maintenance technician

technician

fabricator

material handler

machine operator

Ridge Corporation

I only worked here for a month or so. The work is very simple as with most warehouses you pull off panels and stack them while doing quality checks throughout each run. You are working with fiberglass so minor cuts should be assumed and not a strike against the company. Although the team is not structured as each week there will be a couple days with roughly 2-3 hrs of downtime. There is a period of time for setup for a run but this is not what I'm including in downtime. However during that time for setup the managers will make sure to tell you to "look busy". One of my biggest complaints for this company is that I was told to "look busy" more times than actually told a job to do. This downtime was such a problem that we pulled a coworker of mine to assist in work order scheduling manually deciding which to run, in what order, and making sure to allocate the appropriate materials in inventory.  I have a coding background and offered to create a simple program to automate this process as again it has gotten to the point that we are pulling a production associate off the line to help our scheduler and this is a simple task for even a freshman coder to do. I was not given an attempt, interview, and not even a conversation about this. During my interview process they promoted that since they are a young startup company that there are job advancement opportunities constantly. I tried to take advantage of this by applying to 4 different jobs through their internal process. I understand for only being there a month low tenure is a strike against me however seeing these systemic issues and the jobs they were hiring for I was confident that I could improve the efficiency of the business. Neither I nor my coworkers with 2 and even +4 years of tenure even got an interview for the one step higher or lateral move jobs that we applied for. So I concluded that tenure is not a determining factor for them as one with long tenure and many years in previous work experience was not granted an interview through their internal process. I also saw while working there that they would hire out to fill a job even when a coworker filed internally for their interest in the job. Lastly the safety at this facility is questionable and I have seen improper handling & operation of power tools and leaving saws hung up with batteries in and safety's off. There was an incident that occurred where another coworkers leg was almost cut by a sawzall because of this. It was mentioned to a lead but no change in policy occurred while I was there and was brushed off as a nonevent. There was also an incident where a ceiling light fell without warning onto the plant floor. The ceiling also leaked in some areas, to my knowledge this was patched prior to my leaving. The driveway into & out of the worksite while in my personal opinion is not a true safety concern but this driveway had massive potholes some a foot and a half wide and probably 4inches or so deep. 

Without a doubt, this company makes some pretty incredible products and they continue to develop their products and machines to stay on top of the market. They just don’t have the balance figured out yet. They invested all their money into machines and forgot about their people. It’s actually one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen from a company. Sales can be great for the month but then ownership comes in for a “third Thursday” meeting to tell everyone how broke the company is and that there will be no bonuses or raises. You can count on it every month regardless of how great sales are. They will buy you chicken wings sometimes though!

The people are probably at the lower end with factory skills. We can no longer get the type of people we need because we just don’t pay enough to bring them in. Most factories were given big cost of living increases but that never happened at Ridge. A lot of the salary positions make less than the senior hourly production positions and that makes it hard to want to stick around. The turn over is worse than ever and we are getting ready to come into peak season so that’s 6 days a week. They might even make us work 7 even though we haven’t had any work to keep us busy lately 
The management team needs a lot of help and most people would love to see an overhaul take place. Upper management really isn’t terrible and the off shift production supervisors are pretty decent but it stops there. 1st shift needs help from the asst. plant manager to the superintendent to the supervisors it’s pretty bad and a total buddy system.It would be nice to see some supervisors come in that actually care and want to make a difference with the people so things can finally start to get better. Not sure why no one has seen it yet but it starts with your supervisors. 

The pay is pretty low. Not appealing when you can make so much more elsewhere. The benefits package needs some work too. The insurance is some off brand company that doesn’t cover much at all and it’s very expensive. 
Might be a good place to work when they bring the wages up to par and revamp the management team but until then just stay away. 

As far as production work goes, Ridge is easy. Yes it's hot, yes the fiberglass can be pretty miserable but welcome to "production" work, almost every production company tries to give their grunts heat stroke.

