Nissin Brake

I worked there for 6 month.
This is a labor intensive manual "dirty" factory job. (www.nissinbrake.com)

The money was good. (about $14/hr)
But everyone will have to work weekends every week. No exceptions. There is a huge turnover. So be aware that you will have "No time" for family or friends.
The place is full of Walmart types and the atmosphere is somewhat depressing. (no one is smiling)

There are other companies in the same industrial park that pays about the same but much friendlier working environment.
I just moved to another company in the area and it is a much nicer place to work. Very happy now.

You don't want to work there.

The factory is running 24/7 and O/T is expected from everyone.
Most people there are desparate to get out...extremely low morale.

The biggest reason is that the management has no idea on how to run an American business. No clear leadership either.(American managers are all 'Yes Men' to Japanese.)

You can do so much better than Nissin even if you have no education...

My company is a supplier to Nissin.
We have not had any issue with them.
They are demanding customer but very fair.
We had some quality issues in the past, but their quality engineers are very reasonble and great to work with.(unlike GM or Ford)

The order forecasts are very accurate most of the time.
They pay us on time, every time.

However they have very high turnover of people.
My contact window has changed 5 times in the past 2 years.
I don't know where they went, but they were not internal transfer.

I work at Nissin and like it. They never had a lay-off and its dirty in some places because we manufacture machined parts. If you can’t get a little dirty you need to get out of manufacturing dude. The pay and benefits are really good and you can work as much O/T as you want. It’s a lot better than some other places I worked and you don’t have to worry about getting laid off. They even have hot meals you can buy and you can still smoke here. Stay in Illinois dude. Buckeyes rule!

Hey John...I believe that your attempt to mask your identity as a member of management was in poor taste. You should openly defend your company if you wish to waste your time on forums and message boards. Who cares if the company never had a layoff? The turnover rate allows the company the freedom to flex the workforce up and down.

Interesting discussions! Found this site by accident. I too have worked for various Japanese companies, albeit not this one. I totally agree with Pete of Indiana about the management aspect at these factories (not all BUT most) are run the same. Extremely poor morale, you "live" at the place, no discipline coming from management on issues on the production floor and no training....at least that's been my experience. Yes, the money is good but at what cost? Most marriages are falling apart (for various reasons) but expecting your job to come FIRST --- over family is ludicrous! It's fine if you are single and/or divorced. No wonder the divorce rate is soooo high in the USA. If you cannot have a "family life" then something IS going to give and it won't be the job. The Japanese STILL haven't figured out that America is not run like Japan.

It is unfortunate that many of you are not happy at NBO.

You should know that Japanese companies are creating jobs where American companies are running away from the Midwest region.

Japanese companies are still investing millions in Ohio. Big 3 are closing factories. So much for the American life style and strong work ethic. Most of you are still driving your Chevy pickups that loses its value by 50% as soon as you drive off the dealership lot. You can trade in any Japanese brand for more than that in 5 years. It is really uneconomical to buy an American brand... May be some of you should start buying made in USA Japanese brand... better yet, buy made in Ohio products. This will improve everyone's job prospect.

So, let us think about this again. You can complain all you want, but you still need a job. Unless you are smart enough to get out of the working class environment or grow out of your naive farm boy mentality, this is the reality for you. Get over it!

I have worked for Nissin for almost six years. I feel they have very good benefits. Yes there is a lot of overtime but you can find other people to cover some of that overtime. I got a bid for a line that does not have overtime. I do cover for other people on lines I know how to run. There are a lot of people that would help out with overtime if you ask them.

John in Findlay, Ohio said: I work at Nissin and like it. They never had a lay-off and its dirty in some places because we manufacture machined parts. If you can’t get a little dirty you need to get out of manufacturing dude. The pay and benefits are really good and you can work as much O/T as you want. It’s a lot better than some other places I worked and you don’t have to worry about getting laid off. They even have hot meals you can buy and you can still smoke here. Stay in Illinois dude. Buckeyes rule!

dude john do u know myjoan graver she works 3rd shift

I worked for Nissin for a while. Like any place the good points come with the bad.. I had a lot of superevisors that were great and very easy to get along with and I could always find overtime.. There are however just as many bad supervisors there as there are good ones. I even had one in assembly that thought she should run her department like Hitler and thought people worked better if they were affraid of her. The biggest problem you have there is the high school like enviroment that the people create always tattling on others; upper management seem to support those who tattle so then the problem only gets worse because then it creates more drama and more people telling on others for stupid things like calling someone sweetheart... Yeah maybe it shouldn't have been said but is it really any of your buisness if it was not said to you??? So my advice is the pay is good as a last resort job, and if you do work there then keep your mouth closed and ears open cause chances are someone wants to get you into trouble just for the fun of it...

