forklift operator

Solo Cup Company

I was a machine operator for the company for a few years. When I first started it wasn't too bad. Everyone did their job, the work load was enough but no so much that you had to skip breaks and in general everything worked well enough. They had poor cooling in the building for a little while but it was remedied within the first year. By the time I had left the factory had switched to twelve hour shifts (from which I still suffer insomnia, like tonight) and working 7pm to 7am is rough, the worked load was much worse because of pressure to compete with other companies while using outdated machinery in desperate need of serious repairs, and the workers quit and were rotated so frequently by this point that it was a miracle to have a set of baggers competent enough to keep up with their machine without needing to shut it off to catch up or slow another bagger down to ask them to come over and help.

The machines were purchased along with a few smaller companies. Those machines should not have been taken. Many of the machines I had to work with would break down several times a night. A few times it would be something in human error and easily fixed, like a plate jam or a poor cut that snags a guide rail but most of the time it was something mechanical. Basic mechanical errors were repaired by the operator (me in this case) but anything serious needed to be brought to a mechanics attention. We had three mechanics in our shift and a white board that was always full of problems that they needed to repair. I don't know how they kept it together. Sometimes the error wouldn't be apparent and we'd lose a half hour of run time and lots of physical effort to figure it out. Before I left it was announced that they had been accepted for a grant to purchase better machines but it was over the course of several years so I never got to see it in enacted.

As for the staff, I really enjoyed the staff there when I first got hired. We had fun, hard working and knowledgeable people there. As time went on though and the shifts changed to twelve hours we lost a lot of workers and in their places we started getting fresh workers who would mess things up and be clueless about what to do and despite trying to help them the work would be too much and the hours too long and they would quit. Almost all new ones hired would quit in a week and many of them in the first couple days. I remember one guy leaving on his first break and simply not coming back.

I had no problems with management, they were strict but fair and as long as you did your job reasonably well, they were very nice people to get along with. Sometimes I miss joking around with Janet over problems just to see her eye twitch. Many of the mechanics are good at what they do and the lead mechanics they have on first shift (starting in the morning) are very good at what they do, such as 
Jim Mason and Ashby. The operators I worked with were very friendly and hardworking. Akeem is still one of the most reliable workers I know and Karl may not be too happy when he is working but I never had a problem counting on him to get something done.

Things got rough near the end and people got laid off and fired over petty things, I guess for the company to make budget. The pay was better than other entry level jobs but the workload reflected the pay difference. If you don't mind those type of circumstances it was certainly better money to start with.

A typical day at solo cup starts at 6pm for me and ends at 7am, i come in walk the floor to see what machines are running, if there going to run and are new ones going to start. i then sit with the supervisor to place packers at appropriate lines view call offs and make adjustments accordingly.from there i place everyone in there nightly positions walk the floor to make sure all things are covered as they should be. some nights i just walk to floor to make sure everything runs alright but most nights i'm hands on relieving packers for breaks, fixing machines, placing new people with trainers, or packing if necessary. i have learned a vast amount of things over my year employment with solo cup packing for starters,team work. how to run various machines and fix them when they malfunction,i've also learned how to read all necessary paper work that helps the company (how to tell which label goes on what box,which cup goes in what box,which film goes to which order ect). i dont know to much about my co-workers because there's very little time to converse unless its about company business. the hardest part of my job i would have to say is working such long shifts in such extreme heat. the most enjoyable part of my job is helping others,i love to help others in need making sure they have a full understand of what there doing. i also love problem solving finding a solution to problems and fixing them is a great plus for me.

I enjoyed my 30 years with Solo Cup Company.
When not working from home I would arrive about 6:30 am each morning check for any problems thru the night make sure there were not parts or any equipment outages. Meet with my night shift crew.
Make sure inventory was done and check for any count issues.
Run my daily reports and send to Plant Manager and co Managers.
Update and meet with Vendors. Make sure their were no delivery problems. Filled in employees that worked under me paper work on overtime, attendance and time sheet. When new employee came in I trained them on software that they would be using and set them up in the computer. I did the same from home unless I had to go in for training. I had a direct speaker line that I could talk to my employees or managers. I learned that if you respect people and treat them they way you would like to be treated you are going to be just fine in all you do. The hardest part of the job is when you had to let someone go. The most enjoyable part of the job was knowing I was trusted and respected by employees as well as Management. I loved my job and took it seriously. I lost my husband after 40 years of marriage and decided to move back home with my family. At that time I wanted to do something different so I decided I wanted to do something in the Medical field. I attended BOCES in Olean New York to pursue Medical billing and Medical coding.

