service technician

dynamics 365 architect

firmware engineer

manager

controls engineer

Canadian Solar Solutions Inc.

12 hour continental shifts. Days 1 Days 2 Nights 1 Nights 2 
Manufacturing MV Stations for Solar Farm development.
We had been hired when it first started from a prototype unit.
Learning trade skills from Millwrights, Tool and Die makers, Electricians.
Had seemed like a job with potential for career opportunities.
I worked with engineering to develop work instructions to standardize production and get ISO certification.
Company knowingly only had so much guarantee of work and sold us a dream.
Micro managed between shifts, poor communication.
Company had government support with promises of creating 200 jobs in the region for 2 years.
Just shy of 2 years we had reached the end of production needs, resulting in a massive "temporary layoff" which then turned into a permanent layoff once their timeline was passed. (avoided government fines for subsidy of job creation)

Overall I loved the technical side of things I built every part of these units and had them memorized. I loved working with engineering and helping them develop their systems for standardization. I think this has equipped me with some great problem solving skills for the future. I wish they would have been more transparent with the longevity of the job opportunity, maybe reward some of us production workers who had done a lot of extra duties with some sort of Apprenticeship opportunity.

Have times there’s no upper management, who lead the group with goals
And objectives. No clarity or guidance is given. They expect associates to set their own goals and objectives without their expectations being given  for quarterly months.  Upper management does not have time to manage their team and failed to set their goal and objectives in beginning of the first quarter.  You expected to work overtime in evening and weekends with no pay like until 11 pm in night.  No Job security layoff with no reason, not based performance  and management does not care about you.  And lot of others
 coworkers have quit their job due to depression, workload, overwhelming stress and pressure coming from upper management, and presidential level. 

This was an excellent company to work for with great benefits and wages. Due to the competitiveness of the markets job security fluctuates. It was great to be a part of a forever changing field and to see the great changes in environmentally friendly energy come to life. The staff were awesome to work with and everyone had a great enthusiasm and loyalty to their work.

The only two complaints I have for this company was the lack of communication in upper management, it always felt like there were two chains of command and neither communicated with each other. The other was the fact that the London Plant was always under the shadow of the Guelph plant and never recognized for our great contribution to the company.

It is too much to write about and I am still disgusted about them.
The managerial team at that time was completely incompetent. Instead of addressing clearly all issues, they prefer to hide them under the rug. 
What can I say? They had extremely expensive equipment arrived in Canadian Customs and they were so incompetent that I needed to explain them on lengths that is a high priority to release the goods from Customs  due to the penalty fees, handling, storage 
so on and so forth and they seemed that they don't understand what I was saying at that time.

It is 12 hour straight night shift and it is kind of challenge for the first time. I learned how to work with team and patient to be able to work such a long hours, because this is my first job with long hours. Management are beautiful strict people when is time to work is work when is time to jock is jock. The hardest parts in this job when a person come to work with out sleep, and it is 12 hours night shift from 7pm to 7am, it is kind of hard. What I mostly enjoy with this job we work for the green we don not damage the environment, and  I also enjoy my co workers because they are wonderful people.

* Many projects to maintain and handle , with numerous interruptions for emergency projects.  
* enhanced computer skills within ERP system.
* Management is not educated in volume and man hours for accomplishing project demands
* Co-workers work closely together across various departments to ensure project tasks are completed.
* Management indecisiveness within the daily operations of facility.
* working with a good group of peers and the variety of projects to be completed.

Work from 7am - 7pm
Depending on position;
Packaging/warehouse you are mobile with taping gun and label maker.
Line/Machine operator you are stationary for entire shift
Learned about warehouse/packaging and various positions of line work including responsibility of machine operator.
Workplace was very uniform, not too lively.
Hardest part of job was standing on feet for 12 hours in steel toed work boots.
Most enjoyable part of job was learning about the assembly and distribution of solar panels.

12 hour shifts are hard but not frustrating if all the parts needed to work are available. Due to some of the management this was not the case. The line was help up for hours sometimes needlessly because of poor communication. My co-workers were lazy and it shocked me many of them had a job at all. The best part of the any day was training others to work my machine. Teaching QA is fun, it's amazing what some people will miss when it comes to flaws.

There is a lot of room to grow as an engineer here with some unique challenges and pressure. They welcome new ideas but management can be difficult to work with and convince.

Can be on call 24/7 and the company has moved to a less work/life friendly balance.

Headquarters are in China which makes approval for larger projects difficult and leadership somewhat lacking.

Very well set London management team, great operators, great colleagues. London plant is more over a family to me. All the plant personnel were dedicated, helpful and caring. Managers were really great, never criticized any work, mentored and encouraged to achieve career goals.

London plant was very well optimized and worked on lean based system.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Service technician 14 salaries reported	$94,643 per year
Dynamics 365 architect 11 salaries reported	$120,000 per year
Firmware engineer 8 salaries reported	$121,500 per year
Manager 4 salaries reported	$145,000 per year
Controls engineer 4 salaries reported	$122,500 per year

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