machine operator

operator

entry level machine operator

payroll specialist

maintenance technician

Sumitomo Electric Industries

It was a huge red flag that Sumitomo had help wanted signs up all over town for the entire two years that I've lived in Scottsville. "Why can't they keep themselves staffed?" I wondered, "How bad could it be?"

I quickly found out.

The hiring process was simple, they're only looking for people to fill posistions. There is no care or any real regard for your previous work experience, it's just meat processing to shovel people onto the production floor. Your interviewer will have all the charm of a backed up toilet in a funeral home. The only thing they're really looking for is a lack of self-respect and willingness to give up any hopes of a work/life balance.

Your "training" will be conducted over four days with eight different people on the production floor, only two of them might show you anything useful, the remaining six will be visibly annoyed by your presence and resentful that they have to "babysit" you. the following Monday it's sink or swim, you'll be assigned to four barely functioning machines. The work is fine, easy even, if your machines are working reliably. Your machines will not work reliably. At any given time on any given day two of your machines will be down waiting on maintenence. Sometimes all of your machines will be down leaving you scrambling to look busy and watching the clock, praying for the mercy of your next break as time grinds to a halt. Things are better when you learn the idiosycracies of your group of machines, there a lot of problems you can learn to fix yourself but once you get into the groove of your own machines, you'll be reassigned to another bunch of machines, the next day, to go through the learning process all over again. You'll be on your feet and moving your whole shift, I lost a toenail on my right foot from all the running around.

You may read this thinking this is all just sour grapes, the catharsis seeking screed of a disgruntled ex-employee with an axe to grind...I don't know, maybe you'd be right but consider this: of the eleven people in my orientation class, only three of us were left at the end of our first week.

The saving grace of this company are the one in ten supervisors who are willing to listen and help and a small handful of more experienced peers who are kind enough to throw out a life raft.

All in all this job was as pleasant as your favorite uncle having a heart attack at your birthday party.

As the title suggests, the company is stable and will not likely go out of business, but is also very old-fashioned. Many management level folks have been there for a large portion of their career. It creates a close-minded atmosphere with the same people vehemently against newcomers "invading". This was evident in the maintenance department and their unwillingness to make improvements (dare I say "kaizens"...?) on outdated equipment (e.g. safety improvements).

My manager was a great individual with almost 20 years of experience in Japan before coming here for his stint as manager. He exemplified what it meant to be not only a manager, but also a teacher. This meant he was always willing to answer questions, try new engineering solutions, and also join in after-work team building activities. 

However, other managers were not shining examples of management. Blame was passed around like a hot potato and did not create a particularly stimulating production environment. 

In my position, I had the privilege to work with staff from Japan on projects in the facility as well as get an inside perspective on the relationship between the Japan side of things. It was interesting to learn about the connections between the mother company as well as the other sister companies located throughout the US. Like my boss, they were always hard-working (sometimes too much), but never let it affect their relationship with their coworkers here. 

Overall, if you're a younger engineer, accountant, technician, etc. I would first explore other options. Benefits here are undeniably plentiful, but overall pay is lacking for the area. That said, I learned a lot from my time there and appreciate the opportunity to have been to work there. 

I was a Setup.  My job was only supposed to consist over making sure machines stayed running, or changing them over to a new part/material.  Instead, it consisted of just about every other job that incompasses the non-assembly side of the plant.  They outright refused to hire more machine operators because "assembly was more important", and many times I was forced to work overtime to 1) cover another setup being off, and 2) cover machine operators being off.  With the exception of 2 operators, the operators they DID send to my side of the plant couldn't even keep up with half of the machines, or were inept at the job.  Also, I was injured on the job, and management filled out my choice of doctor on the workman's comp form, and then refused to give me the time off I needed to properly get treatment, and then I was terminated because the medication I was on caused me to cause a problem.  Most Team leaders are useless, and often don't know enough about either side of the plant to perform effectively.  Most Coordinators are in the same position, despite both coordinators and leaders supposedly being trained to fill any position on the floor.

 Overall, I was working 4 different positions at any given time, but only getting paid for one, I could never make any plans, and I was constantly treated like I didn't know what was going on even though I knew more about our machines than some of our Engineers.  I was stuck in my job, as they absolutely refused to let me change to any other position.  As stated in the summary, avoid Sumitomo like the Plague.  You wont get treated like a person, you'll get treated like a slave.

