Fellow oldie here

When we were in university, professors who had contacts in the manufacturing industry would post a bill on the notice boards stating that some of the factories they know have a slot for visit open. If there was enough interest, the thing would go on like any other group visit. Logistics, dates, etc.

During the visit, the professor and their contacts would walk us through the shop floor explaining the stations along their production line. Sometimes, there’ll be a walkthrough of their logistic decision making processes. Usually concluded with a q&a session with some manager in the factory. Back then, we broke students were curious regarding how our education made us suitable for a job there and what soft skills are expected of us.

So, hitting someone up where you are interested in visiting might be a good start.

I don’t know if they still do them or not, but Phillip Morris used to do tours of their factory outside Petersburg VA.

I did the tour as part of class I was taking. It was interesting to see how cigarettes were made. One thing the tour guide kept stressing was all these perks and things they did to make the work less boing/miserable for the workers.

• The company put a lot of effort into sound suppression systems so the staff aren’t pommeled with harsh sound all day.
• The company had multiple small lunch and break rooms so people could get a bit of privacy if they wanted.
• The rotated staff on the machines so they don’t go insane with the boredom.

As a college kid you are just learning about the world so while I knew people smoked and back then smoking was a lot more in your face.

I really didn’t get how many people smoked until I saw that factory. It was staggering how many cigarettes were in at places and how many that factory churned out daily.

Lots of factories offer tours. At least where I live. Hershey, Lays, Pepsi, etc have stuff out here and they all provide tours to the public.

Boeing has an awesome factory tour. So does Ford. Just buy tickets and for the day and time you want to attend.

Edit: here are some other interesting tours:

• chateau St Michelle winery
• grand Coulee Dam
• Amazon fulfillment center

I once took a tour of an Alaskan oil field operation solely for the ability to gain access to the Arctic ocean, and jump in. They talked a lot about the oil stuff but I didn’t pay that much attention. I was there just for the ability to say I’ve been in the Arctic Ocean.

Breweries and distilleries commonly offer tours. Just check their website.

I’ve been to at least one distillery and a hydroelectric dam. These days, your best bet is probably to just check the website of wherever it is you wanna go to.

John deere has some nice tours. The best tours cost half a million or more - but they let you take one home. (If you know a farmer who buys new tractors ask - many farmers have seen it and so won’t use their tour , so you can get their ticket). Then there is the free tours that anyone can take - but these are limited numbers and tour bus companies reserve all the spots when they open up knowing they can then sell the whole tour (if you don’t live near the factory this is the way to go since the factories are generally a boring drive away and the tour drivers know how to spice it up and where to eat). As an employee I’ve only got the engineers tour - that is when everyone staring at you knows it is your fault they are getting paid to do nothing - I do not recommend these even though they were paying me.

In Germany, Thuringia is a traditional glass making region. My buddy used to work there and brought us to a factory molding various flasks and little bottles. It had a tourist gangway where you could see the whole process from molten glass pouring out of the oven and down to cooling the flasks. Cool as fuck.

A lot of hydroelectric dams have visitor centers and I know of at least one cheese factory that has a storefront and walkway where people can see parts of the factory. I’d assume it’s not common for factories though.

I work at a factory and, for insurance purposes, the bosses don’t let anyone on the floor without them watching hours of saftey videos. There also isn’t much to see. The machines are guarded up so much that you can’t even see most moving parts. It’s just magical black box material goes in, product comes out, type of stuff. Some factories also keep their setup and processes a secret.

Some factories have public tour days every year. Just look it up on their website.

If you have some kind of an organization behind you, it’s also possible to arrange such tours during other times. You could also make your own industrial tour association, get a bus full of people and start arranging tours with different companies. Just contact the PR department in advance, make some phone calls etc. and you should be able to visit a whole bunch of interesting places.

Edit: I swipe too fast

The next town over from me has a car/van manufacturing plant. I went there as a teenager to learn about Kaizen, lean, process mapping and critical path analysis.

As an adult I know of a few families who have booked to go to watch robots make cars, see the assembly line and gawk at the massive diagrams on the walls.

I just showed up and started working there.

Kidding but almost, made video games for almost ten years early 2000 😁

Pennsylvania has lots of opportunities for factory tours. There’s bread, pretzels, beer, wine, guitars, candy…

Most of the time the tours are pretty cheesy. “Press the button to watch water spray on hops.” Ride in a little cart through a dramatized candy production line. That sort of stuff.

Maybe you could pose as a wealthy investor. Then you get to see the real deal!

Check out your local recycling center, they often do tours!