mechanic

manual machinist

regional sales manager

mechanical designer

cnc machinist

Sulzer

A typical day at work is 6am till 7pm. In general involving putting out fires as they appear rather than getting work done and making progress.

I learned how to deal with difficult people, how to stand up for myself, and how a large international company continues to run even while broken. I also learned several personal skills such as design and mechanical engineering, got my forklift license, learned production control, and how to manage inventory.

Management is the second worst part about this company. Unprofessional, unqualified people are always able to talk louder than qualified professionals, but here they are also actively sought after by management to fill other management positions. This leads to family and friends being hired, which makes the situation worse. Everybody here is related to everybody else, and so nobody can say anything about anybody (even if it needs to be said) without making everybody angry.

Co-workers are both the best and worst part about this company. Several people in particular are what makes this company run, somehow; and they taught me everything I know and I owe them for much. Most people here however, should not be here.

The hardest part of this job is training: there isn't any, for anybody. There are no manuals, no how-to's, no training days. You figure out how to do your job on your own or else you don't make it. Only the person who does the job knows how to do it because of that; so when any given person is out sick or on vacation, everything stops because the process is broken. There are legal procedures, somewhere, but nobody knows what they are so nobody follows them and everything is chaos.

The most enjoyable part of this job is the privilege of getting to work alongside some of the best people I have ever known, at work or outside of work. I learn something every time I talk with these few co-workers, and we enjoy talking about work and life together, and trying to figure out ways to make things better in both.

The workplace has changed a LOT in the last few years and sadly, not at ALL for the better.  Upper Management is focused solely on telling the workers what they want to hear, and then do not follow-up on doing it.  Regular all-hands meetings are simply a dog and pony show that are geared towards faking out the customers and share holders.  Middle management is full of the 'popular kids" who have been there for decades...getting paid to degrade the workers and force them to work additional hours so that THEY look good.  Some of the supervisors, one in particular, honestly should have had countless lawsuits filed on him because of the horrible way he treats and has treated the workers for years.  He is an HR nightmare, yet the incompetent HR Department does absolutely NOTHING and he has NEVER been reprimanded.  That is just ONE example of why the HR Dept should be replaced.  The best part about working here at Sulzer is actually the WORKERS, who are all great to work with.  Actually, they are main reason I stick around.  I have mad respect for so many of them, yet Sulzer does not and treats them horribly.  I feel that my safety matters and I feel confident that they actually care about the workers; although even safety used to be better up until the safety guy for many years recently left.  Now, even safety seems to be an afterthought, which is sad. Every day a Mexican taco truck pulls up out front at 11:00 and that is the highlight of each day.  Well, that and the end of the shift.  The environment and working atmosphere reached its pinnacle In mid 2015 or so...sadly it has gone seriously downhill since then.

Industrial Maintenance Mechanic - Job Duties:
•Locates sources of problems by observing mechanical devices in operation; listening for problems; using precision measuring and testing instruments.
•Removes defective parts by dismantling devices; using hoists, cranes, and hand and power tools; examining form and texture of parts.
•Adjusts functional parts of devices and control instruments by using hand tools, levels, plumb bobs, and straightedges.
•Controls downtime by informing production workers of routine preventive maintenance techniques; monitoring compliance.
•Fabricates repair parts by using machine shop instrumentation and equipment.
•Maintains equipment, parts, and supplies inventories by checking stock to determine inventory level; anticipating needed equipment, parts, and supplies; placing and expediting orders; verifying receipt.
•Conserves maintenance resources by using equipment and supplies as needed to accomplish job results.
•Provides mechanical maintenance information by answering questions and requests.
•Prepares mechanical maintenance reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends.
•Maintains technical knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing technical publications; establishing personal networks.
•Maintains continuity among work teams by documenting and communicating actions, irregularities, and continuing needs.
•Maintains safe and clean working environment by complying with procedures, rules, and regulations.
•Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.

