Many (but not all) of the folks who go on the tours are design engineers who are potential customers for the factories. It's a win-win: the factories get a bu

Many (but not all) of the folks who go on the tours are design engineers who are potential customers for the factories. It's a win-win: the factories get a bunch of potential leads and the "tourists" get learn about manufacturing. One of the big tragedies of many hardware startups is that while many are talented when it comes to design, there are few who really know manufacturing. The goal of the group(s) is try to narrow the gap.