Chris Lara 12/3/13

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.