My first job was at a small local body shop cleaning and detailing vehicles before they were returned to the customers. I also moved the vehicles around getting them ready to go into the shop, leave the shop and keeping the vehicles in the fenced in storage lot. They kept me doing this because I was one of the few they had that had no problems driving a standard including a "three on the tree" (I learned to drive on a standard plus my first 2 cars were standard). Between doing that they gave me other odd jobs to do including keeping the supplies stocked and making sure as all the replacement parts came in they went to the proper vehicle. It was fun getting to drive all the different vehicles and machinery that came in. They would even repaint UPS trucks and construction machinery.
My second job was doing cabinetry and furniture. I built cabinets and furniture and did repairs on these pieces. Some of this was on the road. I would drive one of the companys Dodge vans to do installs or repairs at the customers houses or if the pieces were small enough bring them back to the shop if other work was required. Most of the work was where the money was, the southwestern part of CT, and New York city. This required a good part of my day as travel time plus trying to find parking for a 15 passenger Ram van in Manhattan was even more fun.
My third job, where I've been for the past 6+ years, is Wittmann, Inc (formally Wittmann Robot and Automation). The company is based in Vienna, Austria and makes robots and automation systems for the plastic injection molding industry. We can supply everything except a molding machine. We bought out and now own Nucon (material handling, located in Toronto, Canada), CMB (granulators, located near Paris, France), and Capitol Temptrol (tempature control units). It's a multi-national company now.
We sell products and do installations around the world. I do mostly assembly and shipping but at times I have gone into the field for service and also done trade shows (Chicago!
)
I should also mention (so no one gets confused
) we don't make the actual parts that are molded, rather we make, install, and service the robots and automation systems (conveyors, shuttles, hoppers, ect) that are used to make the parts. As examples we did systems for the lids for Columbo yogurt with the spoon in them, the front grille assembly for the Chevy Avalanche, and Motorola cell phone skins. Today I was working on a conveyor for a large medical supplier. I won't say who the company is but as a hint I can tell you that one of the mentors from Who'sCTEKS (716) works for them.
