After 18 years of teaching history to middle school students, Johnny Dameron was ready for a change. He never imagined that change would entail inspecting flexible packaging.
In fact, he was all set to start a new career as a highway patrol officer when he spoke to someone at a job fair who was recruiting for First Quality’s print and packaging division in Anderson, South Carolina. The facility makes flexible plastic packaging such as shrink wrap and film and provides high-definition printing services.
Johnny had prior experience manufacturing luxury cars before becoming a teacher, so he took a chance and turned in an application. He was soon hired as a quality technician.
A new kind of investigation
In a way, the work Johnny does at First Quality isn’t so different from what he imagined when he considered a career in law enforcement. Now he thinks of himself as a packaging detective.
As part of the quality team, his responsibilities include inspecting packaging, checking print quality and making sure everything meets the customer’s expectations. If there’s an issue, he investigates to find the underlying cause.
“That’s why I like working in quality, I like to figure things out,” he said. “I like the investigation and the research that goes into developing solutions.”
Johnny admits there was a big learning curve starting in a brand-new field, but First Quality provided plenty of training.
“I came into this role not knowing anything about plastic packaging, but they have trained me thoroughly,” he said. “They don’t put you on the manufacturing floor until you’re ready.”
“My happy place”
Johnny’s favorite part of his new job is his coworkers. He says they have been welcoming and supportive from day one, and he is in awe of how they operate such a well-run facility.
“I like this place so much that sometimes they have to remind me it’s time to go home,” he said with a laugh. “First Quality has become my happy place. It’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced in my career—I didn’t know places like this existed.”
