding, mathematics, hydraulics, and pneumatics.
Millwrights need to have an understanding of fluid mechanics (hydraulics and pneumatics) and all of the components involved in these processes, such as valves, pumps, and compressors. They are also trained to use a wide variety of precision tools, such as calipers, micrometers, dial indicators, levels, gauge blocks, and optical and laser alignment tooling.
Industrial machinery mechanics and machinery maintenance workers may complete more than a year of on-the-job training, learning to perform such tasks as setting up, cleaning, lubricating, and starting machinery, as well as shop mathematics, blueprint reading, welding, electronics, and the use of various hand tools. This training may be provided on the job or by representatives of equipment manufacturers.
Millwrights often learn the trade through a 3-4-year apprenticeship. For each year of the program, apprentices will complete at least 144 hours of relevant technical instruction and up to 2,000 hours of paid on-the-job training. They will learn to set up, clean, lubricate, repair, and start various types of machinery. Technical instruction might include welding, mathematics, reading blueprints, and troubleshooting machinery. Computer training is often included. Prerequisites for entering an apprenticeship program are likely to include a minimum age of 18, a high school diploma or the equivalent, and the physical ability to do the work. Apprenticeship programs are typically sponsored by employers, contractor associations, or labor unions.
Upon completion of the apprenticeship, millwrights are qualified to perform tasks with less guidance, although on-the-job training may still be necessary for specific types of jobs.
Although there may differences from one jurisdiction to another, typically licensure or certification are not required.
In order to acquire a journeyman card, additional experience and training may be required by the applicable labor union.
Recommended Resources
AMI is an industrial contracting and custom fabrication firm based in North Reading, Massachusetts, serving heavy manufacturing clients across New England since 1986. Its core services include rigging, installation, removal, repair, and retrofitting of mechanical systems, along with custom fabrication and welding, rigging and crane services, piping and pipe fitting, and industrial demolition, trucking, and warehouse services. Its site emphasizes its services and clients.
https://www.amillwrights.com/
Champion Industrial Contractors, Inc.
Serving Central and Northern California, Champion Industrial Contractors is a full-service mechanical and industrial contractor offering HVAC, plumbing and pipefitting, process piping, metal fabrication, and maintenance services. The company operates a 67,000 square-foot shop in Modesto, California, that is used for sheet metal, process piping, conveyors, tanks, and other custom industrial fabrication. Its services, service area, and contact details are provided.
https://www.championindustrial.com/
Operating a 34,000 square-foot fabrication shop in Maryville, where they are headquartered, although they also have operations in Morristown and Cleveland, Tennessee. The firm offers installation, setting, alignment, leveling, dismantling, refurbishing, reassembly, and machinery moving services. Typical assignments include plant relocations or machinery moves, new equipment installs, refurbishment projects, and concrete and foundation work. Contact details are provided.
https://cherokeemillwright.com/
Millwright Employers Association
The MEA is a management organization of licensed, union millwright contractors that provides industrial construction, repair, and maintenance services. Members employ millwrights who complete four years and 640 hours of formal training, and it has an emphasis on minimizing production downtime, fast response capacity, from single millwrights to large crews, and on-site or shop fabrication. Its history, membership, a photo gallery, and contact details are provided.
https://millwrightemployers.org/
The SSMRC is a union organization representing skilled industrial millwrights who work across industries such as automotive, oil and gas, and power generation. Its website presents member resources, training, and career information, news, and contact details. Currently its local chapters are being merged into the Central South Carpenters Regional Council, Southeastern Carpenters Regional Council, and Florida Carpenters Regional Council. Member stories and contact details are provided.
https://southernstatesmillwrights.org/
UBC Millwrights is the Millwright Regional Council's official site describing the union's training, services, and industry partnerships. Its website emphasizes safety, productivity, and skilled crews for mission-critical industrial work. It also serves to connect contractors and employers with UBC-trained millwright crews, offers apprenticeship and training information, and includes a directory of local unions. Contact details are provided, and an online store if included.
https://www.ubcmillwrights.ca/
