cnc operator

manufacturing technician

mechanical inspector

finisher

assembler

SIG SAUER, Inc.

As the title states. You show up, you punch in, you do your work to the best of your abilities and punch out.

I entered this position to learn and get properly trained on various machines. This did not and has not happened within the 2 years I have been here. My expectations were extremely high entering this company (aerospace manufacturing quality high). For as much as they brag about themselves there is nothing really impressive about what they do or how they do it.

Training: NOT impressive at all. Extremely disappointed and extremely lacking. Dumbfounded as to how they are still afloat. There is absolutely no structured training program or process on the shop floor. You just hope someone somehow has time to show you a thing or two to further your development and skills. Very unlikely. Some people are natural at this stuff and pick it up with ease on their own. But for a very large majority they/we do not have such skills and require a little more personal training as to avoid crashing machinery, fixing problems and troubleshooting to avoid getting written up. So do not expect to be properly trained when you enter this company in machining; and I mean it can take years to be trained on a few machines fully. We have been told "We do not have time to train" and "We should be able to just slap anyone on this machine and run it" ("run it" as in just load/unload press go and ask for assistance when needed) - Sorry but to do that an individual needs training to do so and most of the time if that individual needs help the only other help was on the previous shift and that shift has obviously clocked out. When you get trained on some stuff and ask "why", most of the time the answer is "it just does" or "not sure". There are no help sheets, no structure to training, no work instructions, no help from management. Overall training gets a "D" in my book.

Management: Extremely mediocre at best. Some drama. Nothing crazy. Not very helpful. Seems like everyone is walking on eggshells. I have zero confidence in any management in the building. Most management is very kind and TRY to help in ways. But it is the lack of knowledge of the processes, a lot of management is intimidated by other management and it is annoying, people get offended way too easily. Not impressed at all. I do not have much trust in them and you cannot depend on most of them for anything - they may try but again, walking on eggshells all of the time or overreact and cause more chaos than needed. Overall management gets a "D+" maybe "C-" in my book.

Personnel on the shop floor: Most of the operators across the shifts are fine. No major issues. Obviously there is always that one or two operators causing everyone a headache but that is typical across all jobs. I enjoy the people I am around for the most part. There is not much for socializing which is fine. But you sure as heck do not feel like an actual team. How can you? There is generally not enough to zero cross training so if you need help you are typically the only one on the shop floor who understands your machine. Plus not enough people actually understand what they are doing. Literally a good chunk of people just autopilot and push through the day operating machines not having full understanding on what to look out for or paying attention to all of the details. As stated above, training is extremely lacking. Personnel on the shop floor gets a "A-" in my book. 

This job is a cake walk if you enter not expecting to actually make a career out of it. You learn just enough to get by. You learn just enough so they wont fire you because they are in dire need of operators. The job is very boring in my personal opinion. You cannot learn what you want. Very difficult to level up.

Lets say you are one of the very smart new individuals that pick up this stuff with ease (one who has never been involved in machining before) and have proven yourself on the shop floor. Your skills out do most across shifts. Even those who are above you and those in setup. Everyone goes to you for help. You end up having to help people who have been here for years and those in setup who are paid significantly more than you. Something is very wrong there. Then, you have to beg upper management for recognition and to document your accomplishments. I hate begging. Even if you have everyone on the shop floor backing you up, upper management want YOU to beg and prove yourself worthy of a wage increase and level up. Even though it is extremely obvious you deserve it. The company doesn't want to pay you more. They make it harder and harder to level up. Literally impossible to obtain a level 2 at this point with them bringing in more and more machines and things constantly changing increasing chances of mixing stuff up and crashing machines.

By now there should be some sort of structure to this company as far as training goes. For a company so big now they have some of the worst organization and training I have seen on a shop floor.

I would just get hired for the industry wide discounts (up to 50% off) if you have money laying around. Pay is honestly insane for what you do. $30 to stand around and open and close a door and occasionally make adjustments. But I for one need to be active and learning.

