production operator

chemical operator

laboratory technician

manufacturing operator

maintenance technician

Balchem

My daily work experience was always very busy and productive. The day always began with a review of the previous shift in QC. This involved a review of the testing of all production of all batches produced and retesting of all out of spec material. This was done internally in my department. This was typically followed by a meeting with production to discuss their production schedule and what will be needed from the qc department. After this meeting, I checked Al of the in use reagents to insure an adequate supply for the up coming production schedule. This was followed by re-calibration of our instruments to insure proper working order. The day began and during the day, I was directly involved with the testing of all incoming raw materials and any optional work that needed to be done for QC management. Management was always very supportive and the individuals I interfaced with from production, other QC technicians and the R &D staff was exceptional, a true team effort. The hardest part of the position was the analysis of out of specification material. You needed to confirm the results and then quarantine the material. The best part of life in our QC department, was the atmosphere, interaction with fellow employees and management.

Between incompetent management from higher ups and supervisors who do not care about employee wellbeing, you can expect that you will quickly find yourself becoming burnout. You will not feel like you're being paid well for the amount of time and effort you put in, that said their benefit package is good. I can't speak for all plants but the Defiance Ohio plant has a major issue with gossip and favoritism from supervisory staff, you can expect to be passed up for advancement opportunities if you show any sign of hesitancy or reluctance to do exactly as your supervisor or team lead says and they will just as quickly throw you under the bus for any sort of a mistake or shortcoming. Condescension runs rampant for senior staff and you can expect that your physical and mental wellbeing will not be anyone's priority except your own. God help you if you end up in Coulter. Turnover rate is high and for good reason.

I worked at balchem for about 6-7 months. The issue isn’t with your coworkers they’re all hard working guys. The management at slate hill specifically the supervisors and HR are a big issue at this establishment. The supervisors are in a position to make sure everyone is getting materials, but are not on top of things and slows down production. While you are doing hard work for 12 hours you get an evaluation after about 3 months to see about a raise. The issue about this is the raise is determined by how much information you know about different machines, but they keep you on certain machines. And with the lack of staff you end up doing double the work of a usual employee without learning things and they keep you at the base pay of $13.00 your entire time here. While working 60 hours a week

At Balchem you are a human resource to be exploited. They will put you into rooms full of hazards, with zero proper training or warnings, rooms full of toxic hazards and Gremlin-esque "Leaders" who delight in seeing if you will breathe or touch these things. Food ingredients that get mixed up with whatever a low paid wage laborer sees, or doesn't see. Cancerous substances and harmful metals constantly floating in the air, toxic fumes and intentional neglect by their "management" and "veteran" members to rob people of fresh air and clean water. They sell you the guise of food stuff ingredients but some of their products go into tobacco and are literal poison gases. Strive to do the best and you might get a 2cent raise.

Balchem recently bought the company and is in the process of making improvements. This will take time. It is stressful, as most production departments are, and can be damned if you do damned if you don't at times. They rely on temp labor too much and as a result they often have substandard labor on the production floor that requires more attention than you can give. The training of this labor is nonexistent before they start. Direct hires are trained but are few and far between. The pay is fair but there is no differential between day and night shift supervisors but there is for general labor which means that my lead makes more than I do working minimal overtime.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The company sucks to work for 
Management will stab you in the back as quickly as possible 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Management is always on you about production and they do not care about safety until it reflects upon them at least that's the way it is down at the Verona MO plant 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
When it comes work environment there are to many lazy people who work at Verona and there the ones who always get promoted 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
12 hour shifts of nothing but manual labor and few breaks

Could be much worse, you can be brain dead and do this job. Some manglement makes it seem that this is a super specialised operation, but it is just simply spraying oil on dust in their "reactors" aka mixers. Biggest tip I can offer is to WATCH YOUR HOURS ON YOUR CHECK! The individual in charge of payroll is a thief, for example-they have a training session on Tuesdays. If you work 3rd shift you will be there either 15 or 30 minutes overtime, which is required by Balchem. However, that time will be deducted from your check illegally. The woman in charge of payroll will lie to your face, as will your supervisor. The DOL has audited this place several times, there's a hint for you

If you can tolerate working in a hot environment, usually over 100 degrees, it's a very good job. 401(k) match up to 6 percent, 100 percent vested immediately was a great perk, as were stock options.  I received a $1.00 raise just a few weeks after I started.  The company gave us every holiday off during my time there and we were given four days off for the 4th of July, two of them paid, which was a welcome change from my previous employer. The Lincoln management team was very willing to work with you and make accommodations to ensure your work/life balance.

I worked their years ago. I was in the r&d area. I started on the floor on second shift. It was the best part of going to work. Everyone worked together. I became shift leader after 3 yrs. It was stressful at times. But work got done. Then there was an opening in the r&d lab, to me more money. I moved up in 5 yrs. Amazing pay but company wize horrible..your just a number. I worked my tail off. I was their for a total of 8 yrs. Making amazing pay. Almost salary. Then they were cutting people. I was one of them. To me if i didnt get ahead in the company i would still be working their. To me it was worth it on the other hand. See you later. Not worth my time. Its in the past. Just another job.

I went from packing bags all the way to setting up and cleaning and tearing down & did all the warehousing and they just let me go. I hadn't even been there for two weeks and then they go in they hire a load of contractors from a different temp agency just to cuck me out of all my work. Why was I even training them in in the first place? That doesn't make sense for somebody who still apparently supposedly working a training period. To be training someone else on how to do something if they got such a problem getting people to work there than maybe they should make up their mind. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production operator 21 salaries reported	$20.21 per hour
Chemical operator 1 salary reported	$24.67 per hour
Laboratory technician 26 salaries reported	$20.69 per hour
Manufacturing operator 9 salaries reported	$17.22 per hour
Maintenance technician 10 salaries reported	$27.90 per hour

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