Once again, another amazing day in Germany! Today was our first day exploring outside the city of Augsburg, and it was really fun.
We started the day with another amazing breakfast. This morning, they offered scrambled eggs and bacon, and the scrambled eggs were the best scrambled eggs I have ever had. They were so smooth and the texture was perfect. I also tried tap water for the first time (since I don’t want to pay for water), and it is actually really clean and fresh. It is definitely way better than American tap water.
After breakfast, we headed to our first company visit: Hoerbiger. Hoerbiger is the company my project group is analyzing, so it was a big and exciting day for me!
Today was my first time ever touring a factory, and it was really cool. We visited two of Hoerbiger’s factories: the flow and motion control factory, which focused on using piezo technology, and the automotive factory, which created engagement, blocker, and inner rings for synchronization in manual transmission, which is used in cars. Both factory tours I really enjoyed and it was interesting to see the inner workers of a company and their supply chain.
The flow and motion control factory was more attractive to me, as it was very organized, clean, and had plenty of office space. They use piezo technology to create safety valves, smart positioner modules for fluid and gas control in tanks, flow control in ventilators for babies and elders, and smart control for braille technology. The factory tour was really cool, as we saw the production process and the testing zones. During the tour, I was introduced to shoe covers which protected the toes of our feet, and also got to wear a lab coat! They also showed us their game room, telling us all about their ping pong tournaments they hold in there.
The automotive factory was way bigger than the previous one, and it had a lot more detailed sections to it. The main goal of the automotive factory is to create metal rings which are all pieced together to then create efficient gearshifts in cars. The factory had many different sections to it, each specializing in either shaping, cleaning, heating, or scanning the rings. It was very loud inside this factory and had a lot more hands on dirty work. Overall, it was more interesting than the flow and control factory, but this tour was also very long.
Because of the recent urge to switch from ICE (internal computation engine) cars to electric and autonomous vehicles, Hoerbiger’s automotive factory is going to have to adapt to consumer wants and transition into creating new products, as inner and blocker rings are not needed for electric cars. Their plan is to take the hit in reduced sales and repurpose their machines into creating new products for new customers.
Our day at the factory concluded with lunch, and I had a salami sandwhich which made me appreciate how good the bread in Germany is.
After the factory tour, we headed to a nearby village called Oberammergau. The village is right next to the Alps, and so we had to go up to the top of one of the mountains! We took a gondola all the way to the top and it was one of the most beautiful sites I have ever seen. From the top, you could see the whole village and other mountains in the distance. It is an experience I will never experience again in my life, and so I am very grateful. We originally thought we weren’t going to be able to go up there because it was raining, so I’m glad it stopped raining and enjoyed the rest of our night.
Once we got down from the Alps we were able to walk around the village. I went inside a really awesome Christmas ornament store (all german made ornaments), had a pastry at a bakery, and had bratwurst for the first time at a little restaurant in the middle of the village. The bratwurst was really good and so far, no meal yet has been bad. The Germans really know how to cook.
Once again, today was another successful day in Germany. Tomorrow, we are touring the company Grob, and we get to sleep in a little as well. Tonight, we are going to explore Augsburg!
Nicholas Monetti
