American Factory

Everyone get close to everyone so you can touch someone.

This is very serious. It's more serious than you can imagine.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for...

just being our God, and for all that you do.

We thank you for this day, and...

we thank you for the chill in this air, Father.

Because we thank you for the sunshine,

because you create the chill and you create the sunshine.

And you know these are tough times, Father.

We're asking this morning for your guidance.

- Amen. - Amen.

We stand here today, uh, with a plant that's closing,

with a... a deep, rich history,

and, uh, it's sad for me and, I'm sure, everybody else in there to see it go,

but I will say this:

I'm extremely proud of the people that work in this plant here.

There's none better.

They know how to get the job done.

- How old are these houses? - Two hundred years?

No way! America was founded only 200 years ago.

Oh.

- Then at least several decades. - Yeah, maybe.

- Cold? - Yeah.

But this is really beautiful.

Yeah, gorgeous.

See, America's airspace is really busy.

There's one.

- And there. - Mmm.

When you take a look at an automobile,

you see glass all around it.

That's what we do.

We have about 70% of the market.

Okay? Which is pretty extensive.

We have facilities around the world,

throughout China, United States now, with our plant here.

What we're doing is we're melding two cultures together:

the Chinese culture and the US culture.

So we are truly a global organization.

So, we do have three different shifts right now that we are working with.

A first, second, and a third. Pretty traditional.

You'll also have a 30-minute unpaid lunch.

Plus, there's two 15-minute paid breaks.

Plenty of opportunities, ladies and gentlemen.

Plenty of opportunities.

Is this a union shop?

We are not.

It is our desire to not be.

But we recognize that, one, we need to do things right by employees.

Okay? We recognize that.

- I have, actually, 28 years experience. - Very good.

Payroll, human resources, operations, things like that.

I have a master's

- in mechanical engineering too, so... - Okay, good. Super.

- Sounds like you got a lot of good skills. - Well, I... Actually, I've worked

- in all kinds of different levels of... - Yeah? Okay, good.

What we'll do is we'll take a look at your résumé. All right?

Where you sit today used to be a General Motors plant.

This plant closed,

leaving 2,000 families unemployed.

And now, there are over 1,000 employees working here,

with still more to be hired.

It was a little over two years ago that this facility was a very dark

and very stark reminder of the greatest economic downturn

in American history since the Great Depression.

And with that, you understand the... the personal impact that that has,

individually and for the families of all those involved.

It's been a very fast process from the very beginning.

When I hired in, there was nothing in the plant.

And since that time, you can see, in the last six months,

the amount of people and equipment that have come in.

And it's, uh, exciting.

The commitment everybody's put in, hard work.

Uh, we're looking forward to starting production.

Since you've arrived in America,

I believe you've found many things different

from life in China.

We need to get to know Americans.

America is a place to let your personality run free.

As long as you're not doing anything illegal,

you're free to follow your heart.

You can even joke about the president.

Nobody will do anything to you.

Americans' cars are big and huge, very comfortable.

This represents the American sense of casualness.

They don't place a heavy importance on outfits and attire.

If you travel in Europe in the summertime,

and you see someone walking in front of you,

if he's wearing shorts, vests, and sports shoes,

they must be an American.

Americans say what they are thinking directly.

They don't hide anything.

They are very obvious.

Everything is practical and realistic.

They dislike abstractions and theory in their daily lives.

Time is limited today, so I won't keep going.

The list here is really long.

Wow, thank you.

As required by Chairman,

we will have an opening celebration on October 7th.

From now on,

I ask you to keep October 7th in mind

and work hard towards this grand celebration.

Welcome, Chairman. Good to see you.

This one is the Chevrolet S-10.

It was made in 1982.

That's the first one they made.

The first car from the GM plant.

Wow, Dayton was very well developed back then?

Exactly. A very well developed area.

"I have a secret to share, and from the bottom of my heart,

I love Ohio, and I love the place

where I invest significantly, here in Dayton."

This is a historic project that is gonna help grow this community,

give people jobs, and give a future to your kids and my kids

that did for those trucks back there when our parents

and grandparents worked on refrigerators and cars.

And the future is bright, folks. The future is bright.

Please join me in acknowledging the newly-named Fuyao Avenue.

"Good morning, everyone. And we meet again today."

Every time I visit this plant, I see a lot of changes.

"Every time when I visit, I see great progress."

You see there's still empty space for more equipment.

It will all be installed within a year.

"If we can follow through with our plan and become successful here,

this will be a great example

of the US successfully attracting foreign investment."

Thank you very much.

"Thank you very much."

He says that a lot of people lost their jobs in this area,

and he thanks you for the opportunity.

And tell him, one time, he has to come down here

and eat some barbecue with us.

- Okay. - Thank you.

So the clients are satisfied?

Yes, very satisfied. Especially Chrysler.

I am pairing an American with a Chinese.

The American is the main operator, with a Chinese supervisor by their side.

They're pretty slow.

They have fat fingers.

We keep training them over and over.

How you doing?

The chairman has said from the beginning this is an American company.

It's Fuyao Glass America. It needs to be an American company,

we need to treat it like an American company,

but we need to be successful just like all our plants throughout the world.

So, basically, this line, that's the stage.

So from there back to the stage,

- and then people out that way. - Facing that way.

- Yeah. - We're talking, like,

a concert stage without cover

and potentially a overhang for weather.

We're gonna have to plan for that.

You know what I mean? Like, a concert...

Chairman thinks we're okay with October weather,

so you don't need any hang.

- No hang. - What if it rains?

It won't.

It won't.

In October, the weather will be like it is today.

Chairman thinks, in October, the weather will be similar

- to... today. - Today?

Also, Chairman says that door can't face this way.

- What door? - Face... You know, the opening right there.

Well, we just signed a contract, so...

- What? - That's a big...

You gotta talk to Jimmy about... I don't know.

- I think it's... - Jimmy, do you understand what he means?

We just did a purchase order and ordered a garage door and stuff.

So, you gotta face some other direction, I think.

- So... - They already put the door in.

So we're gonna have to change it. Is that okay?

- Yeah, we need to change it. - Okay.

Yeah, Z, just change it.

That's gonna cost us $35,000.

I have an idea, but I am not sure it's a good one.

We hang two artworks here.

One is something iconic of China,

like the Great Wall.

- The other one is from the US. - No. Only American ones.

Only American ones.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Don't upset them.

American, just...

They haven't done good decorative work here.

This can't be here. It should be moved to the side.

There are... It's required by law

to have one in here, and it has to be that height.

They're just saying

- that it should be moved to the side. - We can move it, yeah.

Huh?

David says that is the required height.

We can't place it down there. It has to be that high.

We can move it to that corner.

Then up there.

It's a legal requirement. I'll ask him.

He has to ask and see. He knows this is the right height.

But sometimes, you have to think, uh, before you do,

so then we don't have to redo the work,

because it costs money.