Been with the company 6 months.... Management is the worst I have ever worked with in manufacturing for 27 years. They are not a management they are delegaters and can careless about the people they hire. They treat people as if they are a number and can careless if they have plans on their days off... If they mismanage then it falls on the employee AKA overtime with no notice or you will lose your job. I say your mismanagement doesn't constitute and emergency @ my dinner table. They are not involved on the floor with the people unless they need you to work overtime and on a last minutes notice. Everyone can't wait to see what Dart does with this place once they take over. Management have no people skills. For a food product place... It is filthy! I was shocked! Never worked at a place where everyone I talk to has low morality and are all looking for a new place to work. Very sad! Management all act the same. Never had a job where I felt like a robot.

The day start very early in the morning to have the opportunity to cover all shift (3-8 hours, 4 - 12 hours), Daily meetings with senior staff to cover all the last day activities including quality issues.  Due to the size of the plant (1.2 million square feet and the workforce (850 employees) the day went fast. I was involved with all the plant and with multiple manufacturing areas such as Thermoforming, Paper print, Plastic Print, Wax Cups, Hot/Cold Cups, and shipping. Management group with a ton of experience in different manufacturing areas. Multi cultural work force including minorities from different countries such as Africa, China, Japan, Mexico, Guatemala, Canada, Puerto Rico, Virgin Island, Alaska, etc.. The hardest part was to be able to deal with different manufacturing process and to be help customer in their issues with a multi product line at this plant and with various process such as plastic,paper, print, wax, shipping.

Since I've been there for 6 1/2 months, I've found the 12-hour night shift to be very physically taxing on the body. However, if I had to work nights, the two nights on and two nights off with every other weekend off is the only way I could do it. I do enjoy the variation of jobs that are scheduled on the press I work on and I have learned a great deal about press operations since I've been there. Most of my co-workers are a pleasure to work with and management is, for the most part, fair and helpful. The hardest part of the job is making through the long shift which is new to me in the industry, but as stated before, its better than working it 8 hours a day; 5 days a week. The most enjoyable part of the job is the benefits, good food in cafeteria, and being able to see my family during my time off during the week.

SoloCup? I worked among drug users and alcoholics! In and out of the hospital because intestinal issues I could not win with the no fault attendence 10 point policy! I pointed out, lost my job, car, and apartment because I wasn't intitled to unemployement insurance benefits! For a company that "takes pride" in safety, the only way I was going to keep my job was to die on a line! I probably then would have got written up for the line backing up, pointed out because the days i would have missed, and then drug tested looking for some way to blame everything on me! I guess it wouldn't be so bad if my points made the company fall but the times i received points were when they were over staffed!?

Production has many slow periods and many busy periods. It is a ok place to work but it does not have many options for growth and has a 3-4 month layoff period usually from May-August. During this time 75% of employees have to collect Unemployment. This  is the worst part of this job. I'm done going through this, and really would like to find a company with room for growth, advancement and being the company that I retire from. I'm 47yrs old but I feel I have many more yrs of my experience, knowledge and a excellent work ethic to offer a company. 

depends on what shift i had i would either get there at about 3:20 or 4 go in and sit in the break room until the shift supervisor started the meeting. During the meeting the supervisor would talk about safety topic of the week and any problems that the shift had the week before. After that the supervisor would give us our line info and send us to work. My day to day work would very depending on where i was I, if I was at the front of the line i would feed plates to the line to be bagged and ran into the shrink wrapper to be placed in the boxes,if i was helping the line leader then i was doing everything paper work break the people out for there breaks help fix the line when needed

A typical day was hot and the hotter it got the worse the machinery ran.The worse the machinery ran the hotter some peoples tempers got combine that with the companies financial difficulties and you end up with a pretty toxic work environment that anyone with half a brain would want out of which is probably why they sold the company.I learned that some people must believe that learning takes place by means of punishment and threat and by losing their cool and poise  and displaying that to their co-workers to illustrate their superior level of character and knowledge which isn't how the learning process takes place at all, or is it.

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