The companies real downfall, is their leadership, it is poor at best and incompetent at worst. Equipment is held together with band-aids and bubblegum, with no intent to actually upgrade out of the 1970s. There is no accountability at all, leading to poorly made products and constantly being behind ship dates that are often set far earlier than they are capable of hitting anyway.  Training is non-existent. Supervisors have been caught, multiple times, asleep during the shift. This is the status quo.

The company is stuck in a 1940s mindset and seems either uninterested or incapable of change. It is honestly amazing they have managed to stay in business as long as they have. With their current growth and unwillingness to change, it would not surprise me to see them collapse. 

Pay is slightly below average for production work, raises are based on attendance, rather than performance. 
Medical benefits are the worst I've ever seen, it's honestly laughable.
HR is new age business, help the employer screw the employees. If you get injured on the job, they will ask you to use your own time to cover any days you miss. FMLA is unpaid.

If you need a paycheck for a couple months while you find a real job, Ridge is a place to do that. They are always hiring, as you could probably guess.

The company has a shirt that says there’s no place like Ridge and they hit the nail on the head chase there is no place that is as disorganized and dysfunctional as Ridge. The company expanded entirely way to fast and now we are paying the price for them jumping the gun. There are people in management that have no business being in management because they don’t know how to manage. They would rather be your best friend rather than be your manager. There is no room for advancement at Ridge unless your a friend of someone higher up or your part of the good ole boys club. If they don’t want you to move up your just told your not qualified if even you are. We have a production schedule but it is rarely followed. Things change on the daily so you never know what your doing. The place is a cluttered mess with saftey violations everywhere. No need to bring them up because they just fall on deaf ears. The insurance is ungodly high and don’t cover hardly anything. Your told you will receive quarterly bonuses but you won’t. The turnover rate and call off rate is so higher they have to do perfect attendance drawings to bribe people to come to work. There is a huge lack of training. Your shown things one or two times and then thrown on your own just to get a body on the floor. Machines are extremely understaffed but your still expected to put out the same amount of product as of you was fully staffed. The engineers are rude and will talk down to you like your stupid. So put on your ruby red slippers, click your heels and say there’s no place like Ridge. 

well..there was very poor training in the beginning and took several months before I had some understanding of the processes they were doing on the machine..a lot was self absorbtion and asking as many questions as you can...I was there more than a year and after constantly asking for my review and raise of 50 cents..to no avail...so I left..They seemed very reluctant to pay for the responsibilities I had taken on which were many..including training someone on the process who became my boss...Hot..you bet it was hot in the summer..100-120 over by the laminating oven..you sweat so much it was if you jumped in a pool..and yes fiberglass was a lot places..my dashboard glistened with it in the car..the key was not to itch, because once you started it got much worse..They seemed to hire a lot of felons almost catering to their advancement for some reason, who generally did not do a good job. There were a few people I grew  to know well..but rotated a lot of bad people through there. You had to command people, and only in the respect that it could be a very dangerous place if not given proper direction, because those who were in certain positions , I don't think realized the danger they COULD be in if not following what they were told..For most I can understand that the fluctuation of work hours and scheduled days could be very stressfull on homelife

Ridge is not a bad place to work, you do work hard but its not to bad. I leared most of there operations and only had issue with one specific task, and we just couldnt work it out. The management is not that good( not you chris,terry,or sam). There inability to work things out with employees who put in years is kind of sad because ive watched alot of good people go. They have a core group of people on the production floor,but other wise the place is a revolving door causing the people who do stay to get shifted around and pick up the slack. We had a meeting and one of the topics was not leaving bad reviews on indeed haha. It should also be noted that you can top out your pay on whatever machine your running and still be expected to learn all there other lines adding value to them but not really benefiting you, there are people who havnt had a raise in years. The pay is not bad(i started at 17.50 and left at 22) as long as you dont get wrote up you get 50 cents every quarter witch is nice. The people on the foor are awesome, ive made alot of really good friends. You get 4 hours of emergency time a month witch isnt the best but they give you decent pto and holiday time. All in all i think my situation could have been resolved and id still work there but fortunately they arent the only game in town. I wouldnt discourage anyone from trying them out its just like any other manufacturer and many people are successful there. 


 

I came to this company with high hopes and the biggest belief in the product. Things were okay when I started but over the last year or so things have really went downhill. All this can be linked to management changes and there’s no question that it’s seen by everyone but the ones that make decisions. I wish there was someone that would listen to us but the issues fall on deaf ears. They recently took a percentage of our pay from salary position staff. This came after already being paid less than our hourly employees and being skipped over for multiple raises. I’d love to see changes but it doesn’t look good. Use caution when thinking about this company. Find a salary person and ask about their wages. To cover your family on insurance is monthly what you bring home for two weeks and the coverage is poor at best. 
There is a lot of favoritism by management. Human resources doesn’t believe it but they are never on the floor and don’t know what we go through every day. We don’t have anyone we can depend on. No one at all. Management lies to us. To us upper management. To everyone. 
Most everyone has left or is planning to leave. They won’t believe that either but it’s happening. Be careful 

We have this thing that happens, “Third Thursday,” where ownership comes in and tells you how amazing it is that you have taken them from doing one million dollar months of sales to almost ten million dollars a month in sales and then tell you how much you suck, which is why they can’t give you a bonus. It’s a shame to see the growth at this place and know that the ones making it happen are getting nothing but worked to death. Ladies and gentlemen, this place is a disaster right now. People are in here trying so hard but getting nothing in return except overtime shoved down their throats. The morale is terrible. Call offs are at an all time high. The money just isn’t there for what we are doing here. Not appealing at all. They only care about numbers and the money going in their own pocket. So many of us are struggling because of the economy and really counted on the bonus. Some of us have to miss work because we don’t have gas in our vehicles to get there before our next pay. This company scheduled a new machine to run orders a month and a half before it was even put together and then blamed us for falling behind just to take our bonus. It’s a shame how they don’t care about any of us. We are trying and get nothing in return except work more hours and forget you have a family

The environment is very stressful with management constantly finger pointing at the employees. They don't offer any beneficial training or communication just throwing you into whatever chaos is the priority for the day. And then when mistakes are made the managers or supervisors throw us under the bus. 

Quality standards are whatever the opinion of the day is. You could ask 10 engineers managers or the owners and get 10 different answers regardless what the part print says. That adds to the stress and confusion.

The top managers are very arrogant. Most of the time when we need help or guidance on a problem all we get are stories about their past jobs and how great of managers they are. They can't be to great because they are here and things are very chaotic and turnover is out of control.

I have been patient thinking things will change but it is obvious at this point it is time to look for something more professional. I highly recommend that anyone considering working here to seek other opportunities. Until ownership raises their level of professionalism and until they put qualified managers in place this place will remain dangerous and stressful and not a place you want to be.

I was set on Rhonda, their main production line which generates a massive amount of heat to which Ridge's answer to the 100+ degree warehouse is scattered fans and an open door.
It's seriously hot in this place, and on top of that the fiberglass is EVERYWHERE. By the end of your day you look like a twilight vampire due to all the glass, and that stuff definitely gets in your lungs. 
The environment is very unhealthy and has few safety precautions. 
Most employees are there for only a short period. In the few months I was there I witnessed at least 15 people come and go, most before lunch on their first day.
Management is poor and sometimes non-existant, and if there's a problem at all, the employees take the blame.
There is little to no training. I was thrown on a position day 1 and taught nothing for weeks.
Most of the employees are angry and annoyed by the heat and fiberglass, so there isnt a welcoming nature to the job.

Employees get benefits after 30 days.
The company offers free bottled water.
I asked for new gloves once, and was told to present my old ones to prove that they were destroyed or I had to pay for them.

I will never work here again, or recommend anyone work here.

0/5 stars all around.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Maintenance technician 9 salaries reported	$29.78 per hour
Technician 4 salaries reported	$20.14 per hour
Fabricator 1 salary reported	$18.25 per hour
Material handler 4 salaries reported	$19.97 per hour
Machine operator 3 salaries reported	$19.22 per hour

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