Today we woke up early; we all went to bed on the bus which is starting to become a pattern. I think it helps us without jet lag. Anyways today was the day we were all excited for; we visited the Audi factory. First off let me say this was by far the most interesting tour /visit and pretty much everyone agreed on this. We began splitting into two groups: the girls in one and the boys in another. We girls got 30 minutes to explore Audi’s museum. This was super cool as it showed
us all the models they had dating all the way back to 1901. It was also cool because they had many descriptions and audio stations on the history of the car; a good balance.

After this around 10:15 am we began our factory tour. Right off the bat they made us check our phones into lockers and put our belongings in as well. Then we received headphones and a phone (similar to GROB) and plugged in so we could hear our guide. During the tour she took us through the body building of the car. This included adding things like the engine, seats, wheels, etc. We were also shown how the paint is added and then the final touches like key making. This visit was particularly cool because we were able to actually see humans and machines work together. I’ve never seen never seen anything like this company. Especially compared to the other companies we went to; Audi was significantly more sophisticated.

Although the factor was very cool, my favorite part was a speaker that came in to discuss Audi’s strategy. Not only was the gentleman nice, but he put together an interesting presentation; this is not normally the case. I learned that want to work in strategy at some point. It was so interesting, and I could not stop asking questions. Not sure what this means for my future, but I am very excited. After the visit was complete, we went to Audi’s lunch restaurant and got lunch. It was too expensive but very good.

Then we headed to Augsburg to listen to a speaker. His name was Stephan Nicola. He writes for Bloomberg about the automotive industry. This was very cool to see a non-bias perspective. I also believe it tied all the company visits together. He was very intelligent and good to work with. After the girls and I road back and watched some TV/ took a nap. Then we got ready to explore Augsburg’s nightlife.

Next stop is Munich!

Kat Listwak