Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

Millennials in Manufacturing: Kyle Robertson – A Rewarding Career

We next feature Kyle Robertson, an SMT technician at Saline Lectronics, for our ongoing Millennials in Manufacturing series.

Kyle has been with Lectronics for three years now. So far, Kyle explained, working for Lectronics has provided him the opportunity to learn new things related to the electronics industry every day and to witness the latest, most exciting technologies being developed.

Going back to when he was still applying for a job, Kyle’s career objectives hadn’t really been defined. All he wanted was steady work in a manufacturing facility that would offer him room to grow and improve.

The challenges he has faced since joining Lectronics provide some of the reasons he enjoys his job. “Every day there is a new issue at hand that requires us to get to get to the bottom of and prevent future repeated mistakes,” said Kyle. “Troubleshooting an issue with an unknown cause can be very grueling and frustrating, but the end result makes it all worth it.”

Self-improvement and growth are what motivate Kyle to become more successful and happy in his job at Lectronics. “I love the challenges I face on a day-to-day (sometimes hour-to-hour) basis. I get immense satisfaction from identifying an issue and being able to get to the root cause and make it go away forever,” he explained. “My job constantly requires me to look at the big picture and then dive into specifics while continually asking the question ‘why?’ The chase can be quite frustrating a lot of the time, but that’s also what makes it exciting.”

Give and Take

Kyle’s idea of loyalty is something that should be respected and reciprocated from both employer and employee.

“If a company is willing to invest time, effort and training into someone, then that person owes the employer an honest effort in improving the company by honing their skills and abilities as an employee,” according to Kyle. “By the same token, a company should be willing to grow and promote an employee that continually excels at their job and has shown they can and have been helping the company succeed and grow. I think it’s fair to say each side needs to be willing to know the worth of each other and act accordingly.”

Fortunately, Lectronics does a great job at growing employees and promoting from the inside, noted Kyle. He believes Lectronics focuses on putting time and effort into making a good employee great.

Driving the Company Forward

The Baby Boomers are said to be soon vacating a lot of positions—particularly leadership roles—in the manufacturing field. Is Kyle ready to take the reins and help drive the company forward?

“I think it will take a certain group of individuals willing to work on constantly improving and growing within the company, and the company as a whole. A type of mindset will be necessary to adapt to situations and customer needs. The company will need a diverse group of people open to any challenge, especially if we’ve never done it before. I would like to be in every part of that; I love doing new projects, taking on new responsibilities and roles.”

To those earlier generations of folks who are saying millennials such as Kyle have a different work ethic, he feels they are judging a whole generation on a few bad seeds.

“I think the same stereotype could be applied to almost any generation; some people want praise for doing almost nothing, no matter their age. Although there are some lazy millennials, I think the main point of confusion is our ability to simplify our job and make it easier to do,” Kyle said. “I think the older generation is used to the same painstaking labor they’ve done for many years. Sometimes, all it takes is a new set of eyes to look at something and think of a way to do it more efficiently tomorrow.”

Manufacturing as a Career

According to Kyle, some people tend to be misinformed when it comes to working in a manufacturing facility.

“The idea of engineering, managing and processing is often overlooked, but I truly think it is the key factor in a quality driven and efficient manufacturing facility. I became interested because I wanted to improve myself and try something new that I had never done before. Now, every day I learn something new and can apply it to my work immediately,” explained Kyle.

Kyle’s hunger to grow and develop his skill set will continuously drive him forward in his manufacturing career. He’s already made a significant impact within Lectronics’ SMT Team, and is eager to continue applying common sense solutions to process inefficiencies. Thanks to his grounded personality and solutions-oriented mindset, working with Kyle is both enjoyable and refreshing, like a breath of fresh air.

Watch Kyle's interview here: