My first week as an intern and helper for Payton Machine has been very interesting. I can’t talk about what I have worked on because of contract secrecy. However, waking up at 4:30 am and getting off at 6 pm to 7 pm for six out of seven days with talks of upping to a 16-hour shift was something I did not know I needed. I have so far learned a bunch on parts, cleaning parts, handling parts, sanding metal, wearing proper Personal Protection Equipment, work ethic, what it means to be part of an actual crew, maintaining and oiling machinery, and getting a real insight to future machinery that I will be fixing electrical or instruments on even if that’s not what the what millwrights do. Millwrights do a lot of precision repairs on metal bolt bearings and so on. Basically, masters fixing the metal within machinery.
With all this knowledge coming in I’m almost guaranteed an upper hand on future Instrumentation and Electrical Technicians because I will have an idea of the internal workings. I have been learning how a machine shop works and what it takes to be a profitable member of a crew even though I am just an intern and helper. They have me currently on the front line of plant repair and I have actually contributed a good amount for my skill level fixing these very specialized machines. I have been asking lots of questions and learning a bunch just from helping these skilled workers do their jobs.
