Skill Level Four!!!

Randy, I was going to wait until the end of the week when my training was complete to write my last entry, but I had to tell you about last night while everything was still fresh. When I got to work last night, I didn't see anyone in start-up that ordinarily works in the kitchen. I knew Chris (the kitchen operator) was on vacation, but I didn't see Mike Gordon (my trainer) or Mary (the woman taking his place when he leaves for a different position next week). After start up I walked into the kitchen, and Mike was at the computer screen looking over the alarms. I asked where Mary was and he replied "who knows, she's lazy as h*ll, probably out running her mouth". After I stopped laughing, I saw my boss walking by so I stopped him and asked him where Mary was. He told me that she had called in sick and that I would be taking care of the relief/rework duties for the night, and I needed to go clock in as a skill level four! This was pretty exciting as I have been receiving skill level one pay for almost six weeks during my training. I went ahead and did all of the required checks and was actually eager for Mike to go to break at 12:00 so I could test out my skills. It wasn't five minutes after he left that the alarms started going off. I went to the screen and saw that a door had been opened in demoulding and I knew exactly what to do. I went to all four depositors, reset them, put them back in auto mode, reset the line, hit the warning button and hit start. It started right back up and everything went back to running smoothly. I had various alarms throughout the night while Mike was on break but it was nothing I hadn't seen before and I even changed the line speed and temperatures when the buffer went up to 80 something percent. When it went back down to normal, I pushed the speeds back up as well as the temperatures. The line ran fairly well last night, but we continued to have the same alarm time and again for an infrared light overheating. The only problem I encountered that I didn't know how to fix was right at the end of the shift and a warning came up that said the line was out of sync. Mike grabbed a tool that I had never seen utilized before, he plugged it into a guage on the stamping heads, twisted a knob, hit the sync button, jogged the line, reset it, hit the warning button, and started it right back up. He explained to me that sometimes the chain can jump off the track a little bit and it messes with the timing of the stamping heads and depositors. After he explained it to me and showed me how to do it, it didn't seem like anything I couldn't handle.

So after all of my gripping and complaining about the various problems within the Hershey Company in Stuarts Draft, I actually feel sort of at home in the kitchen. It's not really difficult, it's just hot, you have a lot to monitor, and you have to be a little mechanically inclined. Just like a little kid, I've started to get my hopes up about something that may not happen right off the bat. I really would appreciate the chance to have an interview for a supervision position, but If I don't, I don't want to end up disappointed and feel let down. I think it's wise for me just to pursue the skill level four position in the kitchen if Mary decides not to take the position after all. I'm told that's the reasoning for my training to begin with. I'll let you know how things end up in the fall. Enjoy a good summer.

Start up

On Friday all employees on third shift working in the kiss kitchen were instructed to come in at 7:30 pm Sunday night. This is my final week of training and yet this was my first time being involved in starting up the line. Yet again the training was ridiculously overwhelming as you are given only enough time to run around at the speed of light just to ensure candy is coming down the line when everyone else arrives at 11:00. I followed along as best I could, asking questions, paying attention and trying to retain as much as I could. This was difficult because my trainer moved with such speed and was more worried bout getting the line started rather than training me. This seems to be the norm in all factories and warehouses and as I'm sure you know Randy, it's infuriating. I don't feel like I retained much at all as everything ran together and seemed to be a blur. What's worse is that 1st shift didn't come in early as they were "supposedly" instructed to do, and we all ended up working 12 hours last night. That being said, if by some chance I am selected for an interview for a supervisory position, I will let them know in the most professional manner that their training is lacking and I will do everything in my power in order to rectify this short coming if promoted.

Knowledge driven by mistakes

I didn't think it was possible, but it seems that I have learned more this week than the other four weeks combined. I'm sure it's because all of the loose ends are being tied together and I'm starting to see the big picture. It's amazing (after thinking I was being thrown to the wolves) how much I've learned. Now that I've actually gotten in there and become hands on without someone standing over my shoulder, I feel more confident and in control. Now when an alarm goes off and the line shuts down I'm not constantly looking around for someone to help me. I tried that move on Tuesday morning and Mike Gordon looked at me and said "oh no big boy, this is your horse and pony show" (whatever that means). So I walked up to the computer screen and tried to restart the line, it wouldn't reset or restart, so I had to figure out where the problem was and attempt to go fix it. The only thing wrong was a blocked eye that detects when a mould is out of place. It then triggers an alarm because it thinks a mould is off track and the line is preventing a build up catastrophe. I had to walk down to the end of the line and scrape a piece of chocolate off of a mould that was blocking the eye and preventing the trays from moving up the lift. After it was cleared I pushed the now famous phrase "blue, black, green ya idiot" which is just the order you push the buttons to reset, clear, and restart the line. This is just one of the many times this week in which I have attempted a quick fix, failed, and had to think a little bit in order to rectify the situation. By doing things on my own and learning from my mistakes, I have become more vigilant and can at times correct a problem before it starts. Hopefully by Sunday night/Monday morning, I will be armed and ready for the week ahead without the main kitchen operator as he goes on vacation.