I was hired on through a hiring agency and worked for approximately 3 months in the Jacksonville, AR location. I was told my shift would be Monday-Thursday 6:30a-4:30p with regular overtime and occasionally working Friday and/or Saturday. I pretty much worked 6 days a week 10+ hours a day the entire time I worked there. I don’t have a problem working a lot of hours if it’s a good work environment. My first week the manager over the location wasn’t happy with daily production so he turned the heat on (it was the middle of summer) and increased the temp every hour as punishment for not meeting numbers. I worked with sights and I really liked the actual job I did. I would have stayed there but it was managed with fear. I worried everyday whether or not I’d have a job the next day bc at least one person got fired everyday. Also, I’m under 5 ft tall and in the sights department things have to be put in an oven which is really deep. There were no accommodations for me to allow me to reach in/out of the oven without getting burned even though I expressed my need for a simple step stool. There were many other things that happen while I was there but I won’t have enough room here to list them all. I have never walked out or quit a job without notice, but I couldn’t handle being treated and spoken to with so little respect and made to feel like I was disposable, I just couldn’t do it anymore. The day I walked out, the manager was trying to work with another department to figure out the best way to improve a process that we used for my job. One would think that the person who does the job everyday would be someone to collaborate with on improvements, right? Wrong! Management was in my department openly discussing options and I made a simple suggestion. The manager basically told me I was stupid and that I didn’t know what I was talking about. Then went on to say that I wasn’t paid for my opinion and I needed to keep my mouth shut and do my job or I wouldn’t have a job. I went to lunch and never came back. I’ve never worked anywhere that allowed that kind of treatment to their employees.

Worked here for a year and a half. At first it sounded prestigious, working at Sig, but the pride wore off quick.  I was the oldest employee on my assembly line. There was a few really decent younger people there but they were outnumbered by so many immature 20 year olds that I felt I was in jr high all over. If you're a pretty girl than you can bet on favoritism and popularity.  The mind numbing daily routine of "build more and do it faster" made the 10 hour shifts unbearable. I have never worked anywhere else that time dragged hopelessly slow and what seemed like one hour could be literally 15min.
If you are in a clique of favorable few then you might be able to tolerate the drudgery but most people are on social autopilot just trying to make it through the day. 
Absolutely NO room for advancement and forget about your five year plans and life goals. I found that most employees either lack the life experiences to know there's better jobs out there or that they've given up and settled to be a mindless automaton.  The engineering staff acted like royalty and therefore superior to the common blue collar workers.
There was several disconnects between lower management and workers. The upper middle manager however was one of the best people I've ever worked with.
I left because this job was destroying my spirit, home life and future goals I still wish to attain. If your young and uncertain as to what you plan for career it might be for you. If you're ambitious and goal driven then this is not a good fit. I would advise talking with anyone who is familiar with the assembly area life and really listen to what they are saying.

Lots of OT (at least up until the shift schedule changes); some good, interesting, and helpful fellow warehouse staff members, which often is not the case in factory/warehouse settings.
But this place is notorious for its sleazy management: you are just a number and they lay off often even when giving out OT like its candy. No structure when it comes to temps- they lead you along on a string. Some get hired perm, but its a total crapshoot and could be at any random time- not based on ability, etc...  
Do your own research; the recent imprisonment of the CEO, the whistleblower case a few years ago the company lost. Very sleazy and arrogant company, that is also getting around labor laws because of its government contracts. 
Don't bother with this dog and pony show, unless you don't mind only being temp and need a fill-in job. You might have the potential to earn a lot of OT pay too, but they might be a thing of the past now with the shift changes since I was there.
And lastly, the communication is renowned as being an embarrassment. For example,  despite being X-Mas week, there was a mandatory overtime day that no one in management bothered to tl employees until the day before. And it was straight pay, since X-Mas day was one of the few holidays they give off during the year. New Years Eve is ignored and you'll work right thru the stroke of midnight.

I was employed here for over 10+ years as a CNC Programmer / Manufacturing Engineer. 

Sig is a engineering rich firm that understands the value in investing back into the company in both equipment and people. I had the opportunity to work here through a super normal growth period where the machine shop transformed from a small unorganized job shop to a world class high-end, high-precision manufacturing facility. The investment they make in CNC metal cutting equipment, tooling, fixturing, software, and training is truly phenomenal. You will literally see equipment and processes here that are usually only found in magazines and trade shows. 

Sig also understands the value in investing in their employees. They sent me to numerous management training courses at UNH, WPI, and even downtown Manhattan NYC and assigned me a direct report team to support manufacturing operations. They recognize the individuals who will put the company first and reward them with more challenging tasks and opportunities to advance within the company. 

As a CNC machinist or programmer, take advantage of this in order to advance yourself in your professional career. Technical people are highly valued here and if you are dedicated, take ownership of your processes, and show that you truly care about the company you will go far.

One of my first experiences was being greeted by an upper level employee who referred to them as Sig-Sewer. Yes, that person still works there and they are now a higher level employee, see clique below. It is an extremely toxic work environment.

