Today we started the day at Hoerbiger which is a manufacturing company for technical parts including automobiles but also so much more than that, like pacemakers for hearts and medical equipment. I thought this was surprising because I thought all of the companies we were going to were strictly automotive, but turns out the guy who was giving our lecture appreciated the work they did the most for premature babies because their equipment is the reason they can continue living and become healthy with their heartbeat and breathing. I learned and was surprised to know that the mega trends in micro-economy were climate change, urbanization, connectivity, the silver society, global economic power shift, tech changes accelerating, and new work and individualization. I also learned about the lead time = process + wait time which I learned about in managerial accounting last year as part of the supply chain so I wasn’t surprised to learn that. The biggest macroeconomic trends that lead to new ideas were electrification, autonomous driving, connectivity, safety, share economy, and digitization, sustainability and legislation. This made me think about how autonomous vehicles would ultimately end up causing a lack of jobs available for workers in uber and uber eats for example but I learned that it’s offset by technological advances creating new jobs so people like drivers shouldn’t be put out of work. He told us about the timeline of the car and the first was in 1888 with the flocken electrowagen, this made me think about how electrification and digitalization were the first main factors to be considered if this flocken was technically coming from something as simple as a bicycle. The most recent 2022 Mercedes Benz EQX looked so different than the original 1888 car so I considered all of the innovation that has occurred overtime. One of the key takeaways I got too was that transformation for OEM’s and suppliers are the most challenging for companies to keep up with as actions are needed for employees and their qualification to work in such high-tech plants and manufacturers. 

Moving onto the rest of the day, we went to Oberammergau, where we took a cable ride to the top of a mountain and got to enjoy the view for a while. Afterwards, we walked around the town, got ice cream and shopped before going home at 7! What a day we