welder

automation technician

production operator

tool and die maker

senior mechanic

Challenge Manufacturing

During my time at Challenge, I found it to be a dynamic and rewarding environment for anyone seeking a fast-paced, technically demanding career. The nature of the work requires quick thinking and the development of efficient practices to keep up with the substantial volume of technical support demands. This high-energy setting offers tremendous opportunities for professional growth, particularly for those who thrive in challenging, hands-on roles.

Throughout my tenure as an Automation Technician V, I gained invaluable experience that significantly expanded my skill set. The role pushes you to adapt and innovate, fostering a deep understanding of technical systems and problem-solving capabilities that are essential for career advancement. The learning curve is steep, but the rewards are substantial for those willing to embrace it.

One of the standout strengths of Challenge is its leadership and team. The management within the maintenance department is exceptional, providing clear direction and support that make it easier to navigate the complexities of the job. Similarly, the engineering staff are not only highly skilled but also approachable, serving as a vital resource for technical expertise and developmental guidance. Their mentorship creates an environment where employees can continuously improve and take on greater responsibilities.

The team dynamic is further enhanced by the welding operators, many of whom have been with Challenge for many years. Their longevity speaks to the company’s stability and positive culture, and their wealth of knowledge makes them excellent collaborators. Working alongside such experienced and capable colleagues offers a unique opportunity to learn from the best while contributing to a cohesive, skilled workforce.

That said, the role of an Automation Technician is not without its challenges. The most demanding aspect is balancing the constant need for support with other responsibilities. This requires strong time-management skills and the ability to prioritize effectively under pressure—qualities that, once mastered, can set you apart as a professional and open doors to future opportunities within the company.

For prospective employees, Challenge offers a rare combination of technical rigor, supportive leadership, and a collaborative team environment. If you’re driven, eager to grow, and ready to tackle complex challenges, this is a workplace where you can build a robust foundation for a successful career.


What is the best part of working at the company?
Small enough that your work is impactful to the plant. There are a lot of opportunities to step up and lead improvement projects. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Like most automotive suppliers, they have issues with retention, the demand from the OEMs fluctuates drastically so the teams don’t have consistent work so they are not operating at full capacity. And the Hourly workforce is required to be very flexible in their schedules but the flexibility is not appreciated by the operations as they are not able to look far enough forward to create any consistency. The leadership team in Manufacturing has an outdated leadership style and they can be stubborn and unwilling to accept feedback.  Too much ego and not enough partnership from key decision maker. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Manufacturing plant environment, fairly clean compared to other plants but the welding creates a lot of hazards including air quality in the plant.  Not climate controlled in summer so it gets hot. The hourly workforce treats the plant as a place where it is acceptable to come in high and smoke more on breaks. The culture is evolving and improving and they are taking safety more serious.  If you can adapt to the attendance policy, you will be fine but there isn’t much grace and the system has a few issues.  But the HR team is pretty consistent and are really trying to give people an opportunity to be successful. Being a union shop, the benefits are pretty good but the union partnership with the company is strained.  

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
My role involved a lot of interaction with internal leadership as well as outreach to potential employees.

I would arrive on site and Clock-in. The Manager of the dept I was in (Quality) would hold a meeting discussing our goals for the day, and if there were any issues that might have risen between meetings. Each Team member would then be assigned an area to do our Quality Checks and given a Log Sheet for any major issues encountered in the day. I would then go to my assigned area and Log on to the company's computer system. I would then check to see if the information from  the prior shift was correct. Ex; Part # and Rework amount. I would then do an initial part run to see if the next part met all requirements. If so then the work day begins. The first good piece would be set aside for the Destruct Dept. If the part had a problem due to the machines, then an engineer would come from their dept and correct the issue. After engineering assistance would occur another test run. I checked for any loose or missing screws. missing/misplaced spot welds, slag, missing/incomplete mig welds. Every hour I would Gauge and Log a part to ensure its quality. My manager made sure I learned everything step by step. To ensure my learning I shadowed for some time with a fellow senior team member. I was encouraged daily by my peers and superiors as well. My work in accuracy was acknowledged by pay increases. I would say that the hardest part of the job would be memorizing what to look for depending on which area you were assigned. The most enjoyable part of the job for me was getting the opportunity to work with such a wonderful staff. They gave me the confidence to come in and believe that I made a difference. They would hold appreciation lunches, and holidays were a joy!

