So it's been a week since I've been back in the States. To be dreadfully honest, it sucks! Being in Munich was just so much fun, although today, our professor invited everyone that went on the trip to his house for a dinner party. His wife cooked us up a whole lot of food, including bratwursts, a German potato dish, and much more. We pigged out, as you can imagine. We had a good time with good food and good friends. Here are the pictures to prove it.
That's really how it was the whole week with everyone. It was just a great time. All 15 of us got along really well and really enjoyed the company of each other. When being together is that much fun, placing our group in a spectacular country just makes the experience unforgettable.
If I hadn't mentioned yet, this trip was part of a class called "Manufacturing in Germany". We have been meeting in class and have been learning about what kind of country Germany is and how they do things over there. We got to experience this first hand by going to Munich and visiting different companies, sightseeing, and even meeting with professors at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich.
The first company tour we did was with KUKA. KUKA is a company that makes arm robots that can be programmed for automation. Their application is really limitless: companies buy these arm robots to move things, weld, cut, etc. The robots come in a variety of sizes and range in strength. The largest one, the Titan, can lift an object of up to 1.2 tons in weight. But regardless of size, they are all very precise and are easily programmable.
This, among other good reasons, are why we stopped by the BMW factory in Regensburg. Regensburg has nearly 1000 of these KUKA arm robots at this factory to produce their 3 and 1 series line. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures at either companies, so I don't have pictures. Fortunately, I have words to describe it. The factory tour at BMW was...wow. Why wow?
This extensive tour started at the press building where a huge pressing machine stamped out body parts for their cars. Sheet metal turn into a complete body part in about 8 steps, each only taking about 2 seconds to complete. The machine started moving once we got there and the tour guide took us right up to the windows where other workers peer in to see the progress. Then we headed to the building where body parts and chassis parts were all welded together. With an average of 5000 welds per car, this building had a lot of activity. This is where thousands of the KUKA robots were hard at work. Sparks were flying everywhere and we were being constantly bombarded by them. Yes, we were that close. It was the most exciting part of the tour.
We could really see the cars getting put together now. The drivetrain and body is built separately, then put together with some bolts. Imagine the engine, transmission, and all suspension parts as one system just coming together with the rest of the car...it was that simple.
Then came the non-automated part. The semi-completed cars would come down the assembly line and workers would have bins full of parts to put them together. We were able to walk about 10 feet away from the cars and close enough to be able to grab a handful of whatever part they were putting on the car. We were able to look around the finished cars without anyone yelling at us. It was actually pretty unreal how "free" we were here. BMW really gave us an experience to take home to talk about...they really did!
So Germany is the capital of beer. How can our professor tie together beer and education? With a trip to the Ayinger brewery.
This brewery, about 30 minutes outside Munich by train, has a state of the art facility where their beer making is almost completely automated. Our tour guide started off by telling us how important the ingredients are, especially water, which decides 90% of what the beer will taste like. A little exaggerated, maybe, but believable. They use all local ingredients and really take pride in everything they do. German beer was something else, as I had found out in 2006. It's a way of life, not just a tool to get happy. Breweries really believe in what they do and the people drink it with the same enthusiasm and respect.
Aying's facility had very little waste and was extremely clean. The taste of their beer proved it all. I won't even try to describe it, just go experience it yourself!
You will not regret anything from a trip to Germany, unless you don't drink their beer and eat their food! Germany is a country I am very strongly considering living in if everything goes right. This is no joke; I have started researching about what it takes for an American to live there. We'll see how this goes from here on, but being there twice now, I think it's time to at least learn the language!
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