Today, we began our day with a traditional Bavarian breakfast, “weißwürstfruhstuck” (literally translating to “white sausage breakfast.” I found it odd that the sausages were served in a metal bowl of hot water, all still connected together. This meant that you had to attempt to cut the sausage links apart while they were still in the water. Then, we had to carefully peel back the natural skin and eat the contents of the sausage, which I found interesting since you are frequently supposed to eat the sausage while it is still in its casing. Additionally, it was very interesting to see how many people native to Baindlkirsch (the town we ate the weißwürst in) were able to attend the weißwürstfruhstuck since it is only held on Thursday mornings and, therefore, only occurs during the work week.

Shortly after that, we explored the third of our four companies, Faurecia/Forvia! We got to see how they manufacture different parts to ensure clean mobility and the reduction of carbon dioxide’s release into the atmosphere. I found it interesting how most of their process was fully automated, even down to robots being able to properly maneuver the part so it is welded correctly. 

It seemed to me that, like Hoerbiger, Faurecia may have to do some re-focusing of their efforts when electric vehicles take over the market, as there will no longer be a need for some of the parts they produce. However, I feel that Faurecia is more similar to Grob in the way that they have multiple other applications of their technology that they can pursue (such as building seats or electronic systems for cars) once the need for their clean mobility products ceases.

Join me tomorrow for the last of our company visits: Audi! It’s sure to be a great one!

– Juliana Alvelo-Davies