Today was our earliest morning yet: 6:50. We had to catch a bus at this time to take us to Munich for our two company visits. Our first visit was Webasto. They mainly create sunroofs for cars, but they also make electric vehicle chargers. At their presentation, they provided information about careers in the company and it was followed by a quick snack. Here we had our first German butter pretzels of the trips. Afterwards we visited the testing center and saw the various tests they use on new sunroof designs. 

Afterwards we visited BMW. We started with a factory tour of the production plant and saw the vehicles being assembled. After this tour, we visited the museum and saw the history of BMW from its beginning as a plane company to its transition into the motorcycle and car industry. At the end, we had a representative from the company talk about BMW’s sustainability strategy.

I really enjoyed the tour today at Webasto the most. They were very hospitable, providing wonderful pretzels and drinks. I’ve noticed that the smaller companies (Mittelstand) are especially interested in teaching us about their practices. I also stocked up on my favorite German candies such as gummies and German chocolate. In my opinion, there is nothing close in the United States to German candies.

Signing off,

Nate Ginck