Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Plant Trek Day 7
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Plant Trek Day 6
Day 6 - Nurnberg to Munich
Today was our last day on the bus! Woo! We got up early once again and made our way to Munich. Munich is an easier city to fly out of which is the only reason for the ride. We got to the train station around 10 AM and made our way to the hostel to drop off our bags (check-in was not until 2 PM). The hostel is called Wombats and it is fairly nice. It is a bit bigger and busier than some of the other hostles we have stayed at, but it is clean inside and feels safe which is all you really want for the cheap price. We actually have our own bathroom in the room which is even better. Once the bags were dropped we headed out.
You won’t believe me when I tell you this…but it was actually a nice day.
That is right, I did not need a jacket for most of the afternoon. Finally, spring break! We walked around town for a short time and then dropped in for a quick bite to eat before taking a ride on Mike’s Bike Tour.
Mike’s Bike Tour was awesome and if you are ever in Munich I cannot recommend it enough. We eventually got rained out and I am still glad I went. The guide was just one of those people (with charisma) that can talk to anyone and have a fun time. He even gets a crowd jazzed up and that just makes the whole event even better. While I have not taken the other tours, Mike’s also has tours in Berlin (I thought I read this but I don’t see it on the website) and Amsterdam. I have to assume these are of the same caliber and are also worth taking.
We went all over town and I snapped a number of pictures. Eventually we made our way to the second largest beer garden and had food and drinks. At this point it started to rain and we had to cut our tour short. We dropped off the bikes and walked home. At this point we were all pretty tired and wet so we took a break at the hostel before going to dinner.
We went to a local place for dinner that was not very touristy (no English menus) because we wanted to eat somewhere with a TV so we could watch the German national football team play Liechtenstein’s team. The game was not even close (Germany won four to nil) but the bar atmosphere was fun. After that we headed home (stopped by McDonald’s for McFlurries of course…only fair since the rest of the group got all the beer they wanted, so I get my ice cream) and then went to bed. Tomorrow we take public transit to the airport and head home to Boston.
Today was our last day on the bus! Woo! We got up early once again and made our way to Munich. Munich is an easier city to fly out of which is the only reason for the ride. We got to the train station around 10 AM and made our way to the hostel to drop off our bags (check-in was not until 2 PM). The hostel is called Wombats and it is fairly nice. It is a bit bigger and busier than some of the other hostles we have stayed at, but it is clean inside and feels safe which is all you really want for the cheap price. We actually have our own bathroom in the room which is even better. Once the bags were dropped we headed out.
You won’t believe me when I tell you this…but it was actually a nice day.
That is right, I did not need a jacket for most of the afternoon. Finally, spring break! We walked around town for a short time and then dropped in for a quick bite to eat before taking a ride on Mike’s Bike Tour.
Mike’s Bike Tour was awesome and if you are ever in Munich I cannot recommend it enough. We eventually got rained out and I am still glad I went. The guide was just one of those people (with charisma) that can talk to anyone and have a fun time. He even gets a crowd jazzed up and that just makes the whole event even better. While I have not taken the other tours, Mike’s also has tours in Berlin (I thought I read this but I don’t see it on the website) and Amsterdam. I have to assume these are of the same caliber and are also worth taking.
We went all over town and I snapped a number of pictures. Eventually we made our way to the second largest beer garden and had food and drinks. At this point it started to rain and we had to cut our tour short. We dropped off the bikes and walked home. At this point we were all pretty tired and wet so we took a break at the hostel before going to dinner.
We went to a local place for dinner that was not very touristy (no English menus) because we wanted to eat somewhere with a TV so we could watch the German national football team play Liechtenstein’s team. The game was not even close (Germany won four to nil) but the bar atmosphere was fun. After that we headed home (stopped by McDonald’s for McFlurries of course…only fair since the rest of the group got all the beer they wanted, so I get my ice cream) and then went to bed. Tomorrow we take public transit to the airport and head home to Boston.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Plant Trek Day 5
Day 5 - Nurnberg
For possibly the first time this trip we started the day without any hiccups. We loaded onto the bus and headed to Adidas. It was funny because as we were getting very close to the Adidas World of Sport headquarters we passed a very large building with the name Puma on it (more on this later). When we pulled up, we were all a little surprised and possibly under impressed with the building. We later found out that when Adidas purchased the land it had army buildings on it that cannot be torn down, but we also saw the models of the very impressive building they have under construction now. The new building felt much more like Adidas.
As an aside about Puma, it was funny how when they told the history of Adidas they do not mention Puma. They did mention that originally the brothers worked together and at some point they split (the brother of the founder of Adidas founded Puma and both companies like to be close to where they were founded so they both have buildings right across the street from each other). The funny thing is that the brothers are both dead but they still seem to hate (based on what Adidas did not say) each other. The rivalry lives on.
We started the day with an impressive tour outlining the history of Adidas and walked famous historical moments involving Adidas products (for example, on the wall would be a shoe that was worn by Stephie Graf at some famous tennis event, signed, and then returned to Adidas as well as a poster about her). This had some very fun items and was a good history of the sports Adidas is involved with. With this tour we also got to see some of the demo rooms where Adidas can sell the Adidas store idea to customers (apparently Adidas has a new strategy of opening retail stores…they are only in a few select cities so do not feel bad if you were unaware).
