Today we had the opportunity to tour Skoda, and it was awesome. There were a lot of interesting things that I learned throughout the day that surprised me about the automotive manufacturing process. One of the biggest things that surprised me was just the overall scale of the manufacturing. Walking through the factory, seeing the thousands of people working, really puts into perspective how much goes into making a car. From the chassis of the car, workers can put in a lot of the inside pieces, like the dashboard. Another thing that really impressed me about the level of the manufacturing for the plant was the automation. While at the plant, we had the opportunity to watch robots weld together different preformed pieces of metal for the body of the car. I was also impressed to see the scale of the metal pressing machines. Besides the main plant, we visited the motorsport area os Skoda. This part of Skoda focused on rally cars and customized cars for each buyer.
This trip has been really great so far, with many different highs and lows. Skoda was a great part of this trip, and seeing the manufacturing plant was one of the high points of the trip for me. One thing I have struggled with during this trip, though, has been sleep and missing home. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the trip has to offer, but I am looking forward to going home.
Swanson School of Engineering 