Each plant tour offers a unique opportunity to dialog with peers from across industries and functions about best practices, challenges and solutions to moving the manufacturing enterprise forward.

  • Discover proven solutions to common challenges
    Discuss the challenges and discover the solutions that led to meaningful success stories.
  • Expand your thinking
    Open your mind to new processes or practices you can put in place to achieve greater operational excellence and efficiency.
  • Benchmark your performance:
    Benchmark your factory’s performance against other state-of-the-art factories.
  • Bring back new ideas:
    Walk away with new ideas you can bring back to your company and implement faster.

Featured Plant Tour

Rockwell Automation Plant Tour

Join the Manufacturing Leadership Council on April 9-10 at Rockwell Automation’s manufacturing facility in Twinsburg, Ohio, for an opportunity to tour the facility and learn how Rockwell leverages Industry 4.0 to drive productivity in its operations. In addition to seeing Industry 4.0 technology in action, you will hear from Rockwell’s leaders responsible for the company’s digital transformation as well as technical experts who have implemented digital solutions across a multitude of use cases.

Register Now

Upcoming Plant Tours



Tour Summaries

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Dotson Iron Castings’ Story of Survival and Advancement

October 18, 2023

When a company traces its history back nearly 150 years, its story is likely one of continuous change and evolution. For Dotson Iron Castings of Mankato, Minn., it is also a story of survival, innovation and respect for people. During…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

At Hershey, a Sweet History and Saltier Future Powered by Digital

May 8, 2023

From its namesake chocolate bars to the immensely popular Reese’s Cups, The Hershey Company has been a maker of beloved confections for many decades. But no matter which variety is your personal favorite, Hershey’s powerhouse combination of manufacturing, fulfillment and…

Whirlpool Corp. Findlay Tour - March 2023
Article : Plant Tour reviews

Witnessing World Class Manufacturing at Whirlpool Corporation

April 14, 2023

When Whirlpool Corp.’s Findlay Operations began its World Class Manufacturing (WCM) journey in 2018, the effort was envisioned as a standardized way to drive out waste and loss while keeping their customers in mind. In March, the Whirlpool team welcomed…

Schneider Electric Smart Factory Tour - Nov. 2022 - Lexington, KY
Article : Plant Tour reviews

Exploring Sustainability and Resilience at Schneider Electric’s Smart Factory

December 14, 2022

About 100 Manufacturing Leadership Council members, associate members, guests, and staff descended on Lexington, Ky., in November for a tour of Schneider Electric’s smart factory – a 65-year-old brownfield facility that showcases artificial intelligence, augmented reality, remote monitoring, and predictive…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Creating the Future Workforce at Lincoln Electric

September 1, 2022

Lincoln Electric has a long and storied history since its 1895 founding in Cleveland, Ohio, as a manufacturer of electric motors. Today, it is a global industry leader in welding equipment and consumables, additive manufacturing, and automation solutions, and has…

MLC members gather for a plant tour at Intertape Polymer Group in Utah.
Article : Plant Tour reviews

At IPG, A Relentless Focus on Business Value

April 28, 2022

For Intertape Polymer Group, a manufacturer of paper- and film-based packaging products, the last six years have been a time of significant growth – and change. Revenue during that period doubled from $750 million to $1.5 billion at the end…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

IBM Plant Tour: Driving Innovation Through Relentless Reinvention

May 7, 2021

IBM’s digital journey is keenly focused on building a cognitive enterprise that embraces an agile culture of innovation, combined with a client focus that leverages exponential technologies to deliver greater value. IBM executives on the MLC’s recent virtual tour of…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Nexteer’s Tracing System Drives Global Manufacturing Improvements

August 24, 2021

Nexteer Automotive is on a mission to make driving a car safer, more fuel-efficient, and future-focused through its production of steering and driveline safety-critical car and truck electronic and hydraulic power products. In addition to electric and hydraulic power steering…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Manufacturing Cyber Security: MxD’s Protection Framework

February 25, 2021

As manufacturers accelerate the deployment of digital technologies to modernize and interconnect their facilities and supply chains, they also open up new risks for cyber-attacks, stressed Chandra Brown, CEO of MxD, during a recent virtual plant tour for Manufacturing Leadership…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Teaching Analog Systems Digital Tricks

January 14, 2021

Manufacturing Leadership Council members recently took a virtual tour around MxD’s Innovation Center in Chicago to learn how to integrate digital manufacturing technologies using existing legacy equipment in ways that can help increase agility without breaking the bank or getting…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Hunting for Treasure at Intertape Polymer Group Inc.

March 17, 2020

“Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.” While that old saying might be a maxim for household budgeting, it also could describe Intertape Polymer Group Inc.’s (IPG) approach to developing an award-winning energy management program. Its…

Article : Plant Tour reviews

Clif Bar: A ‘Different Kind’ of Manufacturer

November 20, 2019

Manufacturing Leadership Council members toured Clif Bar’s three-year old energy bar plant in Twin Falls, Idaho, and learned about the company’s 5 Aspirations business model.

Article : Plant Tour reviews

At Plant Tour, Amway Details its High-Performance Workforce Initiative

November 1, 2019

In 1979, McDonald’s launched the Happy Meal, ESPN hit the airwaves for the first time, and Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” became the first Top 40 rap single. It was also a year when Amway undertook a massive hiring effort for…

Past Plant Tours