Technological University of the Philippines
COLLEGE OF LIBERAL ARTS
Ayala Boulevard, San Marcelino Street, Ermita, Manila

PLANT TOUR 2013
(Villar Foundation, Hino, and Gardenia)

Submitted to:

Dr. Noel B. Hernandez

Submitted by:

Evangelista, Kris Lianne N.

BAM IM 4L E

October 12, 2013
PLANT TOUR 2013
(Villar Foundation, Hino, and Gardenia)
I. INTRODUCTION
Plant tour is define as a visit to a place (such as museum, warehouses, factory, etc.) that is made by the school or professors for their students to learn about something. Plant visit allows students to build a better understanding of a site’s or plant’s performance potential; to assess a competitor, to communicate the company’s performance, strategy, and current challenges. Even people who know that plant tours are valuable can find it difficult to put them to effective use. First, unclear objectives often turn touring into tourism. If visitors don’t know why they are taking a tour and what they hope to accomplish on it, they won’t know where to focus their time and effort. Second, many people lack an organizing framework to structure observations and accelerate learning. Without such a framework, the myriad observations made during a tour cannot easily weave together and will not readily yield general conclusions. Third, information about plants and how to tour them is inevitably comparative; and those who have seen more, see more. Inexperience makes it difficult for younger, students in particular to make it the most of a tour, since they are still building the knowledge base they need to draw comparisons. However, by setting clear objectives and applying an organizing framework to make sense of what they see and hear, visitors can make the most of plant tours even if the industry, products, and processes are unfamiliar.
Unfortunately, most visitors don’t begin thinking about the tour until they are in the plant’s parking lot. The tour will be far more valuable if they spend time framing their objectives before the visit. There are three primary reasons for taking a tour: to learn, to assess, and to teach.
Plant visit helps the students to gain more knowledge especially in industry and how they can relate it to the theories they have learned to their professors. A plant tour provides an opportunity to observe how work actually gets done. Even the most lucid description of how work flows are managed around a plant, there is no substitute for seeing things happens in real or in practice.
The warehouse or the factory to visit is a very important factor for a plant tour. It is very essential that the warehouse or the plant that is going to visit has a relation to the subject matter. Most of the students in CLA (College of Liberal Arts) are management major that’s why the focus on the tour or visit is the manufacturing process, the flow of their operations, and the policies and objectives of each company.
The plant visit focused on three companies, the Villar Foundation, Gardenia Bakeries Philippines, Inc., and Pilipinas Hino, Inc.
The Villar Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit organization, it aims to support projects geared toward helping our less fortunate countrymen break free from the clutches of poverty. Since its inception, Villar Foundation has initiated, implemented, and supported various projects aimed at improving the quality of life of the people in the communities where we live and maintain a business presence. Over the years, its advocacies and beneficiaries have expanded and diversified in order to reach more people and sectors of the society. These include the poor and unprivileged, overseas Filipino workers and their families; the youth; women; the church; the environment among others.
Gardenia Philippines started its operations in 1998 with the state-of-the art bread factory rated as one of the most modern large scale bread manufacturing facility in the country. Its major, highly-automated equipment come from the best bakery equipment suppliers from Germany, Holland, UK and USA making it the leading manufacturing company in the Philippines. Over the years, Gardenia has gained wide acceptance and is now considered as the most widely distributed loaf brand, reaching many parts of the country.
Pilipinas Hino, Inc. (PHI) was incorporated on March 1975 as a joint venture among Filipino investors, Hino Motors, Ltd. and Marubeni Corporation of Japan. A participant in the government Commercial Vehicle Development Program (CVDP), PHI is mainly engaged in the assembly and distribution of quality Hino buses and trucks , distribution of genuine Hino spare parts and supply of other automotive-related products and services. All Hino bus and truck models are developed to meet the demands of owners and drivers who insist upon perfection in transport. Safety, economy, durability, reliability, versatility and ecology, all these and more can be expected from the Hino buses and trucks. Through the Company’s quality products and services, and its highly competent and dedicated workforce, PHI consistently secured its place as among the country’s top corporation.
II. RATIONALE
A plant tour presents a good opportunity to increase the visibility in the industry and solidify relationships with classmates, professors, and other members of the college. A plant tour is an organized visit to a warehouse, factory, or plant to see things being manufactured and processes at work.
Most of the schools or universities nowadays make sure that their students (whatever course or level they are taking) experienced this plant tour. We all know that teachers or professors give us only the theories. Through this plant tour, we were able to apply the theories we learned from them and relate it to the companies where we were going to visit. It is very important that the students has their own idea of what we call “industry” and profound their knowledge as to how the company manage their facilities, factory, man power, and also to increase our knowledge about the safety, policies, and regulations inside the company.
III. OBJECTIVES
The objective of the plant tour is to develop variety of experiences and enhance the student’s educational opportunities.
For the plant visit of BAM (Bachelor of Arts in Management) and BSEnM (Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Management) students, the main purpose or objective of the tour are as follows:
1. To acquire useful application of the theories we have learned from our professors to the industry or companies.
2. To recognize how manufacturing capabilities contribute to a company’s overall strategic strength.
