AIM Magazine 2016 | Page 46

American Tubing ( ATI ) offers employees the opportunity to pave their own career path .
The company makes parts for refrigeration and air conditioning units for companies like Rheem , Lennox and Trane .
“ The company prides itself on providing a good work atmosphere with plenty of opportunities to advance ,” said Chuck Lewis , President of American Tubing . “ Advancement is not a matter of luck .”
ATI is more high-tech than what many people picture when they think of a factory .
“ We have a lot of automation and strive to work smarter , not harder ,” Lewis said . “ Once our team members get to know the equipment , they become very productive .”
Employees typically begin their career on the production floor , and then advance to the tool room and finally the engineering department . The engineering department designs layouts and machines that will be used to assemble parts for customers .
According to Lewis , the tool room builds the layouts and machines that will be used on the manufacturing floor . Workers make from $ 10 to $ 20 per hour on the floor . Employees in the tool room and engineering departments can make from $ 35,000 to $ 50,000 per year .
Employees who start with some manufacturing experience may be able to skip some entry level positions . Taking high school classes in engineering or manufacturing gives future employees a competitive advantage .
In April 2016 , Harvey Reed began his career in the tool room . Reed operates a computer-controlled milling machine . His advanced machinery skills allowed him to skip an entry level position in the manufacturing shop and move up to a more advanced position .
Reed said he learned how to operate the milling machine at Northwest Technical Institute .
Wayne Herbert , a member of the engineering section , recently taught Gustavo Facio how to work a computer aided drafting program , or CAD . The men were working on the layout of a manufacturing station that will assemble parts for a customer .
On the manufacturing floor , many employees oversee several assembly stations , watching robot arms cut parts from rolls and rolls of copper pipe . Other robot arms line up parts to be connected .
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“ I don ’ t mind when I see people just watching – it means everything is going good ,” Lewis said . “ If I see them working on a machine , it means something has gone wrong or is broken .”