Working at Sumitomo Wiring Systems was a valuable professional experience that allowed me to expand my skills beyond the role I was originally hired for. A typical day involved detailed operational tasks and supporting logistics-related processes that required organization, accuracy, and coordination across departments. Although I was sometimes assigned responsibilities outside of my original position, those opportunities ultimately helped me develop a broader understanding of supply chain and production operations. Management was generally respectful and easy to communicate with, and I appreciated the chance to continuously learn new systems and workflows. The most challenging part of the job was the lack of flexibility when it came to emergency or family-related time off, which made balancing work and personal responsibilities difficult. However, the most rewarding part of the job was gaining hands-on experience, developing new professional skills, and being trusted with responsibilities that helped strengthen my career experience.

Altogether an OK place to work, the only thing I didn't enjoy was having to fill out paperwork for every mistake that I made. I understand that my mistakes needed to be brought to my attention, but I didn't feel it necessary to fill out paperwork as to why the mistake was made as well as steps I chose to take to ensure it wouldn't happen again. I understand management wanted to know these things, but I felt that it was enough to show me the mistake I made, and I would take steps to insure it wouldn't happen again without having to write it down and turn it in. All in all it was a good job, I learned a lot about IHS, the design and build process as well as what a drafting job entails. There were advancement opportunities, you could move up to a level 2 or 3 tech. There were signs of favoritism from my boss, nothing to do with me, just something I noticed toward a few of the other techs. My job entailed checking drawings for mistakes, doing design changes as well as doing new drawings. My coworkers were great, I noticed some would take advantage of getting away with certain things that others would not, but very friendly people, I made quite a few friends I still keep in contact with. The hardest part of the job for me was distinguishing what functions would go into a design from studying the function matrix, the most enjoyable part of the job was knowing that once the job was completed, my harness would be installed into a Honda vehicle. 

Management has their favorites and will treat anyone who isn’t like trash. You will be stalked any time you go to break or the bathroom. Maintenance and Engineering is terrible so machines are almost never working due to lack of people who know what they’re doing but they get the big bonuses. People on salary got huge bonuses for covid and promotions meanwhile hourly employees only got $2 more an hour for a few months and only now certain people make $150 extra a month. Expect to work 50-80 hours a week with no choice. No free lunches and the vending machines are expensive, lack of choice in drinks, water is almost always out. Hardest part about the job is working with management and the expectations of higher ups who have never worked on the floor. 

I was laid off after working at SEWS for nearly two years and was devastated.  I was a Quality Control Leader,  and to top off everything,  along with several others I was laid off close to Christmas.  Human Resources told me to reapply in 30 days and I would be hired again,  but as a single mother of two children I could not risk not knowing whether or not I would have job stability.  Which is an important asset to me.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Lower management was excellent. Team leaders and shift coordinators were great to work for. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
They take every opportunity to point you for anything and everything. Upper management doesn't understand the actual processes happening on the floor. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The people you work beside are great but the culture is focused on numbers and not the people who produce those numbers. Employees are treated as expendable and replaceable. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
The days are long and exhausting. You come in work your tail off for 12 hours and hope you might get 2 days off a week.

This is a chill job as for everything you do is repetitive just depends on work loads but 1st shift employees as lazy and expect 2nd shift to do most of the work and the lazyness mostly come from company employes. Management is scared of their employees and dont know much of the process each department does but act like they know whats going on. Employees gossip and hate or talk behing eachothers backs. They dont recognize the workers that are actually working and take them for granted and work well with the lazy ones...

What is the best part of working at the company?
The coworkers are great. Most employees just want to come in and do their jobs.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
All work in most areas is easy. The management is the worst I have ever seen at a company since I have started working 30 years ago.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
A revolving door. That alone is a high statement since the work here is easy and pays almost on point with good benefits.


What is a typical day like for you at the company?
There is 8 and 12 hour shifts. A break every 2 hours with a 30 min lunch and room temperature control.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Machine operator 2 salaries reported	$18.83 per hour
Operator 5 salaries reported	$21.50 per hour
Entry level machine operator 5 salaries reported	$18.01 per hour
Payroll specialist 10 salaries reported	$66,000 per year
Maintenance technician 2 salaries reported	$30.00 per hour

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