I love Germany. It is so fun being here with my business friends and engaging with engineering students, who are now my new friends. There is never a dull moment. Today, we toured Grob’s facilities and had the afternoon to ourselves, which we spent shopping in Augsburg.

This morning started off again with hotel breakfast. Like always, it was good. We then took the bus and headed to Grob, a company that creates system machines for gas engines. Just like yesterday with Hoerbiger, I had no idea what to expect. And just like Hoerbiger, their factories blew me away. Grob owns this big plot of land and all their factories and offices are all together. Once we started walking around, I didn’t expect their land to be as big as it was. It somewhat reminded me of a college campus, being isolated from everything else. I see it being very beneficial having your offices right next to your factories, as it makes it very easy to communicate.

At Grob, we were first given a presentation on the company as a whole. I found out that 65% of car companies use Grob’s machines to build and form engines with aluminum. Some companies include Audi, Tesla, Volkswagen, and BMV. Like Hoerbiger, the company is owned by family and put their clients and their wants first. Unlike Hoerbiger, they had more of an urgency to figure out how they can maintain their customers and market share once the car market shifts to e-mobility. To Grob’s advantage, their machines are more specific and are able to be modified more easily, while all of Hoerbiger’s machines are only used to create metal rings for gearshifts. Grob is also more focused on creating assembly technology and commissioning, while Hoerbiger has focus in the automobile and medical industry.

During the presentation, we were given refreshments, and I got a butter-filled pretzel with sparkling apple juice. I really enjoyed both of them, especially the sparkling apple juice. I have enjoyed trying new things all week.

After the presentation, we then took a tour around their factories, and I was amazed. The machines Grob makes are huge! I can’t even describe what they really look like, and I wasn’t allowed to take pictures because they had prototypes for clients who were on site as well. They are just really big and they have different models for different purposes. We also found out that Grob has their own machines which build machines for their customers, so if a machine doesn’t work they know how to repair it.

At lunchtime, we were taken to their cafeteria. I had spaghetti and meatballs with chocolate milk: another new meal! For a cafeteria meal, it was actually really good. But, as I am a big chocolate milk guy, the cartoned milk was not as good as Americas. After lunch, we had two more presentations: one from the Human Resources department and one from their internship team. It would be really cool to get an internship with them possibly, as they do have locations in the US.

Once our time at Grob was over, we had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves. Some of the guys went to the gym while the rest of us guys went shopping and to dinner. It was my first time going into the stores here, and they are very different from American stores. For example, there are many drug stores that are like CSV and Rite Aid, but they also sell way more products. In addition to toiletries and medicines, they sell toys, school supplies, a wide variety of drinks and food, etc. They also have multiple levels to them.

Even though we were walking around to find souvenirs to bring back home, we didn’t find any good souvenir stores, as many of the clothing stores have very expensive items. Germans are all about their designer and name brand products, such as Rolex and Dior, so it was very difficult for us to find anything affordable. We did also become hungry, so we wanted to stop walking around and get dinner.

For dinner, we tried Burger King, and it was really, really good. The fries and their soft drinks are basically the same as in America, but their burgers are awesome. Like I mentioned before, their food has a lot more regulations, so that’s probably why it tasted so much better and healthier. After Burger King, I begged the guys to get ice cream, as I heard it was really cheap. We ended up going to this place called Tutti Fruitti, and the ice cream was only 1,50 euros. Since I am a chocolate guy, I got plain chocolate, and it was the best ice cream I have ever had. The guys also agreed and were not mad anymore that we went.

We concluded the afternoon getting groceries at the store for the rest of the week. Tonight, we are going to be exploring the city again and tomorrow, we are headed to the company Faurecia. I cannot wait for what the rest of the week holds!

Nicholas Monetti