Mr. Honda....the forum covers the issues with Nissin Brake. One cannot draw parallels between all Japanese companies. There are many well run and financed Japanese companies in the Midwest. Ohioans cannot argue the economic impact of the Japanese auto plants. There impact has been very good for our beloved state.

However, folks should inquire why Nissin has to work so much overtime which is a common statement by current and ex-employees. Most Japanese plants because of operational efficiencies are able to accomplish normal production within five days with a potential Saturday to catch-up or meet Honda/Toyota Saturday overtime. Based on the other posts, Nissin must be working six to seven days a week every week. This must be very taxing for the good folks working in the plant. What kind of investment and capital expenditures is management making in the plant? Why did the stock price for Nissin Kogyo, Nissin Brake's parent company drop in February 2008?

Regarding your negative sentiment towards us farmers, we must remind you that farming generates more economic activity for the state of Ohio than ANY auto manufacturing. Have you missed the recent news events regarding the inflationary movement in corn and soy beans driven by biofuels. Honda and Toyota are also investing millions in R&D for these types of fuels. Farming has and will always be the economic cornerstone of Ohio. My Chevy Silverado is still running just fine after 100K miles. The residual value on it is better than the Honda Ridgeline with comparable mileage.

Regarding your negative sentiment towards us farmers, we must remind you that farming generates more economic activity for the state of Ohio than ANY auto manufacturing. Have you missed the recent news events regarding the inflationary movement in corn and soy beans driven by biofuels. Honda and Toyota are also investing millions in R&D for these types of fuels. Farming has and will always be the economic cornerstone of Ohio. My Chevy Silverado is still running just fine after 100K miles. The residual value on it is better than the Honda Ridgeline with comparable mileage.- farmer Joe...

All I have to say is if Honda was able to come up with a tuff truck that is able to stand up to the work that farmers do insted of the sissy boy trucks they produce then maybe they would sell more..

Daughter of a farmer in Findlay, Ohio said: Regarding your negative sentiment towards us farmers, we must remind you that farming generates more economic activity for the state of Ohio than ANY auto manufacturing. Have you missed the recent news events regarding the inflationary movement in corn and soy beans driven by biofuels. Honda and Toyota are also investing millions in R&D for these types of fuels. Farming has and will always be the economic cornerstone of Ohio. My Chevy Silverado is still running just fine after 100K miles. The residual value on it is better than the Honda Ridgeline with comparable mileage.- farmer Joe...

All I have to say is if Honda was able to come up with a tuff truck that is able to stand up to the work that farmers do insted of the sissy boy trucks they produce then maybe they would sell more..

Corn and soy prices are indeed increasing but to put this blame on biofuels is not the only place to point a finger. How about you point at fuel prices itself? Nothing personal but I am tired of everyone blaming corn prices and food prices on the biofuel industry.

Biofuels have been around for over 20 years, the media gets invovled and misleads many people into thinking it all because of the biofuels. Too be honest, many farmers have been getting rakes over the coals for a number of years and are finally getting paid a decent amount for the hard work and long hours that has to be done to acheive a decent harvest.

I do not disagree with most of your statement just wish that people would dig a little deeper with the biofuels before saying they are a "bad thing." I would rather spend $150 a barrel of biofuel made in the USA then spend $120 barrel for some Towel head in another country, but thats just me.

I worked at NBO for 3 yrs as a quality person. I liked the company but on second shift if you are not in good with the superintendent you won't last he will find a way to get rid of you.
I found that it wasn't the Japanese people at all but more the good old american boys that screwed you over. If you are not one of them then you don't matter!

I feel that i must elaborate a bit.
If you are complaining about it being dirty think about what they make! The casting and machining areas are indeed dirty. I was trained to work in every area of the shop so i know it well. If you were in assembly and complaining its dirty you had to be on the caliper lines, think about the grease!!
When you cast parts from molten aluminum you can not get away from the dirt and grease no matter what you do. In machining the big problem is the coolant.

