Factory tours are commonly done for school field trips, or as a marketing strategy to promote products and even brand loyalty, but they’re also for external inspections for compliance with quality, health, and safety regulations and certifications. It’s even quite possible that you’d also be giving a tour to possible business partners and investors. It’s important to make the necessary preparations in order to provide a good tour experience for customers and educational groups, and you’ll want to be a lot more prepared for inspections and potential investors. As such, we’ll be looking at tips and best practices in preparing your plant or factory for tours:
Cleanup and Compliance
First and foremost, you’d want to thoroughly clean your entire factory in and out, from the production area, the outside, the doors, windows, and practically the whole vicinity should be free from clutter, stains, and trash. You’d also want to double and triple check that you comply with sanitation regulations. You’d also want to comply on accessibility requirements to allow those in wheelchairs and with a disability to easily traverse your factory. Basically, you’d want to start off your preparations with good housekeeping, especially if you’re short on time.
Plan the Tour Properly
Your tour should be logical and coherent. If you’re in a processing facility, you can pattern the tour by the flow of your operations, from receiving the raw materials to the processing, and the packaging. That way, it would be easier to absorb information and make the tour a lot more enjoyable. For inspections, you should be put attention towards what the inspector wants to see and be more in-depth and technical with the tour.
Beautification and Aesthetic Improvements
Go beyond just making your factory clean: you can make aesthetic improvements to the inside and outside of your factory. You’d want to consider painting the external walls of your building, as well as the office and hallway walls, and perhaps even have your tanks professionally painted. You can also add a waiting or reception area for your guests to wait in, and also for those who would not be joining the tour. Lastly, you shouldn’t disregard adding, maintaining, or improving greeneries in the outside of your building by hiring businesses offering commercial landscaping services in Boise.
Safety, and Communication
It’s integral that you plot out your tour with safety in mind. Make sure that your tour won’t be exposed to unhealthy levels of noise, noxious chemicals, and harmful smells. If you have to go through areas with wet floors, dust/smoke, gases, and noisy machinery, make sure to provide boots, masks, goggles, and ear muffs. Having earmuffs with headphones can also ensure that the tour guide can keep communicating with those in the tour despite the noise.
Be Generous
End the tour in a good note by handing out souvenirs and keepsakes. You can give out simple trinkets such as key chains or other small items bearing your company’s logo. If you’re into the food business, you can hand out samples at the end of the tour, or even goodie bags for the group to bring home.
Get A Good Tour Guide
Lastly, you’d want to make sure that the one doing the tour knows the plant land the back of their hand. As such, you have to be stringent in choosing which one who’d be doing the tour, someone who’s not only knowledgeable and is able to handle groups, but also has a pleasing personality and is able to go mingle with different personalities.
Conclusion
Giving tours to customers or inspectors can be a daunting endeavor, especially if it’ the first time you’re doing so. But just remember to keep these preparation tips in mind to help you plan and prepare better, to ensure a good tour experience for customers, and impress the inspectors that you’re touring around.Factory tours are commonly done for school field trips, or as a marketing strategy to promote products and even brand loyalty, but they’re also for external inspections for compliance with quality, health, and safety regulations and certifications. It’s even quite possible that you’d also be giving a tour to possible business partners and investors. It’s important to make the necessary preparations in order to provide a good tour experience for customers and educational groups, and you’ll want to be a lot more prepared for inspections and potential investors. As such, we’ll be looking at tips and best practices in preparing your plant or factory for tours:
Cleanup and Compliance
First and foremost, you’d want to thoroughly clean your entire factory in and out, from the production area, the outside, the doors, windows, and practically the whole vicinity should be free from clutter, stains, and trash. You’d also want to double and triple check that you comply with sanitation regulations. You’d also want to comply on accessibility requirements to allow those in wheelchairs and with a disability to easily traverse your factory. Basically, you’d want to start off your preparations with good housekeeping, especially if you’re short on time.
Plan the Tour Properly
Your tour should be logical and coherent. If you’re in a processing facility, you can pattern the tour by the flow of your operations, from receiving the raw materials to the processing, and the packaging. That way, it would be easier to absorb information and make the tour a lot more enjoyable. For inspections, you should be put attention towards what the inspector wants to see and be more in-depth and technical with the tour.
Beautification and Aesthetic Improvements
Go beyond just making your factory clean: you can make aesthetic improvements to the inside and outside of your factory. You’d want to consider painting the external walls of your building, as well as the office and hallway walls, and perhaps even have your tanks professionally painted. You can also add a waiting or reception area for your guests to wait in, and also for those who would not be joining the tour. Lastly, you shouldn’t disregard adding, maintaining, or improving greeneries in the outside of your building by hiring businesses offering commercial landscaping services in Boise.
Safety, and Communication
It’s integral that you plot out your tour with safety in mind. Make sure that your tour won’t be exposed to unhealthy levels of noise, noxious chemicals, and harmful smells. If you have to go through areas with wet floors, dust/smoke, gases, and noisy machinery, make sure to provide boots, masks, goggles, and ear muffs. Having earmuffs with headphones can also ensure that the tour guide can keep communicating with those in the tour despite the noise.
Be Generous
End the tour in a good note by handing out souvenirs and keepsakes. You can give out simple trinkets such as key chains or other small items bearing your company’s logo. If you’re into the food business, you can hand out samples at the end of the tour, or even goodie bags for the group to bring home.
Get A Good Tour Guide
Lastly, you’d want to make sure that the one doing the tour knows the plant land the back of their hand. As such, you have to be stringent in choosing which one who’d be doing the tour, someone who’s not only knowledgeable and is able to handle groups, but also has a pleasing personality and is able to go mingle with different personalities.
Conclusion
Giving tours to customers or inspectors can be a daunting endeavor, especially if it’ the first time you’re doing so. But just remember to keep these preparation tips in mind to help you plan and prepare better, to ensure a good tour experience for customers, and impress the inspectors that you’re touring around.
