When a system leaves the shop without being properly verified, the consequences follow it into the field. Panels that create problems at installation, documentation that leaves technicians guessing, and builds that technically meet a drawing but fail to meet the real demands of the application are costly mistakes that the right manufacturing partner prevents from happening in the first place.

At Premier Automation, engineering knowledge is not something that gets applied after the build. It drives every decision from the first drawing review to final QA. We sat down with Josh Warren, a project engineer at Premier's Georgia facility, to talk about what that looks like in practice and what manufacturers should expect from a contract manufacturing partner who actually understands what it is building.

Background and Role

Josh joined Premier’s Georgia facility in March 2023 as his first role out of college, drawn to industrial manufacturing from the start. More than three years later, he works across both the front end and execution side of projects, handling quoting, project management, and making sure customer designs are fully vetted before anything reaches the production floor. For a facility that manufactures enclosed drive lineups, that front-end discipline is what keeps projects moving cleanly from order to delivery.

Technical Expertise of Premier

At Premier, the engineering work starts before the build does. The team reviews customer designs, verifies material requirements, and works through drawings against real operating conditions before production begins. That means BOM reviews, drawing verification, purchasing coordination, and getting corrections back to the customer before they become production problems.

When a design has a gap, the team catches it, works through the fix with the customer, and makes sure what gets built reflects how the system actually needs to operate.

"We make sure that whatever the intended function is, it is going to do that function," Josh said. "Even if the customer designed it themselves and something does not work the way it should, we will figure out how to make it right and make sure the drawings reflect that."

The manufacturers Premier works with are dealing with challenges that show up consistently across the industry. Aging drives, PLCs, and control systems that need to be modernized without stopping production. Facilities running Siemens alongside Allen-Bradley alongside ABB, connected over time in ways that create real complexity when something needs to change. Most integrators specialize in one vendor. Premier's engineers work across all of them.

Trust and Credibility

When customers receive a Premier build for the first time, the workmanship tends to be what stands out. Clean layouts, organized wiring, and documentation that gives the installation team exactly what they need from day one.

"We have had customers compare builds and say ours is so much cleaner and easier to understand," Josh said. "Everything is organized, easy to follow, and nothing is left to question."

A well-organized system is faster to commission, easier to maintain, and quicker to troubleshoot when something eventually needs attention. The Georgia team also brings hands-on experience with full load testing on VFD enclosures, verifying temperature, amperage, fuse ratings, and drive performance under 100 percent operating duty before anything ships. It is the kind of validation that catches what a visual inspection cannot.

Premier is Siemens' largest solution partner, and that relationship runs deep. Engineers hold certifications across drives, PLCs, and AC products, with each team member covering a different track so the team brings genuine depth across the full portfolio. When a challenge requires a deeper level of specialization, there are engineers across the Premier organization who have spent their careers focused on specific platforms and problem types.

"We have guys who live and breathe that stuff," Josh said. "If a customer is having an issue with a Siemens DC drive, we are going to get it working for them."

Culture

The Georgia team operates as a close-knit group where communication is direct and decisions happen fast. When something goes wrong, the focus goes immediately to resolution and prevention, not blame.

"It is not a blame situation," Josh said. "It is about how we fix it for the future."

That mindset carries into how the team continuously improves its own operations. Manual processes have been replaced with digital systems that route requests automatically, reduce errors, and keep everyone working from the same information. When a better way of doing something is identified, it gets implemented.

Moving Forward

For manufacturers dealing with aging systems, multi-vendor complexity, or a previous build that did not deliver what was promised, the right partner makes all the difference. Premier brings the engineering knowledge, the quality standard, and the accountability to make sure what leaves the shop performs the way it should from day one.