maintenance technician

senior maintenance technician

production operator

mechanic

maintenance supervisor

Niagara-Bottling

There is a lot to say about my time here in the warehouse associate position. The culture itself is pretty great and the rotating schedule can be pretty nice at first. But the 12 hour shifts can become tiresome after a few years of employment. My biggest positive and negative is the same thing: Management. They are really fantastic people and fun to work with at a plant level. Mistakes are always seen as learning opportunities and they do want you to grow your skills positively. However senior warehouse associates be given the brunt of training new hires. New hires are often lightly vetted and not suited well to the position which on top of daily duties leads to a fair amount of "babysitting" and unfair work load balances as only two associates are employed per shift. When concerns about these issues are raised during 90 day probationary period are brought up you are told it will be looked into, but there is rarely any action. This gets subpar employees with bad habits breaking thru into permanent position where letting go of people who just exist on the clock for a paycheck becomes a lengthy process. I will say that their ability to see the best of you and give you all the chances to really succeed is an amazing virtue not often seen in many warehouse and production roles. For the right person it offers an awesome in to the ground level. However management should be more active in monitoring growth to best align work balance to the small crew. There are also concerns that some positions of severe importance due to the automated nature of the facility are managed poorly. The plant uses E80 laser guided robotic forklifts to streamline the workload. However between the manufacturers inability to effectively fix issues and the maintenance teams sheer laziness, you at most times can feel like a bandaid expected to pick up the slack dealing, for at times years, with small issues that never get attention. That being said they do prioritize safety above all else and the training pursues that value. Upper management can be ridiculous at times, but honestly that's expected when they are detached from day to day operation. Benefits are actually not bad and pay has finally leveled out to a mostly acceptable level for the work required. And you get a fair amount of downtime as well. The biggest caveat to this job is do not come in expecting any sort of upward movement without cross training to other departments or being willing to relocate. All in all I have mostly enjoyed my time here, but the minor issues compile to lead to burnout in many senior hourly positions. Unless you get in a really see a career path thru other areas this should not be considered a long time career. 

nice at first. But the 12 hour shifts can become tiresome after a few years of employment. My biggest positive and negative is the same thing: Management. They are really fantastic people and fun to work with at a plant level. Mistakes are always seen as learning opportunities and they do want you to grow your skills positively. However senior warehouse associates be given the brunt of training new hires. New hires are often lightly vetted and not suited well to the position which on top of daily duties leads to a fair amount of "babysitting" and unfair work load balances as only two associates are employed per shift. When concerns about these issues are raised during 90 day probationary period are brought up you are told it will be looked into, but there is rarely any action. This gets subpar employees with bad habits breaking thru into permanent position where letting go of people who just exist on the clock for a paycheck becomes a lengthy process. I will say that their ability to see the best of you and give you all the chances to really succeed is an amazing virtue not often seen in many warehouse and production roles. For the right person it offers an awesome in to the ground level. However management should be more active in monitoring growth to best align work balance to the small crew. There are also concerns that some positions of severe importance due to the automated nature of the facility are managed poorly. The plant uses E80 laser guided robotic forklifts to streamline the workload. However between the manufacturers inability to effectively fix issues and the maintenance teams sheer laziness, you at most times can feel like a bandaid expected to pick up the slack dealing, for at times years, with small issues that never get attention. That being said they do prioritize safety above all else and the training pursues that value. Upper management can be ridiculous at times, but honestly that's expected when they are detached from day to day operation. Benefits are actually not bad and pay has finally leveled out to a mostly acceptable level for the work required. And you get a fair amount of downtime as well. The biggest caveat to this job is do not come in expecting any sort of upward movement without cross training to other departments or being willing to relocate. All in all I have mostly enjoyed my time here, but the minor issues compile to lead to burnout in many senior hourly positions. Unless yo

Never have I worked anywhere as bad as this place. Being a skilled trade mechanic I am used to working hard and doing the impossible. But never at any other place have I be asked on a daily basis to relieve production operators for breaks and run a line when they are short handed so they dont have to call in someone on OT. Then be expected to do the job as well as an operator including all quality checks. AND still be expected to answer breakdown calls. I traveled and trained at their facilities in Indy, Pheonix, and NC. From top to bottom this company is poorly managed. Pretty much my experience is the same as the other negative reviews here. I could write a book on how bad this place is. Dont let that smooth talk in the interview fool you. The talk about how valuable you are and how they care about their employees is a load of ****. I was lied to from day 1 about schedules, pay, benefits, etc. Its not until you accept a job and are their for a week or two before you realize everything they told you in your interview was just to get you in the door. IE: 12hr shift but only paid for 11.5, guaranteed days but forced to work nights if needed, was told not more than 4 weeks out-of-state training, but turned into 9 (hard with a family), etc.  I was there for 6 months, had to leave early one Friday because I was in the bathroom puking my guts out (this is a sanitary bottling facility). My only ever tardy or absence in the whole 6 months. Upon returning to work monday I was fired with no reason given at all. 2 year old son and 6-month pregnant wife, yea they treat their employees like "family" my butt. I even e-mailed and asked their reason (because UE wanted to know) and never got a response. And then they had the Balls to fight the UE.

