5 Flights, 4 Bus Rides, 8 Companies and 2 Weeks

So Plant Trek is over and no one got left behind (I don't think...).  As part of the LGO program all students are required to go on our domestic plant trek across the United States and visit with our partner companies during IAP in the first year.  And this year was a resounding success (aside from a stomach flu epidemic, the occasional person being left behind, and everyone forgetting what time zone they were in).  I won't go into gory detail of each company here but I'll talk about some of my personal favorites.

First the run down:

It's as fun as it looks...

1. Novartis - Raleigh, NC
2. GM - Lansing, MI
3. Amazon - Lebanon, IN
4. Cat - Peoria, IL
5. Nike - Portland, OR
6. Boeing - Seattle, WA (an Amazon dinner here as well)
7. Dell - Austin, TX
8. Amgen - Los Angeles, CA

Two weeks to visit all of those sites, meet with the companies, tour their manufacturing facilities, and somewhere in there sleep and have a good time (which there was no short supply of). 

We started out at Novartis but I'm going to table talking about them for a moment as (for me anyway) they were a similar experience to Amgen so I'll talk about both of those at the end.

We should bring back white walled tires

My personal favorite stop was GM.  For me it was the epitome of a production line.  It was not only an impressive sight but we got a really good opportunity to speak with their front line workers.  They actually put us through a simulated work environment where we build wooden cars on a production line to help us really understand the stress of working on the line, learning to pull the andon cord, etc.  I'm told that past years students got to test drive cars off the line which we didn't have the opportunity to do.  BUT after our tour we were taken to the GM heritage center for dinner with GM folks and a phenomenal show room of cars.

Amazon I'm pretty sure practices black magic because I'm not sure how anything gets of out of there.  This is not a comment on them being inefficient or their facility being unimpressive.  It was just simply overwhelming how much inventory they had at their distribution center and the operational madness that would have to occur to get everything in one door and out the other.

One day...

Going to Cat was another very exciting trip.  Mainly because it was such a contrast to the GM production facility.  On the GM plant floor you are talking about a line that is constantly moving and stations that have takt times in under a minute.  Compare that with Caterpillar where if you want a D-11 track type tractor (say that ten times fast) with a completely customized set up, you will be waiting on the product for a significantly longer time.  Regardless the facility was equally as impressive.  We actually got to see a demonstration in what was basically a very large adult sandbox and much of their equipment demonstrating the ability.  They wouldn't let us actually drive the machines but we did get to play around in some simulators and climb around the real thing.

Portland as a city was my personal favorite.  Despite never having sunlight it is a really cool city.  Lots of great micro brews, great tourist attractions, overall a great a experience.  LGOs also had the option of going to the Nike employee store which I took full advantage of (I spent over $200...after a 50% discount...I'm not proud of it).

In Seattle Boeing showed us the facilities where they make the 737 and 787 (the new Dreamliners).  The facility where they make the 787 is the largest building in the world by volume.  And for a reason (those planes are REALLY BIG).  This facility was also quite overwhelming as the sheer magnitude of transporting the fuselage is incredibly difficult.  They literally had to make a new plane, called the Dreamlifter to do it.  I could try to explain it but I couldn't do it justice but I highly recommend googling it.

My personal favorite from Boeing was the engines.  They are just massive pieces of engineering and I just couldn't get over them.  If you look at the picture to the left someone (I can't remember who) is standing just next to the the one on the right and it gives a you real appreciation for the size of one those monsters.

Dell didn't have any manufacturing that we go to see but we did get to meet and speak with Michael Dell, founder and CEO of Dell.  We also got to play with a lot of their new toys and tour their design and engineering areas.  Gold Troung is also the proud owner of an XPS 13 that they auctioned off to a lucky student.  I only hate her a little bit for winning...

4 Plates of all you can eat BBQ

Some of us LGOs went out for all you can eat BBQ in Austin as well and learned that there is in fact a limit.  We went way too far past it...  I still wasn't even that hungry for lunch the next day 

And lasts but not least this brings us to LA where we saw Amgen.  Both Amgen and Novartis are probably the most foreign to me as I am NOT a chemical person in any way.  For me when we tour a facility where they make vaccines and other drugs it looks strikingly similar to a brewery tour just with more safety protocol.  Obviously that's not the case, but it was definitely interesting to get a glimpse of what goes into making these products.  We gowned into safety areas at both facilities and got to see the equipment first hand.  Unfortunately Novartis' facility is brand new and not yet completely certified so wasn't producing anything during our visit.  Regardless both were impressive facilities and eye opening by way of how much goes into the protection and service of patients who get these drugs.

Obviously a short blog won't give you the complete feel of the plant trek but it was an absolutely exhausting but rewarding experience.  Many cities we were only in for 16 hours or less, most cities we went out drinking and playing pool and exploring, and very few did we actually sleep.  On top of that I can honestly say there are VERY FEW people in the world who will ever get the experience to tour the so many facilities like we did.  Getting close to the processes, talking with the people, and learning a great deal about how these companies do business.  Two weeks exploring the country isn't a bad thing either

This is how you end plant trek