Today was going to be very professional day because we had 2 company visits. The first visit was to Hyundai, one of the leading car brands In Asia and also one of the highest number of exports to both North America and Europe. Meanwhile, our second visit was to one of the leading elevator companies in the world called TK elevators. Before our company visits, we grabbed a quick lunch because we didn’t have enough time between the visits to fit in a meal, and it was important that we showed up to these visits on time, so that we make a good impression.
As we got closer to The Hyundai plant, I noticed that their plant unlike the others we had visited was not located as far from the main highway. When we arrived the Hyundai plant, we were welcomed in a very professional manner, and we proceeded to watch a video on the history of Hyundai and how their line of production was divided up. The main sections were the welding shop, the paint shop, the test drive area and the exportation area
Our first stop was the welding shop, here we saw the process by which the car body was designed up to the process by which the doors where fitted, and the bumper and trunk are too. The assembly line was made up of only 80 workers, and over 100 different times of robots who were incharge of most of the welding processes. The workers there were simply there to error check the cars and make sure they were assembled according to the design plan. As we toured the welding shop, the tour guide explained to us that about 30 years ago, most of the welding processes where done by the workers but with the development and introduction of robots and AI technology, most these workers were replaced by bots. This also highlighted the impact that the computerized world has on the South Korean economy.
Unfortunately, we could not visit the company’s paint shop because there is a risk of affecting the line of production since even a single grain of dust could contaminate the paint. We then proceeded to view the recently produced cars. I also found out that every 52 seconds a care was produced which means that in an hour about 70 cars are produced. At the time of our visit, it was about 1 pm and 350 cars had already been produced for the day. This is an impressive number of vehicles produced which also goes to show why they are one of the leading car brands both home and abroad.
Our next stop was TK elevators. Before this particular visit, I was a bit confused how enhanced an elevator could be, but this doubt was quickly clarified when we were shown the company’s video. Essentially, TK elevators is a smart elevator company that designs several model of elevators for example elevators that can move both horizontally and vertically, as well as their latest models called twin elevators. The twin elevators are two sets of elevators that move in single file, but their main aim is to get the clients to the their destination faster and reduce wait times. The trick here the elevators are not meant to overlap each other, but just move together.
During our visit we had the opportunity to do a drop test which is essentially a simulation of the possibility of an elevator dropping and what it would look and field like to the customers. The second test was the seatbelt security test which was the meant to emphasize the importance of seatbelts. I personally tried all 2 tests, and it was a very fun experience.
After the tour, TK elevators prepared some merch for us which included tumblers pens and sticky notes. It was a very thoughtful gift especially since we are students who came for a tour. Overall, the tour to TK elevators was very informative, because I got to see another detail in elevator production lines. After our tours, we headed back to the hotel and had dinner individually.