Hoerbiger Company Visit

We went on our first company visit today to Hoerbiger and visited two of their plants. The first plant was for compression technology and plant two was for drive technology.

Part of what they produced at the plant for compression technology was the Piezo valves. Hoerbiger produces the best high performance low energy valve in the world with the first Piezo valve created in 1989. I went into it thinking that this was only going to be applicable to the automotive industry, but was surprised to learn that the Piezo control valves had many different applications. They range from medical technology applications (for example, helping keep pre-mature babies alive) to laser-cutting machines. When asked about if they have any patent protection to prevent competitors from copying their technology, they mentioned that hasn’t been a huge concern yet because of how long they have been developing and improving the Piezo control valves. Furthermore, they produce a system to support the customers — they are developing solutions, not just products. I feel like more and more companies are developing systems of products to support their customer rather than “individual” products to keep their competitive edge and retain customers. For example, Apple ecosystem is quite known for locking users into its range of services and hardware, which seamlessly integrate with one another. This creates a user experience that is highly convenient but also encourages brand loyalty, as customers find it beneficial to purchase additional Apple products that work effortlessly together.

Lean Six Sigma Methodologies

Because Piezo valves need to be engineered to perfection, I asked how they dealt with and tested for variation — how do they employ Six Sigma methodologies within their business? For the Piezo valves, they test each and every one of them until it is 100%. I originally thought that the valves were mass-engineered/produced (each one is the same for each customer), but learnt that each valve is specific to their individual customers. In other words, each batch of valves a customer orders is made specifically for them. And then depending on what the use case is, that affects how they test for temperature and other aspects. For example, testing valves that are going to be used for healthcare vs. for automotive industry will require different temperature checks — automotive industry requires the valve to withstand a wider range of temperatures compared to healthcare valves. It was very inspiring to see how the German companies required such precision for the parts that they produced.

Later on, they gave a presentation on Lean Management within their organization, and I found it so cool to see something that I’ve learned in class applied in real life to an actual company. Lean Management basically focuses on maximizing value by minimizing waste and continuously improving processes. I didn’t get a chance to ask, but I wanted to know what their biggest form of waste was and how that impacts how they structure their production flow to try to cut down on that, or perhaps what their bottle neck was (because waiting time is also a form of waste).

Demand & Supply

I asked if there were any events that affected demand for the products and if there were any times of the year that were busier than others. Demand stays consistent throughout the year, but they were able to benefit hugely from the COVID pandemic because they produced ventilators (using the Piezo valves). It is also interesting to note that while they are losing market share in the laser-cutting machine sector to increasing Chinese competition, their presence in the medical industry is simultaneously expanding, which I believe ties back to their advantage during COVID.

The second plant was for the drive technology of their product line. We walked around the production floor, and it presented a stark difference to the production line for their compression technology (plant 1). Plant 1 required everything to be dirt/dust free because it dealt with the technologies and everything had to be engineered to perfection. Plant 2 still required things to be engineered to perfection, but because they were making synchronizers for cars, it was more “grimy.” It was also interesting to me how they received most of their steel supply from Germany, the rest of Europe if needed, and then the rest of the world.

Work Culture

An observation I made was that German offices utilized a lot more natural lighting in their offices. First plant we visited had lots of open windows, open office type of vibe. Second plant had more of the traditional production plant office type of vibe, but still utilized natural lighting whenever they could. They had large windows. I feel that is a stark contrast to American offices which are heavily reliant on artificial lighting (or at least the offices I have seen so far). If I had to say whether I would work at Hoerbiger, I think I would prefer working at the first one compared to the second one. However, like what Professor Feick said, because they are in the middle of nowhere, they have been having trouble recruiting talent, and I personally would not enjoy living in the countryside.

Bavarian Alps

After the company site visits, we drove to see the Bavarian Alps. Ride up the ski-lift was a little cramped, and it was longer than I thought, but we eventually made it up. Because it was raining that day, we we had to use our imagination to “see” the view. It was also really cold up top (~6 degrees Celsius or ~43 degrees Fahrenheit). Despite not being able to see the beautiful view up top, I thought it was still a worthwhile trip as we got to see some of the views while riding the ski lift up top.

-Hannah Ye