Six-Minute Manufacturing

Maybe it's a guy thing (or possibly just a “lazy” thing), but I can sit and watch things being made all day. Shot in an industrial/manufacturing section of Albuquerque, NM, Six-Minute Manufacturing offers--true to its title--a series of six-minute behind-the-scenes peeks at how several items are made, beginning with a trip to Lectro Sonics, one of the leading suppliers of wireless microphone transmitters and receivers--an indispensable (if invisible) part of many television broadcasts. Viewers witness the creation of the green circuit boards (as well as the electronic components and silver solder that connects them), the inspection stage, the precision slices created by a laser-cutter, computerized testing, and final assembly by human hands. On the low-tech side is a paper manufacturer making everything from paper sacks for McDonalds to napkins and toilet paper. Kids will enjoy seeing the gigantic rolls of the source paper (spurring my 8-year-old son to exclaim, “That would be wiping a big butt!”), the embossment process for making it cushy, and the cutting and packaging steps. Also covered are injection molding for plastics, water tank fabrication, artificial pumice (for making abrasive blocks for sanding, grill-clearing, etc.), precision tool and die making, optical imaging, and (surprisingly the least-impressive) small jet manufacturing, which relied on fancy graphics from the company, but gave little insight into the process. A strong optional purchase. Aud: E, I, P. (C. Block)