production supervisor

operator

assembly operator

machine operator

material handler

North American Lighting

Training/Seminars
•	Technical Information Management Systems – 11/15-16, 1999
•	Internal Auditor’s Course in ISO 14001, ISO 14010 and ISO 14011 – June 13-14, 2001

Human Resources Clerk - 08/98 – 09/99
Under administrative direction of the Human Resources Supervisor, administered the employee workers compensation claims and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) files.
Tracked and reviewed workers compensation claims to ensure they were reported in a timely fashion and were in compliance with corporate policies and procedures. Coordinate with insurance case workers on all eligible claims. 
Confidential staff assistant providing administrative functions, performing a variety of assignments, some of which were of a sensitive or controversial nature relative to the coordination and administration of the programs of human resources.  

Conducted and transcribed minute notes during confidential meetings.  Provided clerical and technical support in such areas as hiring, compensation, and benefits.  Gathered information on employees attendance, training, skills, wages, promotions and general work history.  Updated and maintained confidential personnel files.  Prepared employee reports for managers within the department.  

Engineering Document Control Specialist - 09/99 – 11/15/01
Under the administrative direction of Document Control Manager, compiled and maintained control records and related files to release blueprints, drawings, and engineering documents to manufacturing and other operating departments: Examines documents, such as blueprints, drawings, change orders, and specifications to verify completeness and accuracy of data. 

Conferred with document originators or engineering liaison personnel to resolve discrepancies and compiles required changes to documents. Posts changes to computerized or manual control records, releases documents, and notified affected departments. Maintained related files.  Prepared reproduction of documents. Operated reproduction equipment. Prepare reports and memorandums.  Managed archival activities for controlled documents and validation files.

Performed ISO audits of company areas and processes to confirm compliance with controlled procedures.  Effectively followed SOPs.  

Created, updated and maintained engineering documentation databases, and updated the company intranet website as necessary.

Issued Toyota part numbers and maintained Toyota correspondence for the document control department.

*****************************************************************************************************************************
PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS 
•	Created an engineering database to document all document control changes (DCC) for Toyota parts.

•	Acquired Internal Auditor classification for ISO 14001, ISO 14010 and ISO 14011

I have been an employee of NAL in Salem, IL for over seven years. Over those years a lot of things that kept me working there have changed. The overall culture is awful. This includes above entry level positions. The foremen they have hired over the last five years have been picked from the bottom of the barrel and have been dragging down the departments. They allow management and team leaders to talk down and cuss at subordinates. If you are disliked by a supervisor you will NOT be approved for your time off request. For example, I have accumulated nearly a hundred hours of paid time off. I have three earned days and am maxed out on PAD time. However, when I go to schedule a day off (even on a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) I am denied. If I call in due to sickness I am given a point even when I provide a doctors note. When I approached HR with my situation I was told that my time off approvals were “Supervisor Disgression”. AKA if you are not one of their favorites then you can bet you will not be able to take any time off. Another notable con is the way they hire bided jobs. If you are not related to or friends with whomever is doing the interview (even if you are overqualified) you will not be considered for the position. You are not allowed to talk if you are in assembly. Even if you speak to your material handler about having a low stock item- if you are caught talking to them you will be threatened with a write up. Some team leaders that like overtime will talk the supervisor into making a line come in early all week and then that line will run out of parts or Kanbans before lunch time.
You never see the plant manager on the floor unless there is a problem. 
If you do not make rate you will be written up. If you complain of having pain in your wrist from making 80 6lb parts every hour you will not be taken seriously. 
Of course the worse part of the job is the manditory over time. They will come to you telling you that you have to work over five minutes before you are suppose to leave. I have also been told at 2:55 on a Friday afternoon that we were scheduled for that Saturday. I have even been moved to a line and been forced to work Saturday on a line that I did not even know. 
I urge anyone that is reading this review to reconsider applying for a job here. If not I have no doubt you will regret working here.