Lack of planning and training

I know this rant doesn't pertain much to my training courses in the kitchen, but I think I've found the norm for most all factory and warehouse work in the area, maybe even the country. It is a given that all training, reasoning, and communication goes completely out of the window when one gains employment within a factory or warehouse. Monday morning we were down and there was another C.I.P. that I thought I was going to be responsible for since it's in my job description. When we were assigned jobs at the beginning of the night, I was surprised to find that I was to be washing moulds and a creme attendant would be responsible for the C.I.P. What?!?! I went to my boss and asked him what the deal was. His reply was that C.I.P. was the creme attendants responsibility and I would only be need when he was on vacation. Hello?!?! Ya think I still may need to learn the job? I even took the time to look up my job responsibilities and show him that C.I.P. was the reworks responsibility. He then said "well, just let Charles do it tonight, he needs to learn it too." Are you kidding me? This man spent four years in the Army and has a master's degree in International Affairs, how is it possible that he is a complete idiot? The Job Safety Analysis says each employee shall have three to five nights of training for the Cleaning In Place responsibilities. I have only received one.  As if that wasn't enough, I found out this morning that my training time in the kitchen will end on June 21st. Mike Gordon (my trainer) will be going to his new position on the 24th, and my "rework" duties will also begin on that date. On top of that, we had a "start up" tonight to begin running the symphony kisses (mind you, I have not been part of a start up yet in the kitchen) and I was put into the position of demoulding. Basically I banged molds against a plastic roller tonight in order to get stuck kisses out of the moulds. Besides that, they placed a temporary/contractor employee in my position which is a higher skill level than demoulding. I was less than pleased to say the least. How in the world has this company not gone bankrupt?

Big News

Before I get to the "big news" of the week, I just wanted to say what a week its been in the kitchen. I'll admit, when I was told I was released and would have to do the majority of things on my own, I was extremely nervous. I realized up until that point, I hadn't done a lot on my own and wondered what I had really learned. However, the night I was released, most everything seemed to come together and things weren't near as crazy as I had made them out to be. I knew what was expected of me, I was aware of the quality checks that I was responsible for, and when an alarm went off, I had a general idea of what I needed to do. My trainer gave me some space and wasn't present for most of the night, it was just myself and the head kitchen operator. With two more weeks of training courses ahead, I'm confident I will be off to a great start as a kitchen operator.

When I started with the company two months ago, I was told it was an exciting time to be employeed with The Hershey Company and there were a bunch of changes on the horizon. I chalked this up to the welcoming commitee just trying to get us excited about our new employment. Once I got to work On Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and found out about the management meeting that went on the morning before, I started to believe all the hype. The "team leaders" (people that are in charge of running and operating their own line) were told if they did not posess a four year college degree, they would be scaled back to a floor position within the next six months, and Hershey would be hiring nine or 10 new supervisors holding a college education before the years end. I of course came home and submitted my application Wednesday morning as we were told Hershey would be more apt to hire individuals that were already employeed with the company. I'm fully aware that this transition will not be all rainbows and butterflies, and there will be some animosity between the former line leaders and the new salaried supervisors. I'm anxious to find out if I will recieve an interview and what my future holds with the company. I have made no mention to anyone about applying for the supervision position with the exception of my father....well, and now you Randy. I thought it best to just keep it quiet for now. Any suggestions or advice you might have?

Released

Sunday night/Monday morning I was told that I was being released from training in the kitchen. Apparently, the way for Hershey to familiarize you with your new job is to release you after two weeks on the job training and let you make your own mistakes. The person that currently holds the relief/rework position in the kiss kitchen told me he would be there just in case something went wrong and I needed help to fix it.

I don't think two weeks of OJT is near enough time to learn eveything you need to know in order to be a succesful operator in the kiss kitchen. My trainer told me the only way to familiarize yourself with what goes on is to actually perform the duties yourself and have someone around if something happens that I couldn't handle. So to this point in the week, I have been fairly successful collecting samples, measuring temper, cleaning screen check points along with cleaning and replacing magnets. I am able to start the line myself and repair most anything that sets off an alarm on the line itself. However, last night an alarm went off that I had never seen or heard before and I actually went to the wrong screen in an attempt to figure out what the alarm was about. I just needed to go to the "hopper" screen and open up a valve that had been closed in order to relieve pressure from the line. Needless to say, I was given a hard time about it for the rest of the night. I heard plenty of "and you went to college" cracks for the remainder of the night. I will say this, being more hands on has given me a lot more confidence in becoming an operator. I'm not afraid to make a mistake and it seems as though everything is beginning to come together and make sense. I'll see if the feeling has changed by the end of the work week.