Next we went into a conference room for a presentation about Adidas and some of the things they have going on that our group would find interesting (operations, logistics, etc.). I won’t go into the details of what they discussed but I will say that our group was very excited about the discussions and asked so many questions that Adidas often had to stop us from asking questions to allow the next presenter to present. There are two LFMs working for Adidas at the headquarters in Germany so they both talked to us during this presentation and I would say that we are very interested in their work. We also got a pitch from someone within HR and some of the 09’s without jobs were definitely interested to talk to him.
After the presentation we went to lunch at the cafeteria on site. As has been all week, the food was excellent and covered by the company (yea for free desert!). During this lunch I was sitting by the HR contact and we were discussing the possibility of Adidas becoming an LFM partner. I’m honestly not sure how interested they are, but I know that they would be an excellent fit for the LFM program. They seem to line up well with the direction the program has taken (more supply chain than manufacturing). As always, I think the LFM program has a lot to offer a company who properly works with the program (offers quality internships and takes an invested interest in the program and recruiting at MIT) and I hope that we are able to establish a relationship with Adidas. Of course some partner companies work better (try harder or are more interested) with LFM than others…which is why some companies don’t always get the value out of LFM that they could, but I can say that the companies who put in the time and effort to work with us have gotten their money’s worth out of the program (Boeing is the best example of this).
After lunch we headed over to the distribution center (about an hour away). Overall the facility was very similar to the Amazon one we saw on Domestic Plant Trek, but it was still impressive to see. The most impressive site was the area where they stored inventory (especially during the non-peak season). This system was entirely automated and it was incredibly big. It felt like the scene from the matrix where they first pan out and you see the machines harvesting humans. It was incredible. After that (all incoming inventory passes through this storage system so it was more or less the beginning of the product flow) we walked through the rest of the process. Again, it was a ton of conveyors and clever ways of picking and sorting inventory so that in the end you fill a box with exactly what the customer ordered.
After the tour we snapped a photo and headed back to Nurnberg. As is part of the LFM tradition, a group of our students presented awards making fun of people and events that occurred on the trip. I won some award involving finally finding a country that eats the way I do (meat and starch only, no vegetables!). As always these were a good laugh helped everyone remember the fun week we had.
The two LFM alumni’s offered to take us to dinner at a nice restaurant in the Old Town area so we all headed there after a very short break in our rooms. Once again I had a large plate of meat.
Pictures from dinner
After that we went to another beer hall to continue the party. We learned a drinking song from some of the German speaking students in our group and proceeded to sing it every couple of minutes. We thought it was awesome and I am sure the rest of the hall was highly annoyed. After another bar stop we headed back to the hotel. We have already started scattering as some people had planes to catch tonight and other tomorrow. Most of us (including me) are not departing until Sunday and we will spend Saturday in Munich.
Pictures from beer hall
For possibly the first time this trip we started the day without any hiccups. We loaded onto the bus and headed to Adidas. It was funny because as we were getting very close to the Adidas World of Sport headquarters we passed a very large building with the name Puma on it (more on this later). When we pulled up, we were all a little surprised and possibly under impressed with the building. We later found out that when Adidas purchased the land it had army buildings on it that cannot be torn down, but we also saw the models of the very impressive building they have under construction now. The new building felt much more like Adidas.
As an aside about Puma, it was funny how when they told the history of Adidas they do not mention Puma. They did mention that originally the brothers worked together and at some point they split (the brother of the founder of Adidas founded Puma and both companies like to be close to where they were founded so they both have buildings right across the street from each other). The funny thing is that the brothers are both dead but they still seem to hate (based on what Adidas did not say) each other. The rivalry lives on.
Gotta love passionate rivalries
We started the day with an impressive tour outlining the history of Adidas and walked famous historical moments involving Adidas products (for example, on the wall would be a shoe that was worn by Stephie Graf at some famous tennis event, signed, and then returned to Adidas as well as a poster about her). This had some very fun items and was a good history of the sports Adidas is involved with. With this tour we also got to see some of the demo rooms where Adidas can sell the Adidas store idea to customers (apparently Adidas has a new strategy of opening retail stores…they are only in a few select cities so do not feel bad if you were unaware).
Next we went into a conference room for a presentation about Adidas and some of the things they have going on that our group would find interesting (operations, logistics, etc.). I won’t go into the details of what they discussed but I will say that our group was very excited about the discussions and asked so many questions that Adidas often had to stop us from asking questions to allow the next presenter to present. There are two LFMs working for Adidas at the headquarters in Germany so they both talked to us during this presentation and I would say that we are very interested in their work. We also got a pitch from someone within HR and some of the 09’s without jobs were definitely interested to talk to him.
After the presentation we went to lunch at the cafeteria on site. As has been all week, the food was excellent and covered by the company (yea for free desert!). During this lunch I was sitting by the HR contact and we were discussing the possibility of Adidas becoming an LFM partner. I’m honestly not sure how interested they are, but I know that they would be an excellent fit for the LFM program. They seem to line up well with the direction the program has taken (more supply chain than manufacturing). As always, I think the LFM program has a lot to offer a company who properly works with the program (offers quality internships and takes an invested interest in the program and recruiting at MIT) and I hope that we are able to establish a relationship with Adidas. Of course some partner companies work better (try harder or are more interested) with LFM than others…which is why some companies don’t always get the value out of LFM that they could, but I can say that the companies who put in the time and effort to work with us have gotten their money’s worth out of the program (Boeing is the best example of this).
