laborer

maintenance technician

industrial mechanic

welder

fabricator/welder

Awning-Innovations

What is the best part of working at the company?
Easy if you know entry level and simple CAD commands.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Deadlines can be very strict and workload can get crazy. Upper management can be daunting. Lack of communication from everyone. Never say "I don't know" when talking to upper management.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
When I started it was fun. We were rewarded with team lunches and great bonuses every month until upper management thought otherwise. The bonus structure changed almost every month and got to a point where it was almost impossible to get a bonus. It's a very hostile environment unless you communicate with the all managers and keep record of everything. My manager started the same day I did as a drafter and moved into the manager position so we had a great connection and he's what kept me sane for the most part.

The bathrooms were out of service for 5 months (July through November) before I left (with little info on when the were going to be fixed.) They provided porta potties but I had no intention of using them so I drove down the
road to the gas station to use the bathroom.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Days were long but as long as you got your work done and accurately, there were no issues. Lots of problem solving on a day to day basis as well due to production building just from the "pictures" and not the actual material and instructions provided. Inventory count would also cause many issues.

AI seemed like a good place to work, but it winds up that all of the managers are very territorial and production does not flow evenly from one end to the other as it should. What happens is that your workflow is constantly interrupted by panicked, last minute surprises that need to supersede everything else. As a result, a slow day can turn busy right as you think you're going to leave. The tail wags the dog, so to speak.

Many of the workers speak only Spanish. This is a huge problem if a new employee only speaks English and is left to be "trained" through pantomime because of a language barrier. It's a real problem that needs to be addressed when new employees are hired.

The employees are hard working, kind, caring, and good at what they do. The managers are very temperamental, communicate poorly (if at all), and are too busy with whatever they are doing to actually manage their department. Each department seems to function in near ignorance of what the other is doing. 

The facility has undrinkable water, has moved very far from the city, floods, contains mold, is poorly ventilated, and you will reek of chemicals at the end of the day.

It's a frustrating place to work.

the amount of frustration and disappointment that this place provides is uncanny you can work as hard as humanly possible and they view you as nothing more than two hands they may promise you a raise after 90 days but that is a lie most of the employees there get their first raise after a year unless they’re a corporate pet this place provides some of the most unfair jobs i’ve ever seen and the warehouse and equipment is very much so run down and poorly cared for they care for their equipment the same way they care for their employees i would not suggest anyone to look for employment here the only thing that i enjoyed about this company is the workers it’s a very laid back job sometimes a little too laid back my biggest problem was having to work harder than anyone in my department and then being told by a manager that i should never have to do that when it’s a daily ordeal they will push you around and make you work hours you never agreed to work when you were hired they genuinely do not care about their employees at all whether they’re great workers or undeniably lazy DO NOT APPLY HERE:)

It's amazing this company is still afloat. 
Sales reps over-promise to customers forcing production to rush basically everything. Projects are constantly processed wrong, meaning deadlines are usually missed. Inventory control is a mess, counts are always wrong, and material is randomly "found" or "missing" with no explanation. They are regularly on credit hold with anywhere for 10 to 25 vendors at a time, with some having hundreds of thousands in overdue payments. Because of that, orders have to be made with vendors that charge way more, meaning there's even less money to go to paying existing bills, and entire departments end up with no work because they can't get parts in time. (All the while, they pump tons of money into trade show booths) Management is filled with people who punch down to look good, and anytime the tiniest thing goes wrong, they want to blame someone before even figuring out what happened. Turnover is insanely high to the point that supposedly some people will place bets on how long new people will last. Plus mediocre pay and benefits to add insult to injury 

Turnover was absolutely astonishing. I have never seen anything like it in all my years of employment.

Non-existent training. Poor communication. Inconsistent standards and methods. Bickering, childish department leaders, complete with silly, daily meetings that devolved into arguments.

Weird schedules, feast or famine work loads, and wildly inconsistent instruction and documentation. Organizational and workflow practices were a complete cluster, always chasing some half-baked concept of the hippest thing in manufacturing, then utterly failing to execute at every level.

If you're looking for a year or less to gain some experience, by all means. If you're looking for a career, this isn't the place.

Each day was a struggle to complete assigned jobs due to the inability of other departments to produce the correct material or in a timely manner making your job much more difficult than necessary. Suggestions on improvement are met with offensive behavior ultimately leading to retribution. The lack of management departmentally and upper made it impossible to achieve your full potential. Hence the incredible turn over rate of employees. The most difficult part of the job was having a strong work ethic and pride in your work being met with incompetence and opposition. This place will never change its procedures in a positive manner due to misplaced loyalty to the wrong employees.

When starting it was never put out that a project manager would be responsible for quoting as well. I had made it clear that I didnt want to do quoting or anything outside of a general project manager role. When your boss who is an owner is gone frequently, it makes it hard to do your job and his. When you do his job and quoting while he is gone, you get negative statements and hostile comments instead of a thank you. It is really hard to work in an environment where you are verbally beat down and talked down to almost daily instead of a helpful and positive environment.

I was let go, but wished I hadn't made the mistakes I did. The people and culture made me tell myself, "I want to retire from here one day" just a few days in. I was a processor on the Engineering team, I had a good mentor and colleagues who helped teach me what I needed, even I didn't see it at the time. Even though I was handling a lot in my personal life, I still enjoyed the fast pace and consistent work load without having to always find something to do or keep busy. From conceptual art, to going on the shop floor and truly admire the finished product, I truly miss it every day. I can't drive down the road and see signs and not feel nostalgic about my time there. Truly a great feeling, I wish I could earn a chance to rejoin the team. 

They not only overwork thier employee but give them impossible task to complete just so they can ambush you in an office, just to bash you.

When I got hire they went from 19 engineers to 7 and expected the same output with 7 engineers and two of them were new. One was myself. I was intimidated everyday to work more hours for less pay and no benefit ls or over time. To only then get crapped on by the managment team even though the sales people and the other engineer on my team were all proud and happy with my work and how fast I was learning.. again avoid this company save you a headache.

Management aside, this company is a temp mill. Turnover is ridiculously high. Training is poor, inconsistent, and at times, just plain wrong. Ask two different departments how a document or file is to be presented and get two different answers. Ask the same people a week later and get a completely different response.

Advancement is non-existent. Frequent meetings that devolved into petty screaming matches. Combative culture between departments.

Forced "parties" with forced participation (with out of pocket expenses).

Preposterous amounts of nepotism.

If you like passive-aggressive, this is the place for you!

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Laborer 10 salaries reported	$18.40 per hour
Maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$23.50 per hour
Industrial mechanic 1 salary reported	$27.50 per hour
Welder 12 salaries reported	$25.51 per hour
Fabricator/welder 2 salaries reported	$22.50 per hour

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