machine operator

truck driver

cutter

assistant

production associate

COLBERT PACKAGING

Worked here for a little over a year, and overall the job itself wasn’t horrible, but it was the people that ultimately led to me leaving. I’ll start of by saying I did this job directly after high-school, and working with co-workers and management here is not fun for a teenager. There is a sort of political hierarchy going on in this environment that is very annoying to work in. Management hikes up production and expects full trained-staffed production and quality numbers, but get upset when we don’t hit those when we don’t have full entirely trained-staffed shifts. Nobody takes accountability for their actions and everyone passes the problems on to the next guy instead of trying to fix it at its source and prevent major quality issues, which is what has plagued this place. As for the people out on the floor goes, everyone in every department is pretty sour, and don’t like to help each other out. There is many issues with people not working fluently with one another as well as people missing work constantly. If you have to much moral integrity to not show up for work like me, then this job isn’t very fun. I was constantly relied on and acted more mature than my adult counterparts. As for the pay, it was good for the most part, but it was only because of all the overtime. The overtime is atrocious here, it will drain your spirit till there’s nothing left. Between the management, and my co-workers I had no motivation or integrity to do anything by the end. It created a very stressful working environment. To end on a positive note, I learned a lot of valuable lessons about not only machines, but about life. I also walked away with a few relationships with people I hadn’t known before. This job can yield you a lot of success if you just keep your head down and focus, but due to the social atmosphere it was hard for me to do so. The pros out weighed the cons for me on this one which caused me to quit this job. 

It’s a great place to work if you don’t mind being ran into the ground by constantly working 6 days a week with a few 12 hr shifts for months and months and months with no end in sight. If you have no life no friends or family or hobbies you’ll be ok. Management doesn’t work this overtime, just production staff. 
Constant drama from coworkers who are pushing 50 but still act like they’re in high school. Don’t do anything wrong because these people will watch you and wait for you to do something that they can run to a supervisor with. 
The favoritism is ridiculous. Management is allowed to talk to their employees any way they like without repercussions. They also like to talk about their employees to other employees which just adds to the workplace drama. 
The upside is that as long as you show up you’ll have job security as they really don’t care about much as long as there’s a body there doing the work. 
Despite all of that, there are a few really great people that work there that make your day bearable. 

The money makes you want to stay and there is plenty of overtime available if you don't mind not having a social life. Communication between the management and workers on the floor is non-existent. The employees can be a great group of people but there is plenty of unnecessary, never ending gossip. The night crew is the hardest working group, always picking up slack from the other shifts which can cause a lot of stress if you end up on 3rd shift. They set the expectations way too high for night shift while there are no consequences for the morning crew, which is mostly the "vets" who have been there forever and get away with anything and everything. 
There are opportunities for growth, however you've got to deal with the favoritism of the managers. 
If you keep to yourself and just work hard than it can be a good place to be.

Overall not a bad place to work. Except Elkhart Supervisor and Production manager continuously made warehouse workers work Monday-Saturday/Sunday (45-60/80hrs) for many months. They would continuously make me work 6-6pm or 2-2pm at a last minute notice for more than 1yr. Working on such an unconsistent schedule would cause me to be late or get very little sleep. Vice President and upper management are nice and professional but Elkhart finishing supervisor and production manager are going to ruin the company. Many people quit on their 2nd day because of how fast production is being ran. Especially for palletizers that have to handle 6 production lines, 2 flatpack lines, QA rework pallets, scanning and creating case labels and still have to do banding and wrapping for paperboard getting shipped out. 

Working for colbert was a good job. There were times where the hours seemed endless. I was a sheeter operator. I ran the machine, adjusted the machine to run different jobs, I kept count of what was ran on the machine, I also did quality checks and pulls. I was certified in fork lifting and clamp truck... I had a helper that helped prepare the jobs and would go and get the rolls of paper that were needed. The hardest part was being the most important machine in there that feed the plant therefore there were times that we were rushed. It was always good when we got ahead of the game...

Expect to work regularly but atleast one 12 hour shift a week. Plus you work 6 hours mandatory every Saturday. I work 2nd shift so I'm 2pm-10pm Monday-Friday but Saturday is 10am-4pm so I have to sleep early every Friday night. 90% of the Machine Operators are lazy and make the Feeder/Catcher do everything for themselves or ask other operators to fix their machines. Management and Supervision picks and chooses who to be buddies with while everyone else has to follow suit and be the background character. They make it seem like there's a year or longer wait for any growth past Feeder/Catcher because machine operation is "difficult". Feeder/Catcher maximum pay stops at $16 an hour

Beginning at 6am, I would plan my day's pick-ups and deliveries.  Coordinate logistics for myself and the other drivers.  Transfer of goods from manufacturing facility in Elkhart, Indiana to warehouse in South Bend, Indiana.  Performed delivery duties, adhered to Federal Motor Vehicle Commercial Carriers safety regulations.  Preparation also included loading and unloading of my trailer at Elkhart, South Bend, and Lake Forest, Illinois company facilities.

Safe place to work. Poor employee and manager attitude. 1950s vending machines. No outside shelter for smokers. Favoritism of office employees over production employees. Office would receive an hour lunch and could leave to go somewhere out for lunch. Production employees received 15 minute lunch breaks, were NOT able to go get something out to eat, and had to deal with old, out of date, half way non-working vending machines.

What is the best part of working at the company?
That u need help u have it and that ur job is secure 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Mistakes if u make one u will have one hella of a day 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Clean ,fast past at times but it's a repetitive job everything becomes second nature in no time 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Day to day about the same should expect that going in each day but u do have the actual day that's so very different

What is the best part of working at the company?
Nothing it seems to be a family company and your not considered family until you have been there for 20 plus years 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Having to walk on eggshells the entire time 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
If they all like you its fine but if one doesnt like you that one person will get everyone else to not like you 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
It depends everyday is different

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Machine operator 2 salaries reported	$21.47 per hour
Truck driver 3 salaries reported	$23.33 per hour
Cutter 1 salary reported	$25.00 per hour
Assistant 1 salary reported	$21.50 per hour
Production associate 2 salaries reported	$17.13 per hour

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