Two-Way Communications System Elevates Manufacturing Tours and Strengthens Customer Relationships

“We’re calling it ‘The Flavor Factory,’” says Matt, the creative services manager at Torani, a drink manufacturing company that specializes in flavored syrups. After 25 years in a small facility, Torani built a new 350,000 square-foot manufacturing facility, dubbed the “Flavor Factory,” and they were eager to take advantage of the new larger location.

Torani is continually striving to create an elevated guest experience. They noticed that people loved to take tours of the Favor Factory production floor, but it was difficult for visitors to hear tour guides over the roaring noises of blending, bottling, and packaging the syrups. 

After seeing how audio systems made tours more interactive and engaging at a partner’s facility, Torani found Tripp Communications Systems and began exploring options for their own tour audio system.

“I absolutely love using our new headsets! It has really raised the bar on the quality of our tours here at Torani.” – Greg Phillips, Director of Manufacturing, after implementing the system

Overcoming the Roar on the Factory Floor

Torani regularly hosts customer tours of the manufacturing facility where visitors can see the seven production lines and get a behind-the-scenes look at how the syrups are made and distributed. Tour groups are generally small, consisting of about 10 people per group.

However, due to the sounds of mixing and blending syrups, the clanging of glass bottles, forklifts, production machinery, and more, it is difficult for visitors and tour guides to hear anything on the manufacturing floor. 

“As a tour guide, it can be a real challenge to project your voice in a factory environment,” said Matt Wills. “As a result, tour group members may not be able to hear key pieces of information being shared and may become disengaged. It can be difficult to keep everyone focused.”

To create a better brand experience, Torani needed a communication solution that would allow all guests to clearly hear the tour guide and ask questions, including stragglers and those at the back of the group.

Improving Tours and Customer Relationships

Torani has found that the audio tour system was easy to implement and has made it much easier to talk to larger groups and discuss the entire tour process.

The headsets have become a part of the tour preparations and PPE visitors get before going onto the manufacturing floor. “They get hairnets, they have to remove jewelry, make sure they’re wearing steel-toed shoes, lab coats, and we just wrapped the headsets into that as well,” commented Matt. “It was a natural progression.”

With the headsets, everyone can hear the tour clearly, and guests are getting a whole new perspective on the company and their products. Whether the guests are first-time or long-time customers, the headsets have facilitated a much closer connection between Torani and their customers. 

“They are able to go out on the floor and see that firsthand and hear the stories that our team gives. Most of the tours they’re given by our production leads or manufacturing leads, or even our engineering team who helped design it, and they’re able to share more anecdotes and history that they’ve experienced which makes it great for everybody.” – Matt Wills, Creative Services Manager

Now Torani can better show their expertise and create a pleasant experience for visitors, resulting in deeper engagement and better relationships with their customers and vendors.

Remarkable Customer Service and Easy-to-Use System

“We came into this as a total novice,” shares Matt, but Tripp Communications worked with them through the consultation process and recommended specific high-noise headsets and products for their tour environment. 

“Ted Tripp let us borrow a bunch of different headsets. We went out to our plant with the team, and we tested them out to see which ones were most comfortable to wear over the other equipment we are required to wear.”

Overall, Tripp Communications made the process easy and Torani is very happy with the product.

“It’s so easy. Everybody who has used them, it takes them less than 5 minutes of training and they’re experts.” – Matt Wills, Creative Services Manager

Torani’s sales team was one of the first groups to experience a tour with the new headsets. They were able to hear and communicate so well that they learned things about Torani they hadn’t heard before – even though they’d been on tours previously.

Customers, vendors, tour guides, and Torani employees are all able to benefit from the clear hearing, easy communication, and convenience provided by the audio system. 

“A big unanticipated win by using the headsets is that it has driven much deeper engagement with tours groups,” shares Greg Phillips, Director of Manufacturing. “Not only can everyone in the group hear, but with the two-way communication headset they can jump in and ask questions, keeping engagement at a high level! I love it and the headsets make the whole experience more exciting and fun!”

The new system has been a hit at Torani. “Even the tour guides have said it’s transformed the way that we give tours.” Matt adds, “We really achieved that elevating of the tours that we were looking for.”

With the success of the two way communication system for factory tours, Torani also plans to roll out the system for training, as well.