FRIDAY!! The front office peeps get to wear jeans today! Several guys are working in other places today, out in the field they say. Jerry is in Wilmington and several guys will leave at noon today after working longer hours M-R.
I met with Eric today. He is an electrician by trade and has an AS degree in Industrial Maintenance (Technology). The paperwork from Craig says “Electrician must verify proper tap wiring,” so Eric will be blamed if panel doesn’t go as planned electrically. He follows most if not all of the electrical panels to the customer site. He told me about one he got to go to in Poland! He has been with Jerry 12 years. There were lots of transformers around and he informed me about the “Ugly’s electrical references” book, he carries as a reference. The yellow cords hanging from the ceiling have 440V, the black 120V, and the blue line are air. The transformers have a base filled with pea gravel and then a polymer liquid that solidifies filled in on that, this allows for thermal expansion as the transformer gives off a lot of heat. There are a lot of different colors in the electrical world; many values are set by company or installer. Eric mentioned he has to idiot proof all of his work and place safe guards on everything, something that has evolved over the years. He has learned how to build these items by repetition, especially the light curtains, finger switches and E stops which are all safety related. He also checks and double checks everything. Blair has to use a table saw to cut a piece of plexiglass down to size. They use it as a safety guard over the fuses. The original safety box doesn’t fit into panel. This is a good example of problem solving! Each guy at the shop has their own tools and toolbox. Jerry helps them get started with tools. Eric and Blair fire the panel up…and dud…nothing happens. It needed the fuses and then it was good to go. All the yellow in the picture are fuses, fuses everywhere, they cut off when anything goes wrong. Craig had to make a PO for some things he needed on a panel. He made a phone call to the place after documenting it. You can hear the great repertoire between the electrical parts store in town and Craig the customer. He says you can do a million things correct and no one remembers, but do one thing wrong and everyone will remember. You do not want to be that guy. There is a nice relationship between the guys, teasing and getting along. Blair showed me the label maker by computer. It uses the software EASY-MARK.
Got some pictures of Justin in the painting booth.
I met with Wayne, who has been with Jerry the longest. Their relationship goes back to when they first went into business together. If Wayne cannot fix it, no one can. He has the patience and knowledge, to hear him say it he has a knack for that sort of thing and always has. He remembers as a young boy taking apart things, fixing them and putting them back together. He is a man of few words, but a wealth of information and humility. Jacob, Jerry’s grandson is nearby and says Wayne knows how to work every machine in the place and knows how to do everything. Currently Wayne and Jacob are working on organizing the bolts and screws. Wayne said it has been an ever growing pile for 20 years and needed some attention while he waits on a part for a machine he is fixing. It takes a trained eye to be a bolt sorter. There is a metric and standard size. The picture is not of a nut necklace which I originally thought, but a tool if you will to help distinguish which nuts/screws are what. Wayne says the best employees are hard workers and have a willingness to learn.
I met Jacob, Jerry’s grandson, one of Jeremy’s twin sons. He has been working in shop since he was 16 and is currently enrolled in CCCC. His goal is to transfer to NC State and become a mechanical engineer. We talked about accidents with Wayne and they agreed most accidents happen when people get careless and comfortable. He says his Chemistry class helped him understand a little more about the different kinds of metal they use. Jacob is a do everything kind of guy as well. Nice listening and interacting with these men.
Melody took Henrietta and I out for Applebee’s lunch, so nice!!