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home / Sports
PING -- a great golf tour
Shelley Gillespie
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Any golfer would be able to tell you that PING is a golf club. Just watch a golf tournament and you’ll see many of the leaders sporting a PING hat and using a PING putter or other club.
To see how PING golf clubs are manufactured, head right up the road to Phoenix. Free tours are offered Tuesday through Thursday in the Karsten manufacturing facility that started the whole process in the early 1960s.
When Karsten Soleim became convinced that he could make a putter that would help him play a better game, he used his engineering skills to design a club that revolutionized the game for many players. He developed a club that concentrated the weight at the edges of the putter. When the club hit a ball, it made a distinctive “PING” sound, causing Karsten and his wife to choose “PING” as the name for their new company. The club also is said to have the ability to help a player compensate for a poor shot.
The tour, a two-hour walking experience led by a very experienced Karsten employee, Mike McCann, takes groups on a walk through the many buildings where the clubs are actually produced. The club heads are forged using a wax mold that melts at 300º F. A ceramic mold is then created in which the molten metal, at 3000º F., is poured. Once the club heads are cooled, they are ground, tested, and assembled. Once forged, a putter, with the assistance of an assembly line of well-trained workers, is produced in 20 minutes. Every aspect of the production is carefully calibrated and every step uses high tech equipment with lasers and other tools. Karsten is the only golf club manufacturer that actually has a foundry in the US.
Karsten has 700 employees, many of whom have been with the company for up to 35 years. Although many of the jobs require precision skills that demand repetitive motion, the jobs are rotated every two hours to keep the workers’ attention fresh. They work in groups and are trained for up to six weeks for each process. They are also cross-trained so they can perform any of the assembly functions within their group.
Employees are loyal because they know that every club is paid for ahead of time and they will be receiving a bonus when the company does well. Every employee shares in the bonus when Karsten has a profitable quarter. Karsten’s adherence to “just in time” manufacturing makes it possible for them to keep their manufacturing process cost effective. They order what is required for grips and shafts as needed. The golf heads for putters, drivers, hybrids, and irons are all manufactured right on the premises; clubs and golf bags are assembled right at the Phoenix facility. (They also have two similar facilities in the United Kingdom and Japan.)
Every club has a unique serial number that allows PING to track where their products are being used. They also store some of their older models’ components so customers who really love their old clubs can still get replacement parts.
One of the advantages that Karsten has for golfers is their ability to tailor a club specifically to a golfer’s need. With a color-coded system that lets golfers choose a club that fits their height, level of experience, and swing. Karsten offers fittings right at their facility.
Indeed, McCann shares stories about some of the celebrities who come to PING’s plant to have their clubs fitted. He has worked with sports stars Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and rock star Alice Cooper, among others. Once while visiting the PING office, golf star Chris DiMarco surprised a customer by taking his phone call as if he was a PING staffer.
On the tour
Tours are conducted from a building outside of the gated manufacturing facility. Once the tour begins, participants are shown a series of short films that explain some of the historical and marketing details about how PING developed and produces their clubs.
Groups can be as large as about 15, but the tour we shared had only seven people. Following McCann around the factory meant traveling from building to building to see the various stages of the process. Employees are within a foot or two of tour participants at times, using the various machines. The factory is meticulous and McCann proudly shares that they are an ISO factory – one that meets very stringent criteria for safety and production efficiency.
To take a tour
Call 1-800-474-6434 and ask for available tours. The FREE TOURS are only held on Tuesday through Thursday, but reservations are required. Starting at 9:00 A.M., the tours last approximately two hours. Wheelchair access is possible, but the tour involves walking after the fifteen minutes of promotional films are shown. Children under nine years old are not allowed on the tour. Tour participants are issued safety glasses to wear in the manufacturing facility.
Location: Head north on I-17. Exit on Peoria Avenue, heading east, left on 23rd Avenue, then east (right) on Desert Cove Avenue. Turn right on Karsten Way. The PING tour starts from a dark building on the left, before the closed gate. The trip takes about an hour from Maricopa.
Note: After the tour, this reporter, a non-golfer, was seriously considering taking up the sport and would, of course, want PING clubs.
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