This company truly does not care about the people that make it funtion everyday. They have no regard for safety on all levels (work hazard or coworker disagreements) I left this company because I knew my career was going nowhere everyday I stayed and everyday I stayed my safety was seriously put into jeopardy.  I was hit by a hilo driver who was visibly drunk and he wasn't even removed from the hilo for the rest of the day. I watched heavy full bins of steel components fall like dominos regularly. That was just some of the work hazards I dealt with DAILY. I also experienced quite a few instances where my safety was put into danger by disgruntled coworkers. Whilst working there for 3 years I experienced: 3 scenarios where there was a gun brought into the facility with the intention of hurting people, 2 scenarios of people getting stabbed, and one instance of someone sharpening a broom to make a spear to hurt someone. 

Another problem I encountered in my time with challenge was manager turnover. In 3 years I had: 3 supervisors, 6 quality managers, and 4 plant managers. In my opinion that's too much turnover. You were never dealing with the same person twice when it came to troubleshooting. 

To summarize without writing a novel, challenge is a company that is lucky to be in business still. If you choose to put your career in challenges hands, you are leaving it to the same fate. In this region with the employment market being as lucrative as it is, you have far better options for career choices than you ever will with challenge manufacturing.

They don't care about their employees at all. When I was there 1,500 people went through the doors in one year. If somebody gets hurt on the job or has doctor's restrictions for any reason, they get rid of you as soon as it is convenient for them. If they have a heavy schedule, they will lay you off as soon as things slow down because you have restrictions and then hire more people to replace the ones they let go of. I never had any of my work come back from a customer for problems, yet I was let go and never called back, so that proved it was due to my restrictions.

I talk to people with respect and dignity and respect their office, but they did not afford me the same courtesy.

It's a job with benefits, but the management is absolutely horrendous there. Management talks down to employees even if you may have more education than that member of management has. They don't follow their own rules in the handbook. I loved the people I worked with, but the company is not worth wasting your time on. I tell people to only go here if they are desperate and cannot find anything better.

People get hurt quite frequently by fork-lift drivers because such an emphasis is put on speed and not on safety.

The main human resource director lies under oath to judges. I was present when it happened to a fellow co-worker. We earned our unemployment and then Challenge tried to get out of paying the state back for our unemployment benefits. They were forced to reimburse the State of MI but did it grudgingly. That caused both of us much stress because we had no job and thought we would have to repay what we had received, even though we met all the state's requirements to earn unemployment.

For the most part, coworkers were awesome.  However, management was far from an acceptable group of people.  Many in mid-level management didn't truly care about their personnel, were demeaning, demanding, and tolerated no mistakes. Questions about work and training were heavily discouraged.

I began the job with a clear understanding I could excel in a high-paced environment, but that I would need professional training.  Was told there was an apprenticeship for tool and die makers, no program materialized.  The only apprenticeship available was for tool and die maintenance.

Late in employment, management wanted detail-by-detail events of daily work, sent to them by e-mail.  Evidence of micromanagement expressed by several peers.  Several coworkers stated they had no other opportunities available, so were forced to stay.

Educational opportunities other than work specific tasks were offered, but were of little use in day-to-day operations.  Many opportunities offered were for education already completed prior to employment.  Conflict on a nearly daily basis with management.  Atmosphere was difficult to work in, antagonistic, and humiliating.  After several mistakes due to lack of knowledge, was summarily fired.  Mistakes were my fault, but lack of compassion from management was abhorrent.

Pace of work or amount of tasks occasionally prevented ability to take breaks/lunch until later than scheduled.

