A bright and early start morning at 7:10 am today. Today started our company visits, with the first being Hoerbiger. I was excited to see what we would get to learn and see at the company, I have never really been on a company tour before. We first went to the valve factory where they showed us these small valves that Hoerbiger is the only producers of. It was really interesting that such a small little product has such great importance. Especially when it’s used in the medical field, it was super important to make sure people were getting the right amount of oxygen, and even if the valve failed, there was always a backup to make sure the person didn’t have a medical emergency. I also really liked that they showed us around their offices. I initially thought the tour and talk were strictly going to be focused on the factory and manufacturing but seeing the office made me feel like I could see myself in a setting like that in the future. Their think boxes were especially interesting as much, I have never seen or heard of something like that. The moving desks were also pretty cool and demonstrated they actually cared about the well-being of the employees, along with the new gym that they put it.
After the valve tour, we drove about 5 minutes over to the next factory. I loved how passionate the tour guide was, he took us through the entire factory and showed us every part of the process. It really makes a huge difference when people are enthusiastic about showing you what they do during their day-to-day. After the tour, we had another talk about supply chain with another one of the employees, but this one was special as he had actually studied abroad in the US. The conversation felt more personable because we would relate to him.
Our next stop for the day was Oberammergau where we took a lift up to the Alps. I was not very fond of the lift bc I didn’t exactly trust the two little cords but we made it up okay thankfully. The panic on the lift was so worth it because the view was absolutely beautiful. It honestly looked like a painting in real life. The view was great but I really enjoyed watching the paragliders take off. They look kind of funny flying in the air but I could only imagine the amount of talent it takes to control the strings.
Lastly, we had one more stop and went to this cute little town not too far from the Alps. I did my first bit of shopping to get gifts requested by my family members. They had a really cute Christmas shop with a ton of ornaments. We grabbed dinner at this little cafe and then headed over to the bus quickly. After a long day, we were finally on our way back home. That’s a wrap on today but I’ll check in tomorrow on our visits to Webasto and BMW!
Signing off,
A congested Sydney