maintenance technician

laboratory technician

maintenance mechanic

production operator

warehouse associate

Befesa Zinc US

A typical work day consists of following the direction of decision makers that come to work late (9:00 a.m.), have meetings late (10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.), and want the world moved before 3:00 p.m. so they can go home by 3:30 p.m.  There is never any clear direction on how to operate the plant or meetings to include middle management on the production goals, constraints or planned outages.  As a shift foreman, I would often show up to work early to prepare for the shift only to find out that the plan has shifted and 4 hours into my shift will the plan finally materialize only to fail.  Additionally, there will be no backup plan in place which requires me to call the plant manager who may or may not be drunk for direction because his direct subordinates, who may or may not be drunk as well, don't have the knowledge to make a decision.  There is no defined culture.  The rules shift depending on who is involved, and safety is the last thing on anyone's mind even though the mission statement says otherwise.  Evironment is supposed to be #2, but again, it is not followed at all and we are a major air and water pollutant of Pb and Cd in the air and surrounding waters including the Broad River.  Because we have no written standards, it is often miscommunicated on what the acceptable levels are allowed in order to discharge our processed water to the river resulting in the pollution of the Broad River.  The dust collection equipment does not work efficiently and multiple buildings vent off WOX dust containing all types of heavy metals into the air and surrounding properties.  The hardest part of the job is navigating the various operating procedures that are posted on Microsoft teams and Box that are obsolete within a week due to the continuous issues that arise from not having a dedicated plant engineer to verify the piping modifications that are done weekly in response to an issue.  These knee jerk decisions lead to temporary systems being installed that end up being permanent and costly to maintain.  The most enjoyable part of the job is the schedule for shift workers.  You work 7 days on and 7 days off.  Additionally, if you like a challenge of daily mental aerobics, and interpreting the thoughts of drunk (and often high) managers after hours and the constant stress of unplugging lines of toxic slurry then this is the place for you.  I would not work here until the current leadership is replaced by a capable and competent group of individuals that have experience in leadership, mentorship and business development.

The process is pretty cool, once you understand it. The main process involves three separate process areas. Those are Leaching, Solvent Extraction, and Electrowinning. There are also two support processes, Plint and Bleed Treatment. Leaching, Solvent Extraction, and Electrowinning, these processes are feed each other therefore must run together as one process. Plint is primarily used to remove lead and Bleed Treatment is used to clean the process aqueous solutions and treat those solutions so the remaining process water can be discharged safely. So as you can see, l really enjoyed the process. However, management were doing a lot of very shady things. Then punished the operators for their decisions, no accountability. Production operators were treated with little respect. No need to go on. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
Challenging place to work at 🔑

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Behind on running the operation process per today standards
Lot of catching up to do and it’s ok as long as it’s going in the right direction 


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Environment is tough
Equipment is huge and requires cranes and heavy duty suspender loaders to be able to move it and handle it 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Coordinate projects,schedule and work with contractors ,attend and investigate failures RCA on major and critical equipment. Plan and execute improvements and modifications to increase performance and efficiency on machines used to process metals

Starting off, this company is a great place for an entry level tech to come in, learn basic techniques and get a sense of how a lab should be ran.  As a lab aspect, this company offers you a whole lot more analytically in regards to instruments than another other location.  Overall, it's great if you're just wanting to get your feet wet but this company doesn't balance work life well.  12 hour shifts normally turn to 13-14.  If you're single, it's fine but if you have a family, the work schedule to drain all your energy from you.  It'll be great if they can stick to one working time shift but they force you to flip you schedule and expect you to work from night shift to day shift, vice versa, given only 2 days to change so everyone there is a zombie

Inspiring to have a Leader that really cares about the process and the people that work at his plant and truly strives to do the right thing! What we do at American Zinc Recycling makes a difference and is good work. Hard and hot work, this job is not for those that don't want to get dirty or sweaty, but it gives you a sense of purpose and pride in what you're doing. Some bad apples out there but what work force doesn't have that, the good far out weighs the bad as far as the workforce is concerned. Great people!

● Work-life balance
7 days on , 7 days off is very stressful .  Workers are very tired by end of rotation.

● Pay & benefits
Pay is low for the everyday hazards encountered on the job.

● Job security and advancement
Advancement is based on favoritism.  A person's dedication and commitment to the job have no relation to advancement.

● Management
Management's primary concern is making things happen and Safety is negligible .

● Culture
Just doing the job and Safety be damned.

● Overall
Management has no concern for employee's safety or well being. Lockout/Tagout is totally ignored.  Primary concern is "Get the job done" and proper procedures be damned.  Safety is a farce.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The management and coworkers where great to work with to complete task at hand. I miss all them very much. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The heat and conditions in smelting operation 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Became a family environment because of closely working with your teammates to complete the task 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Preventive maintenance helped to keep the process operating 24 hours a day

What is the best part of working at the company?
Management changes schedules, promotes, then demotes for no apparent reason.  Bad morale in department and turnover is horrible

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Changing schedules every month or less

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It’s terrible.  Management has no clue on how to make a proper decision with logic and thought

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
12 hours no breaks.  Maybe get one 10 minute lunch

Don’t believe a majority of the positive reviews. The only thing great about this company is the health insurance. They do not match your 401k unless you’re a salaried individual. Upper management has no clue what they’re doing half the time. You start one task then 20 minutes later you’re pulled from it to start another task, in turn leaving previous task incomplete then get reprimanded for incompletion. This company was great before the previous VP/GM left. After he left it’s been down hill since. 

I worked here over a year. The day shift maintenance guys were great guys. The rotate crew who handles everything when no one is around are treated poorly.  Like stray dogs. The superintendent has no knowledge of the job. Upper management has no clue. Safety is last priority. If you live nearby have no skills and need insurance. You will love it here. Good resume building job. At best.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 3 salaries reported	$25.00 per hour
Laboratory technician 4 salaries reported	$21.65 per hour
Maintenance mechanic 6 salaries reported	$26.03 per hour
Production operator 2 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Warehouse associate 2 salaries reported	$19.00 per hour

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