After lunch we headed over to the distribution center (about an hour away). Overall the facility was very similar to the Amazon one we saw on Domestic Plant Trek, but it was still impressive to see. The most impressive site was the area where they stored inventory (especially during the non-peak season). This system was entirely automated and it was incredibly big. It felt like the scene from the matrix where they first pan out and you see the machines harvesting humans. It was incredible. After that (all incoming inventory passes through this storage system so it was more or less the beginning of the product flow) we walked through the rest of the process. Again, it was a ton of conveyors and clever ways of picking and sorting inventory so that in the end you fill a box with exactly what the customer ordered.
After the tour we snapped a photo and headed back to Nurnberg. As is part of the LFM tradition, a group of our students presented awards making fun of people and events that occurred on the trip. I won some award involving finally finding a country that eats the way I do (meat and starch only, no vegetables!). As always these were a good laugh helped everyone remember the fun week we had.
A leisurely stroll down memory lane (pictured above)
The two LFM alumni’s offered to take us to dinner at a nice restaurant in the Old Town area so we all headed there after a very short break in our rooms. Once again I had a large plate of meat.
Pictures from dinner
After that we went to another beer hall to continue the party. We learned a drinking song from some of the German speaking students in our group and proceeded to sing it every couple of minutes. We thought it was awesome and I am sure the rest of the hall was highly annoyed. After another bar stop we headed back to the hotel. We have already started scattering as some people had planes to catch tonight and other tomorrow. Most of us (including me) are not departing until Sunday and we will spend Saturday in Munich.
Pictures from beer hall
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Plant Trek Day 4
Day 4 – Prague to Nurnberg
Today started about as well as the other 3 days of this trek. We (Mo, Jo, Jeremy, and I) went through the effort of leaving a personalized note on everyone’s door saying that we would meet at 7 AM instead of 7:30 AM so that hopefully we would not be late (as we have been on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). Apparently driving a bus around old European cities is slow. Real slow.
The driver and the tour company handled the situation well and were able to get us a bus for the day and we managed to make it to Skoda only about 15-20 minutes later than we were scheduled to start. We did have to leave our luggage in the lobby, but I don’t think anyone had a problem with missing luggage so this worked out fine.
We started the tour at the Skoda museum which details the founding of the company and a number of historical vehicles from the company’s history. Before we took the tour we heard a quality presentation from the head of design for a section of the plant. This was an interesting presentation simply because the presenter spoke little or no English so everything had to be translated by the translator we had for the day (none of our tour guides throughout the day spoke English). After that we toured the museum which was fun and had a number of really nice looking cars. I forgot my camera but other people had their camera so when I get pictures I will upload them.
After the museum tour we headed over to the factory. As was the Ford facility on Domestic Plant Trek this place was amazing. We actually got to walk down the process from the rolls of sheet metal being stamped into the body and walk the assembly process all the way to final testing. It is amazing to see all of those complicated parts come together in perfect harmony.
The stamping area was very automated and impressive to see. Sheet metal goes in on one end and comes out looking like a door on the other (the machine had a glass side so you could see all of the steps). Skoda had some interesting techniques they were using to keep track of inventory here (essentially to keep similar parts together and easy to identify). It always makes me happy when something simple is used to make a process exceptionally easier for everyone.
Next we went to the assembly area and started to watch the car truly take shape. It is easy to compare this plant to the Ford plant we visited on Domestic and talk about how much cleaner and roomier this Skoda plant was, but that is not fair to Ford. The building of the Ford plant we visited was significantly older than the Skoda building. The big contrast that is fair to talk about is the slower speed of the line (the tact time was twice that of the Ford plant). I can’t remember all of the numbers about who was producing what, but the lines we saw all seemed to be moving at a much more relaxed pace (though Skoda had more lines here than at Ford). This is not at all to imply the operators were not moving and keeping busy. This just means that each vehicle stayed at a particular station for longer than it did at Ford.
The beginning of the assembly area was fun for the group because of all the welding. As we walked about the welding area we were constantly hit by stray sparks. We had safety glasses on for our eyes…but it is still a natural reaction to try to avoid being hit by sparks, even if they do not hurt when they touch your skin. We would all giggle when someone would get hit by the sparks and jump.
Next we were past the main welding areas we saw some of the major components coming together on side lines and then working their way into the main assembly line. Of course this was going on in the welding area (for example doors coming together or the rear, middle, and front bottom of the car being assembled separately and then combined with welds to the frame) but all the sheet metal pieces looked similar so it was difficult to really see the flow. After the welding area entire components of the car (easily recognizable, like the engine) were brought in. Again, impressive to see.
At some point we had lunch at the cafeteria (excellent as usual with as much as we could eat covered by Skoda). After that we saw final assembly and test. We asked so many questions on the tour (plus translation time) that we did not have time for our final Q&A session so at this point we got back on the bus.
After a picture back at the Skoda museum we got on our way back to Prague to get back onto our original bus (which was fixed at this point).
