production operator

production supervisor

maintenance technician

industrial electrician

operator

Johns Manville

   (I will preface this by saying I strictly am speaking for my position with this review.)

     At JM Defiance you'll work around fiberglass insulation. Your skin can get irritated (especially if you have sensitive skin) and I recommend wearing a mask (even when Covid-19 precautions end) if you don't want to breathe small bits of fiberglass in all day. The work is mundane but easy as an inspector packer. The type of day you have is dependent on what product you are running and who you work with. 

     I like to relate to style of learning to math classes in school because they're quick to throw you on a job, do it for a few days and then throw you onto another job to learn. I don't like this learning method. This is essentially what happens to new inspector/packer employees. You get thrown around to different departments and shifts constantly until you get your "home" spot. I feel like there could be a better method. Thankfully most jobs are easy to learn but some people learn at different rates than others and management seems to pressure you to sign off even if you don't feel ready. 

     Management, in my experience, has been somewhat subpar. You are judged on numbers and production output. I understand it is a business, but employees are more than just robots. Shift supervisors are generally more forgiving, but they can only do so much as they answer to a higher power. Some things are out of an employees control (if machines aren't routinely maintained you are obviously going to have more bad product and thus scrap more as a result). 

     JM Defiance is a union shop and I really like this because the workers can negotiate with management for better pay than non union shops. People are generally friendly and willing to help out new employees. 

     I can't say that there's a really hard part of any job at my position. As long as you pay attention and do your due diligence, you will succeed and be fine with any job. With that being said, obviously some products are faster than others and require a faster physical pace. This is balanced by other products being more relaxed. The hardest part of the job in general is the work/life balance. Personally, I have no children but I can understand things at home being difficult with a family when you're  first starting out here. The constant shift changes can be demoralizing. So keep that in mind. 

    Overall I enjoy my position. If you're looking to make decent money without a bunch of responsibility and just go home and relax after a days work, this is a good job. Not many places pay similarly for the work you do here. I enjoy most of the people I work with and the pay. 

This facility is not one that you want to work at. The employees are disengaged, rude, toxic, think they know everything, and do not do their job. They will lie to your face but ask you to trust them. They are very hypocritical. The Maintenance department feuds with everyone on a monthly basis. Also, don’t expect anything to get fixed or done in a timely manner. This is a OSHA PSM/VPP, EPA RMP, DOT CFATs, and NDEP CAPP facility, so the standard is very high but the standard is not being met. The OSHA and CAPP programs are in serious disarray. You will not be starting from scratch, but they need serious TLC. There is no accountability or enforcement for PSM and CAPP elements. No one has previous experience with these programs on the management staff. The plant engineer and maintenance manager have run the mechanical integrity program into the ground. The plant engineer is often clueless at times. He has a hard time keeping up with the rest of the team. The Production Superintendent and Product Development Manager are excellent. The are very knowledgeable and are trying their best to set a high standard. The operating procedures in this facility are incorrect and not reviewed per our PSM program. Due to this the training program is garbage because you cannot train off off incorrect procedures. You will waste your time in meaningless meetings that do not advance your knowledge or skillset. The other EHS specialists in your group are rarely available to answer questions via email.  The previous safety manager in the divisional role is in this group. Due to his position and the political nature of the response he will not reply via email because he would be hanging himself. The IH manager is clueless. They do not require monitoring yearly. The last IH study was 2017. I repeatedly told her the noise level was over the 85 TWA for a 8 hour shift and 82 for a 12 hour extended shift. She ignored me for 2 months and finally sent me noise dosimeters. You can guess what she found out. Now we are scrambling to institute some controls. The individuals at the level above the plant manager are clueless about what is happening in the plants. This place is rife with mediocrity.

