Another early morning to catch our 6:15 bus bound for Nuremberg for the MAN truck and bus factory. When we arrived at MAN, I was shocked at how big the campus was. I had never heard of this company before the project, so I was surprised. I also began to see many more MAN branded trucks or buses once I became familiar with it.
The MAN factory in Nuremberg makes the engines for their products and the size of them was crazy! Our tour guide explained that they often weigh up to one ton and use over a thousand parts to make it run. We were able to walk alongside the production line where many human workers lined up, each with a special role to contribute. I was surprised by the lack of automation used compared to the BMW factory, where there were very few humans on the factory floor. Our guide explained that this was due to the high variability in engine design. I assume this also relates to the large number of specialized parts that go into each engine. What interested me was that BMW also seemed to have a large amount of variability in its vehicles, yet relied much more on automation. This made me realize how the type of product being manufactured can greatly affect whether automation is a good idea or not.
After the tour, our speaker dug deeper into the engines at MAN. This at times was hard to follow because I am not very educated on engines but it was still very interesting to hear about the different types of engines made in house and how some are used, while others are sold. I noticed that the threats to MAN’s market are different from the car industry, for example China is much less of a threat. He explained that due to the size of the trucks and buses that MAN is about three to five years behind cars on autonomous driving and electrification, but they are still making groundbreaking steps especially in the public transportation world.
Following MAN, we drove into the city to tour an underground beer cellar called Kunstbunker that was used to store precious artwork during WWII. I found it fascinating that work from all over Germany and even Europe was stored here, not just Nuremburg. The bathrooms and “recreation” room within the cellar were also very interesting because they were slightly creepy, with no windows and the bare minimum there to get by. Walking through the bunker made me realize how much effort people took to preserve important artwork during the war, even while mass destruction was happening around them.
We walked around the city for a bit after the bunker and noticed the Schöner Brunnen, this golden fountain was covered in concrete to protect it from WWII bombings, further supporting my claim above or preservation. Around the fountain were cute stores and an awesome farmers market, something I’ve noticed almost every German city seems to have. I think these markets help create a stronger sense of community and make cities feel more tight knit compared to some places in America. Overall, I would love to visit Nuremberg again to see the location of the infamous trials!