It seemed that nobody in the organization was on-board growing business other than the guy that hired me.  Shop estimates had padded hours to cover risk.  Field Service jobs were even worse with padded hours.   
Sulzer offers non-OEM repair quotes to customers for OEM prices.  If it rotates we can fix it.  This is the motto... 
However, Sulzer uses a rolodex to find service providers rather than tell customers they are marking-up sub-contractors bids.

The shop is very capable and offers a lot of services in one place.  There is no other location in North America that offers so much under one roof.   No parts and all the manufacturing is reverse engineering, so upgrades to process equipment is difficult.

While I was there the health care deductible went from $2K to $8K with no make up provision.
$5 food expenses required a receipt and expense reporting was micromanaged.
Never got the impression that management was looking out for anyone other than themselves.

The department I work for, HICoat, has no regard for anything except production. Being apart of the safety team i have certain responsibilities to attend to. When processes bring up a safety issues or safety issues are already present, management will disregard safety measures just to keep production going. This is not something anyone should be a part of. 

One instance was there was a hydrogen leak for a thermal spray booth which was causing a gas sensor to detect it and shut down our booth. Management put an air blower on the leak to blow it away from the sensor to keep production alive. This was after i mentioned to management that we must shut down in order to fix the problem at hand. 

Co-workers are great! The best thing that I've learned while working at Sulzer Turbo Services in the HICoat division is that production is not everything. People have lives and they matter. Caring for a person is better than caring for a job.

If you don't like being rewarded for hard work and solving problems, as well as enjoy being subject to status quo of the management team, this is the place for you.  Middle management is made up of some "good 'ol boys" who have worked together for decades.  They (well, most of them) are very sharp when it comes to knowledge of the machines, but only one of them has any formal management training, much less people skills.  

The apparent objective is to keep morale as low as possible and work as few people as possible to death.  The opportunities for advancement are nil unless you are an engineer that has graduated from A&M.  

The company itself seems to be a good company to work for.  However, depending on which site and/or division you decide to venture to, you may be in for excessive doses of mental anguish.

I started back in 2010 as a temp to hire at first I'll be honest I was a bit intimidate by the very large engine lathe massive as well as our vtl but I was determined I wanted to challenge my self my father always said if he can do it you cant to with that In mind I over came the fear turbine rotors could weigh up to 105,000 pounds I would also help mechanics dressing blades Inspections disassembly and reassembly of various ge and Westinghouse rotors we also worked on generators and steam turbines a lot of rigging lifting rotors with a spread bar settings the in the lathe and pulling them out 


Work is not that interesting as this plant refurbishes rusty used fresh and salt water pumps for nuclear plants. Parent Swiss company is very stable and reliable but US plants operate sub-par in values and integrity. A staggering 50% turnover of both hourly and salaried workforce in 2 years explains why this plant cant seem to make much profit. Constant training is a drain on productive workers. Mangement is root cause for this unacceptable turnover such as: Lack of recognition for expected uncompensated overtime. Not having regular performance reviews as required by company policies.
Constant management changes leading to changes in priorities and values.


What is the best part of working at the company?
I worked there for 34 years it was a great company to learn and grow in experience and knowledge 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Working the back shift and having to make sure the parts were ready for the day shift test department to run there tests for customer wetness 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The work environment was fast paced the culture was employee oriented and customer quality and on time delivery 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Fast paced running whatever machine that the parts the test department or assembly needed that day

I worked at Sulzer for over ten years I loved all my vendors and the people at Sulzer. A typical day was very busy which I enjoyed being busy my supervisor was such a caring understanding woman. Some of the coworkers where fabulous others not so much but that is any where you work, I was there to do my job at the best of my ability and correctly. The hardest part of the job was being harassed by other women, there is a lot of cliques going on and I refused to be in them I was there to work. The most enjoyable part was my work was my staff and my vendors and meeting new people from other countries.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Mechanic 6 salaries reported	$27.58 per hour
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