As for managment it is not the japanese! If the Japanese knew half of what the americans did they go nuts!! There was saying i heard alot of people say "What the Japanese don't know won't hurt". Pretty sad i think. The american management has a "click" and if your not part of that then they tend to not care about you. See that's the problem when you have a Japanese factory with american workers, Japanese are about the job not thier social life and americans would rather socialize. Now granted not all of us are like that, but the majority is.
Unfortunately people like myself lost thier job because of the typical american boy playing boss. If the boss doesn't like you you won't get far. And i have to say that second shift is the worst for it! The superintendent is something else, but i guess that's what happens when it's a power hungery 20 something i like to show whose boss kinda guy is hired for it. It was alot better with the guy before him!!!!
Because of this kind of thing people either lose thier jobs or quite cause they can't take it anymore. And don't go telling the plant manager or the hr manager, cause they don't care!! I won't mention any names here.

I have bn waiting to get into nissin for about 5 months now. if their turn over rate is that high then why are their no openings? Ive past all my test w/ what i'm told is decent scores, how do i get into nissin? thanks.

Good luck trying to get in.

Unfortunately, Nissin stock traded in Japan is melting down fast. It was near $30 a year ago and it is about $8 now. It will likely go down to $3 or 4 before it settles down. It is already below book value (it means, the company is worth more broken up and sold for their parts then stay operating as business)

Honda has issued an warning that their profit will be down more than 40% vs. last year. Nissin is not far behind. The US operation's profit has been shrinking since current NBO president took over. The management style is more of reactionary style rather than pro-active. In other words, no direction from the Japanese or Americans. We need a strong manager to run here.

Harley-Davidson is shrinking fast also and Honda will stop building motorcycle soon and shift everything to Brazil and Japan.
The NBO / NRU-E sales team has nothing new in the future to expand their operation(other than Honda brand).

In short, cars and bikes are not selling and Nissin is over invested in Ohio and Georgia.

I would not be surprised to see if they start laying off people.

As for Nissin in Nagano, Honda may decided to merge Nissin with Keihin and Showa. The share prices are reasonable now and it will be mistake not to consolidate their supplier network. (Honda owns controllin shares in all three)

By the way, all management knows this will happen eventually.

Thanks for letting me know.

The decrease in the automotive market has also put a slow down on Nissin's hiring.

It still sounds like the same hole I worked for years ago. Alot of broken promises and dermititias. I think they give you sauve for that. They don't care about the workers even when the building gets cleared out by toxic gas due to their lack of supervision.Then you have to come back and work the rest of the night not knowing what you are breathing. I make alot more than 14 an hour and not risking my health to do it. What do you have to pay for benefits anymore that was alot back then.Let me know if you want to know anymore about this hole. Anybody that cared for the employees they let go.

ive worked at nissin for about a year and i think tht the people and the pay is one of the best places that you can work in. while today most automotive plants are closing down nissin is still going strong without laying anyone off and not closing the doors. That to me is the signs of a respectful and thriving company. and after we get out of are ressession we will be stronger not only as individuals but as a team.

Heath in Findlay ohio in Bowling Green, Ohio said: I worked at NBO for 3 yrs as a quality person. I liked the company but on second shift if you are not in good with the superintendent you won't last he will find a way to get rid of you.
I found that it wasn't the Japanese people at all but more the good old american boys that screwed you over. If you are not one of them then you don't matter!

Yes I know what you mean about if they could get rid of you they will.I should of listened to everyone when they told me they were trying to get rid of people for anything and i guess they go what they wanted huh.I busted my butt 4 them and took me 6 months to get hired in and i finally did. after my 6 months(180 days),I decided to take one of my vacation days so i called it in and told them i was taking a civ day.the next day I toook a half of vacation day they called me and said I didn't have one but when I checked my time card I had 15 hours of civs so I told them that and after telling them that they still said I didn't have one and I was there for 185 days b4 I even took that one. But what got me is there was other people that didn't come to work and I know they didn't have no call in days left and they wasn't there cause of the snow and the plant wasn't shut down cause of the weather and he never showed up and it was funny that he still had his job when he came back the next day. I just don't see how they can pick and choose like that.

me in Findlay, Ohio said: Yes I know what you mean about if they could get rid of you they will.I should of listened to everyone when they told me they were trying to get rid of people for anything and i guess they go what they wanted huh.I busted my butt 4 them and took me 6 months to get hired in and i finally did. after my 6 months(180 days),I decided to take one of my vacation days so i called it in and told them i was taking a civ day.the next day I toook a half of vacation day they called me and said I didn't have one but when I checked my time card I had 15 hours of civs so I told them that and after telling them that they still said I didn't have one and I was there for 185 days b4 I even took that one. But what got me is there was other people that didn't come to work and I know they didn't have no call in days left and they wasn't there cause of the snow and the plant wasn't shut down cause of the weather and he never showed up and it was funny that he still had his job when he came back the next day. I just don't see how they can pick and choose like that.