The pay, the benefits and some of the coworkers are really the only reason someone would want to stay.

Other than that, it's unorganized chaos, everyday.

- Cliques
Lots of favoritism plays out hourly. If your not a friend, your just a peon to them. You're just expected to do twice the work so the friends can hang out in the supervisors office all shift. Which also means no raises or advancement.  Also means if you have a question, your spending half the night trying to find someone who isn't where they are supposed to be.

- Subpar facilites and equiptment
Roofs constantly leaking. No A/C during summertime. 90 degrees temperature with 80 percent humidity. Machines constantly down so mass cleaning is expected. The inside of the shops look horrific.

- Constant gaslighting
You'll be told that you will have everything readily available that you need to do your job, only to come in and have to tactically acquire items from other work stations, daily. You'll be told one thing by one superior only to be told something completely different by another.

-Sig way or the highway
God forbid you tell them an idea to increase workflow or point out a mistake.

I 110% do not recommend this company. The management is horrendous and truly does not care about anything except for their paycheck. There is little to no advancement, unless you are the favorite which is nearly impossible to be unless you’re a brown-noser who kisses your supervisor’s feet. It is so bad that HR changed the way you apply to a job so that your application isn’t “lost” by your supervisor. That said, your supervisor is still capable of blocking your advancement. The more you care about your work and the quality/numbers you put out, the more you are punished with jobs held above your head and double standards. This company is grossly concerned about having bodies instead of quality workers which often times forces good employees to do the job of 2-4 other people to pick up the slack. There is extreme disorganization amongst shifts and no communication to help things run smoothly. Every shift hates each other and the higher ups are oblivious to how things actually run on the floor. They implement rules and work processes with no real consideration to how it will work on the floor. The drama amongst employees is probably the worst thing. Bad behavior is overlooked to the point that there are employees get away with running temps out just because.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Only for doing your job sometimes it wasn't the best .

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The Company let management & HR be un fair . Double standards some management & Supervisors are not taking care of the employees.  Double standards why make rules if there not going to obey them.  Supervisors not taking care of issues correctly makes more drama or problems . Then someone gets blame maybe there fault . I loved Sig Sauer I thought I was going to retire there . When we found out shutting down sights lab moving to Oregon . I knew I had to make a change . The motto is Never settle they need to have higher standards on parts coming in bad that needs to be dealt with and supervisor and management.  Make rules you are going to follow . Not Double standards .

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
There's differnt cultures . But the workers some would work some would not but it depends on supervisor going to say anything . Even after someone complaining still don't say anything the workers can stand around on phones , talk loud , cussing not do anything but the ones do work the supervisor is on them for anything .

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Stressful , unfair , disappointing

A typical manufacturing environment with a full range of supervisor competencies. Non-supervisor work teams are generally full of decent, hard-working people who are easy to get along with. HR department is far less than sympathetic to plights of employees, particularly with employee-supervisor relations, and has been replaced a number of times within the past few years.

The hardest part of the job in my department was dealing with the supervisor, who seemed quite happy to create a hostile work environment and cowtow to brown-nosing. The second hardest part of the job was having to constantly hound the Planning department because the work orders were issued the wrong parts.

The work in my department was actually something that I enjoyed doing. As mentioned before, most of the workers are fun, and easy to befriend (as long as you are not a "troublemaking" type, but that goes for most places).

The most important part of this review, however, is that there has been over 400 layoffs in the past 3 months, and due to severe mismanagement, the company seems to be folding quickly.

Management looks for reasons to fire people on a daily basis. Every shift consists of a meeting filled with new BS rules, threats, and employee degradation. Jobs and raises are threatened daily. Management states employee's lack of professionalism, but displays none of their own. Good ol boy/Bubba club environment.
Employees are expected to meet impossible goals with substandard resources. Someone either walks out, quits, puts in notice, or gets fired daily. Zero job security. Zero respect for employees. Zero  consideration given to employee knowledge and experience.Several employee are trying to go active duty military just to get away from this place. They'd rather endure a government shutdown and no pay than stay here.
If you have the option, I would say that working in retail or fast food is a better option. Stay as far away as possible.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Cnc operator 1 salary reported	$20.00 per hour
Manufacturing technician 2 salaries reported	$25.50 per hour
Mechanical inspector 2 salaries reported	$28.25 per hour
Finisher 1 salary reported	$15.50 per hour
Assembler 1 salary reported	$20.70 per hour

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