Common Sense Media Review
By Emily Ashby
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Behind-the-scenes show is great for curious kids.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 7+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
ULTIMATE FACTORIES takes viewers on behind-the-scenes tours of several of the United States' largest factories -- including Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser, Peterbilt Motors, John Deere, and Harley-Davidson. The docuseries follows the entire manufacturing process, showcasing both the state-of-the-art robots and the skilled employees who keep the assembly lines running smoothly. Interviews with designers, engineers, and factory workers offer insight into the featured company's history, as well as what's involved in turning out huge quantities of products each day.
Is It Any Good?
This intriguing series is tailor-made for curious families, packaging entertainment and education in a way that appeals to everyone from grade schoolers through adults. One episode documents the assembly process of Harley's new V-Rod motorcycle at the company's 10-acre factory in Kansas City. Viewers watch as piles of parts become rumbling engines, sheets of metal get pressed into fenders, chrome pipes are delicately attached to the bike's frame, and the final products are crated for shipment. Along the way, employees explain how high-tech lasers and diagnostic machinery add precision and speed to the assembly process, and computer graphics help demonstrate how the tools work.
Kids who wonder how things work will be particularly intrigued, though they might need some extra explanation when it comes to technical jargon or plant operations.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the production process. How did the products in this episode get made? What tools did the workers use? How did machines and computers make their jobs easier and faster? Kids, what do you like to build? What tools do you use? How do you decide what to build and how to build it? What would you most like to build if you could? Why? What would it look like? What would you like to see being made?
TV Details
- Premiere date : November 9, 2006
- Cast : Mark Keller
- Network : National Geographic Channel
- Genre : Educational
- Topics : History , STEM
- TV rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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