3. To build a better understanding of different managing styles, production or operation, and the flow of work.
4. To provide valuable qualitative and affective learning experience which will encourage deeper thinking about the different managing and marketing styles.
5. To be exposed in different types of industry and to meet different kind of people as well as their position in the company.
6. To foster strong bonds of friendship and camaraderie among students and with professors from College of Liberal Arts.
IV. SUMMARY / CONTENT
College of Liberal Arts held a plant visit for BAM-IM (Bachelor of Arts in Management – Major in Industrial Management) and BSEnM (Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurial Management) students. It was held last October 1, 2013. This plant visit is for us students to learn about something most especially to have an idea in industry. It is very important because it gives us an idea of what is the real industry and how we can relate it to theories we learned from our professors. We have visited three different companies, the Villar Foundation, Gardenia Bakeries Philippines, Inc., and the Pilipinas Hino, Inc.
We have visited first the Waste Plastic Recycling Factory of the Villar Foundation. They have facility that will transform the garbage or wastes to construction materials such as hollow blocks and pavers and chairs. The speaker
Said that the owners and operators of MRS or junk yards buy recyclables such as old news papers and magazines, plastic bottles, and empty tin cans from the homeowners. This project of Villar Foundation will help reduced the volume of garbage that the city government has to collect. The speaker adds that through their project, the waste thrown in the river will reduced, garbage collection costs of the city government will save, and additional livelihood opportunities for the poor will increase.
After the Waste Plastic Recycling Factory, we went to their Las Pinas Coconet Weaving. This is also a project of senators Manny and Cynthia Villar. From the husk of the coconut, the fiber can be extracted. They used it as a rope or as a twine. The Villar Foundation purchase all the equipment required to produce the coco nets. The coco net is produced by the team work of two persons in the twining equipment and two persons in the loom. The speaker said that the part of the income generated from the sales of the coco net is used to pay for the blankets made by another group of women and youth engaged in the Las Pinas Handloom Weaving Centers. These blankets are, in turn, given to people who are rendered homeless by typhoon, fire, and other calamities. As part of the tour, the speaker introduced one of their member who participated in their commercial.
We also went to their shop (actually I forgot the name) where you can see and buy their products. Their product includes baskets, oils, bags, chairs, etc. On our lunch time, Villar Foundation or Senators Cynthia and Manny Villar prepared a set of lunch for evryone. We were able to see and tour their mansion. As a closing remarks of speaker, he told us to tell our friends of what we have learned and saw in Villar Foundation.
Down to our next destination is the Pilipinas Hino, Inc. It is located in Laguna. As far as I remember, the Pilipinas Hino, Inc. is as sister company of Toyota that’s why some of their products includes toyota cars. As part of their safety, they don’t allow us to take pictures inside their warehouse. The speaker or the representative of Hino guides us in our tour inside their warehouse. We saw different departments such as Chassis Assembly, Structural Line, Painting Section, and their Leak Test Facility. They make sure that the employees are safe through their walking lanes or pedestrian lines.
Our last destination is the Gardenia Bakeries, Inc. It is also located in Laguna. Just like Hino, we were’nt able to capture their facilities inside their warehouse. Before they let us tour their whole facilities, they prepared a video for us to be familiarize to their machines as well as their products and their history. After a few minutes, one of their employees toured us along their facilities. The whole facility is automated that’s why there are only 16-20 people working in their production area. They make sure that the employees inside the facility wears a complete uniform so that their safety, as well as the products, are sure. V. REACTION
The positive side of the plant tour is that we learned something from the three companies. From the first destination, we learned that the waste can transform into something that is useful for other people. We also learned about the safety precautions of each company especially in Hino and Gardenia. It really helps us to understand or to visualize the real flow of the production inside the warehouse. Aside from we learned about something, I think the cost or the price of the plant tour is reasonable to what we have experienced compared to the last semester’s plant tour.
For the negative side of the plant tour is that, I think one day is not enough for us to gain more and to visualize more the “industry”. I think what we have saw is just an introduction of what we have to learn for our future career.
VI. CONCLUSION
As what I have experienced in this plant tour, it really gives me an idea of how “industry” would look like. Just like in the reaction, I have learned that the waste can be turned into something that is very usable to other people. Through the waste, they were able to have a job and earn money. Also, I conclude that safety is very important in every company. As part of the safety of Hino and Gardenia, they don’t allow visitors to capture their facilities, they make sure that the employees are wearing right PPE, and the company provides a safety lane for the employees and visitors. For some company that uses an “automated” operation like Gardenia, since they are using machines in their production, I think it is not good for everyone because it can’t provide work opportunities for other people.
VII. RECOMMENDATION
Since we all know that the plant tour is very important in helping students to visualize and relate what we have learned inside the classroom to the “industry” I recommend to add more activities that will expose our skills and knowledge to managerial tasks. As part of learning for both students and professors, I also recommend to make it 2-3 days tour so that we can visit more companies.
I also recommend to make an activity that will harden the relationship of the students and professors. Plant visit is not only to gain more knowledge, but also to gain more friends.