After what should have been a quick bio break we got under way in our original bus (and now fixed with our luggage pre-loaded). I say should have been because 3 people ran to the store and we had to wait 5-10 minutes for them…I had everyone already on the bus let those 3 people know what we thought by collectively saying “un-f***ing-believeable” when they got on the bus (they literally were running from the store). We all had a good laugh at that. Unfortunately for us we sat in a ton of traffic as we made our way out of Prague. We would have had to go through Prague even if we had not had to change back to our original bus but we could have stayed on the highway and avoided some of this traffic. Once we got on the highway it was fast moving. We had a little fun about halfway on the way to Nurnberg because once we decided to take a bio break there was not a single place to exit for about ½ an hour. Some of our people were trying not to cry. Once we found a rest stop there was much rejoicing.
Pictures of people happy to be out of the bathroom
While we were driving we all took bets on the over/under of when we would arrive at the hotel. I took the over at 9:30 PM and I should have lost…except for the highway to Nurnberg had a major traffic jam as a semi truck crashed into an overpass (we could not see it too well but from what we could see this seemed to be the problem). This also made our driver unhappy because the wreck was really close to our hotel and it was difficult to make our way to it with the road redirected. For me, taking the over was a win-win bet. If I was wrong, then we would have gotten into Nurnberg earlier than expected which is great…and if I bet correctly than I made $5 US (but paid in either Czech or Polish money). Betting with funny money feels good because it does not feel like real money.
By the time we got checked in and ready to go eat it was 10:30 and most every restaurant we found was closed. We managed to find a restaurant that would serve us (the kitchen closed immediately after we ordered because the table next to us ordered more food shortly after us and they were denied). We were very appreciative and left a nice tip (which is uncommon in the parts of Europe we have been in, usually no more than 5%).
Picture of McDonald’s and restaurant
After that we tried to find some of our friends at a bar near the train station but we could not find it so we headed home. We’ll check out the city more tomorrow after we visit Adidas.
Today started about as well as the other 3 days of this trek. We (Mo, Jo, Jeremy, and I) went through the effort of leaving a personalized note on everyone’s door saying that we would meet at 7 AM instead of 7:30 AM so that hopefully we would not be late (as we have been on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday). Apparently driving a bus around old European cities is slow. Real slow.
thought you might need a reminder about who M.C. Escher is
Everyone from LFM was up and on time for breakfast. I was so proud of the group. The problem was there was no bus. At about 6:50 AM we called the driver to discover that the bus was having suspension issues and was currently not drivable. Awesome!
it could have been worst
The driver and the tour company handled the situation well and were able to get us a bus for the day and we managed to make it to Skoda only about 15-20 minutes later than we were scheduled to start. We did have to leave our luggage in the lobby, but I don’t think anyone had a problem with missing luggage so this worked out fine.
We started the tour at the Skoda museum which details the founding of the company and a number of historical vehicles from the company’s history. Before we took the tour we heard a quality presentation from the head of design for a section of the plant. This was an interesting presentation simply because the presenter spoke little or no English so everything had to be translated by the translator we had for the day (none of our tour guides throughout the day spoke English). After that we toured the museum which was fun and had a number of really nice looking cars. I forgot my camera but other people had their camera so when I get pictures I will upload them.
After the museum tour we headed over to the factory. As was the Ford facility on Domestic Plant Trek this place was amazing. We actually got to walk down the process from the rolls of sheet metal being stamped into the body and walk the assembly process all the way to final testing. It is amazing to see all of those complicated parts come together in perfect harmony.
The stamping area was very automated and impressive to see. Sheet metal goes in on one end and comes out looking like a door on the other (the machine had a glass side so you could see all of the steps). Skoda had some interesting techniques they were using to keep track of inventory here (essentially to keep similar parts together and easy to identify). It always makes me happy when something simple is used to make a process exceptionally easier for everyone.
For example, how much better did food become when a stick was added to it? It is so simple!
Next we went to the assembly area and started to watch the car truly take shape. It is easy to compare this plant to the Ford plant we visited on Domestic and talk about how much cleaner and roomier this Skoda plant was, but that is not fair to Ford. The building of the Ford plant we visited was significantly older than the Skoda building. The big contrast that is fair to talk about is the slower speed of the line (the tact time was twice that of the Ford plant). I can’t remember all of the numbers about who was producing what, but the lines we saw all seemed to be moving at a much more relaxed pace (though Skoda had more lines here than at Ford). This is not at all to imply the operators were not moving and keeping busy. This just means that each vehicle stayed at a particular station for longer than it did at Ford.
The beginning of the assembly area was fun for the group because of all the welding. As we walked about the welding area we were constantly hit by stray sparks. We had safety glasses on for our eyes…but it is still a natural reaction to try to avoid being hit by sparks, even if they do not hurt when they touch your skin. We would all giggle when someone would get hit by the sparks and jump.
Next we were past the main welding areas we saw some of the major components coming together on side lines and then working their way into the main assembly line. Of course this was going on in the welding area (for example doors coming together or the rear, middle, and front bottom of the car being assembled separately and then combined with welds to the frame) but all the sheet metal pieces looked similar so it was difficult to really see the flow. After the welding area entire components of the car (easily recognizable, like the engine) were brought in. Again, impressive to see.
At some point we had lunch at the cafeteria (excellent as usual with as much as we could eat covered by Skoda). After that we saw final assembly and test. We asked so many questions on the tour (plus translation time) that we did not have time for our final Q&A session so at this point we got back on the bus.
