The BEST episodes of Ultimate Factories

Every episode of Ultimate Factories ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Ultimate Factories!

Ultimate Factories also known as Megafactories is an American documentary television series that premiered in 2006 on the National Geographic Channel. The program explores the inner workings of factories worldwide. Each episode profiles the machinery and manpower behind each factory's main product, featuring close-ups, breakdowns, interviews, and side stories to show the sequence of events to produce the product in the factory. Hoff Productions was one of the principal producers of this highly successful series. It also airs in non-US markets as Megafactories.

Last Updated: 9/2/2024Network: National GeographicStatus: Ended
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Learjet
star
10.00
27 votes

#1 - Learjet

Season 5 - Episode 18 - Aired 4/26/2012

The construction of the Learjet 60XR in Kansas, a multimillion-pound private plane that combines jet-fighter performance with yacht-style luxury.

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M-1 Tank
star
9.35
40 votes

#2 - M-1 Tank

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/30/2006

NGC takes you into the factories responsible for completely rebuilding the decades-old Abrams M-1 tank into one of the world's most powerful land weapons systems.

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EA Sports: FIFA 12
star
9.00
29 votes

#3 - EA Sports: FIFA 12

Season 6 - Episode 2 - Aired 5/10/2012

Enter the EA factory in Burnaby, Canada, to learn how video game creators took football off the field and turned it into a virtual masterpiece.

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Swedish Supercar: Koenigsegg Agera
star
9.00
27 votes

#4 - Swedish Supercar: Koenigsegg Agera

Season 8 - Episode 7 - Aired 11/10/2013

Only a privileged few ever get behind the wheel of the slick, sexy Koenigsegg and, similarly, only a privileged few play a role in its lovingly hand-built construction. Enter their artistic Swedish factory. Discover how each powerful Koenigsegg car is lovingly hand-built, in a Swedish factory that looks more like an art studio than a car production plant. The basic concept of the Koenigsegg is simple: a road car body that incorporates a Formula One racing car chassis. Koenigseggs are among the most exclusive super cars in the world with unparalled levels of performance. The combination of uncompromising quality in both finish and function and the use of space age materials make these super cars among the very best in automotive history. Koenigseggs are built to excel on the road or racetrack, yet are still highly comfortable for long distance travelling.

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LEGO
star
8.96
79 votes

#5 - LEGO

Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 1/21/2012

As simple as it is successful, LEGO is without doubt one of the most popular toys of all time. This eye-opening trip to the company's high-tech factory reveals how robots and tricky test markets are behind the company's ever-popular police station set.

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Apache Helicopter
star
8.94
93 votes

#6 - Apache Helicopter

Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/15/2007

NGC heads to the Boeing plant in Mesa, Arizona -- where cameras are rarely allowed -- for an in-depth look at the world's most lethal attack helicopter and its sophisticated technology.

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Pagani Huayra
star
8.88
8 votes

#7 - Pagani Huayra

Season 7 - Episode 10 - Aired 12/13/2012

How the Pagani Huayra is being built to challenge the best from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Koenigsegg, and McLaren.

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Lamborghini
star
8.81
31 votes

#8 - Lamborghini

Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 10/1/2009

Lamborghinis factory in SantAgata Bolognese, Italy [ALT: 20 miles/30 kilometers north of Bologna) is building its fastest car ever the Murcielago SV, of which just 350 will be made. The $450,000 Murcielago SV launches from 0 to 62 miles per hour in just 3.2 seconds and can achieve a top speed of 212 miles per hour. The factory builds the car almost entirely by hand including its engine and body. The car is also painted and assembled by hand, including installation of the famous Lamborghini scissor doors. Every car is custom-built to order, and only 2.7 cars are completed per day.

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Camaro
star
8.50
4 votes

#9 - Camaro

Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/15/2009

What does it take to build a classic car with 21st century technology? Now, after nearly a decade off the factory line, Chevy is reintroducing the 2010 Camaro SS. NGC visits the 10-million-square-foot factory, one of the largest auto plants in the world, where the car is stamped from cold raw steel and assembled by high-tech precise robots and nearly 5,800 employees, to create the car's specially designed "unibody" construction.

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Audi
star
8.50
54 votes

#10 - Audi

Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 3/13/2010

Our cameras go inside the Audi R8 factory in Neckarsulm, Germany and follow the crafting of a road car modeled after a champion racecar. With the introduction of the R8, Audi breaks out of its elegant sedan image to create a sportscar that rivals the likes of Porsche and Lamborghini. Modeled after the R8 racecar that dominated at LeMans, the Audi R8 road car is a mid-engine two-seater with explosive power and a smooth ride. Audi has combined all of its engineering innovations over the last few decades into this one sportscarall wheel drive, an ultra-light aluminum spaceframe and high-tech fuel injection. Since its launch in 2007, the super sleek R8 has appeared in many films and TV shows, including: Iron Man, Transformers, Dirty Sexy Money, CSI: Miami, Chuck, and 17 Again. This car is grabbing the attention of sports car fanatics, photographers and automotive journalists all over the world Read more: http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/ultimate-factories/4544/Overview#ixzz0kd5idX98

Directors: Mike Bruining
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Swiss Army Knife
star
8.50
2 votes

#11 - Swiss Army Knife

Season 6 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/17/2012

At the Victorinox factory in Switzerland, raw steel is fashioned into the most iconic multi-purpose tool invented – the Swiss Army Knife.

