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
LeisureGroupTravel.com
York, Pennsylvania; Kansas City, Missouri; Menomonee Falls and Tomahawk, Wisconsin Four Harley-Davidson locations offer tours showing how its classic American motorcycles are made. See full assembly in York and Kansas City; powertrains in Menomonee Falls; plastic and fiberglass parts in Tomahawk. (877-883-1450, harley-davidson.com)
kiTCHenaid Greenville, Ohio If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer on your countertop, you can be sure it was made in Greenville, the product’s sole manufacturing site. See the whole colorful operation, from assembly to shipping. (888-886-8318, kitchenaid.com)
Herr’s snaCk Foods
mCilHenny Company
Nottingham, Pennsylvania One of the world’s bestsmelling factory tours: corn chips, pretzels, potato chips and popcorn. Free samples include warm potato chips right off the line. (800-637-6225, herrs.com)
Avery Island, Louisiana There is only one Tabasco factory, and you'll know it from the pungent whiff of pepper as soon as you get off the bus. McIlhenny churns out 600,000 bottles of Tabasco every day in its assembly-line production. (800-634-9599, tabasco.com)
Hyundai moTor manuFaCTuring
sTeinway
Montgomery, Alabama This factory tour is not just for car buffs but for anybody interested in modern manufacturing methods. Robots and people work together in futuristic harmony. (334-387-8019, hmmausa.com)
Jelly Belly Fairfield, California Jelly Belly’s flagship annually produces 14 billion jellybeans in a 215,000-square-foot factory. Be prepared for intense aromas and exotic flavors, including strawberry daiquiri and peanut butter. (800-953-5592, jellybelly.com)
LeisureGroupTravel.com
Long Island City, New York It takes a year and about 12,000 parts to make a Steinway piano, but that doesn’t stop this factory from annually hand-crafting 2,800 of them. (718-721-2600, steinway.com)
Photo Courtesy of Steinway & Sons
Harley-davidson moTor Company
Based in Brookline, Mass., Karen Axelrod is a coauthor of Watch It Made in the U.S.A. (factorytour.com), a popular travel book about factory tours, company museums and other work-related attractions. Matt Simon contributed to the book’s fourth edition. Karen has been interviewed as a factory tour expert on Good Morning America, The Travel Channel and CNN.
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