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Raw Materials: arrive by Train (Grand Trunk
Western Railroad--a subsidiary of Canadian National)--and
Truck. Upon arrival raw materials are inspected by Amway's
Quality Assurance |
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Powder Manufacturing (123 employees. 10 variations of SA8® Laundry Concentrate+ 17 other powdered products). |
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Processes 1 million pounds of paper/month. Press can print various printed media at 1,200 ft. of paper/minute. |
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As I was unable to acquire any information regarding where the raw
materials originated from or indeed who Amway's suppliers were, I
will begin the production process with the trains and trucks which
deliver the raw materials necessary to the production of SA8®
LC.11
While the trucks enter the factory through the public highways and
roads, the trains enter the factory on a special line that cuts off
from the main Grand Trunk Western Railroad line.12
The trains deliver the raw materials that will be used to make not
only SA8® LC but also many of the other products produced at the
Amway Corporation's World Headquarters in Ada, MI. According to
Amway's Homepage "It takes more than 1,560 railroad cars to deliver
the bulk raw liquid, powder, and plastic materials [all of which
remain presently "cloaked"] used every year in Amway World
Headquarters manufacturing operations."13
These materials are inspected on arrival by the staff of the Quality
Assurance Department.14
One of the machines that Quality Assurance uses is the
Gradex*2000.15
[The Gradex*2000] automatically performs the analysis ["...analyzing and calculating the dimensions and weight of particles in Amway's various powder products." (same page)] and transfers results to Amway's central computer for use by Amway technicians. Uniformity in particle size is important because the particles mix best when they're similar in size. Quality Assurance analyzes particles every day to ensure uniformity in all of our products.16
The materials related to SA8® LC are then sent to the Powder Manufacturing Department. It is arguably here where SA8® LC is "comes to life," so to speak, from the various raw materials that will make up SA8® Laundry Concentrate. From all that I could gather this stage of the manufacturing process, as well as others, is highly automated. For example, there is a relatively small number of people working in this department (123 employees). During this part of SA8® LC production an X-Rite* Colorimeter is used by the Powder Department. This machine "...ensures [that] the color appearance of all powder products and bar soaps are consistent, using definitive computer analysis."17 Amway has the following to say about the Powder department in general:
Amway employees, on average, produce 500,000 lbs. of product each day. They make 10 variations of SA8 ® Laundry Concentrate, along with 17 other powdered products for shipment around the world. In 1994, 123 employees produced 115 million pounds of powdered products at a rate of 6lb. units [SA8® LC is packaged in this unit size] per minute.18
Throughout
this process, and indeed across the entire operation, it is important
to note that there are likely many other relationships and
connections with various other departments of the Amway organization.
While there is some information available from Amway on their
homepage, a myriad of questions regarding the relationships around
production remain unanswered. What kind of capital investments has
the company made?19
How many employees are there in the various department or areas of
the factory?20
Are employees allowed to form unions?21
What kind of benefits do they receive? Where do the raw materials
come from that are used to make Amway products? Answers to such
questions would indeed be interesting, however, such information is
apparently not seen as important or necessary to be divulged. Or,
perhaps, public knowledge of such questions might de-mystify the
process of production to such an extent that the products no longer
have their "allure?" In any case, what is known is that
information regarding the whole operation is constantly sent to the
Data Center ("It stays in touch with business operations 24 hours a
day") for analysis and quality checks.
From Powder Manufacturing the product is boxed and readied for
shipment to one of the 10 Regional Distribution Centers as well as
one of the two Catalog Distribution Centers. However, there must be
more to the production process than this. What else must happen
before the box arrives in somebody's home and begins fulfilling its
"destiny"? Beginning just with the box that holds the SA8 ® LC we
can begin to reasonably guess about other departments and machines
that would necessarily be involved in this process. The boxes, for
example, which will hold the SA8® LC are produced in the Folding
Carton Department. "In 1994,...[this department] produced
nearly 80 million cartons for use in almost every Amway® product
area. Typically cartons are first designed and then printed on either
six-color, two-color, or the new 10-color narrow-web press. Once
printed, cartons are die-cut, folded, and glued. They are then ready
to hold SA8® Laundry Detergent..."22
This itself raises questions as to who printed the labels and
cartons?
The Amway Corporation's Printing Department also located at the World
Headquarters in Ada, MI is one of the largest printing shops in
Michigan. The department "...turns more than 1 million pounds of
paper every month into informative materials for distributors,
consumers, and employees. The huge 140 ft. Harris Press can print
literature, catalogs, magazines and newsletters at 1,200 ft. of paper
per minute." Behind the direct production itself of printed materials
are a host of other people who are involved, directly and indirectly,
in getting these materials composed, arranged, sized, organized,
translated, approved, and on and on. While there was not a full
discussion of all these relationships available to the public, Amway
does indicate, here and there, some of the people and machines that
are involved in the production process. The following discussion is
only meant to give the reader, and indeed myself, a general idea of
some of the possible and varied relationships involved in SA8® LC
production.
Let us begin with the Quality Assurance Department. Employees here are not only responsible for assuring appropriate standards of raw materials and finished products, but they are also involved in acquiring and/or creating images for use in marketing the product (they use a Nikon™ digital camera); the Audio-Visual Department is likely to be involved in composing and arranging both printed and video texts (they use an Avid™ Media Composer 8000 that "...cuts and pastes video"); the Minolta™ 2800 microfilmer is used to store "...confidential files, secret formulas, and financial data..."; the Translation department uses Globalink™ software "...to translate Amway's Canadian PERSONAL SHOPPERS® Catalogue from English to French...."; and related more directly to the printing process, the Imagesetter™ photo typesetter is used to produce texts, illustrations, and photos. There is also Amway's Research and Development Department (with over 26 of 42 labs located in Ada, MI) which creates and improves existing products. In addition, there is Amway's Recycling Center which routes some of the 45 tons of solid waste, generated each day by Amway operations in Ada, MI, to recycling and into more beneficial products. Again, however, these various relationships represent only a fraction of the various departments and employees involved in the process. Nonetheless, it is quickly apparent that even while producing "just" a box of soap, there are arranged around this product multiple and complex sets of relationships.
Once production is completed and Quality Assurance has inspected the
finished product, the boxes of SA8® LC are then ready to be
shipped out to the consumer. While this may seem to be getting close
to the "end" of the process, we are not quite there yet. The boxes of
SA8 ® LC, along with all of the other Amway products produced in
Ada, MI, are shipped by truck (and train possibly) to one or more of
the 10 RDCs (Regional Distribution Centers located throughout Canada
and the United States. They are also sent to one of Amway's two CDCs
(Catalog Distribution Centers). Once the product arrives at one of
the RDCs it is then sent to one of Amway's distributors.
With Catalog merchandise (SA8® LC is also offered through Amway's catalog), however, the product is shipped to one of the CDCs. "Amway maintains two shipping facilities--one in Nevada to handle catalog orders bound for western states, and [a second one] in Michigan for orders heading to destinations east of the Rocky Mountains." Catalog orders can be made through individual distributors or by phone using the following procedure:
To call your own order, have the following information handy:
