controls engineer

application developer

mechanical engineer

builder

project manager

JR Automation

I work in the Supply Chain here.  I started with high hopes.  It has a very professional allure.  However, the management does not create an atmosphere that matches the curb appeal.  My manager was placed in charge of the supply chain but knows little about it and tries to over-compensate for that deficiency by micromanaging and promoting the appearance of being in charge.  However, due to obvious lack of knowledge there simply is no respect from this person's subordinates. This person plays disciplinarian and condescends and disregards the staff that does possess the skills and will to do their job effectively.  The entire culture is affected by this lack of management. It is very hard to do my job with a positive state of mind with no feeling of real support from my superiors.  This also affects the way employees treat each other as there is no consequence to bad players who are just out for themselves.  This has created hostility not only between employees but between the two locations of this division. The HR department tries to play referee but they apparently also have no support either from management leading the division.  Apparently, there is also no support from Executive management at their headquarters in Holland, MI.  I tried to appeal to them and they also acted sympathetic and assured me that steps were being taken to correct it. However, after 2 years nothing has changed.

Ultimately, JR was a mix of really good experiences and really, really poor experiences that were derived from leadership that should never have been made into leadership. A lot of the managers were part of the good-old-boys club that had simply been there the longest. 

The work was pretty demanding at times but was rarely uninteresting, at least. I'd avoid this place if consistent 50 hour weeks aren't for you. While I don't want to get into the specifics of the situation, I'd also strongly recommend going elsewhere if you're anything other than straight. Unless things changed (and that's entirely possible, I'm writing this nearly four years later), JR was very, very conservative. That's not a political hit, but I hope you understand what I'm saying. 

If you're really looking to get your foot in the door of the industry or continue opening doors at personal cost, there are worst places to be. There's also just better places to be, so it's hard for me to recommend them. The pay was pretty low as well. Switching from JR to a different company netted me a significant raise to do nearly the same type of work, and that was at a smaller company.

Work here is stressful and the managers do require a lot out of employees.  There can be issues of miscommunication but usually employees are willing to work together to find a solution that fits all needs.  This company has some issues with their process as it can impede progress at times and this causes further issues when timelines are short or more work needs to be done, yet at the same quality level as before.  

This company does excel at exposing its employees to all it has to offer and excels at changing up what a person is working on very frequently.  

The pay scale of this company is very good as well.  I've received two separate raises here and a bonus and have not worked long at this company.

I chose to leave the company due to a desire to move locations as well as an overall issue of working to much under stressful situations.

Overall i would recommend this company to a friend with the warning of the work schedule and the stress.

Days started loosely around 7-8am. quitting time is anywhere from 2-6pm. Clear and concise communication on company direction is non-existent. NO one in management will have your back. 
"flexible" hours was accepted for most roles. Some roles were allowed to work remotely while others who may have the capability to be remote were forced to work on-site.
Travel for workers on the floor is typically high, but a premium travel pay is provided as incentive. 
Anything more than a 3% raise is a miracle for yearly increases.  Bonuses vary widely depending on what position and management tier you're assigned to. 

My daily duties will check emails and answer email back to vendors with payment status, printing invoices online and print invoices from suppliers. We have over 80% of the vendors/supplier email invoices to us directly instead of mailing invoices. I will process invoices in Baan(solfware) and email problems invoices to purchasing to review. Every wednesday I will prepare printing a/p checks. 
I like what I am doing a lot give me a chance to talk to the vendors and communicate with my co-worker. We help each other out whoever need help. We work as a team in A/P Department. There was nothing hard about this job because I been doing this job over 14 years. Work schedule are very flexible. I work for 8-4:30pm and sometime work longer when it need to get job done.

Long days with low pay for which is "made up for" with ample overtime.  Low bonuses with company record profits.  There are extravagant company paid vacations for executives.  Current CEO and COO live in hotel suites while visiting the company they are in charge of running.  Constant management changes which also brings "new ideas" and no consistency.  It seems once a team is headed in a positive manner, it is decided it is not quick enough and the management is changed yet again.  All of these things and management consistently talks of a decline in employee moral and upper management seems to be clueless as to what the cause could be.  Lower level managers understand but are left without the tools required to make actual changes.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good company culture to mfg and deliver the best equipment for the customer. Everyone pulls their own weight.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Meeting agreed to deadlines as issues come up during commisioning. It takes extra effort to dedicate resources to solve the issue.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Speaking of the Nashville location-- Everyone is considerate, is happy to do their share of the work. Great focus on delivering the correct functioning equipment.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
7am-5pm. Daily items vary by the phase of the project. Most interesting is the build and commisioning.

Overall this is not the worst place in the world to work, however at this company there are a lot of managers and bosses who don’t have a clue about your job or at least the day-to-day work of your job. It’s hard to advance in this company because they hire a lot of people through contracting houses. With that being said when you’re hired on you have no PTO and no vacation time and no sick days and no benefits because the contracting house they use is terrible. I was in shipping and my boss has a lot of head knowledge, but no people skills or ability to understand shipping entirely which made it impossible to do things with her constantly asking me why I was doing something. They pay slightly above average for Shipping, but is that worth the money when you have No PTO or benefits?? I think not. 

- Field of Automation is exciting and JR dabbles into many industry sectors in the automation space, so the actual projects are fun and you learn a lot. 
- Focused on making money, not on developing a culture. This is not sustainable. 
- Lower level management is very inexperienced and are horrible managers. They are creating toxic work environment with unrealistic expectations and the company as a whole doesn't even realize it. They will burn JR to the ground. 
- Benefits are B+. No huge benefit for the employee after integration into the Hitachi ecosystem. 
- Diversity is very poor not just in terms of gender, race and ethnicity, but also in terms of skills. 

I really like working at JR, where the work never gets old because there’s always something new happening.  The company focuses on being at the cutting edge of technology, so management in all departments strives to make sure we have the tools we need to be amazing at what we do.  They offer a lot of opportunities to carve out our own career paths if we show enough initiative. The coworkers are also a huge bonus to the job. Everyone is very helpful, and they are a fun group of people who are dedicated to putting out the best products in the industry.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Controls engineer 8 salaries reported	$97,625 per year
Application developer 1 salary reported	$102,500 per year
Mechanical engineer 4 salaries reported	$21.38 per hour
Builder 2 salaries reported	$47,500 per year
Project manager 3 salaries reported	$103,333 per year

Working at JR Automation: Company Overview and Reviews

JR Automation

JR Automation Ratings

Popular jobs at JR Automation

Salary Satisfaction

Job Seeker Tools

Employer Tools

Browse

Stay Connected