background

Have an Associates degree in Mechanical Drafting from way back when drafting machines were the rule and CAD was just starting to become available. First job was at a structural steel place drawing I beams. More of an architectural type of thing. Floundered badly because I didn't have the right background and there's only so many ways you can draw I beams.

Applied for a mechanical inspector trainee job at a large aerospace company. They offered me a 62% pay increase with guaranteed quarterly raises for the next two years. Survived the training process and spent the next 8 years doing surface plate work with a large amount of GD&T prints. Had some on the job CMM training after 8 years and was doing pretty well with it. Company was falling apart after 10 years by not getting several must have contracts and I bailed out to a zinc diecasting company.

Different CMM OEM, still no formal training on the CMM or diecasting in general plus a 20% pay cut. New CMM did things differently enough that I struggled with it. Struggled with the whole draft angle thing too.

Opportunity came up to work at a different branch of the corporation that owned the aerospace company. Had to move across the state. They were using the same CMM brand that the aerospace company did and offered to reverse the pay cut. Company was spending a half a billion dollars building a brand new plant. I was one of the first 30 people there. Got my first formal CMM training. Had a blast building up a QC department with a good friend I met there. Good friend was one of those guys you either loved or hated and one of the managers had it in for him. After about 5 years the manager managed to get him fired on a pretty flimsy excuse.

Friend found a job at an automotive casting company and recommended me for a job there. Took the interview as a favor to him but didn't have a good feeling about it. They asked what it would take to get me to join them. Gave what I thought was an extremely high number and they didn't blink. Between the much higher pay and a need to move closer to my mother in law, I took the job. Moved back across the state. Biggest mistake of my life. Way too much drama. Was throwing up before going to work several times a week within a year or so of starting.

After parting ways with them, I got a job with a machine tool builder with another CMM brand. Got formal training. Good job, worked on doing CPK studies to prove out our machines to our customers. Got to see prints from all across the country from many types of industries. However, the recession in 2000/ 2001 hit them really hard. Went from having a record year to having next to zero orders for the first two quarters. Didn't need more than one programmer, the other guy had went thru their apprentice program, and I was the last hired.

Found a new job posting the day after I was laid off at a medical device company. Interviewed and was hired under a week and half. They were getting their first DCC CMM running PC DMIS. Got trained that summer and pretty well took over the CMM for the next 12 years. Coming up on my 20 year anniversary here.

Interesting story.

Interesting story.