1. Get the Right Tour Guide
Ask for someone from the operations team to lead your tour. They’re much more likely to have the details you need than a sales rep or an executive parachuted in just for the occasion.
2. Follow a Logical Route
Start at the receiving door and follow the production chain to the loading dock. Seeing the operation in a logical sequence will make it easier to understand and remember.
The receiving area can also tell you a lot if you know what to look for. For example, a small raw materials inventory can point to a just-in-time manufacturer. This can be a good fit if your own ordering requirements are fairly predictable. In this case, the supplier can make what you need without tying up a lot of space or capital in non-productive inventory.
If your ordering habits aren’t predictable, then a small raw materials inventory can be a red flag for potential short-shipments—especially if the supplier doesn’t keep a finished goods inventory of your products.
3. Shake a Few Hands
As you tour the plant, make sure to stop, look around, and chat with the people doing the work. You can learn a lot by observing and listening.
Are work areas clean and safe? Are there large piles of scrap? Ask questions. An operator who’s engaged should be happy to explain, which would indicate a level of competency vital to producing high-quality products consistently and at a low cost.
Look for control charts and ask the operator to explain what the lines and figures mean. Inquire about run sizes, how long changeovers take, what the supplier’s biggest challenges are, and what causes scrap and re-work. Explain what your company does with the products it buys from the plant and thank the team for their contribution.
4. Ask the Right Questions
As you tour the plant, keep a mental checklist of the supplier’s overhead and structure. Here are a few questions to ask:
- How many people work at the plant, and what percentage of the team is involved in production?
- How many shifts does the supplier run?
- How big is the plant, and how much of its space is dedicated to production?
- What’s the total output of this facility, measured in dollars or units?
5. Pay Close Attention at Shipping
Shipping can offer even more insights than the receiving door. Look at the finished goods inventory. Is the supplier a “just-in-time” shipper, or do they store finished products? If it’s the latter, ask where your products are kept and note the quantities, space, and cost tied up in storage.
Request that someone from the production planning team join you at this stage of the plant tour. Then ask the magic question: “How can we be a better customer?” Find out if changing your ordering patterns could help your supplier reduce setups or improve materials planning. Maybe small changes to your specs would allow them to run more efficiently, produce bigger batches, or reduce scrap and rework.
These conversations often spark great ideas that benefit all parties, and they help lay the groundwork for strong collaboration and open communication on future projects.
6. Build a Broader Network
Don’t just rely on your sales rep as the point of contact between you and your supplier. A plant tour is a great opportunity to meet as many people as you can across the organization. As you get to know the team, invite them to share ideas, ask thoughtful questions, and listen to their answers. After the tour, follow up on any suggestions with real potential. Creating new relationships—and strengthening existing ones—reinforces transparency and opens wider channels of communication between you and your supplier.
7. Put Your Notes on Paper
As soon as you have a moment alone, write down everything you learned from the plant tour while it’s still fresh in your memory. Start with a quick schematic of how the lines are set up, then jot down what you saw and learned, such as:
- Key raw materials
- Setup times
- Cleanliness and tidiness of the plant
- How knowledgeable and invested the operator seemed
Include the answers to more objective questions, too:
- The square footage of the plant and operations areas
- The size of the team
- The number of shifts
This is also the time to capture any good ideas that surfaced, along with the names and emails of the people you met. A thank you is always a great touch.
When the time comes to model the supplier’s costs or organize joint cost-savings initiatives, all of this information will be invaluable. It will also prove useful when you’re comparing them with their competition.
8. Visit Competitors
“What?” you say, “I’m still trying to figure out how to find enough time for even one tour, and now you’re talking about several!
“You can’t be serious…”
The simple answer is “Yes.”
Touring your current supplier’s plant offers insight into their capabilities. Visiting their competitors helps you see how they measure up—and whether your needs can be better met by someone else.
Look for differences in inventory policies, operator competency, and scrap levels. Compare setup times, control charts, and the amount of space and staffing relative to output. This information helps you pick out the “best-fit” supplier.
If that ends up being your current supplier, you have peace of mind that you did your due diligence and are using the best possible partner for your needs. If you realize that they’re falling short in some areas, you’ve just unearthed an opportunity to reduce costs or improve quality and service by going with someone else. In both scenarios, your company comes out ahead.
This is the real advantage of a plant tour—it empowers you to evaluate suppliers using evidence, then turn those evaluations into competitive advantages when opportunities are surfaced.
Certainly, a fitting reward for all your hard work!