After a picture back at the Skoda museum we got on our way back to Prague to get back onto our original bus (which was fixed at this point).
After what should have been a quick bio break we got under way in our original bus (and now fixed with our luggage pre-loaded). I say should have been because 3 people ran to the store and we had to wait 5-10 minutes for them…I had everyone already on the bus let those 3 people know what we thought by collectively saying “un-f***ing-believeable” when they got on the bus (they literally were running from the store). We all had a good laugh at that. Unfortunately for us we sat in a ton of traffic as we made our way out of Prague. We would have had to go through Prague even if we had not had to change back to our original bus but we could have stayed on the highway and avoided some of this traffic. Once we got on the highway it was fast moving. We had a little fun about halfway on the way to Nurnberg because once we decided to take a bio break there was not a single place to exit for about ½ an hour. Some of our people were trying not to cry. Once we found a rest stop there was much rejoicing.
Pictures of people happy to be out of the bathroom
While we were driving we all took bets on the over/under of when we would arrive at the hotel. I took the over at 9:30 PM and I should have lost…except for the highway to Nurnberg had a major traffic jam as a semi truck crashed into an overpass (we could not see it too well but from what we could see this seemed to be the problem). This also made our driver unhappy because the wreck was really close to our hotel and it was difficult to make our way to it with the road redirected. For me, taking the over was a win-win bet. If I was wrong, then we would have gotten into Nurnberg earlier than expected which is great…and if I bet correctly than I made $5 US (but paid in either Czech or Polish money). Betting with funny money feels good because it does not feel like real money.
I don't care if the Euro is stronger right now
By the time we got checked in and ready to go eat it was 10:30 and most every restaurant we found was closed. We managed to find a restaurant that would serve us (the kitchen closed immediately after we ordered because the table next to us ordered more food shortly after us and they were denied). We were very appreciative and left a nice tip (which is uncommon in the parts of Europe we have been in, usually no more than 5%).
Picture of McDonald’s and restaurant
After that we tried to find some of our friends at a bar near the train station but we could not find it so we headed home. We’ll check out the city more tomorrow after we visit Adidas.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Plant Trek Day 3
Day 3 - Prague
We started the day with an ABB presentation. Once again we were a little bit late, but not that late. We have also decided to start a little earlier tomorrow to hopefully avoid traffic issues. The ABB breakfast reception and presentation was with the President of the Czech Republic area and I must say the presentation was excellent. Both she and the other gentleman that presented specifically took into consideration the audience they were presenting to. Often we get company presentations that are very dull, where the presenters list a hundred people in an org chart…like we are supposed to learn something from that. She had a one slide, high level org chart and actually talked about some of the good of this setup and the politics that occur. She was very candid with us and that is rare. It was refreshing. The reception was intended to be short and it was so we got a good jump on the day. I have to say that so far both Sikorsky (and thus UTC) and ABB have represented themselves very well on this plant trek and hopefully when we write our reports that message is made clear to them. Just an FYI for those who do not know, we write a 2-4 page report on our plant tours and highlight some positives that we saw as well as opportunities. We also use these reports to put a plug in for LFM internships when we identify opportunities within our interest.
After the breakfast reception we started our blitz tour of Prague. We did not go in many buildings but I was OK with that. There was enough to see just walking around.
First we headed to the center of the city with the famous clock tower. Here you can see the crowds of people waiting for the noon ringing of the clock.
I must take this opportunity to talk about the crowds that were in Prague today. Compared to everywhere else we have been, it was crazy busy…which explains why the prices here were a bit higher than everywhere else we have been. I think Jo and Jeremy said they paid more for a Starbucks coffee than they do in Boston.
The clock tower was actually a bit anti-climactic but we ran into some other LFMs so we snapped a picture. The clock did have some moving figurines and such, but still…not as much as I was expecting.
We finally made it to the castle. We did not know what was going on really with the castle tickets but the place closed at 4 and it was already after 3 by the time we got there. We purchased a short tour ticket and boy was this a waste. The only two things worth going to the castle for (the Royal Palace was closed for renovations) was the view and the cathedral, and they were both free. We could not take pictures inside the cathedral but it was even more impressive than the one in Krakow, but it is not fair to compare them. This one was more impressive because of the building and Krakow was more impressive for the intricacies of the things inside (especially the alter). Here is the outside of the cathedral.
We made our way through the massive crowds and some unimpressive rooms (getting admission to these with our short tour tickets) and made our way over to the wall for scenic pictures.
After the castle we made our way back to the clock tower so we could go to the top (it was packed at lunch time). The view here was cool and worth the money.
After that we went home to warm up and take care of a few quick things. We went out to dinner to a fun restaurant/pub and then walked around outside for a while.
Tomorrow is Skoda (a subsidiary of VW) and then on to Nurnberg.
We started the day with an ABB presentation. Once again we were a little bit late, but not that late. We have also decided to start a little earlier tomorrow to hopefully avoid traffic issues. The ABB breakfast reception and presentation was with the President of the Czech Republic area and I must say the presentation was excellent. Both she and the other gentleman that presented specifically took into consideration the audience they were presenting to. Often we get company presentations that are very dull, where the presenters list a hundred people in an org chart…like we are supposed to learn something from that. She had a one slide, high level org chart and actually talked about some of the good of this setup and the politics that occur. She was very candid with us and that is rare. It was refreshing. The reception was intended to be short and it was so we got a good jump on the day. I have to say that so far both Sikorsky (and thus UTC) and ABB have represented themselves very well on this plant trek and hopefully when we write our reports that message is made clear to them. Just an FYI for those who do not know, we write a 2-4 page report on our plant tours and highlight some positives that we saw as well as opportunities. We also use these reports to put a plug in for LFM internships when we identify opportunities within our interest.
