Working at Ridge Forge

You will reject parts. Nobody here is asked to pass something marginal because a despatch date is close. Scrap we produce is remade at our cost and that decision is not negotiated on the floor.

You will decline enquiries. Quoting work the shop is wrong for is how customers get let down, and saying so is expected rather than obstructive.

You will report near-misses. Measurements inside tolerance but close to the limit go to the customer, because a drifting process is easier to correct early.

Lead times are quoted from the real schedule. You will not be handed a date that the floor cannot support and asked to make it work.

There are no throughput bonuses. Pay is not linked to parts produced, because that is how inspection standards erode.

You will be trained on the inspection equipment. Machinists here measure their own work rather than passing it to someone else to discover a problem, and the certification for that is funded.

The hourly rate is in the advertisement. Along with the shift pattern and the overtime arrangement, so you can judge the job before spending a day on it.

The practical test is on our machines. It takes about two hours, it is paid, and the part produced is scrapped rather than sold.

We hire for judgement over speed. A machinist who stops to check something uncertain is worth more here than one who runs faster and inspects hopefully.

Apprentices are taken on every year with funded college release and a machine of their own from the second year.

Every application receives a reply within two weeks of the closing date.