Definitely one of the better places to work in the county, it has a pretty laid back schedule (Monday-Friday 8 hour shifts) with opportunities for overtime. Once you learn all the ins and outs of the computer stuff they make you learn, its pretty easy money, in most cases it’s just loading parts onto a welder and pushing a button, the only things that could be better about this place is the training and the welders themselves. I truly feel like one week isn’t enough time for new people to really understand everything before being put on their own. Your in a classroom for half 90% of the day then you are sent out on the floor to train with someone, you do that for your first 3 days then your on you own pretty much after that. And most of the time when your put on your own you end up on a completely different machine from what you trained on. As for the welders themselves they have issues, a lot of these issues can only be fixed by engineers, the maintenance guys can only do so much and it sometimes seems the engineers don’t want to get up and fix these issues or figure out what’s wrong, they mainly want to do quick fixes. These machine/welder issues end up causing alot of downtime and quality issues. Other than all that,  it’s truly not a bad place if you can get past the training.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It pays every week, other than that it's horrible place to work I wouldn't tell the devil to go work there, they have no respect for there employees, if you just have to have a job I get it but I would not stay longer than six months are just long enough to find another job , I worked there for 3 yrs so I no what I'm talking about it's a dead end job, I didn't even want to give it one star

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Most of the rates on the machine are to high not enough fans for everyone working 7 days a week is not cool I did that for three yrs because it was mandatory horrible place I'm not just saying that cuz I'm just a disgruntled ex-employee I'm just speaking facts

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Horrible they think they can just move you around wherever they want to put you The real car plants don't operate like that You have to bid on the job and once you bid on job and get it that's your job if somebody don't show up for their job then they got to find or hire somebody to come do their job they can't just put you there

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
You feel like a slave there not enough money for as fast an hard as they want you to work

A typical day at work would include arriving 10-15 early to clock in and get to my work station to begin working. Get a good part off of the press and check it and put it into the computer. Run parts off of an automatic press onto a table for packers to pack into containers. Run parts off of an automatic press into containers. Compare parts every 15 minutes and check parts on the part fixture once an hour.

I learned a lot. I learned how to check parts and what to look for on them. I learned how to run a new coil through the straighteners, feeders, and into the dies. Enter information into the computers and so much more.

Management was okay. They had their ups and downs. One thing I didn't like was they kept talking about was getting lock-out tag-outs and never did. Other than that, I liked them. Not all of the team leaders knew what they were doing, so they lacked the ability to help.

My co-workers were great. They were easy to get along with for the most part. Not every one was hard working or even tried.

The hardest part of the job was being on 3rd shift. Other than the shift, some of the parts they had me run had problems.

I enjoyed being able to walk around and pay attention to everything. I enjoyed having the responsibility that being an automatic press operator gave me.

Only way to advance in pay is through a series of written tests that have little to do with actual day to day activities. On top of that no study material or guidance is offered to help people achieve the higher level and only 2 attempts allowed per year. Supervisor and manager were very petty and prejudiced and made anyone who they didn’t likes life harder. Union was a joke and often takes the company side or tries to get the employee to sweep it under the rug. The company can employ a rule at anytime saying if the company has an “emergency” they can mandate overtime at will as much as they need… This went on for four months before I left and years after of mandatory 7 days 12 hours. When maintenance staff got low they brought in contractors from out off country and from within to make more money than the techs they had while also having us train them up to speed on basic principles of the job. The cherry on top is maintenance and production share the same branch of the union, this means that all the operators can outvote all the techs by a large margin when it comes to negotiating who gets a bigger pay raise. Not great environment to learn unless you are persistently asking questions and going out of your way to be included in major breakdowns.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Welder 4 salaries reported	$28.88 per hour
Automation technician 17 salaries reported	$32.78 per hour
Production operator 1 salary reported	$18.00 per hour
Tool and die maker 15 salaries reported	$31.53 per hour
Senior mechanic 7 salaries reported	$32.50 per hour

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