Chris Lara 12/3/13
Today’s tour was jaw
dropping.
I, along with some other students, had the opportunity to receive
a tour from Jessica I Lilley, an Environmental Engineer, at the General Motors
Orion Assembly Center. We began by greeting one another. After I introduced
myself, we went on a cart that drove us around the whole plant.
We first had to see a safety PowerPoint on what we can and cannot
do. It was short, so Jessica answered some questions that we had. After, we had
lunch and moved onto the tour.
The first thing we saw was the initiation line. This was a
line full of robotics that were welding the first part of the car. This part
was the belly/ front of the car and supported many of the future parts that would
be added.
We then moved onto the body parts such as the rear wheel
holders and side door holders. These were brought up by robotic machines and
placed by human workers. These people had to have very good coordination to
place the holders in place exactly the same for every single brand of car.
After, we drove to the other side of the building, but I saw
something very amazing. The same metal bins that are used in the garden are
being used to transport parts. I already knew this information, but it was
crazy seeing brand new bins being used for parts. It was like having a
wonderful child that pleased you every time you saw it. Then one day you go on
a tour to a factory and you see hundreds of children exactly like yours, but
better! I loved knowing what our bins were being used for prior to retirement.
After the drive, we stopped at the painting part of the
building. There were many restrictions that are implemented to enter the paint
shop, so we decided that we should not go in. The manager of the paint
mechanics showed us the types of paint that were used and the process of painting
the cars and parts that go with it.
We then moved onto the end of the line. The end dropped off
the almost finished cars to a dock where people would take them to chambers.
These chambers would test many conditions such as weather and driving.
At the end of the tour, we went back to the conference room
where a Manufacturing Engineer would give us a special gift. The man’s name was
Trevor Smith and he gifted me a coin. The coin had many symbols that described
mottos and shapes that he used while he served in the U. S. Air Force. There were
mottos such as Build High, Dig Deep
and Y.C.M.T.S.U. which stood for “You
Can’t Make This Stuff Up”. I thought that these were great quotes to live by,
so I plan to begin doing so.
In the end, I really appreciated the people who took the time
out of their day to show a couple Cristo Rey students the production line carefully
producing vehicles at the the GM Orion Assembly Center. I am looking forward to
telling this story to many people.
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