Tevita Leetham

As a CNC Machinist in the Tool Room, I program, setup, and operate CNC Mills and Lathes. I am learning MasterCAM programming through everyday use and practice, I am becoming much more familiar with a large variety of Setup methods and techniques, and am receiving daily training and mentoring from Senior Machinists. This position has allowed me to slow down and fine-tune my own techniques while also learning many new things in a slower-paced and educationally conducive setting.

The CNC Machinist in the Tool Room supports production throughout the facility by crafting machine-specific tooling, repairing existing tooling, and also by producing various assembly components when in-house inventories do not meet production needs to avoid supply lags. They will plan workflow ahead of time, create new and edit existing programs as needed, perform setups of both lathes and mills, produce First-Articles to quality for inspection pending approval, and will run the machines until job completion.

This return to the position of CNC Operator allowed me to return to the basics of mastering my craft. Upon my return to this position, I assumed the responsibility of maintaining two full production cells on my own, which pushed me to improve many of the skills I already possessed. Among the skills that were honed during this time were a stronger attention to detail, workflow planning, and results-focused decision making while remaining self-sufficient in all areas of work. This not only served to improve myself, but allowed me to continue to mentor and be an example for junior team members, and also came at a time when production uptime/output were critical to overall company success.

The CNC Operator runs two full production cells consisting of about 10-12 machines. They will load castings and unload finished pieces with 100% visual inspection, they change inserts when needed and maintain dimensions of the parts by making offsets. They will also keep accurate logs of scrap/production data and will mentor their peers along the way.

Stepping into the role of Team lead allowed to share the knowledge and skill I had gained with anybody willing to receive it. A large amount of my time was spent teaching and mentoring Operators as well as Tool Floaters on topics such as process control, robot programming, minor crash recovery, tool changes, and troubleshooting. This position allowed me to contribute meaningful and tangible changes to the skill level, morale, and overall competence of team members at all levels.

The Team Lead drives production uptime, scrap reduction, and rapid machine and robot recovery on the production floor while keeping production visible, prioritized, and moving across shifts. Documenting issues, communicating with adjacent leaders, and improving machining processes when such changes create measurable gains.

Moving into the role of CNC Setup Technician allowed me to vastly expand my understanding of CNC processes, CNC maintenance, robot programming, the ability to produce full g-code machining programs by hand, work holding, tooling applications, and process engineering. As a Setup Technician, I became intimately familiar with all machining processes implemented in the facility, and thus, assumed an important role in process improvement and reprocessing initiatives throughout the plant.

In this role, the technician will "tear down" machines in the production cell and remove tools, fixtures, grippers, collets, among other relevant items, from the cell, and then will install new items specific to the next part to be produced. Upon installation of tooling, fixtures, etc. the technician will prove programs, adjust parts into tolerance with offsets, make hand-edits to programs where needed, and submit a First Article to Quality for inspection and approval, pending approval. The technician also bears a secondary responsibility of supporting production through operator mentoring as well as machine/robot crash recoveries and process adjustments when needed.

CNC Operator was my introduction to the CNC industry. I caught on quickly to the principles of GD&T and was able to excell at keeping parts in spec, earning a high production output as well as a low scrap count. The time I spent in this position allowed me to learn how to utilize a lathes and mills and also allowed me to learn many things from high-skill team members, including a substantial amount of training on CNC Setup procedures.

A CNC Operator runs a production cell of 3-6 machines. They will load castings and unload finished pieces with 100% visual inspection, they change inserts when needed and maintain dimensions of the parts by making offsets. They will also keep accurate logs of production data and will communicate any abnormalities or mechanical issues through proper channels of support.

The position of Security System and Smart Home Network installer calls for an ability to coordinate multiple ongoing installation processes while maintaining customer morale, sales rep morale, company image, and cleanliness while being professional and respectful as these installations are performed inside the customer's residence. From my experience here I gained a strong sense of self-motivation, an aptitude for interpersonal communication, the ability to maintain a results focused approach when overcoming adversity, and a deeper understanding of troubleshooting, critical thinking, and workflow planning.

The technician uses hand and power tools alike to install security systems and smart home automation. They install equipment such as indoor cameras, outdoor cameras, doorbell cameras, smart door locks, garage door openers, smart thermostats, security sensors, security panels, and hardware converters. When installation is complete and the system is online as well as throughout the install process, they will then instruct the customers on how to use their newly installed system.

Commercial Roofing has provided me with a strong sense of workflow effeciency, clear and effective communication, project planning, team coordination, and awareness of safety. This was a great way for me to build a career foundation based in diligent labor and work ethic.

This position requires the use of hand tools and power tools such as drills, saws, hammers, knives, heat welders, metal benders, shovels, and materials like tar and membrane roofing to remove existing materials and install a new roof for the customer.