truck driver

production operator

tool and die maker

maintenance technician

maintenance person

Autokiniton Global Group

I started as production in June 2013.  I soon moved up to "labeler" when our current labeler was promoted and went to first shift.  When I go in for the evening the first thing I do after our morning meeting is walk around to all machines to validate what part they are running that night. Afterwards, I go to my computer and print out labels for each machine. (Usually 2 each to get started). As the machine operators complete a bin I once again verify the part, have the associate initial the label and I place it on the bin. In my spare time I do hourly quality checks for my co-workers to ease their jobs a little.  I also inspect parts that have been weld repaired and help pack those out.
I have learned that it is very important to make sure the correct labels are placed on the proper parts and double verifying the parts immensely helps any improper labeling.
I have two direct managers in charge over our shift and they are very easy to talk to and jump in and help when needed even covering breaks when it is necessary to run through them.  That gives me a lot of confidence in our management team.  I think it is important for managers to be willing and able to get in and participate and not just stand around and watch everyone when time neccesitates it.
We have a great group on 3rd shift.  I enjoy working with my co-workers.  We often produce the most parts on 3rd. We look out for each other and lend a helping hand when someone else is in need.  You don't often find that in a factory setting.
Dealing with the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter is sometimes difficult, but overall it is a nice place to work. I enjoy my particuliar job because I love being able to help all my co-workers in between labeling by getting supplies for them, doing their quality checks and offering help and support and also suggestions on how to make their jobs easier. My co-workers have told me that I am very organized and they love me being their "label lady".
If it weren't for my move to Bowling Green and the amount of money it is costing me to go to work I probably wouldn't even be looking.  That, and the fact that I no longer desire 3rd shift.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part was fixing broken processes and redesigning broken reporting methods.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Month end cutoff gives you until noon on the second day of the month to manually do all of the transactions manually that should have been automated from an ERP system that's woefully inadequate. The amount of unnecessary detail and arbitrary artificial timelines creates a lot of stress and leads to unnecessary mistakes.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Nobody understands basic economics. Leadership does is not interested in how spending results in a return on investment. They're interested in controlling spending. There are examples of plants that started layoffs only to have people call in sick, look for other jobs and leave resulting in overtime while they're trying to reduce headcount. Machinery is constantly breaking, hourly staff is forced to work overtime. Employees work holidays making turnover and attrition a huge problem. Anyone that values their time leaves so they're constantly hiring because of mismanagement and the constant churn leads to parts being quarantined, sorted and mistakes being made from outbound shipment labels to dock rejections to rework. The cost of poor quality at the plant I worked at was through the roof and inevitable because of poor plant leadership. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I spent the majority of my time trying to document processes that were never written down and trying to understand what I was supposed to be doing. Management hired me to do accounting and bookkeeping and advertised the position for a CPA, never realizing or asking me about the fact that I never had a single accounting class. Tedious paperwork, irrelevant details that would never be relevant for a SOX audit, broken reporting and amateurs doing the same thing they'd been doing for decades made it a dumpster fire.

Between being ignored  with repeated requests for assistance at my cell then getting everyone and sarcastic exclamations of, "Ok, I'll be right there!" To being referred be supervisors and management as "live bodies" to being advised to not go over a supervisor's head after escalating an issue due to no reaction to a quality issue on an already existing quality issue to being the production benchmark on my machine and being asked to do 8 hours of work in 7.5 hours while other people's rates get them making their production quotas on their respective machines and leaving in 6 hours, while getting paid for 8 and at the same time, management being ok with the other shifts on my machine doing 70% of the work I do, all while being told not to pay attention to what everyone else is doing and being told that life isn't fair. It gets a little grating after a few years. It's really hot, like 90+ degrees in the summer while wearing ppe that makes one feel bundled up like an Eskimo... I'm not knocking the ppe, just the lack of understanding how hot it is on the plant floor by people who sit in an air conditioned office all day... Where's the solidarity? The coffee machine is gross, gets roaches or is out, the vending machines steal money, there's no air in the toilet anymore, so when you're sick with the heat, sweat rolls down your back when you're going... The pay's pretty good though, more than I need, and you get basically free prescription safety glasses unless you're old and need bifocals, that's out of pocket. They give you about 75 bucks towards one pair of shoes a year and a couple of small bonus checks for full timers that almost make up for the voluntary time off they give in July and December... They also say there's room for advancement but the majority of job postings are for tow motors and at the same time, I'm seeing new people in the quality department and other people moved around in support positions... Well, there's my rant.

What is the best part of working at the company?
There is not a best thing. The only thing I like is my hourly wage. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
All the mandatory overtime worked

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Autokiniton offers a fast-paced manufacturing environment , providing employees with opportunities for advancement. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Start of Shift:
	•	Clock in and attend a shift meeting – review safety protocols, production goals, and any issues from the previous shift.
	•	PPE check – ensure you’re wearing proper protective equipment (gloves, ear protection, safety glasses, steel-toed boots, etc.).

Production Setup:
	•	Die setup or changeovers – if needed, you’ll assist with or perform the setup of dies in the press based on the production schedule.
	•	Machine checks – inspect the press for safety and operational readiness (lubrication, guarding, etc.).

During the Shift:
	•	Operating the press – run large metal-forming machines that stamp automotive parts (like body panels or structural components).
	•	Feeding coils or blanks – monitor the loading and feeding of metal into the press, ensuring it’s aligned and processed correctly.
	•	Quality checks – perform regular inspections of stamped parts for defects using gauges or visual inspections.
	•	Documentation – fill out production and inspection logs to track part counts and any issues.

