I only toured the Hyundai plant in Alabama(the most high tech factory in the USA) and it was an eye-opener.

I can't wait to tour the International Truck factory this July. AND JOHN DEER FACTORY IN IL!!

Well I have been to the Ford plant in Louisville, KY where they make the "Super-Duty's". Also to the International engine plant in Indy.

I enjoyed the Indy plant more. Nuthin like feeling the floor shake when a whole passel of new engines are on Dyno's being tested at the same time before they are shipped out.

I've been to Wayne (MI) assembly, where Ford used to build Escorts. It was really cool watching the robots doing their thing, installing parts and all.

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Been to the GM plant in Arlington TX several times over the years. Has changed quite a bit over the years. Lot more robotics and electronics. And they changed over to build Cadillac Escalade and other high end SUV's. They can sure crank em' out quick when the demand is up.

I toured the new in1983 Corevette plant,Bowling Green KY.Before they built the fancy museum.
Worked and hauled in/out of Honda Motorcycle and Auto plants in OH.Freightliner in NC.Reitenour in PA.Wabash,Great Dane in In.Several different Big three in MI.Many sub assembly plants like,Fontaine 5TH Wheel,Dana,ect,ect.
Hauld several IH loads to and from Springfield OH,Old (all gone) and new plants.CAT,Terex,the old Steiger plant in Fargo,Bobcat,Boeing,and Bell.
Planes-Trains-and Automobiles.I attended Louisville T/Show (MATS) yesterday..Its ALL Good!!

I worked for AI-Shreveport and all they do here in Shreveport is build the engines for the Hummer's, Colarados and Canyons. 4 and 6 cyl inline. Before I left they were getting ready to put the V-8 into production plus they do quality control on almost all part's concerning the outter body like paint bubble's, scratchs and sequenced part's like wiring harness, rear axle, hub and knuckle, HVAC, and some other thing's. started in the back inspecting rack's of sequenced quarter panel's then moved up to the line when I got hired on full time from a temp service. I've been arcross the street the the GM plant. Wasn't of any big deal to me. I hated that job though. People didn't know how to shut their mouth's so it held the line up and some defective part's made it over to GM and we got in trouble for it. If you can't work and do you work right and talk at the same time then don't speak at all. We were pumping out between 400-450 engines a night depending on GM's order for that shift.

I'm just glad they let me go. My project manager didn't have anything bad to say about me and said he would even refer me because I work good and I work hard but that just wasn't the place for me. Sad part is I have to agree with him that it wasn't for me. He liked the idea that I was one of a handful that was willing to bust their ### plus learned everything in a speedy progressive state and he said that's hard to find. That's where I discovered PAM transport because they would deliver the part's to us except truck roof's which were brought in by railcar. I worked the raildock and it was cold than hell and having to be stuck out there for 8+ hours a day with 4 guy's standing around a heater that did no good because the wind was blowing so hard. I can take 20 degree's but doing it for 8+ soild hours out there sucked horribly.

All in all not because I worked there and I hated it I really didn't have any intrest in it because it was just another mass producing car plant that won't sell ever half of what they build.

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"I'm not a truck driver. I'm a non refrigerated load relocation engineer".

Went to the Toyota plant in Georgetown KY last year, also a very
modern facility. It was awesome but the tour is a very fast
whirlwind and they take everybody around on little trams, so
you don't really get to see anything in depth. They also totally
prohibit taking pictures, which sucks because there was a lot
of detail I probably missed.

-f

You can understand that car plants are prohibited from taking pics. I toured the Hyundai Plant three times. In that all three times, there's Japanese people in business suits taking notes and drawings things. I think they were trying to steal ideas. I remember when Toyota asked Hyundai if they could tour their factories in Ulsan, Korea. Hyundai declined that offer. I remember hearing that Toyota was insulted.

At 2007 Columbus Auto Show.I saw pretty cool 25 minute demonstration from GM,Tondawanda engine plant.They tore down to bare block then assembled their inline 5cyl (uses counter-balence shafts),all the while explaing everthing .

Yea, they had us sign form's and stuff stating we couldn't talk about or share information. Of course I haven't shared any important info that the public doesn't know. Bla blah blah. Now on the other hand I used to operate a 15' batwing (bushhog) pulled behind a cab and air tractor at Barksdale Air Force Base in Bossier City, Louisiana and we had to fill out form's for them too but a lot of that I CAN'T talk about because that base is much lager than people think. 44,000 acre's and some of the place's we had to cut took about 45 to an hour to drive to but it's the thing's that are there that we saw and what they used the land for that we can't talk about. Now one place I can mention which I hated working in was a place called the WSA (weapons storage area) which practically anyone can see if they ever went on the base was across the road from the shop.

5 fence line's at over a mile and a half long each and 2 of them are covered in censors. You had to under go an extreme back ground check, empty your pocket's you and your equipment get sniffed over by the dog's, metal detector wand's, no use of cell phones inside. Talk about military personal hanging over your shoulder every second of the day with loaded guns. That was good money and I liked the work but I didn't like where I was doing the work at. Those censor fences. If your cutter so much as threw up a rock and hit it they would be posted up all around you in less than a heart beat with weapons aimed at you and don't even think about trying to breath either when they do. You talk about some up tight mean ### MFer's.

Yea, some place's don't play about that either, don't want you to see or if you do, don't open your mouth kinda thing. Maybe that's why I'm so uptight now?