Today was a very unique visit. It was related to the automotive industry in the sense of producing engines, but the scale at which they can produce engines was astounding. We arrived at the factory around 9 am after driving for two hours. I passed out that morning on the bus ride over. When entering the factory, the first thing you see is an engine that is as big as your body, if not bigger. Being able to stand there and look at every aspect of the engine, it shows how much work goes into just one component of a car.
We started the tour with a guided talk where they explained the type of engines and markets they look for. MAN doesn’t just produce car engines, they mainly focuses on major engines for ships, yachts, military use, and tractors. The interesting thing about MAN compared to most other engine manufacturers is that they have their own fleet of vehicles. While you can buy their engines personally, they prefer the user to just purchase their vehicles, since it’s much easier for both parties. They mentioned to us that they can produce engines that are as large as three stories. As we walked the factory floor, the main thing that stood out to me was the number of parts but also the number of humans. Compared to the other companies we visited, they had the most human workers on the floor. Which made sense to me. It’s much easier for a human to get screws in tight spaces than for a robot. The robots help make parts, but they are also there to assist the workers. The user can guide the machines to lift parts or screw in large screws.
When you compare this company to a mid-sized family-owned company like Hoerbiger, there are a few distinctions. Mid-sized family companies can stay private, which allows them to stay focused on their family missions without being forced to adapt to the market. In comparison to MAN, their innovation is filtered through shareholders’ expectations and market shifts.
After the tour, we had a little hiccup, but it did not stop the journey!!! We headed to Kunstbunker, which is in Regensburg, Germany. This was a bunker that Hitler used to store his stolen art from around the world. Unfortunately, there was no art. It had been returned to its original owners. The first thing you notice when you enter is how cold it is. When they said it would be cold, there were no lies told. We got to see where the original art was stored and how it was stored. The thing that really stood out to me was the architecture of the bunker. Certain areas were built differently depending on the art, but also the importance of the art.
Regensburg is known for the infamous trials that happened there. After touring Dachau and seeing the history of the city being destroyed, it made you understand in a sense. Not saying people should be bombed, but after you learn about the effects of the “correction camps” and them stealing art, you have a sense of why they went to the levels of destruction they did to remove this regime from the world.