I ensure that the production line is always running.  If something causes the production line to stop, my priority to the get the line back up and running.  Also, if there's any other problems that need mending throughout my shift, I handle them.  
I learned a lot about the Maintenance Techs duties and the tools to accomplish such tasks. It's mostly OJT, unless you have specific experience on the machine and systems currently in place here. 
My direct manager is good to go.  Though he sometimes falls in with the office people who don't know what it's like on the floor, but think they know what's best, he otherwise is great to work for and doesn't bother us toooo much.  The other managers are all snakes and incompetent.  They don't think outside box and think they know what's best when they live in their offices.  Thumbs down on them. 
My co-workers are good and know their stuff, especially in the Maintenance Dept.   The other depts. are pretty good to go, except when new guys start in their dept.. It seems that with each new employee they know less or aren't taught the small things and the knowledge and good habits are shrinking.  
The hardest part of the job is when something new breaks or something that hasn't broke in a decade or so and there's no manual for troubleshoot. Some of the older machine have obsolete parts.
but they've been updating a lot of equipment the past two years.  
The most enjoyable part of the job is how easy it is.  No one here can really complain.  Sometimes the hours are 12 hr shifts, but that's got to be the worst part, and that ain't so bad.  Or the worst part is having to appease the managers who don't have a clue and then fixing or removing something that the managers thought was a good idea, but it wasn't and they didn't listen to the workers who know better.  And some of the office folks don't even know their jobs to begin with.  

Oh and there's no advancement anymore.  Everything is corporate.

JohnsManville is a Very slow paced job in some areas, tends to get real face paced at times especially when hand setting feet or not having enough material to work with. Ever since I've been employed there JohnsManville has ALWAYS been understaffed, usually about about 5-6 people per shift. Their is about 5 positions on the production floor and one stupidvisor. Each come with a nice little raise. Times get rough when people take vacation on the production floor, like i said always understaffed so people would have to be filling in for the positions and basically working two jobs. Extremely dirty and harsh environment especially if you have never worked around insulation. No windows in the facility.   

Hours always ranged, when I first started I was told I would only be working 4-10hr days. Monday-Thursday. Slowly they started making changes to 4-12hr days which was fine, then they went into 5-12hr days, which in my case was nice to see the fat checks but I had absolutely no time to see my family, so don't expect to be making any doctors appointments, kids sports, management will not work around your schedule. Sure people in the front offices always arrived at 7am and left by 430-5PM but the production floor, as I was leaving the company, were working from 7AM to 7PM. Lunches were paid only because its a working lunch.

Honestly I would never recommend this job for a person who enjoys doing stuff in life and loves to be around their family. If your single, I probably still wouldn't recommend this job for you. Money is great but having a life is better. 

P.S. I worked mornings. The supervisor on that shift is not very easy or pleasant to work with, I recommend working with the night supervisor, really awesome person. 

P.S.S. I always hated going into to work, I am 100% happy that I left JohnsManville when I did.

So the job starts off ok. You get trained on the name of things. Once it’s time to go on the floor you are throw to the wolves. They set you up for failure first they will tell you to clock in at 6:50 will not tell you. You can’t clock out till 6:55 so when in training if you are sent home and clock out at 6:50 they will give you a half a point. And will not tell you. They have a nurse that doesn’t want you coming In sick and they tell you to call out if sick but also expect you to be better in a night because they will give you a point. You have 4 points till fired when starting and 10 through out the year so out of 365 days  you have 10. Another thing I learned is do not go into this job with a work hard mindset you will not be upgraded or given more responsibility you will just be stuck in one spot because supervisors only care about numbers. If you do bad they will promote you to easier spots to move you out the way. Which means longer breaks up to an hour 4 times rather than 15min breaks 3 times and 20min to eat. Everyone knows the towers and other machines are messed up but they Will consistently blame you for it breaking. Your bonus is based on everyone in the entire building being safe. So if someone falls and hurts themselves you lose your bonus meanwhile management gets a bonus off your production. Pay close attention to your paychecks as well because they will skim you on the hours you work. Worst part I felt is your success is dependent on others working as well. If they go to sleep or don’t care you will end up doing your load and their load. 

