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A showroom for toilets probably isn't most people's idea of a tourist attraction. On my vacation, however, I paid a fascinating visit to the Kohler Design Center at the Kohler (Wis.) headquarters of the world's largest maker of plumbingware. Kohler is one of those family-owned outfits that proudly manufactures primarily in America, and many of its sinks, toilets, showers, tubs, and other products are beautiful to behold. Trust me. The Great Wall of China -- a three-story, floor-to-ceiling display of Koehler products in a huge assortment of styles and colors -- is not to be missed.
Kohler also is one of more than 300 entries in a book called Watch it Made in the U.S.A. (Avalon Travel Publishing, $19.95), the third edition of which came out in September, 2002. This is a different sort of travel guide, one I heartily recommend to anyone with kids. Husband and wife authors Karen Axelrod and Bruce Brumberg have spent years scouting U.S. companies that still offer old-fashioned factory tours that allow visitors to see actual products being made (yes, in America!). Most readers will find at least one potential day trip that is both fun and educational.
SEE, TOUCH, TASTE! I can't think of a better antidote to the image that fast-buck guys like Enron's Andy Fastow, WorldCom's Bernie Ebbers, and Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski have given American business. If you want to teach the next generation that corporations contribute something more to society than felony charges and fizzled-out 401(k)s, one of these factories is a good place to start. Sure, you've probably already taken the children to visit your office, but most kids will find it far more exciting and memorable to visit a place where they can hear, touch, smell -- and, in some cases, taste -- a familiar product that has been made right before their eyes.
Along with pertinent information such as tour hours, length, and cost (usually free), driving directions, and whether the gift shop is worth a visit, the book tells you which companies offer freebies, like a sample candy bag at the end of the tour. (Jelly Belly and Hammonds Candies, happily, are among the many that do.)
SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS. Plenty of tours are available for older children as well. Auto buffs might consider a visit to the Ford SUV and pickup-truck factory in Louisville, Ky. The kids can see how robots form an Explorer's body out of sheet metal, attach it to the frame at the "drop body" site on the production line, and then add tires, seats, and other parts. At the end, the completed vehicle is driven off the line for final inspection.
A number of other auto makers also offer plant tours, including Nissan, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and General Motors (at several of its locations, including the Corvette plant in Bowling Green, Ky., and the Saturn plant in Spring Hill, Tenn.). Just be aware that some factories may be too noisy for the very young. Nissan, for one, won't allow any child under 10 to tour its plant in Smyrna, Tenn.
Many of the tours also provide children with a clear sense of America's industrial history. Indeed, lots of companies have built museums to replace or augment factory tours. One I visited was the John Deere Pavilion in Moline, Ill., a day trip from Chicago, where you can see the evolution of farm equipment from the early 1900s to today's technology-laden tractor and combine behemoths. Intel has a highly interactive corporate museum at its headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., where kids can learn how microprocessors are made. Visitors aren't allowed to tour the ultraclean manufacturing areas, but you can watch production via video cameras, and kids can try on the "bunny suits" assembly workers wear to avoid contaminating the air.
Factory visits obviously aren't everyone's cup of tea. But you can often combine adult activities with kid-oriented visits. For instance, though the book doesn't mention it, a quick drive from the John Deere Pavilion finds the company headquartered in a beautiful building designed by the great architect Eero Saarinen, who also designed the St. Louis Arch.
PORCELAIN AND PAINTINGS. Thanks in part to heavy backing by the Kohler family, neighboring Sheboygan has a very good art museum. When we went, there were several ambitious contemporary exhibits, as well as plenty of whimsy to keep the kids amused. In fact, part of the museum is specially designed for youngsters, and there's an ongoing display of fanciful ceramic creations created by Kohler-commissioned artists and made in the company's foundry.
For obvious reasons -- this being an institution heavily influenced by the area's largest private employer and named after its founder -- no child should miss the restrooms at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. They're wildly colorful ceramic creations done by commissioned artists. A sink in the men's room was done in glazed and painted vitreous china by New York artist Matt Nolen. At this museum, the restrooms are treated like exhibits: Demand permitting, guards will take girls on tours of the men's room and boys on tours of the women's room, just so no one misses anything.
All thanks mainly to the largess of a local company. Now, that's community service.
Peterson is contributing editor for Business Week Online. Follow his column every week, only on BW Online. Edited by Douglas Harbrecht
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Copyright 2002, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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