It's all about who you know or who you blow around that place sweetheart. Sorry about your luck, but honsetly there are much better places to work at so I wouldn't worry much about it.

yea i know. I have moved on. But i just feel like i want to go back and get a job there when they really need someone and then tell them how bad they suck and mess them up. But yea that probally was it I didn't blow ne one and I kept to my self.

So much for no layoffs. That bragging rights is outta window.

Salary cut and time reduction aren't enough anymore.

Whats next?

Don't believe them when they tell you that things are bottomed out. We have at least another year or two of this recession.

More layoffs will come and the 'temporary' salary reductions will be permanent. Except for the senior management. Rumor is that they didn't even get the salary reductions.

Palin it sounds like you know what you are talking about. If you want to chat sometime, I may have a unique perspective from down here. Respond on this forum and we can set it up if you're interested.

Who knows if the management do not change soon, it may be unionized... This place essentially is the brake division on Honda. How we are treated so differently here vs. Marysville / East Liberty. Smart ones have already left and joined Honda for better pay and benefits. Nissin head office is still sitting on a huge cash position. Go figure.

Palin in Findlay, Ohio said: Who knows if the management do not change soon, it may be unionized... This place essentially is the brake division on Honda. How we are treated so differently here vs. Marysville / East Liberty. Smart ones have already left and joined Honda for better pay and benefits. Nissin head office is still sitting on a huge cash position. Go figure.

I agree that R&D staff are treated differently, but it's not as good as you might think down here. We got the pay reductions to and several years of no raises. And now they are hiring more people. I don't think they will ever let NBO unionize though. Nissin Japan takes profits when NBO is profitable, but Japan can't help us when we aren't profitable and associates have to 'share the pain'.

I also doubt management will change anytime soon. Our best employees will leave as soon as the economy improves.

The place

The place sucks. The turnover rate is the worst I have ever seen. They lose appproximately 100 employees a year. Most of them leave after they have wised up, some point out, some are terminated. Over the years they have taken away most of the points...leaving us with only 3 points a year now. That was probably ok when we were down to 4 days a week, but now that we are back up to 5 and 6 days, they haven't given back our 6 points, and they never will. Anon, you are correct. Our best employees will leave as soon as they can. They will go somewhere where they are treated with some respect, appreciation and some fairness. I will laugh my ass off when they lose half of their workforce. They deserve it for all of the mistreatment the employees have endured over the years. I would not advise anyone...even my worst enemy , to work there. It is a TERRRIBLE place to work. I wish I could say something good about it...but I can't.

I have worked at Nissin for some years now and have seen everything that is stated in this forum. I am only here for the pay. I am completing a college degree to get out. I did not tell Nissin. I was in a management position for a little bit and I could not stand how employees were treated so I stepped down. They are trying a little more to make employees happy but you still have the attitude of employees are pions and don't know nothing. If you tell someone a system or procedure wont work, you can be fired for 'creating a bad work environment'

I have seen and heard many of these claims and it always seems a case where someone twitsted a fact then the rumor mill starts. Most of these complaints are just not truthful. From what I see, the company is always trying to improve. The work areas are becoming cleaner, quality is getting better, they waited and waited to do a layoff and are now calling some back. And the layoff itself was mostly voluntary --- heck, they even continued your health insurance during the layoff. Lots of people have been there for years and generally like it as a stable place to work (unlike many places).

Clipper in Findlay, Ohio said: I have seen and heard many of these claims and it always seems a case where someone twitsted a fact then the rumor mill starts. Most of these complaints are just not truthful. From what I see, the company is always trying to improve. The work areas are becoming cleaner, quality is getting better, they waited and waited to do a layoff and are now calling some back. And the layoff itself was mostly voluntary --- heck, they even continued your health insurance during the layoff. Lots of people have been there for years and generally like it as a stable place to work (unlike many places).

my statements are facts and not rumours. Cleaner? Quality getting better? what place do you work at? Certaninly not at Nissin

Just ask anyone who used to work for NBO!
About 100% are happier now then when they were at NBO.
If you want to be happy then get out of Findlay!!
It is just that simple.

