Europe Trip 2009: Day 4 – Leipzig & Munich
We starting the morning with another nice breakfast at the hotel packed up our luggage and got on the bus for our next stop: the Leipzig MBW Auto Plan. Now with full disclosure I own a BMW and this was going to be a big highlight for my trip. They did not disappoint. They did not allow cameras in the plant, but I was able to find a couple photos on the Internet taken by Thomas Mayer.
These pictures were taken in the main office part of the plant. As you can see the place is quite large, and the building designers thought it was important for all staff to be able to see what they are producing in their daily job even though they aren’t on the plant floor. These are real cars being transfered through the office from one part of the plant to the other, and each one can be different. I will blog about the actual tour sometime later, but there was one fact that really stuck out. Once you order your BMW from this plant (they mostly make 3 series) even though they have 2-3 month leadtime, you can change any configuration about your future car 4 days before it starts being built since they use JIT (Just-in-time) production. Amazing.
Once our 2 1/2 hour tour is over, we pile back on the bus departing to Munich. Over 6 hours later we arrive at our new hotel freshen up – then head out to the Hofbrauhaus! The Hofbrauhaus is state owned brewery in Munich, Germany. As you can see – the beers are quite large. Mix in some great polka music – and you have yourself a party! Drinking here also proved to be a great workout – 1st the bathrooms were all the way outside in an alley, and 2nd the beers are so large – they help build the biceps. I will learn that larger beers are possible in Europe, however.
I also want to give a hello to my new german friends I met that live a few hours away. I am still unpacking and I have yet to find the piece of paper with your contact info on it. I will give you an shout as soon as I find it!