Worked 1st shift in assembly. Very early mornings (which was overtime for the shift) which is nice if you're a morning person. The benefits and pay is above average so with the overtime that was for the most part a weekly occurrence was above average for a factory job. The environment was friendly and co-workers were very helpful. Management for the most part were respectful and friendly. But as with most factories, could use some work on their organizational skills. 
             All in all, It was certainly not a bad place to work. The one particular Con I had with the company was the advancement opportunities (or lack of). Human Resources played the role in deciding who qualified for what job based on a Matrix system they use. This I find to be very annoying due to the fact that HR would have no way of knowing who would be best suited to fill a certain position. That, I feel should be left up to the interviewing supervisor. In my experience with this, 9 out of the 10 people interviewed for a job bid had qualified on a position based on their time with the company and not with any previous experience. On another note, having connections also played a big role in certain people winning a job bid over those, who in fact had verifiable experience in the field to which they were bidding on. To me, ( And this is just my personal opinion) Is a sure fire way to lose people who could be a better asset to the company. Had it not been for this, I would probably still be employed with them. 
               Again, This was my biggest Con with NAL. Otherwise, if you are looking for a manufacturing job with above average pay and good benefits then I would recommend NAL. Just plan to work a lot of overtime. I will add this last note: If you are lazy, not motivated to show up on time and have no desire to put in an honest days work, then it should come as no surprise if you are not treated with respect and eventually terminated. I worked very hard while I was there and was treated with respect by my co-workers and Management. That is all they ask of you and that is what is expected with any job you decide to take. Hope this may be of some help to some of you out there. Good Luck!!!!!

What is the best part of working at the company?
The money and the benefits that's it!

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Nobody wants to do their job and General Formans, Supervisors, and Team Leads are always putting the work on the employees instead of doing it themselves! The way it goes if your the solution to the problem you will always be that solution because their problem solving skills and communication is absolutely horrible! Too many chiefs that want to rule with an iron fist and not have a clue what goes down on the floor they just expect people to work and comply! They are corrupt because they also do things behind closed doors or hire someone in a high position just because they know them or they do a favor under the desk!

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
When you work with a crew long enough you almost become family because that's the way employees are at this company especially 12 hours consistently it almost becomes your home! But you come to love the person next to you and when your gone it's not the crew that can get things done!

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Mental STRESS!!! People want money but it's because employees figure out how the company is so they waste time to get that money! When I as a hard worker want to get the job done! But again I'm held back because of people! It's understandable if people have a family that fights to get that money, but its people that slow good workers like myself down to get the job done at a reasonable time! But if you ask someone to go to another spot when we are done that won't do that either so they make you suffer as their process!

I use to work a rotating 12 hr shift. As of August 12th, we went to "Mon-Fri 8 hr shifts." I'm on days now (and got docked 10 cents bc NAL moved me from nights to days). August 12th, we had to sign a notebook stating that we would come in at 4am on August 13th. The 8 hour day lasted one day. I'm not sure anyone has had a day off since August 12th. My new supervisor gives rude snooty comments to people who try and stand up for themselves. If you are working a 12 hr shift now days, you cannot take your break every 2 hrs like it is states in the NAL handbook. It's pretty much when your supervisor says you can go. For instance, you come in at 4am... You can't take your break until 7 bc she wants you on the same pattern as her 8 hr shifts that come in at 7am. Once you hit your 1:30 break, there's no more breaks after that until you leave to go home. Whether its 3:30, 4, or even close to 5. Your told to run poor parts even though you know they look bad. But when those parts turn into scrap, your the one to blame bc no management is going to take that blame or stick up for you. Oh, and when Nissan, or Toyota, etc. come in.... They hide the scrap so those people don't see what all is being built, or allowed to be built and sent out to customers. We are people.. Just like the higher up ones in that place and we deserve to be treated equally and it's not that way at all. Hopefully wont be there too much longer. The wages suck too. Supposedly their building a molding plant next door and people will start out at 18.00/hr, but no NAL employee, or anyone who has worked for them in the past 6 months (I heard a year too) cannot apply. Hmm..... 12.49 isn't BAD, but $18 is a lot better!

Management has a hard time sticking to anything.  Supposedly, we were going to 8 hour shifts for 5 days a week.  That was almost a year ago.  And you guessed it, we are working 10-12 hour shifts 7 days a week.  Sometimes for weeks on end.  A typical day consist of being told if you don't hit rate that you will be written up.  And the points system is a total joke.  When working 12 hour shifts, 7 days a week, you are eventually going to wear out or get downright sick from lack of rest.  And then they start piling on the points.  It doesn't take long for you to point out, and then here comes another group of new operators to re-cycle again.  Incredible how many people have filtered through this company.  If you have ever had to deal with a HR department like NAL, God help you.  Human Resources is far from operating with anyone's best interests, except their own.  Well, enough said with a negative cloud.  On the positive side, they have some  (emphasis some) Supervisors who actually care about your well-being and they are greatly appreciated.  As an operator who still works day in and day out, I wanted them to know how much they are appreciated by so many.  I work because I am single and have children to take care of.  I don't get to see them as much as I desired, but I do feed them and provide a home for them.  I just wish this company realized the importance of family and life outside the walls of NAL.