Hey Clipper here's a couple of facts. The first three month voluntary lay-off was a s crew job. Nissin said it might take a couple of WEEKS to get everyone back to their SAME SHIFT and POSITION but guess what? Nearly all of the volunteers were stuck on third shift and it has been 2 monthes ago today that they returned from lay-off, and guess what else? They have been told it will be after Christmas (at least) before they will get to go back to their shift. (which no one believes by the way) The second three month voluntary lay-off was even a bigger s crew job. After ONE WEEK, numerous people were called back and all put on third shift. The following weeks numerous others were called back with the same results. Now how is it that after ONE WEEK, they couldn't manage to get those people back to their (first) shift?? Third shift didn't need all of those people. It certainly was a good way to get rid of some people, you know, reduce the workforce by any means available. There is nothing worse than being a first shifter getting stuck on third (when told it would only be for two weeks) Yes, everyone knew it was a risk going on lay-off and not getting their shift back (again for a couple of weeks), but come on, called back after one weeK?? I guarantee no one will fall for the "take one for the team", "we're all one big happy family", "share the pain", "please help the company" volunteer lay-off bull again. S crew me once shame on you, s crew me twice....no they won't s crew me twice.

you are absolutely right Norio. Too bad there aren't any jobs for anyone to go to right now, due to the economy. Which by the way is why NBO is able to crap on everyone they can. They know there is no where else to go, so what are we going to do? I often wonder if the Home Office in Japan, or any of the Japanese at NBO know how bad it is for the employees. Of course one could complain, but they will find themselves out of a job soon. The supervisors would put them on a job that they know the employee couldn't do for various age/physical reasons, or move them to a shift they cannot do, due to family/children reasons, and NBO will be "justified" in terminating them. That is how it is done at NBO. They do not care at all about the people that work for them. Trust me, it is NOT one big "happy family" at NBO.

Maybe if you guys would put as much effort into your work as you do whinning about your jobs, it would not be that bad. Its a factory, maybe if you would have went to collage and got an education you could have some say in what happens there! why don't you just go to work do your jobs and go home. its people like you that make people like me hate to go to work.

Hey Glad..did you go to college because you spelled it wrong. Its the college boys who think they rule the world there. If i had a college education I wouldn't waste it at Nissin...

Hey Glad,
I am also very glad to have a job grateful in fact. I do go to work, do my job..and very well I might add..and go home. The basic problem is the way people are treated. You CAN run a very successful company AND still treat your
employees with respect and appreciation. There are many companies out there that have quite a good reputation for how they treat their people. Very success-full companies. The large majority of the people at Nissin do their jobs very
well, have alot of pride in their work etc. But ask them how things could improve and they will say to be treated better. And why do people like me make people like you hate to go to work? It's not like any of us can stand around and complain. If one does one will find himself without a job. It would be nice to be able to complain/suggesst real improvement ideas/have a voice be heard AND NOT suffer repercussions (sp?) but it CANNOT be done there. The whole chain of command is a screwed up mess. Too many problems to solve I guess. Just amazes me how many other companies manage. And yes, I would go to one of those other companies if I could. And please note a few comments above...even Norio agrees...you have to get out of Findlay to be happy. If a Japanese can admit there are problems at NBO...well I guess the rest of us that have complained can't be too far off the mark...now can we?

I tried to post my first message but it was deleted - within a couple of hours. I said something about Nissin's R&D activities - as I use to work there. I guess the NBO managment is following these employee postings carefully. It is pretty sad if this is the best way to send our message out or get our voices heard.

I too have worked at Nissin for more than 8 years and feel opressed by the atmosphere. I didn't mind the overtime and worked hard to keep the numbers up, but the Debbie Downer attitudes of my co-workers caused by the boys club style management make me want to leave the company. People with good ideas and a sound work ethic could not get promoted as quickly as those who would go out drinking with the Boys after their shift was over. I'm afraid the company's management promoted from within will be the downfall of their productivity. Why work hard and achieve high numbers when all you have to do is become the Supervisor's drinking buddie and you will be promoted. Some of their new managers hired from outside the company are fair and equal opportunity promoters, but a few first in line and middle managers that have been there for years need to be replaced.