Today was an amazing day. We met in the lobby nice and late around 9:15am. Today was extra exciting because Grob was the company that I am doing a presentation on. On the bus ride to Grob, I prepared some relevant questions to ask our tour guide/presenter. Immediately after arriving at Grob, I realized how much different it was from Hoerbiger. First of all, the office was huge and very modern with beautiful tall ceilings and this was not the same at Hoerbiger.
The first thing we did at Grob was sit and listen to a presentation regarding the company. It was mind blowing to see all the different applications the machines they produce have, from car parts to health equipment. Next, we headed into the demo facility where Grob showcases their different machines in action. I was able to see a giant piece of metal being easily and swiftly moved around and shaped inside of the machine into what seemed like a transmission cover. I have never seen anything like it in my life and it was mind-blowing. After seeing the completed machines in action, we walked to their factory where they built these machines. Now here is where it gets even more interesting. Grob has built machines that they use to build the machines they sell. Essentially, this means Grob built machines to build their machines. This was fascinating to me because it means the majority of the production process is done in house, resulting in Grob not having to rely on other companies for machines. This significantly reduces the risk of suppliers raising prices or not being able to keep up with demand.
I was very surprised by what I saw on this factory tour. Many things stood out to me, but the biggest was that they almost completely internalize the production process. There were other things that impressed me as well, including how they have an inexpensive cafeteria for the employees which served us pasta and soup for lunch. On top of this they have a healthcare center on site that includes a pharmacy and more importantly (obviously) a masseuse.
There are many differences between Grob and Hoerbiger. The one that stands out to me the most is that Grob’s machines can be used in many different ways and this will allow their company to adapt to the future and stay relevant. On the other hand, Hoerbiger has old machines that they claim they must modify to produce parts for electric cars. This modification will be expensive and Hoerbiger is not sure they can afford it, and unfortunately their machines specialize in a dying industry. Grob told us how they switched years ago to producing parts for electric cars because they read the trends correctly and were able to easily produce these parts in their existing machines. Grob’s machines are multipurposed and this is likely to allow them to prevail in these changing conditions compared to Hoerbiger.
After getting back to Augsburg from the factory tour we had free time the rest of the night. I went out with some of the group and walked around the town, doing some shopping in the stores. After getting back to the hotel, we put our bags down and went to quite possibly the best Vietnamese restaurant I have ever been to. I got the peanut chicken street bowl and it was delicious. I’ll attach a photo below. Today was such a great time, and once again, I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