After the breakfast reception we started our blitz tour of Prague. We did not go in many buildings but I was OK with that. There was enough to see just walking around.
The downtown area is smothered in old looking buildings like this one. Fun!
First we headed to the center of the city with the famous clock tower. Here you can see the crowds of people waiting for the noon ringing of the clock.
I must take this opportunity to talk about the crowds that were in Prague today. Compared to everywhere else we have been, it was crazy busy…which explains why the prices here were a bit higher than everywhere else we have been. I think Jo and Jeremy said they paid more for a Starbucks coffee than they do in Boston.
The clock tower was actually a bit anti-climactic but we ran into some other LFMs so we snapped a picture. The clock did have some moving figurines and such, but still…not as much as I was expecting.
Next we walked toward the river to find somewhere to eat…and stumbled upon a majestic place. We literally chose a random restaurant and it was a perfect find. I’m sure some of you out there have seen a pub like this, but we had not so we were amazed (and I don’t even drink). So the basic premise of the pub is that there are taps at your table. Please take a moment to let that sink in. Here is a picture to prove that I speak the truth.
Here is the menu with the filling instructions.
First you wash the glass. Apparently it helps with the foam or something if the glass is wet.
Next you select your number on the touch screen. This tracks to the 0.01 L how much you drink, and charges you by the liter. This also comes into play later. Once you have selected, you pour.
My group did not master the 45 degree angle until the second round but I assure you, Jeremy demonstrated mad skillz on his second pour. He filled it to exactly 0.50 L without overflowing.
The next cool thing this setup allows is drinking competitions. Here is the projection screen which shows which table has consumed the most alcohol from their tap.
Now just take a second to think of the business opportunity for this in a college town. Ohh my god! It also keeps your bartenders for pouring cheap beers and allows them to focus on higher margin drinks. It sounds like we have next year’s MIT 100K competition wrapped up.
After the magical eating establishment we walked down to the river.
The castle we will see later
The Charles Bridge we are making our way to
Next we walked over to the Charles Bridge. Unfortunately it was being renovated but it was still impressive and we were able to walk up into the tower at the end of the bridge.
Jeremy's head and Mo's legs as we walk down a very narrow and winding stone staircase...I should be a photographer
Next we walked across the river to visit the castle. The bad thing about strategically placed castles is that they are often at the top of tall hills.
The road is long and arduous
I think I can, I think I can, I think I can
I won the non-race race to the top singing the Rocky theme song and doing the celebratory dance.
We finally made it to the castle. We did not know what was going on really with the castle tickets but the place closed at 4 and it was already after 3 by the time we got there. We purchased a short tour ticket and boy was this a waste. The only two things worth going to the castle for (the Royal Palace was closed for renovations) was the view and the cathedral, and they were both free. We could not take pictures inside the cathedral but it was even more impressive than the one in Krakow, but it is not fair to compare them. This one was more impressive because of the building and Krakow was more impressive for the intricacies of the things inside (especially the alter). Here is the outside of the cathedral.
From the back
We made our way through the massive crowds and some unimpressive rooms (getting admission to these with our short tour tickets) and made our way over to the wall for scenic pictures.
Yes we look stupid but all the good pictures are on Mo's camera and I have not gotten them from her yet
After the castle we made our way back to the clock tower so we could go to the top (it was packed at lunch time). The view here was cool and worth the money.
The church across from the tower
The crowd waiting for the next hour when the clock would chime
After that we went home to warm up and take care of a few quick things. We went out to dinner to a fun restaurant/pub and then walked around outside for a while.
The castle at night
Some picture of a guy on the window of a shop. We're holding hands.
Tomorrow is Skoda (a subsidiary of VW) and then on to Nurnberg.
Note: I got some pictures that were on Mo’s camera and added 2 pictures to past posts. If you are following along everyday (mainly my family) the only thing of significance that you missed is one of my cat poses from Warsaw. Here it is:
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Plant Trek Day 2
Day 2 - Krakow to Prague
This day started bad and slowly progressed to worse. This was one of our toughest travel days and that is where all of our problem were. We got a late start because a member of our group slept in and we decided to wait for them rather than leave them. I don’t regret the decision to wait but it is unfortunate given the other problems we encountered.
The next big problem was the improper calculation of travel time by Hector and I. We used Google Maps to approximate the travel times between locations and while I still have faith in Google Maps we did not properly account for the slower travel that would occur in a bus versus in a car. Don’t think too poorly of us, we thought of it…it is just that we were way off in our approximation of how much longer it would take.
Also, when we left there was an abundance of traffic in the city and then on the small country roads we took until we got to the highway. We should have thought of this because the trip yesterday took a little longer than it should have, but we were on small roads for most of that trip and today was supposed to be mostly highway (which it was after the first hour or so).
