Automatic... screwing?
This wednesday we had a field trip to Valeo, a manufacturing company located in Nogent-le-Rotrou (aprox. 150km from Paris, in the middle of nowhere). This field trip was part of our OTM course, which we had... last term. The trip should also have happened last term... but I prefer not to get started on this terrible organization from LBS. That's a biiiiig story. Not even to mention the fact that other streams got to visit BMW, Porsche or Airbus... however, I went to... Valeo [sigh].
Anyway. the trip had its ups and downs. Downs? The timetable and the boring factory visit. Ups? Paris, of course. Here's how it went:
4.30am: wake-up. Curse the school, the MBA, life in general.
5.00: get out of bed, shower, stop cursing.
5.30: meet friend and take a cab to Waterloo.
6.00: wait for everyone at Waterloo, and find out who's missing.
6.30: enter the Eurostar, study Management Accounting, sleep.
10.30: arrive in Paris.
10.40: take 'le metro' from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse.
11.05: buy sandwich, run to the train.
11.15: take the train to Nogent-le-Rotrou.
13.15: arrive at Nogent-le-Rotrou, have lunch.
14.00: presentation starts. Listen to french guy who barely speaks english.
14.05: drink two coffees.
14.10: slap face and avoid falling asleep. Drink another coffee.
14.30: factory visit starts.
14.45: meet plant manager (Portuguese! We're everywhere :-) ).
15.00: listen to boring talk about inventories and logistics.
15.30: listen to boring talk about kanban cars.
16.00: listen to boring talk about molding machines.
16.30: listen to boring talk about... automatic screwing! (that was the joke of the day).
17.00: realize that factory works on 3 shifts of 8 hours. Each worker has to work standing for 7.2 hours practically non-stop (two 6 minute breaks and one 20 minute break).
17.05: Ask why workers don't have bigger breaks. Look at a manager's grin saying "well... they have these 6 minute breaks".
17.06: engage discussion.
17.10: realize that everyone has left. Stop discussion.
17.30: listen to boring talk about quality. Suggest 'fatigue' as possible reason for random errors. Try to scream "7 fucking hours non-stop" when Quality manager says "ok, but why fatigue? that's what we have to find out."
17.31: feeling too tired to engage in discussion.
18.00: visit is over, go to train station.
18.30: take train to Paris.
20.20: take metro to Gare du Nord.
20.50: check in at dingy hotel, shower, curse.
22.00: have dinner at Le Procope
22.10: enjoy nice meal, wine, desert, whisky... relax.
01.00: have drinks at St. Germain des Pres.
03.00: return to dingy hotel.
05.30: wake up, shower, curse.
06.30: take Eurostart to London, study Accounting, curse, sleep.
08.00: arrive in London.
08.30: home, room, bed, curse, sleep.
So... in summary I spent more than 10 hours inside trains and 4 hours in a boring factory. At least the night in Paris was very enjoyable! And the group was great fun. Thank god for that!
I have to go back to studying Management Accounting, now. The exam is tomorrow morning.
Anyway. the trip had its ups and downs. Downs? The timetable and the boring factory visit. Ups? Paris, of course. Here's how it went:
4.30am: wake-up. Curse the school, the MBA, life in general.
5.00: get out of bed, shower, stop cursing.
5.30: meet friend and take a cab to Waterloo.
6.00: wait for everyone at Waterloo, and find out who's missing.
6.30: enter the Eurostar, study Management Accounting, sleep.
10.30: arrive in Paris.
10.40: take 'le metro' from Gare du Nord to Montparnasse.
11.05: buy sandwich, run to the train.
11.15: take the train to Nogent-le-Rotrou.
13.15: arrive at Nogent-le-Rotrou, have lunch.
14.00: presentation starts. Listen to french guy who barely speaks english.
14.05: drink two coffees.
14.10: slap face and avoid falling asleep. Drink another coffee.
14.30: factory visit starts.
14.45: meet plant manager (Portuguese! We're everywhere :-) ).
15.00: listen to boring talk about inventories and logistics.
15.30: listen to boring talk about kanban cars.
16.00: listen to boring talk about molding machines.
16.30: listen to boring talk about... automatic screwing! (that was the joke of the day).
17.00: realize that factory works on 3 shifts of 8 hours. Each worker has to work standing for 7.2 hours practically non-stop (two 6 minute breaks and one 20 minute break).
17.05: Ask why workers don't have bigger breaks. Look at a manager's grin saying "well... they have these 6 minute breaks".
17.06: engage discussion.
17.10: realize that everyone has left. Stop discussion.
17.30: listen to boring talk about quality. Suggest 'fatigue' as possible reason for random errors. Try to scream "7 fucking hours non-stop" when Quality manager says "ok, but why fatigue? that's what we have to find out."
17.31: feeling too tired to engage in discussion.
18.00: visit is over, go to train station.
18.30: take train to Paris.
20.20: take metro to Gare du Nord.
20.50: check in at dingy hotel, shower, curse.
22.00: have dinner at Le Procope
22.10: enjoy nice meal, wine, desert, whisky... relax.
01.00: have drinks at St. Germain des Pres.
03.00: return to dingy hotel.
05.30: wake up, shower, curse.
06.30: take Eurostart to London, study Accounting, curse, sleep.
08.00: arrive in London.
08.30: home, room, bed, curse, sleep.
So... in summary I spent more than 10 hours inside trains and 4 hours in a boring factory. At least the night in Paris was very enjoyable! And the group was great fun. Thank god for that!
I have to go back to studying Management Accounting, now. The exam is tomorrow morning.
posted by Ricardo at
4:15 pm
2 Comments:
wow, I'm sorry, sounds like you had a very bad time! I hope your general mood about the MBA gets better despite this event!
By
angie, at 2:58 pm
Angel Angie:
My general MBA mood is still great! :-) That day was really terrible, except for the dinner part in Paris, but the whole MBA experience has been fantastic! You'll see it ;-)
Wheels:
Yes, that's so true. You always want something else or something more. But I guess that's a good thing...
By
Ricardo, at 5:33 am
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