Too little time for decent breaks. You actually may see only 6 mins of a 10 min break. Too many want to be chiefs so they can't keep alot of Indians, management is unprofessional and unbothered by any issues you may have nor do they show mercy to new hires who are trying to learn and adjust to the many hours required and the equipment being "trained" to use. They expect 100% but only give 40 percent training on machines. Other operators are more helpful than actual qualified trainers. Get attitude when you're not making quota on your 2nd day and treat you different if you need more than 1 or 2 days on a machine to learn, don't give time to do so before placing you on a different one (again for the first time), They don't properly prepare you for the job at hand, there's no learning time, Looked down upon when things beyond your control arrise and you're outcasted in a sense after that, 12 hours 6 days starting your 1st day.. You're told differently in orientation so prepare accordingly. 

Started my orientation and right off the bat management was disorganized and contradicted each other. Had to go back in the room after class to grab something I forgot at the end of the day and 4 trainers were in there loudly talking badly about the orientation class people and making fun of us. Was completely lied to about many things including my shift. There was no organization and training was a complete confusing mess that then got blamed on us and constantly reminded how "stressful we were on their mental health." I fell extremely ill while there and had to go to the hospital was told to come back the following week to restart orientation...went back then was told I only had to come back for the days I missed and i couldn't redo the first 2 orientationday but get this ....i wouldbe pointed for it. So forced to get pointed?????...came back 2 days later and then was told I couldn't restart then that I'd have to re-register through my temp agency to completely redo orientation like they said from the start of me getting sick. My recruiter called and emailed them just to be ignored and then told I WASN'T ELIGIBLE TO COME BACK WHEN THATS WHAT THEY TOLD ME TO DO. THIS PLACE IS A FREAKING JOKE AND THEY ARE NOTHING BUT 2 FACED LIARS THAT HAVE NO BUSINESS LEADING IF THEY ARE GOING TO MESS WITH SOMEONES TIME WHO HAS CHILDREN TO CARE FOR AND DID EVERYTHING THEY TOLD ME TO DO.

I greatly enjoyed my time there. Good people, good place. I liked what I did as, from individual components to the entire lamp system, the development process was interesting. I liked with whom I did it. Great bunch of people in all the departments. I liked for whom I did it. Sometimes things got crazy, but I never had a major issue with my Management, I felt respected and treated well, and never felt that I couldn't go to any of my superiors with a problem or for help. 

It's automotive so work is cyclical, REALLY busy for a few months, then lightens up, then busy again.  Working with the other NAL departments; Optics, CAE, Regulations, Testing, etc., I learned a lot. There is a lot of Regulation information as well as many check sheets and that got a bit overwhelming and frustrating at times, but again, coworkers were there to help. I had the freedom to do what I felt I needed to do and that my ideas and opinions were heard and mattered. From day one I was set up with a mentor which was very helpful. Everyone treated me as though I'd been there all along. Like all jobs, there are good and bad days, but the good far outweighed the bad. 

Unfortunately, I was a Covid casualty, but it was a good job with a good company. I miss it and would love to go back.

I was a member of what they considered the core for the Muscle Shoals, AL facility having been there almost since the doors opened. This place literally expects you to work more no matter how many hours you are currently doing. I mean even if it's 80 hrs. currently. If it's 120 currently, they wouldn't mind seeing140. As long as you stay off the seven consecutive day (doubletime) list, naturally. Just be sure not to even go home to bed the whole entire rest of the week though. No exaggeration. A family no longer exists the minute you sign to accept a job. Then, what I mean is that's not even good enough. You literally become barely allowed to even go home and get in the bed before it's time to get back in there. I lost many of showers due to this routine. As disgusting as that is, it's factual information. VERY seriously consider how much you value your family time before putting the almighty dollar ahead of it. I'd venture to say many truck drivers see their families more often.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Production supervisor 58 salaries reported	$71,868 per year
Operator 4 salaries reported	$19.20 per hour
Assembly operator 2 salaries reported	$19.65 per hour
Machine operator 3 salaries reported	$19.33 per hour
Material handler 7 salaries reported	$21.76 per hour

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