I did get UE, and am at a much better place now where they treat people right. Getting fired from there was the best part of my 6-month employment. I know it probably sounds like I am one of them worthless workers that deserve to be fired, but I assure you, I am just the opposite and very good at my job. Avoid this place like the plague.

I enjoy the work, even though it can be a little slow in the off season, which is about half the year.  

The warehouse department is a bit disorganized, there are no set SOP’s, no written warehouse handbook, and procedures and processes vary from shift to shift (there are four shifts total). New employee trained is the same as above.  There is a lack of qualified leadership as well as a lack of qualified forklift operators. The turnover rate tends to be high at this facility.
  
There is little in the way of pay bonuses or pay incentive, and the availability of overtime is sporadic to non-existent.  There are occasional opportunities for advancement.  I would rate the benefits package somewhere between ok and good.  The level of pay is good, but this is Denver, a very expensive place to live.

I would rate the company culture as “ok and getting better”.  We have a new plant director, promoted from within, whom I like, he seems fair-minded, competent and easy to work with.  The warehouse department has been generally looked down upon (mostly in a veiled manner). Personally, this does not bother me, but can be detrimental to the support of the department overall.  Often equipment maintenance is lacking and sometimes safety issues are overlooked, but mostly the lack of support manifests itself in the aforementioned disorganization and the lack of leadership of the department. 

Overall I have enjoyed my time here, the experience has been good (but not great).  This warehouse has been better than a lot of other warehouses I’ve worked in.  I like my coworkers as well as my bosses, the workplace is respectful and friendly despite a few shortcomings.  And despite my criticism of this particular facility, I would recommend this job to others, and I would stay, except the cost of living here in Denver has become more than I can afford.

Don't be fooled by the "entrepreneurial" and "fast-paced" environment. It is complete chaos with horrible leadership, most likely resulting from being understaffed.
Management demands new ideas to improve performance, but will meet each of your ideas with a "no," and will make you spin your wheels until you feel like you're losing your mind. 
Work/life balance, career development, and any other possible "perks" offered will be arbitrarily determined by your supervisor regardless of whether it reflects the company's "culture," and that same supervisor won't hold him/herself to those same arbitrary rules.
Management sees itself as superior to its underlings. Some managers will stymie professional development, and many of these same people reached their position via the Peter Principle. They promote people to leadership positions without proper experience and these new "leaders" have to rely on their team members because they have no idea what they are doing. How are team members supposed to be mentored or grow professionally with an incompetent boss? The incompetence within management hurts their team members success, development, morale, and relationships within the company. 
Teams are grossly understaffed and aren't provided proper tools to make them successful in their positions. Management claims the company is "lean," but clearly they don't understand this concept.
This misconception of "lean" leads to having an insurmountable workload with a salary that is no where near market.
The health "benefits" are extremely expensive, which add even more insult to the below-market salaries.
Turn-over seems to be quite high, and there's no wonder if you've spent even one day working there.

Typical work day starts with finger pointing and expecting you to keep the building running 24/7 even when you are at home and after work or on weekend's off and on your scheduled personal day's off even putting them in advance. 

I learned to never be part of a company ran that way ever again. Probably why no one ever stays.

Your direct manager knows NOTHING about your job let alone theirs. Your direct manager will constantly finger point at you while expecting you to pull of miracle to save their job and will give you absolutely Zero. I mean ZERO help or resources. Your direct manager will always remind you they will look out for themselves and their job before taking up for You and what's right.
That's just your direct manager. The one's higher is way worse. And HR just either looks the other. way or is in on it no help.
But from my understanding Not all the plants are ran that way only the Baltimore Plant is.

The workplace culture is none. Just a bunch of people running around always worried about being fired for nothing.

The hardest part of the job is trying to have a life outside of work or being a parent or spouse.  Being forced to work more than double than your regular hours in overtime. Not having resources to help or leadership to turn to in needing help when you are having issue's with a machine that not even the designers and engineers know how to fix.  But you're expected to " fix it ASAP ". 

The most enjoyable part of the day is Leaving work after working 8hrs to 30 hrs straight not even exaggerating. and knowing you have just a tad bit of sanity left while walking out the door.
Also some of the hourly employees are enjoyable to be around since majority of them are in the same predicament as you are.





I have worked for Niagara since 2012. There is no mistaking that this is an intense workplace, but that leads to a lot of pros. The growth that fuels an average of 2-3 plant builds per year allows for constant opportunities for personal growth and advancement. Even more so if you are open to relocation. This company will put people in positions they may not be quite ready for and then push them to grow into it and succeed. 

