10 Top
Factory Tours
I
t’s a fact of modern life:
By Karen Axelrod and Matt Simon
our complex technological civilization surrounds us with
machines, infrastructure and products whose workings we don’t understand at all. While
people in the villages of past societies either made their own goods or at least knew the local craftsmen who did, our global high-tech economy has disconnected us from the realities of manufacture. Consider the many machines you rely on every day, from cars to computers
Boeing Mukilteo, Washington Boeing builds its 747, 767, 777 and new 787 airliners in the world’s largest-volume building: 11 stories high, 98 acres. Watch workers assemble wings, passenger bays and nose cones. (800-464-1476, futureofflight.org)
to kitchen appliances. Do you know how they work, where they came from, who made them or how they reached you? This is perhaps one reason why touring factories to see how things are made has become a popular leisure activity. These tours can give This factory tours guidebook features more than 300 firms.
valuable insights by letting us slow down to see how
Ford rouge Dearborn, Michigan See the thumping heart of the famous factory where the company makes its signature F-150 truck and other vehicles. (800-835-5237, hfmgv.org/rouge)
products are created, who makes them, what’s in them, where they’re shipped from, and how other people work and live. The cost is low, and many tours are free (or at least give free samples). At their best, these tours can also open windows on unfamiliar types of work and lifestyles. Visitors find out how the company started and grew, learn about the history of its industry and see how the workers spend their days. Here we briefly highlight 10 classic, mustdo factory tours across the country. Consider these just a sample of the great factory tours you can find in nearly every corner of the
Hammond’s Candies Denver, Colorado It’s a perennial question: how do candy canes get their stripes? At Hammond’s, you’ll see how candy has been made by hand since the 1920s. (303-333-5588, ext. 110, hammondscandies.com)
United States. 16 February 2012
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