Aurora Pumps is a division of Pentair which makes pump systems for boilers, sump, sewage and booster systems for ships, airports, hotels, and municipal water systems. With approximately 800,000 square feet of machining, assembly, painting, warehousing and shipping under one roof, it is a formidable facility.
Aurora Pumps / Pentair WaterIn January, the Pentair North Aurora Operation hosted 80 independent distributors visiting Chicago for the AHR Trade Show and Convention (world’s largest AC/Heating show) for sales seminars and a tour of the plant. As the group was scheduled for breakfast and a morning meeting, followed by a 10:30 tour, the PlantTours staff arrived at 8 a.m. to set up and quality test equipment.
The client’s pre-tour assessment determined they would need receivers and headphones for 8 groups of 10 distributors in each tour for optimal performance. We recommended High Noise/Behind-Head headphones for maximum noise protection as several stops along the tour are high-noise areas. The equipment was pre-programmed and labeled to prevent channel conflict if the groups passed one another en route. Two service representatives were assigned to handle equipment logistics for the plant staff and their groups. The pre-labeled equipment was organized in the break room, separated into groups for quick and easy distribution. Each guide brought his/her group of into the break room, were issued equipment, which took about 15 minutes.
Aurora Pumps / Pentair WaterEach guide did a quick sound check, the distributors gave the thumbs-up and they were ready to go by 10:50. Each group was assigned a tour route that began on a Shotgun Start, so groups rarely passed one another.. One guide and an assistant lead each group through 10 stops with visual aids, posters, and samples to present the technical information regarding that product, process stage and give a description of any changes in the production process. The guides used Hand-Held microphones so they could pass the mic to the presenter at each station for their portion of the tour.
Everything went smoothly, the guides answered many questions from the distributors as well as provide updates on product enhancements, new processes and credit and shipping practices. We monitored the tours throughout the plant by constantly moving from group to group. No service or assistance was needed.
Aurora Pumps / Pentair WaterWe relocated the equipment tables and prepared for collection at 1:00pm. At 12:50 the first group arrived to return their receivers/headphones and by 1:15, all groups were in the break room, having lunch, ready to resume their afternoon meetings at 2:00pm.
As the PlantTours staff packed up the equipment, we were pleased when Pentair Water’s VP-Sales told us they would be booking us for a large meeting/plant tour for their Dealer Network in the first week of June.
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