Mid-Shift:
	•	Breaks and lunch – usually 1 or 2 short breaks and a 30-minute lunch depending on the shift schedule.
	•	Team support – help others when needed (clearing jams, assisting with die changes, etc.).

End of Shift:
	•	Clean-up – sweep the area, organize tools, and prepare the workstation for the next shift.
	•	Reporting – communicate any problems with machinery, tools, or production to your supervisor

A typical day consisted of hand loading material to be run in the line each weighing about 3-5lbs and running about 6000 parts per 10 hour shift. Also perform hourly quality checks on run parts. (I often did a quality check every 15 minutes or so) I learned how to operate a heat treatment line. (Although this was not via ANY official training as I learned from the operator before me) My co-workers were good people to work and talk with although there was a universal dislike of much of the management as well as long hours. Many of the management staff (not all) are more about quantity over quality thus if someone is like me that is more about quality they may have problems with many of the managers. Also most of the machines were in a state of disrepair and literally held together with zipties and other VERY temporary fixes. Only when a problem resulted in a complete shutdown of production did anything get repaired in a timely manner. (not due to the maintenance staffs unwillingness to do so but because management would often not allow them to do so.) As odd as it my seem the most enjoyable part of my job was actually solving and correcting problems that were causing quality issues or issues causing poor production. (EG: Jams, overheating, underheating)

This is the worst company that I’ve witnessed in 30 years of employment. It starts with horrific Human Resources. You absolutely can’t believe anything they tell you. They will tell you one thing in the interview process, something totally different in the orientation process, and then not follow through on anything. They are dishonest and can’t be trusted. Human Resources is supposed to be a bridge between employees and the company but that is not the case with Autokiniton as they only care about the company. It is totally pathetic.

Having served in an accounting leadership role for 25 plus years, I’m well aware of good leadership skills. The accounting leadership at the Greenville location and the corporate location is terrible. Accounting leadership does not possess the knowledge of every job within their department, and therefore, can’t provide proper and thorough training to incoming employees. I witnessed this first hand. Communication between the corporate level and the site level is basically nonexistent. They have the wrong people in leadership roles.

Finally, hourly production employees are treated very unfairly. The company expects them to base their entire lives around the needs of the company. In other words, the work life balance is nonexistent. Pay for hourly employees is not up to industry standards.

In conclusion, this was the worst five months of a 30 year career. I resigned without notice so that should be a warning sign to incoming employees. There are better places to work in the area.

My day at work is repetitive and stable. I have learned many different avenues to take when it comes to the HR aspect of my position at L&W as far as the connection that goes between a Corporation and the Associate at hand. It is nice to be able to help people out and give them the ability to help themselves. Our work culture has a open door policy and the janitor is treated with the same respect as my General Manager. The hardest part of  my job is not being able to stop the problem before the problem arrives. There are many problems in the type of engineering industry that I am in when it comes to engineering process. I would like to have more hands attainment with this, however my job title does not allow this to happen and there is not any open positions for me to be able to help in that manner. Problem solving has always been a forte of mine. The most enjoyable part of my day is the Management  Team. Everyone is a seasoned Manager and they are easy to please. I enjoy that there is always something that they need and that I am able to assist.

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoy working for L&W. The only issue I personally have with the company are the hours required. I have no problem working hard, but there aren't too many weeks I put in less than 60 hours. 50 is enough. Especially with a family.

The company likes to run lean, but it is bordering on too lean. I feel as though every department within the organization is understaffed and people are overworked, causing a higher turnaround than one would like to see. If one person quits a department (at least at the Tech Center), it causes a ripple affect through the entire department. The people who already have too much to do are now required to take on additional work that the person leaving will be leaving behind.

The last thing I've noticed is the lack of structure. The company has grown exponentially since 2009 and has not yet adjusted to being a large company. Upper management still runs it as though it is a "mom and pop" operation, but I am confident it will get better with time.

The pay is great. The company was great until the old c.E o left.
Then, it all fell apart to play political politics in the office. Management it's very poor.
They say we're you're one big, happy family, its management versus the drivers

All they care about is their inclusive status and diversity status. They don't give a s*** about drivers.
In logistics.
They like to play the blame game.No responsibility taken for themselves.
Drivers are always the problem management never is.
On the high side, great benefits paid holidays. A week off of christmas and new year's. Half a personal day every month.Gain for good attendance. Vacation pay.
I highly recommend this company for great pay and benefits. 
They change policies in the middle of their fiscal year, just to get rid of drivers that they don't want.
It used to be a nice place to work.
If you can deal with that. Then you got yourself a good job with great pay and great benefits.
I hope corporate one day cleans that house inputs, new management dispatchers, h r department.

Upper management will blame you for everything even when u didn't even set anything up they will expect you to do unrealistic things and want it done without you takin the time to do it right the first time.Will work you 7 days a week with no day off try to use vacation day or personal time is hard to get approved when u have it to use.They shift blame to the operators when operators have to run broke equipment and deal with bad attitudes from salary people.Overwork the hard worker so don't work here if u work hard it will get exploited.Upper management plays the friend role too much and mess with the worker who works and doesn't take consideration peopl who work hard let them be.Daily struggle to get things done when there's no teamwork and people wanna force you to do things their way and their way makes the situation worse.
Do not work here you won't be happy u will be stressed out and they won't care if u are as long as u get them numbers which also leads to running bad parts so they tell you to move it quicker and wonder why people ge hurt or have bad parts or get upset no life here and no time for family period.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Truck driver 7 salaries reported	$27.11 per hour
Production operator 10 salaries reported	$18.16 per hour
Tool and die maker 14 salaries reported	$37.11 per hour
Maintenance technician 12 salaries reported	$34.58 per hour
Maintenance person 4 salaries reported	$32.25 per hour

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