Lined up today were two different company site visits. The first we went to was Fredit which makes an array of probiotic yogurts and other healthy snacks. We visited their largest manufacturing plant (out of three) and were given a tour of how the probiotic yogurt drink was made and how it was packaged, distributed, and got an inside look at all the machinery used. It was extremely fascinating to see how all the different conveyor belts worked seamlessly together to perfectly package every item. There were fun interactive games and VR that we could use as well as tasting a few of the different yogurt products they have. The manufacturing plant was about an hour south of Gangnam but the bus ride there was nice as you could see the scenery change from city to more rural areas. After the Fredit tour we all got lunch together where 4 people shared a large tofu stew which had tofu, seafood, beef, many varieties of mushrooms, and other vegetables. There were also many side dishes, which is typical for each meal. The meal was so good and I really enjoyed how it was family style and everyone shared together, this meant I could try a little bit of everything which was yummy. Dr. Yun and Chris very kindly treated us all to ice cream after lunch as a little sweet treat.
Following lunch we took another hour bus ride to TK Elevators which is the has the 2nd largest market share in Korea and 4th largest globally. Here we spent a good time playing with their recreation facilities such as ping pong, golf, pool, and having fun with their display elevators. Once we actually started the tour we got to see their testing area where they are able to test us to 8 different types of elevators. We also got to see inside their manufacturing facility where they create everything in house. They are able to create 45 doors per day and are continuously improving productivity. Once our tour was finished we had about and 75 minute bus ride back to the hotel.
Overall today was filled with many interesting and insightful tours which I found very thought provoking.
