Across the Midwest, your group can take a deep dive into automotive marvels, artisanal glass, or even traditional cheesemaking. This region offers a variety of factory tours large and small that will leave your group with a greater knowledge of the heartland’s innovative industry through hands-on and visual experiences.
In Detroit, Michigan, groups can tour the Ford Rouge Factory, where they will have the opportunity to walk above a real-life truck plant, view one of the world’s largest “living roofs,” see a gallery of iconic Ford vehicles produced at the Rouge over the years, watch a short documentary about the factory’s past with rare archival footage, and experience the manufacturing process in an exciting multisensory innovation theater. Located in the United States’ “Motor City”—widely known to “put the world on wheels”—this tour offers an immersive experience through one of the country’s most influential factories, says Charles Foeller, the program specialist for the tour. “The Ford Rouge Factory Tour is living history,” Foeller says. “Our guests get to see history as it happens.” Here, take your group on the “Assembly Plant Walking Tour” to see the F-150 truck assembly process in real time. “The tour itself is nothing you have ever seen before,” says Angela Rampin, tourism partnership manager. “It’s that good!”
Credit: The Henry Ford
Groups can immerse themselves in the art of glassmaking at the Kokomo Opalescent Glass factory in Kokomo, Indiana, the country’s oldest art glass manufacturer. This visually captivating tour will give your group a peek into the rich history and impressive skills behind Kokomo Opalescent Glass, where unique sheets of glass have been created since 1888. When groups take the tour, they have the unique opportunity to feel the heat from the molten glass, which is an experience not many people can say they have gone through, says Ally Connor, Kokomo Opalescent Glass retail manager. She adds, “This shared experience becomes a special bonding moment, creating memories that will endure a lifetime.”
For groups with a taste for cheese, the Cedar Grove Cheese factory in Plain, Wisconsin, offers an insightful look into the cheesemaking process. From goat and sheep milk cheeses to classic varieties, groups can explore the traditional methods used to produce a wide variety of cheeses. Because this factory still creates cheese the traditional way, with a manual process in large, open containers, it is very easy for groups to witness the whole process.
The factory, which has been operating since 1878, also provides groups with insights into the history of cheesemaking in Wisconsin, also known as America’s Dairyland, one of the country’s top producers of this delicious snack. Groups can also tour the factory’s water treatment system, described as a “living machine” that uses tropical plants and nature to polish the factory’s water before it is discharged to the local stream. Your group can leave this tour with an organic cheese curd package with a QR code linking to information you will not find at most cheese factories, says Bob Wills, president of Cedar Grove Cheese. “The combination of subjects that we cover,” he notes, “hits a wide range of visitor interests.”
By Clarissa Casper
Main Image: Ford Rouge Factory, Detroit, Michigan; Credit: The Henry Ford
