Nissan Plant Tour Smyrna, Tennessee

We are staying at Poole Knobs COE Campground near Smyrna, TN.: $9 a night with elect & water (we have the National Park systems 1/2 price geezer pass) so if you aren't 62 years old or disabled yet it will cost you $18. Smyrna and Poole Knobs COE Campground, is about 20-miles SE of downtown Nashville. We are on site # 41 and it is a beautiful site but there are many wonderful sites.

When a wonderful COE Campground like Pool Knobs is not available we look for a 1/2 price PPA Campground.

Today was our day for the Nissan Plant tour and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Talk about big this plant was impressive as in 5.4 million square feet sitting on 884 acres that can produce 550,000 vehicles annually. If I recall correctly our docent said they had over 9,000 employees in the building. If you are thinking about doing the Nissan Plant tour while visiting Nashville call 615-459-1444 for information and to make reservations.

No cameras are allowed in the plant so I do not have pictures but it was an impressive tour just the same. Tour guides carry you around the plant in vehicles explaining each of the processes. Nissan automobiles are built using unibody construction thus they are an automobile made out of sheet metal that is molded and shaped then welded together. Nissan trucks have frames, like traditional vehicles, and are constructed in a totally different manner.

Nissan engines are manufactured by another Nissan plant, also located in Tennessee, while the frames for the truck line are manufactured by a vendor in a building on Nissan's property here in Smyrna.

We saw a lot of presses and dies making myriad parts out of sheet metal as well as all the robots welding those pieces together, while on the Nissan Plant Tour.

Men and women in the Nissan Plant were manning the assembly line. Our docent told us that workers do 4-different jobs during the day to combat boredom and to relieve the repetitive motion. That way one worker would not perform any job for longer than 2-hours. I think I recall her telling us that an automobile was only at a workers station for 60-seconds. Thus a worker had to come to work ready to produce from the get go.

Our docent also told us that this Nissan plant was a nonunion plant even though there had been several votes, but each was voted down 2 to 1. I think she said that there was a 3% turnover rate indicating a very happy cadre of workers. From what I could see they were indeed a happy and content work force at this Nissan plant. They all smiled and waved at us as we passed.