Facility Tours
Facility tours offer an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at ergonomics in action at various facilities in a variety of industries. An additional fee is required for each tour to participate.
Raytheon
Thursday, March 21 – 2-4 p.m.
$40/$50
Raytheon Dallas provides a wide range of manufacturing services ranging from design for manufacturing and design support, precision machining to mechanical assembly and test. They work closely with their customers to ensure program needs are met and will do whatever is necessary to support those requirements. During the tour attendees will see a myriad of material handling and material movement tools that are deployed throughout the site.
Tour restrictions: Tour attendees will need to provide full name (first, middle, last), the address on your driver's license, and country of citizenship (Form will be sent to those who sign up for tour). Footwear should be closed toe, closed heel, and flat heel (sneakers are OK). There will be a short security check upon arrival attendees will need ID such as driver's licenses.
Cameras or recordings of any sort cannot be used during the tour. No firearms, explosives, etc. No other restrictions.
Abbott Laboratories
Thursday, March 21 – 2-4:30 p.m.
$40/$50
Attendees will have the opportunity to view manufacturing and design, and development areas.
Manufacturing: You’ll see assembly and testing of Abbott’s industry leading Prism blood screening analyzer for 80 percent of the world’s blood supply systems. This facility is provided with enhancements, such as lift tables, fixtures and tools to reduce or eliminate ergonomic risk factors. In fact, the Irving site has averaged 1,000 employees with about 80 in assembly while experiencing no lost time injuries for more than three years and no recordable injuries for more than a year.
Design & Development: Dr. Ila Elson will give a presentation on the process and design data that is used to incorporate ergonomics into product development at the Abbott Diagnostics Division in Irving. The product line includes blood bank analyzers, immunoassay and clinical chemistry analyzers, healthcare information technology and assay kits.
Tour restrictions: Shoes cannot be open-toe style. No firearms.
Texas Instruments Wafer Fab Facility
Thursday, March 21 – 2-5:15 p.m.
$40/$50
Participants will tour Texas Instruments’ state-of-the-art, 1.1 million-square-foot advanced wafer manufacturing facility. This is the world’s first wafer fab for the production of 300 millimeters analog devices and the world’s first LEED-certified semiconductor facility. Tour participants will see the highly automated, 220,000-square-foot cleanroom from a viewing bay. The site ergonomist will then give a presentation on ergonomics projects and the challenges of working in a cleanroom environment. Ergonomics-related projects include equipment acquisition, workstation design, material handling devices and work practices.
Tour restrictions: Cameras may not be used during the tour. There will be light to moderate walking so comfortable shoes and clothing should be worn. Shoes cannot be open-toe style but tennis shoes are allowed. No firearms, explosives, etc.
Mary Kay
Thursday, March 21 – 2:30-4:30 p.m.
$40/$50
From a $5,000 investment in 1963, Mary Kay has grown to become one of the largest direct sellers of skin care and color cosmetics in the world. With wholesale sales worldwide of $3 billion, Mary Kay® products are sold in more than 35 markets worldwide, and the global Mary Kay independent sales force exceeds 2.4 million.
The attendees will see the production areas of Mary Kay. You will learn how products are produced and packed at the facility. Ergonomic equipment used will also be part of the tour.
Tour restrictions: Closed toed-shoes only, if wearing heels – no higher than 1.5 inches tall.