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Porsche
star
8.35
63 votes

#12 - Porsche

Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 10/22/2009

Get inside the famous House of Porsche and see how they create the Porsche 911, one of the most influential and recognizable vehicles in the world. Every distinctive element is manufactured at the Zuffenhausen factory in Stuttgart, Germany, a historical industrial monument. We'll examine the Porsche factory's innovative system of lifts, elevators and bridges, which conveys car bodies 50 feet above a public highway.

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Rolls-Royce
star
8.34
58 votes

#13 - Rolls-Royce

Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 10/8/2009

The Phantom is the first Rolls-Royce motorcar to be introduced since the company was acquired by BMW in 1998. Each Phantom is a unique combination of state-of-the-art technology and old-world craftsmanship, constructed with meticulous attention to detail. Manufacture of the Phantom begins in Unterhallerau, Germany, where its strong, stiff and lightweight space frame chassis is built. Each space frame and body shell assembly is then sent to BMWs factory in Dingolfing, Germany for corrosion-resistance treatment and primer paint. Next, each Phantom is shipped to a manufacturing facility constructed by BMW specifically to build the new generation of Rolls-Royce motorcars. It takes an average of 450 hours and the skills of hundreds of dedicated craftspeople, artisans, designers, engineers, mechanics, painters, sewing machinists and others to hand-build each car. At a base price of $380,000, the Phantom comes equipped with an impressive list of standard amenities including 90 square yards (75 sq meters) of A-grade Bavarian leather upholstery and book matched interior wood trim, hand-crafted from exotic veneers, all of which are fashioned right in the main assembly building of the Goodwood plant. With the Rolls-Royce customization, or bespoke program, however, the options are limited only by the boundaries of the buyers bankroll and imagination.

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Budweiser
star
8.33
63 votes

#14 - Budweiser

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 1/28/2007

What's the secret to Budweiser's success? NGC takes you inside the Anheuser-Busch brewery in St. Louis to learn the steps, secrets and science behind this legendary concoction.

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Ferrari
star
8.18
99 votes

#15 - Ferrari

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/9/2006

Inside Ferrari's closely-guarded factory in Maranello, Italy, you'll see how the newest, most powerful model is created from start to finish, learn its design secrets -- and take a test drive at 200 mph.

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Corvette
star
8.00
6 votes

#16 - Corvette

Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/29/2007

NGC takes you to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where GM is developing the new Corvette Z06, a high-performance street machine that is fantastically aerodynamically efficient.

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Guinness
star
8.00
81 votes

#17 - Guinness

Season 6 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/14/2012

A look behind the scenes at the biggest dark beer brewery in the world, the 48-acre St James Gate Brewery, located right in the middle of Dublin.

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Eurofighter
star
8.00
27 votes

#18 - Eurofighter

Season 5 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/3/2012

The construction of the Eurofighter Typhoon, an advanced multi-role combat aircraft, is chronicled in three factories across three countries.

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Ford Mustang Shelby GT-500
star
8.00
3 votes

#19 - Ford Mustang Shelby GT-500

Season 7 - Episode 3 - Aired 11/1/2012

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Super Chopper
star
8.00
1 votes

#20 - Super Chopper

Season 7 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/23/2012

With top speeds of around 200 mph, next generation super-choppers weigh about 15 tons, defy the laws of gravity, and can go virtually anywhere.

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Mercedes Truck Actros
star
8.00
3 votes

#21 - Mercedes Truck Actros

Season 6 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/12/2012

Each new version of the Actros is custom made by Mercedes-Benz, a supreme test of efficiency for a factory that builds a truck every two minutes.

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Frito-Lay
star
7.97
29 votes

#22 - Frito-Lay

Season 5 - Episode 6 - Aired 1/28/2012

A Frito-Lay factory in Perry, Ga., is visited for a look at the making and distribution of potato chips, cheese puffs and tortilla chips.

Caterpillar
star
7.93
59 votes

#23 - Caterpillar

Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 1/28/2008

The Caterpillar 797B is so large that assembly takes place at six different locations. Tour all of the factories that build this mining Goliath.

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Jack Daniel's
star
7.89
61 votes

#24 - Jack Daniel's

Season 4 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/10/2011

The Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg, Tennessee is visited to see how the famous whiskey is made.

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IKEA
star
7.77
114 votes

#25 - IKEA

Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/29/2009

In 36 countries, in 296 stores IKEA represents a distinct design and an affordable price. Each year nearly 600 million customers choose IKEA. From teaspoons to living rooms, the entire contents of a home are designed, manufactured and supplied in a huge variety of styles, colors and models... almost 10,000 items. To get the job done, suppliers in 54 countries carry out IKEAs vision. In Zbaszynek, Poland, IKEAs largest wood production plant in the world, creates 2 million tables, chairs, sofas and recliners each year. Nearby, in Nowe Skalmmierzyce, IKEAs the companys textile supplier builds over 500 pieces of upholstered furniture daily. In southern Sweden, three ultimate factories create IKEA staples. In Almhult, the prototype for every product is born and an advanced mass produced carpentry factory creates state of the art kitchens. In Kattilstorp, the classic Billy Bookcase is manufactured. And in Hultsfred, the foundation of most IKEA furnishings, the strong, hardwearing particle board is born.

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