Volkswagen Day

we had a great day in Wolfsburg at the VW World Headquarters. The day started with a tour of the manufacturing facility - we have no photos of that because no cameras were allowed. It was a great tour and we learned many things about VW and modern production techniques, but we also learned the answer to the best trivia question on the trip so far....

what is the product that is made most at the VW Wolfsburg facility????

Golf ....... NO!
Passat...... NO!
Tiquan ........ NO!
Sausage ...........................YES!

They make their own sausage for the all the dining facilities and they make way more sausages then cars! And we got to eat some of those sausages when we had lunch in the employee cafeteria!

Our day continued when we went to the Autostadt (Auto City) which is a world's fair like campus of buildings and walk-ways that celebrate cars and specifically the 8 brands that make up VW. Those brands are VW, VW Trucks, Audi, Skoda, Seat, Bentley, Lamborgini, and Belgotti. Each brand has its own building with a history and some "show off" cars. The 1200 HP, goes 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, silver-clad Belgotti was the hit of the students. (picture to left)

We also got to see what I call the "car vending machines" (two towers behind me in photo below) which are two towers where cars are stored and then plucked off their spot by a giant device that runs up the middle of the tower, thus making it like a giant vending machine. Many Germans go to this facility to pick up the cars they ordered at the dealer. The car delivery thus becomes an event and as a Marketing Prof. I had to smile at all the cross-marketing, merchandising, and customer loyalty reinforcement that was going on at the Autostadt!

We finished the day with a train ride to Berlin where we got to see the great Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) that was built a few years ago and is a wonder of functionality and form!

Tomorrow we are off to Deutsche Bank for a 1/2 day program.

The photo below is of the inside of the car vending machines. The post up the middle is where the "plucking" device runs up and down. Really quite a sight!


Some of the group in a typically sized German Automobile!

Boats, Trains and Automobiles

BOATS: We toured Hamburg's Harbor this morning - it is Europe's second biggest harbor. It was a great experience, especially for our Supply Chain majors as when shipping is discussed in class they will have a whole new frame of reference for those topics.

TRAINS: After the Harbor Tour we left Hamburg and took the train to Wolfsburg - it was quite the adventure that involved running from one train to another and having some issues getting off the train in Wolfsburg. But all ended well and we arrived safely in Wolfsburg.

AUTOMOBILES: There we met Tobi Posner, a friend of Dr. Eckert's who works for VW and arranged a wonderful 24 hrs of activities for us. We had a great dinner at a brew-pub in a small town outside of Wolfsburg and tomorrow we have a whole day of activities planned at Volkswagen. This day includes a plant tour, a brand marketing lecture, and a tour of the Autostadt (auto city) the place where people can come and pick up their new cars directly from VW (a common way to purchase a car in Germany).

Here are a few photos from the day....

A big container ship coming down the Elbe right next to us...

Some of loading "bridges" in Hamburg Harbor....


Britni and Hailey using the waterbottles that were so kindly given to us by Coyote Logistics, an employer partner of the Sales & Business Marketing program. Figured we needed to take this photo with "logistics" happening all around us!

The group before we board our first train....


Catching some rest while the ICE train travels at 200 kph (125 mph) ...

Dinner at Groenigers in Hamburg

We went to a traditional German restaurant in Hamburg tonight where an ungodly amount of pork, potato and cabbage products were consumed! A little of the haus brew was also sampled. We had a nice time and many thanks to Bernd Korte for setting this up. Bernd was a 2007 sales student of Dr. Eckert's at Uni Paderborn who now lives and works in Hamburg. Bernd is the bearded guy behind Dr. Eckert and his daughter Emily.

Notice the giant wooden tray of food - we made a pretty good dent in it by night's end!

Here is the rest of the group at their respective tables. The beer for those who consumed was delivered in the old wooden keg and tapped right at the table. It is a "hausgemachtbier" which means it was made at the restaurant. The wooden rack in the middle is for the tray of food when it arrives.

Our Hamburg Hotel

It is not the Ritz but it has been a good home base for our first few days. It is close to the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) and also close to Alster Lake.

A Beautiful walk and a brilliant lecture in Hamburg!

We started our day with a great breakfast at the hotel and then we did our first team presentation down at Alstersee (Lake Alster) - our Hamburg group did a great job of introducing us to the city.

We then had a great walk along the lake to our destination: the Center of Media & Marketing at Uni Hamburg and a lecture by Prof. Micheal Clement. Dr. Clement introduced us to Uni Hamburg and the work his institute does and then shared with us his research of predators vs. incumbants in technology/media markets. He was an entertaining and highly engaging speaker and his research is timely and very well done, so it was a great experience.

After the lecture we walked back to a main intersection in town and the big group broke into smaller ones to start and explore the city.... that is what they are doing now. We get back together at 6:15 for a trip to Groenigers and a very traditional German dinner.

Some photos from the day so far....

"Team Hamburg" giving their location presentation this morning


The whole group as we walked to our Uni Hamburg appointment ....


Dr. Clement giving his presentation today at Uni Hamburg.


The group with Dr. Clement after the lecture.



Dr. Clement receiving the best t-shirt he has ever seen! (A gift for his assistant who arranged the whole event). Dr. Clement is holding his WMU coaster - his thank you gift for helping us with this event.

Everyone Made It!!!!!

The whole crew is here! A few late flights and a little lost luggage did no major damage and we all got together for the first meal .... italian food! :) Isn't that what you are supposed to do on your first day in Germany? Italian made sense as the neighborhood that our hotel is in has lots of Italian options and we will be having very traditional German meals the next two nights, so I figured we might want to start differently. The meal was great and then many went out for a nightcap, although most have already retired for the evening .... the long day of travel kicks most butts!

Tomorrow we have a lecture at the Uni Hamburg on the German Media Industry (based in Hamburg) by Professor Clement, the director of the media center at the Uni Hamburg. Should be interesting.

A successful first day has concluded..... see you all tomorrow and I promise photos.

Hamburg Preview

The faculty advisors - Jim & Paula Eckert, and their Daughter Emily have arrived in Hamburg and are enjoying it immensely! Here are few photos.