Tours―Seeing is Believing
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, “seeing is believing,” is a saying said “to mean that if you see something yourself, you will believe it to exist or be true, despite the fact that it is extremely unusual or unexpected.”
The same goes for those who visit Alexandria Industries. They understand our hype. They see us in action, and when they leave, they do so believing in what we do.
Alexandria Industries offers customized tours of its facilities.
Explaining our business operations and manufacturing processes often happens in conversations on the phone, online or in email. When we have the opportunity to show people what we do during tours of our facilities, our guests are usually captivated. They do not expect to see clean, well-lit, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities. More importantly, they gain a valuable perspective on what it would be like to work with us.
Our Visitors
We offer tours of our facilities for prospective employees, customers, students, and industry partners. We know the value of opening our doors to students because they are our future workforce. We enjoy and understand the importance of building these relationships now. Our future CEO could be in the group that visits us next week.
Alexandria Industries provides tours for local middle school students.
Hosting student tours is a great way to meet and interact with hundreds of young people―from middle and high school to college. Many schools contact us to inquire about tours. We also reach out to student groups that have interests in particular areas, or belong to relevant organizations, like robotics teams and students on the high school trapshooting teams.
Tour Details
We rely on designated tour managers, guides and subject matter experts along with a pre-established format at each of our five facilities to host our tours.
All tours begin with an overview on safety. We emphasize the importance of safety because we value the well-being of our guests, and our employees. We discuss safety glasses, hearing protection, and staying with your group. We also instruct visitors not to touch anything unless we hand something to them. Aluminum looks the same when it is hot or cold.
Matt Stier, machine operator, manages three robotic machining cells.
We dig right in after that by sharing what we do and how we do it―highlighting our manufacturing capabilities―aluminum extruding, CNC machining, automation and robotics as well as our engineering services. We discuss how we work with the latest technologies―machines, equipment, computers, software, and automation technology―to make products people see and use every day.
To make our tours interactive, we show students sample components and talk about the processes used to manufacture them. We share how we work with customers on their new product ideas, from CAD files or even napkin-drawings to actually developing the components they need to make their products. We help students understand how they can apply what they learn in math to manufacturing―connecting the dots between their current schoolwork with future career opportunities.
No Tour is the Same
We tailor tours to our visitors. For students, we discuss the misperceptions people may have about working in manufacturing and then we show them what it is truly like. We also help them understand the varied and valuable careers the industry offers.
We talk about the current workforce shortage, emphasizing how this shortage is getting worse because many kids are not aware of the lifelong benefits a career in manufacturing brings. We explain that manufacturing offer endless opportunities to learn new things and do interesting work, and share stories of employees who have built life-long careers here.
We help them understand the value of two-year technical degrees and the many doors these can open. We explain that that they do not have to go into major debt with student loans to achieve a fulfilling career.
We talk about the benefits we offer our employees, such as our own healthcare clinic, tuition reimbursement, skills training and countless growth opportunities. We do not want them leaving without knowing who we are, what we do, and what we have to offer them. The most important part is that the students believe in what they see, and understand the potentially great careers they could have working in manufacturing.
Our doors are always open. To schedule a tour, email nwaldorf@alexandriaindustries.com.