The group started the day off with a breakfast at Baindlkirch, but to get there we had a bus ride of about 45 minutes, give or take. Unfortunately today was on the rainier side, but I luckily grabbed my umbrella before leaving. The food was very interesting, but I personally stuck with the raspberries on the cheese platter. (Pictured below was the food served: )

Following breakfast, our plan slightly changed and we got the chance to go back to the hotel, and rest until about 1:15. At 1:15 pm, we departed for Forvia via train. The train was not too long, and unfortunately this company did not let us take pictures either, so I was not able to capture anything inside, but overall we were able to tour the company, followed by a talk. In general, I felt as if Forvia was the smallest plant, but it was still very impressive. Forvia focuses mainly on producing car parts for big OEMs. With a mix of the robots/machinery, as well as manual handling, the tour was quite interesting to me. Additionally, we were asked to wear lab coats, shoe covers, and goggles. It made me feel like I was back in lab.

The talk afterwards focused on  the company’s status as well as its growing focus on electric vehicles and hydrogen fueled cells. With hydrogen fueled cells, they would be able to help reduce pollution by focusing on the bigger automobiles, such as trucks because they require much more energy. Although I knew a little about this from Chemistry, I was intrigued and glad I was able to learn more about this topic. With how our presenter described the concept, I am interested to see how this turns out in the long run in terms of sustainability.

Since Forvia is a manufacturer of car parts, I believe that it will thrive a lot better in terms of keeping areas of profit easily findable/made with the new trend to electric vehicles when comparing to Grob and Hoerbiger. The reason I say this is because Forvia is able to cover a much wider field compared to the other two companies. Thus, they are more likely to continue to find ways of revenue as the industry starts to focus on electric vehicles. Additionally, they were the first company focusing on hydrogen fueled cells, making them stand out even more. With all this being said, they seem to be the most financially stable, or at least will be as the company continues to expand in the next decade. Following Forvia, I would put Grob then Hoerbiger.

After this visit, we headed back to Augsburg, and split our ways for individual dinner. I had a few snacks, and ended up hitting the sack around 8 PM.

See you tomorrow!

Kaylee