Sewing Apprenticeship

Who We Are:

Lippert is a leading, global manufacturer and supplier of highly engineered products and customized solutions, dedicated to shaping, growing and bettering the RV, marine, automotive, commercial vehicle and building products industries. We combine our strategic manufacturing capabilities with the power of our winning team culture to deliver unrivaled customer service, award-winning innovation and premium products to all of our customers.

Why We are Different:

At Lippert, Everyone Matters. This is not just a tagline or empty promise; it is who we are. We have intentionally created a culture that values and celebrates our team members' unique and varied backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We strive to give our team members a deeper sense of purpose at work, and we continue to build a better work environment by aligning our cultural and business strategies with the needs of our team members.

What You will Get:

1. A unique, inclusive and supportive company culture.
2. Comprehensive benefit offerings including medical, dental, vision, 401k with employer match, vacation, and more!
3. Fair and competitive compensation.
4. Career development and mentoring and opportunities to grow.
5. Holiday, personal and vacation days.

Summary/Objective:

The purpose of the Sewing Apprentice job is to learn the basics of industrial sewing over a 3-week period. This will include Machine Maintenance, Safety, Print Reading, Various Sewing Techniques, and Quality Standards. This position is a unique opportunity to receive 3-weeks of paid training to learn this valuable and sought-after trade.

Essential Functions:

1. Ability to work on sewing machines in a manufacturing environment.
2. Responsible for selecting all the equipment needed for the sewing process, which includes setting up the machine and its peripherals, and using the tools correctly. Tool needed to perform this include scissors, knives, fasteners, screwdrivers, stiffeners, templates and measuring devices.
3. Responsible for monitoring machine operation, which can include fixing attachments such as needles, threads, pattern plates, or cutting blades.
4. Ensuring that textile parts are in correct sequences and confirming that the color lots and textile patterns match.
5. Identifying and understanding the key safety topics related to Industrial Sewing.

Other Key Responsibilities:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

1. There will be several sewing tests throughout the 3-week period that must be passed to continue the training.
2. At the end of the 3-week training period, a final sewing exam will be performed to "graduate" from the program and be placed full-time at a Lippert Business Unit in Elkhart County.

Working Conditions:

1. Primarily working indoors, manufacturing environment.
2. May sit, stand, bend, climb, lift, or walk for several hours at a time.
3. Repetitive use of hands to operate sewing machines.
4. May be exposed to dust, fumes, gases, noises, cold, and wet.

Competencies:

1. Organizational skills
2. Interpersonal skills
3. Initiative
4. Hand dexterity
5. Tension accuracy and adjustments.
6. Comprehension on utilizing a bobbin alarm.

Physical Demands:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Team Member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While preforming the duties of this job, the team member is regularly required to manually lift and stack product that ranges from five to sixty-five pounds. Must be capable of sitting, standing, bending, puling, pushing and/or lifting, for extended periods of time. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, color vision, peripheral vision and ability to adjust focus.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

This is an hourly position averaging 40 hours per week during the 3 weeks of training. After graduating from the training period, the hours/days worked will continue to be full-time but are defined by production and your reporting manager. Must be able to work additional hours and weekends as needed.

Travel:

Training will take place in Elkhart, IN. Placement to full-time locations after graduation could include Elkhart, Goshen and/or New Paris, IN.

Preferred Education and Experience:

1. Highschool diploma/GED is preferred but not required.

Work Authorization/Security Clearance:

Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Other Duties:
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the Team Member for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.

Lippert provides equal employment opportunity to all team members and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, age, genetic information, disability, citizen status, protected veteran status, military service, marital status or any other legally protected category as established by federal, state, or local law. This policy governs all employment decisions, including recruitment, hiring, job assignment, compensation, training, promotion, discipline, transfer, leave-of-absence, access to benefits, layoff, recall, termination and other personnel matters. All employment and personnel-related decisions are based solely upon legitimate, job-related factors, such as skill, ability, past performance, and length of service with Lippert.

Lippert's strong commitment to equal employment opportunity requires a commitment by each individual team member. Compliance with the letter and spirit of this policy is required of all team members. Violations of this policy should be immediately reported to your leader or to any member of leadership. Team members who violate this policy will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

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