IA typical day was one filled with noxious fumes and no safety equipment. Fiberglass was so bad, you could see it floating in the air. MSDS sheets were ignored and if you wanted or even demanded proper safety equipment then you were considered an outcast. I learned, from this company, that to coverup was the accepted norm. I also learned that you must take care of your safety because no one will be there to help you pay bills if you get hurt due to carelessness. I also found out how strong my beliefs in my work ethic were, my faith in God to help me, and how to save money for the tough times. I watched as babies born to the families had serious birth defects and died all because the mom would touch uniforms worn by their husbands when they went into the washing machine. This is the job that gave me an extended family. Management was busy covering their own mistakes because of government contracts being fined. My co-workers became my family as their families grew sick and many miscarriages and death brought us closer as we became a comfort to one another. The hardest part of this job was knowing that quality assurance was not at this plant. I think that the best part of this job was finding out that all of the cover-up done, the asbestos victims in New Jersey were paid and this company could not claim a loss.

You basically live here. Plant 1 is a 7 day on 2 day off schedule with a 3 day off weekend every third week. New employees are pretty much garaunteed to work the 4p-12a, 12a-8a or the swing shift. You have to be there for years before even having a chance at the 8a-4p shift so you better hope you get the swing shift because atleast you’ll get 2-3 days of the 8a-4p shift. They don’t care about your plans or availability because you will work the shift they want you to work. Plus if you’re new don’t plan on missing any days within the first 150 days of employment with out an extremely valid excuse or you won’t be working there very long. Management is a joke, none of them have a clue what’s going on in the plant but run the place like they do which terribly affects employee morale and productivity. Sure it’s a great place to work if you don’t enjoy time with your family, friends, or in general. You make good money but rarely have time to spend it on anything you enjoy. Forget about enjoying the holidays either unless again you care more about the money and be prepared to be compensated with a less than satisfying holiday meal. No one I work with has anything good to say about this place other than the good money. 

The work isn't hard compared to a lot of other places I've worked. You start off as what they call a utility inspector packer (aka: UIP) pretty much you are a floating worker and can bet put one any shift and any department. It sounds horrible but it's not. The company won't change it day to day. It's a week to week schedule system and they have 4 different shifts. ABCD A shift starts at 12am to 8am then B shift runs till 4pm then C runs till 12am. The shifts run on 6 days on 2 days off system where each week the days off move up a day. D shift covers the days off for the corresponding shifts. 
 We are a union shop which has its benefits like forced OT is automatic double time and we get paid holidays and contract bonuses and pay increases. The company has a matching 401k and the benefits are pretty good as well. Some departments get laid off a lot and majority of the OT is voluntary unless they absolutely need you to stay and like I said earlier being forced over you get automatic double time pay. So they don't force unless absolutely necessary.

Overall it's a productive and enjoyable place of work. Just have to get use to the schedule your are on. Try and keep a positive temperament and put in your best effort and you'll be fine. 

This job was a job in which I looked forward to going to work and didn't despise the thought of getting ready and going to work as I did with most jobs throughout my life atleast not until I got sick, great work environment, mostly good people and supervisors to work with, with very few exceptions,great upper management as far as atleast acting like they care for the people who make them look good,plant manager actually knew me on a first name basis, always talked to me as equal ask about my son frequently and follow up, days later and actually remembered what we talked about and genuinely seemed to care,I would most definitely have spent the rest of my work years with JohnsManville if the Doctors would have released me back to work there, would have continued to work there until retirement or until to old to perform my job duties there.


If this was the same company it was a few years ago it would be an easy recommend but it's changed for the worst. The company has had massive turnover with them burning through over 6 managers and nearly ten supervisors in only a few years and have had entire teams get completely replaced in the last few years alone. Management is too busy attending meetings to get anything done and the excuse for why things aren't implemented is simply no one wants to take the time to get it done and problems are allowed to fester for years as no one wants to takes responsibility for it. The HR will tell you that they give "performance based" compensation but it's a complete load as everyone got the same 4% raise despite individual performances. The main thing that sticks out is that no one is happy here and no one understands their job because there's barely any training and ideas are implemented without any thought or reason.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production operator 47 salaries reported	$22.67 per hour
Production supervisor 38 salaries reported	$100,625 per year
Maintenance technician 36 salaries reported	$34.62 per hour
Industrial electrician 39 salaries reported	$37.35 per hour
Operator 21 salaries reported	$21.63 per hour

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