The third big hiccup was the weather we encountered. Overall, the drive was miserable for the bus driver. Most of the trip had strong winds with some combination of rain, snow, or hail. I tried to get a picture from the bus but it did not turn out.
Once we finally got to ABB (2 hours late and very apologetic) we had a great experience. We walked over to a local business park for lunch provided by ABB. The place we went to typically closes at 1 PM but they held it open for us until we had finished eating. After that we went back to the ABB facility for a presentation by the site manager (a VP in ABB). He kept unnecessarily apologizing for his poor English even though he spoke very well. We all laughed about that later because he was saying he prefers to present in Russian, German, or Czech. So he is apologizing for the performance of his 4th language and most of us cannot fluently speak 2 languages. After an excellent presentation (followed by a quick and fun presentation of humorous/scary safety photos from around the world to lighten the mood) we started our plant tour.
The tour was more or less well done compared to other tours we have been on. It was sometimes chaotic and really the only problem was that their were 43 of us and only 2 of them who could answer questions well in English. We managed though and overall I got a good feel for the factory. Those who had questions would drift towards the speakers and others would wander off and then we would go to the next area.
The facility paralleled the Sikorsky facility in that the areas were at varying stages of the “lean” journey. I put lean in quotations for this ABB facility because I do not think they know what lean is, but some of their new modernized lines do have flow and their was a little bit of standard work/tact time documents. The parallels of the different areas of the ABB plant to the different areas of the sikorsky plant come from the fact that the newer areas were so different from the older area.
I got the impressions from the plant manager, as well as from discussions with other LFMers, that this plant and the Czech people in general are in an interesting time (on top of the fact that the economy has tanked). They used to be some of the cheapest labor in Europe that could still produce a good quality product. That is no longer quite true in that their are some other countries farther east that are cheaper and can produce at a similar quality. This has left them with an identity crisis because they used to get by on cheap labor alone and now they need to become more efficient. Sounds like the starting chapters of any lean book you read. This is the conflict they need to spurn change. Hopefully they use this opportunity.
After that we got on the bus and headed to Prague. We are staying in a very nice hotel in downtown Prague (no more taxis to get to the city center). We did not want to be out late so we went out and got some sausages from a street vendor downtown, stopped by a pub for the rest of the group and McDonald’s for me, and then called it a night. Tomorrow we have a short breakfast reception with ABB senior management for this area and then we will explore Prague.
This day started bad and slowly progressed to worse. This was one of our toughest travel days and that is where all of our problem were. We got a late start because a member of our group slept in and we decided to wait for them rather than leave them. I don’t regret the decision to wait but it is unfortunate given the other problems we encountered.
The next big problem was the improper calculation of travel time by Hector and I. We used Google Maps to approximate the travel times between locations and while I still have faith in Google Maps we did not properly account for the slower travel that would occur in a bus versus in a car. Don’t think too poorly of us, we thought of it…it is just that we were way off in our approximation of how much longer it would take.
Boy do I feel like this jackass
Also, when we left there was an abundance of traffic in the city and then on the small country roads we took until we got to the highway. We should have thought of this because the trip yesterday took a little longer than it should have, but we were on small roads for most of that trip and today was supposed to be mostly highway (which it was after the first hour or so).
The third big hiccup was the weather we encountered. Overall, the drive was miserable for the bus driver. Most of the trip had strong winds with some combination of rain, snow, or hail. I tried to get a picture from the bus but it did not turn out.
Once we finally got to ABB (2 hours late and very apologetic) we had a great experience. We walked over to a local business park for lunch provided by ABB. The place we went to typically closes at 1 PM but they held it open for us until we had finished eating. After that we went back to the ABB facility for a presentation by the site manager (a VP in ABB). He kept unnecessarily apologizing for his poor English even though he spoke very well. We all laughed about that later because he was saying he prefers to present in Russian, German, or Czech. So he is apologizing for the performance of his 4th language and most of us cannot fluently speak 2 languages. After an excellent presentation (followed by a quick and fun presentation of humorous/scary safety photos from around the world to lighten the mood) we started our plant tour.
This was not one of his pictures but it gives you an idea
The tour was more or less well done compared to other tours we have been on. It was sometimes chaotic and really the only problem was that their were 43 of us and only 2 of them who could answer questions well in English. We managed though and overall I got a good feel for the factory. Those who had questions would drift towards the speakers and others would wander off and then we would go to the next area.
The facility paralleled the Sikorsky facility in that the areas were at varying stages of the “lean” journey. I put lean in quotations for this ABB facility because I do not think they know what lean is, but some of their new modernized lines do have flow and their was a little bit of standard work/tact time documents. The parallels of the different areas of the ABB plant to the different areas of the sikorsky plant come from the fact that the newer areas were so different from the older area.
I got the impressions from the plant manager, as well as from discussions with other LFMers, that this plant and the Czech people in general are in an interesting time (on top of the fact that the economy has tanked). They used to be some of the cheapest labor in Europe that could still produce a good quality product. That is no longer quite true in that their are some other countries farther east that are cheaper and can produce at a similar quality. This has left them with an identity crisis because they used to get by on cheap labor alone and now they need to become more efficient. Sounds like the starting chapters of any lean book you read. This is the conflict they need to spurn change. Hopefully they use this opportunity.
I found this picture while searching for something else and i just laughed because this ABB facility was in Brno. What we saw of Brno was nice but once I found it I just had to add it to the blog.