The kind of people that will love Niagara are ones that have a lot of personal drive and are hungry to succeed. The technical training opportunities are not amazing simply because we have the newest tech on the market not out of lack of trying on Niagara's part. Even the OEM technicians are often working on our generation of equipment for the first time when they come to our facilities. This means employees need to seek out the on the job training and absorb the information as they come upon it. 

If you are in management or a lead technical position you can expect summers to be very demanding with not the most free time. That's ok however and is a natural demand of the industry. If you can handle the grind and have the ability, you can look forward to a rocket ride of a career by putting in the effort. 

Simultaneously my favorite part and biggest challenge at Niagara is the culture. There is a serious "grab the bull by the horns" culture here which I love. As we grow in size that obviously is going to be challenging to keep. That said  for now it remains intact by both the serious efforts of the company itself and us employees even though we are four times the size of when I started. I hope to see that continue! 

I would recommend this company to anyone, but especially those passionate about self betterment and advancing their career.

When I was first hired on, I was just thrown out there with no form of training at all. For the first few weeks, my trainer was someone who didn't even speak good English. Every time I asked for a different trainer, I was told "well, the guy we were going to put you with is on leave." This place is so short staffed that they rely on individuals, and if a certain person isn't there, the job does not get done.

Also, I was always there, so I was put anywhere to fill in for someone. Management is just all around bad. Some days machines will be down, and you are expected to stand around for 8 hours until it comes back up. They even moved one of the mechanics(someone who fixes the machines) to night shift because nights are short staff. Dayshift is also short staff with mechanics. So, they solved one problem by creating another. 

The pay isn't good at all. I have a lot of experience in the warehouse and their pay is lower than any manufacturing warehouse around the area. Just to make a decent check, be prepared to work a lot of overtime. A normal check here just isn't going to pay the bills at all. 

The only thing management here is good at is making your job harder. If one line has problems, they pull all their resources to that one line. If your line needs something, you are just out of luck. Their problem solving as managers is the worst I have ever seen. Sometimes I would be left alone, and keep in mind that I was still a new hire. I was also told that this was a fast paced job. It is not, I was lied to in the interview. All you do is stare at a machine until something goes wrong. You do this for 12 hours. I don't recommend this job to anyone with, unless you are a convict, looking for a job.

It’s mostly just a glorified operator job. You’ll learn all the operators duties so you can help cover breaks and absent operators. Most off the time the lines will and do run so getting your hands dirty is pretty rare, the PM crew and SMTs do a great job of keeping the lines running. This job becomes extremely boring, if you don’t mind being bored maybe it’ll be a great fit for you. You will be tied to a line and expect to do shift reports at the end of the day. Basically this is a summary of the events that happened throughout your shift. Pretty much the same issues everyday.

Typical day starts with a morning meeting with all the mechanics and SMTs going over current events going on at the plant and other safety stuff. Once you break off the meeting you’ll report to your line to make contact with off coming mechanic(s) communicating any known issues going on with your line. If any issues are prevalent you’ll try to trace down the root cause of the problem. Most of time it’s an adjustment in a setting in which you will not have the proper clearance to access. On PM days, you’ll be assigned to a section of the line. You’ll work through the work order, looking for any preventative maintenance type stuff. Once the line starts back up, it’s back to being chained to a line. 

You will be treated as if you do not know anything, regardless of your previous background. I think this stems from them hiring mechanics with little to zero maintenance background. SMTs are basically the only real mechanics on site. They will be the ones mentoring you, there’s no other real way to learn the equipment but through the SMTs.


Like so many companies these days they could really care less about there employees.    The supervisors are rude and completely unprofessional once you’ve  agreed to employment contract. 
As far as the family motto, let’s just say that it can be compared to 1890’s  Georgia.  

Extremely intrusive. If you have an issue, the  entire  plant knows about it, and  supervisors actually treat new employees though the door like welcome mats.  I actually believe  management tells the  supervisors to be intentionally rough.  I’m wondering how in the heck are we making a good  impression by belittling people who are new to niagara’s culture? There’s no clear cut training.  
You are a body. Your name/face/personality/ job experience means absolutely nothing to the people you work closest with, what so ever.  
Be prepared for them to take, and demand you take photos. Be prepared for  supervisors to drag you through the mud.   Be prepared  for  bigotry  at it’s finest.  Be prepared for  favoritism.  Be prepared to be followed around. You have to be there two weeks in order to walk to the rest room by yourself people! 
Not to mention this 2-2-3 schedule, which insures that the first check of the month is always smaller then the second.   Oh and if your looking at your stub and feeling like something is missing it’s because the pay period will always mess up what you thought you had coming.  

 On the other hand it’s an excellent learning opportunity for someone fresh out of college or high school looking for an internship. Don’t be fooled.  The front office/recruitment really has no real idea of the conditions.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 2 salaries reported	$33.38 per hour
Senior maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$38.12 per hour
Production operator 171 salaries reported	$19.81 per hour
Mechanic 5 salaries reported	$30.45 per hour
Maintenance supervisor 124 salaries reported	$45.35 per hour

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