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General Atomics

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Materials Planning Manager - Planning Manager General Atomics Employee Review

3.0
Sep 12, 2016
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

1) Private owner so not beholden or driven by poor decision making to appease stockholders and Wall Street 2) Commercial and DoD so not beholden to Wal*Mart as my two previous employers, Outwall and Microsoft were 3) Tremendous strategic vision on the part of Neil Blue, the owner, in both commercial and defense products 4) next generation Defense Product innovation and sank large amounts of investment into new products for the future with no guarantee that the government or private sector would ever be interested in buying the product 5) Generous salary and a company paid Pension

Cons

1) EMS was still an Engineering driven R&D concern making anything Lean for Supply Chain very difficult to sell and implement 2) Divisional infrastructure was not very adaptable to having a fully aligned, single purpose organization of team play and Espree Decor 3) ERP system was well intentioned but the four basic metrics for any MRPII System of a) Master Schedule/Demand Planning accuracy, b) Inventory accuracy, c) Bill of Material and Material/Item/Part Master file accuracy, and d) Open Order accuracy (Work Orders and Supply Orders) were not yet in the 99%+ category rendering MRP signals unreliable. 4) Procurement reported into Corporate and was non-responsive

Explore other reviews about General Atomics

5.0
Jun 8, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Very good work life balance

Cons

9 hour shifts 4 days a week

3.0
Jun 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Mostly good people and skilled engineers that are easy to work with and great to learn from across all groups/locations. There is opportunity to pursue technical areas of interest and to stand out by leading improvement efforts. The company is flexible and often facilitates changes according to interest. Sense of job security generally feels good and stable, the greater GA really backs the Space division. The greater company works on some really interesting and cool things, beyond just defense. Pay is pretty good. Experience with most middle management (of engineers) has been positive, they typically advocate and support their employees.

Cons

Unsure of division leadership and strategic direction. Overall impression is that engineers' perspectives are not adequately weighted in both proposals and certain decisions for active missions. Processes burden performance, though there is intention for constant improvement. Ignoring engineering concerns (i.e. with schedule) + process burdens often result in delays and increased pressure, and therefore a less than ideal working environment at times. Overtime pay is not guaranteed but can be approved. Working with teams in different locations can lead to tension and "silo-ing" (though not always). Space division is becoming mostly defense focused (an industry trend), but would be nice to continue work in the civil earth and space science arena. They also demo'd a nice cafeteria/gathering space for more work/equipment space.

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