After that we got on the bus and headed to Prague. We are staying in a very nice hotel in downtown Prague (no more taxis to get to the city center). We did not want to be out late so we went out and got some sausages from a street vendor downtown, stopped by a pub for the rest of the group and McDonald’s for me, and then called it a night. Tomorrow we have a short breakfast reception with ABB senior management for this area and then we will explore Prague.
We don't have irons in our room but we do have pants pressers...awesome!
Negative floors and zero for the lobby (it has been this way for all of the hotels in Europe)...crazy
The elevators are very small. My hand is against the opposite wall in this picture. It barely holds 4 people.
The pub we stopped in had inappropriate pictures on the wall so naturally we posed with them
Monday, March 23, 2009
Plant Trek Day 1
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Plant Trek Day 0
My blog got the flu and about 10 posts were lost.
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Sorry for the inconvienence. If by some crazy chance you have a copy of my missing blogs (like an RSS feed) please send me a copy so I can reupload it. I would be very appreciative. Thanks
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Plant Trek Day -1 (day 8 of my unofficial trek)
Day 1 - Travel from Boston to Berlin
This blog is actually starting above the Atlantic ocean at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. I am on my way to Europe to spend a week in Berlin and Warsaw before we begin the official International Plant Trek. I’m traveling with five other LFM class of 10 members and I expect to have a great time. This will be my first time out of North America and my first time out of the US if you don’t count crossing into Canada at Niagra Falls and going to Windsor near Detroit to gamble.
Side note: Does Canada count as a country or are they just a little sister to the US? They don’t have to pay for a military because they live next to us…and it is really cold there. Thankfully the Stanley Cup has not been won by a Canadian team since 1992-93 when the Habs took the cup in 5 games against the LA Kings (poor Barry Melrose and Gretzky).
The players may be mostly Canadian, but the cup sleeps in the US. Deal with it!
Second side note: Ha ha Canadiens, you sent Roy packing to Colorado where he won 2 more cups!
That is what Canada gets for being Canadian. More on that when the hockey playoffs start. Simply stated, as a US hockey fan I am not a fan of Canada.
Back to the trek. This is my first international flight and I am excited about getting my passport stamped. This is also my first time in a plane with more than 6 seats across (a dual aisle plane). Many firsts for me. The time change should be 6 hours difference but the US decided to do day lights savings at a different time than the rest of the world so right now it is 5 hours. The day lights savings difference with the rest of the world is about as stupid as our countries unwillingness to adopt the superior metric/SI system…if only we could convince Americans that America thought of the metric system, then we would love it…but of course then the French would not be on board with it. To get the French on board, we had to let them think they created it and name a number of units after famous Frenchmen for example, Coulomb, Pascal, and Ampere.
I plan to approach Europe like any other obnoxious and ignorant American would (I am Southern, it’s only natural that I be ignorant…it comes with the territory…we spend our weekend recreating the civil war because we still can’t face up to the fact that we lost).
I will assume that Europeans do not bathe, do not use deodorant, do not have running water, ALL speak English (and more grammatically correct than I do) and that menus and signs are written in English, etc. Hopefully I am in for a rude awakening. Nothing like a little culture shock to get the blood flowing!
This blog is actually starting above the Atlantic ocean at a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet. I am on my way to Europe to spend a week in Berlin and Warsaw before we begin the official International Plant Trek. I’m traveling with five other LFM class of 10 members and I expect to have a great time. This will be my first time out of North America and my first time out of the US if you don’t count crossing into Canada at Niagra Falls and going to Windsor near Detroit to gamble.
Side note: Does Canada count as a country or are they just a little sister to the US? They don’t have to pay for a military because they live next to us…and it is really cold there. Thankfully the Stanley Cup has not been won by a Canadian team since 1992-93 when the Habs took the cup in 5 games against the LA Kings (poor Barry Melrose and Gretzky).
The players may be mostly Canadian, but the cup sleeps in the US. Deal with it!
Second side note: Ha ha Canadiens, you sent Roy packing to Colorado where he won 2 more cups!
That is what Canada gets for being Canadian. More on that when the hockey playoffs start. Simply stated, as a US hockey fan I am not a fan of Canada.
Back to the trek. This is my first international flight and I am excited about getting my passport stamped. This is also my first time in a plane with more than 6 seats across (a dual aisle plane). Many firsts for me. The time change should be 6 hours difference but the US decided to do day lights savings at a different time than the rest of the world so right now it is 5 hours. The day lights savings difference with the rest of the world is about as stupid as our countries unwillingness to adopt the superior metric/SI system…if only we could convince Americans that America thought of the metric system, then we would love it…but of course then the French would not be on board with it. To get the French on board, we had to let them think they created it and name a number of units after famous Frenchmen for example, Coulomb, Pascal, and Ampere.
I plan to approach Europe like any other obnoxious and ignorant American would (I am Southern, it’s only natural that I be ignorant…it comes with the territory…we spend our weekend recreating the civil war because we still can’t face up to the fact that we lost).
I will assume that Europeans do not bathe, do not use deodorant, do not have running water, ALL speak English (and more grammatically correct than I do) and that menus and signs are written in English, etc. Hopefully I am in for a rude awakening. Nothing like a little culture shock to get the blood flowing!
I love the smell of culture in the morning!
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