machine operator

inspector

maintenance technician

technician

shipping and receiving clerk

Oerlikon

A typical day at work included maintaining furnace operations which included figuring the starting and stopping of work orders being ran and figuring there designated furnace cycle times and maintaining those times so the gears received the proper amount of carbon gas and heat to achieve the needed hardness. Controlling the dimensions of the gears that get quenched on a press required using precision measuring tools: outside & inside micrometers, depth gauges, feeler gauges to check for flatness. Once the dimensions were figured and I determined there was correction needed adjustments to the press was made which could be; using shimming or adjusting air pressures to the different tooling on the press, or adjusting the temp. of the equalizing chamber to adjust the initial expanded size of the OD if it was incorrect.  
  Some of the things I learned were precision measuring and time management.
  The hardest part of the job was balancing production, preparation for new jobs and corrections to gear dimensions. The cycle times created the schedule and the shorter the times meant a faster schedule pace. 
A lot of the time corrections were trial and error because of the lack of consistency.  Trying to achieve tight tolerances when there are large amounts of  variations is not easy and identifying those variations are not always obvious and sometimes not seen at all which means rework or scrap which means teeth gritting stress.

The most enjoyable part of the job was the pay check and the feeling of accomplishment when things went well.

Working for Oerlikon is a strange experience. 
What do i mean by that? I have to give so example's to try to explain.

Oerlikon corporate tries to work hard on their culture within its company. You will be subjected to a handful of online trainings over the year that tries to explain: Safety, Ownership, Health regulations within the company. They will survey regularly within the company: about how you feel about the company and its compensations and/or management. 

You will rarely receive any feedback on those surveys and i never experienced that they put results on these surveys into concrete actions.

On one hand, you will learn during these trainings for example: That taking time off is very important for you're body to reduce stress. On the other hand they will force any project on you without consulting you. For example if you have the spare time to deal with all there demands. Company management wants it done... so deal with it. 

This mentality will tire you out eventually.

I rarely had the feeling that somebody from corporate management listened to any objections or concerns. In hindsight i should have put less energy into it to even try. 

The good:
- The co-workers are by far the best thing about working here. 
- The work isn't hard.
- Pretty good benefits: PTO, various insurances, 401K
- Annual raises (if they don't cancel them)

The bad:
- You will never be payed even close to what you deserve/provide for the company.
- Was promised promotions every 6 months in my interview. I can tell you not a single employee ever got close to this. It's more like maybe 1 every 2 years. 
- Annual raises aren't much higher than inflation rates. They can also get cancelled.
- If you need anything from HR, you will quickly realize that HR is not your friend. They will always have the company's interest (and profits) as their priority, not their employees.
- While there is technically room for advancement, better positions rarely open up and are usually filled by someone wrong or unqualified for the position.

The neutral:
- Management is just there. If you're a good employee, they'll usually stay out of your way. Nothing changes if they're there or not. 

As far as jobs go it's not the worst. But it's not even close to being a good job either in my opinion.

Oerlikon is a great place to work. Management encourages you to speak openly and share your views and ideas even if they may not agree or execute it. They are transparent but since the organization is highly matrix-ed, not all managers/departments communicate efficiently. Collaboration & team work is highly encouraged and there are ample opportunities to show initiative and grow in your role. I was fortunate to work with wonderful managers and colleagues who helped me learn and grow in my role. 

The company has been growing and expanding but is very cautious about adding headcount which creates lot of workload for existing employees. Decisions take time which takes away crucial time from implementation and managing change. 

Typical day at work encompasses many things (too many to list), and is a fast paced date oriented and time sensitive working environment. I've learned a great deal of things from this company and do well at retaining that information. The management at this particular company can at times, be lacking. They are good individuals but overall the company lacks structure and proper accountability. There are also issues with prioritizing and direction. My co-workers are salt of the earth good people that work hard and worry about the same things everyone else does i.e. job security cost of living increases economic issues health care etc. The hardest part of the job is not always having the supplies necessary to do a job properly. The most enjoyable part of the job is being able to lead my team at times into and out of a successful work day.

The Agawam facility has a production manager that is too busy laughing and flirting with his hideous employee to actually pay attention to the needs of the employees. He has a year or so until retirement, and it shows. Not to mention his general incompetence and rat fink like behavior.

WARNING TO ANY SERVICE TECHS

The manager, based in upstate NY is a joke and just like all managers at Oerlikon, only interested in his next promotion. That is the same as the other middle and upper managers at Oerlikon. The upward mobility is great, but these people couldn't care less how them only looking for the next promotion affects Service. You will never have a work life balance with this company, and they will fire you if you hurt someone's feelings by making it known how little work they do, and how little compatence they have.

This company is great if you are stupid and lazy, they promote you to get you "out of the way!"

This company has excellent benefits however the hours are changing constantly without much notice and pay is a little low for the work load. There are some instances of favoritism between employees and the opportunity for advancement is slim to nonexsistent. The work itself is intriguing and interesting and fast paced. Attention to detail is crucial. This company has no "training" curriculum. Everything is hands on and you are expected to learn through repetition. You may be hired for one position however they do expect for you to cross train and learn other departments. This works well in ensuring job security however be aware as you could find yourself stuck somewhere you didn't want to be. Overall its excellent for current college students or high school students as they WILL NOT accommodate your schedule for anything else.

I worked there for almost five years and I can't say it was all that great. Management has no idea what they are doing, and they are running the place into the ground. I spent 10 months in production and almost 4 years in maintenance. The company will stab you in the back at anytime and the union isn't much better. If you haven't been there at least 6 years, then you can expect to get laid off within 2-4 years of being there. The benefits are ok but not great and the pay is good for production but on the lower end for maintenance. You can expect to work 5-7 days a week, depending on the amount of work, and only get your union weekend off, I mean if they don't try to screw you out of it. Overall, I would not recommend this place to anyone that is looking for a long term career.

Management has changed 3 times since the facility has opened. I believe this to be the main cause of the low morale due to the constant change in direction. When I began working at this facility, unbeknownst to me, they had just let go of 20% of their employees. This caused the other remaining employees to have a negative attitude towards the new hires. There were no "good mornings" or "thank yous" with the exception of a few people. Understandably so, people had gotten in their corners with their "click" to ride out the storm of new management. The facility is clean, the amenities are very good, and technology is really interesting to work with. Mostly high skilled workers, just not very friendly.  

As an outside territory sales representative, I was able visit accounts that had been ignored for quite some time prior to my hiring date.  Existing customers were happy to see someone and for the most part were very pleased with the product and services.  Management was located in alternate city so very rarely worked directly with managers.  Some technical support was available in my on-boarding process and scheduled road trips to existing accounts.  The hardest part of the job was introducing myself on one had to customers and also announcing a significant price increase. Flexibility to schedule my week and uncovering new opportunities were the most enjoyable part of the job.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Machine operator 4 salaries reported	$21.25 per hour
Inspector 7 salaries reported	$20.96 per hour
Maintenance technician 4 salaries reported	$33.38 per hour
Technician 15 salaries reported	$23.27 per hour
Shipping and receiving clerk 2 salaries reported	$21.25 per hour

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