Going on a plant trip is no big deal, I agree. But going on a trip to the Mercedes Benz plant was something like a dream come true for me. I had been dreaming about Mercs since the moment I knew what cars were. Though the S class is my personal favorite anything that has the Benz logo on it is worth possessing as far as I am concerned. So Friday, the 11th would definitely go down in my diary with a  highlighted mark. This is the gateway to the plant. We drove all the way from Auburn to Tuscaloosa.

The trip started at 6.30 AM and we went directly to Delphi automotive systems, which is a Just-In-Time supplier to Mercedes. They supply the cockpit, relay box and one more thing which I forgot. Anyway they don't actually manufacture any of these components. They just assemble parts which they get from their suppliers. 

   The cockpit consists of the dashboard, steering column etc. which consists of the whole dashboard console. Each cockpit is assembled on a moving conveyor, with each operator having to move along with the conveyor at each station and has to do his part within a marked yellow line or else he/she has to pull a cord, which lets the supervisor know where to go, and then he/she will come and help finish the job. Photography was prohibited inside Delphi.It was here that we learned about the problems of being a JIT manufacturer.

If the shipment to the company does not reach on time then the company charges the supplier 6000$ a minute. These photos were taking from a moving car. So please bear with me for the poor clarity.

Next on the agenda was the Mercedes Benz plant situated in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. This is the only facility in the world producing M class SUV's. Austria had a plant producing about 15000 M's but they discontinued it. Unfortunately photography is prohibited inside the plant. So we had to be satisfied with taking the photos in the adjacent Mercedes Benz gallery. But still even the gallery photos are a good see. 

The gallery is a goldmine for a person interested in classic cars as it features almost all the classic Daimler cars that we have seen pictures of as kids. These cars are remarkable remnants of early German engineering.

I  learned that the name May Bach given to the new high end model was actually one of the early pioneers of   D-C corporation along with Daimler. This  picture is of the museum. It is aesthetically appealing and well maintained.Paal punchiri photo to prove that I did go there. The van on my back is my Prof. Dr.Black's van. In fact you can see him standing behind me. It was as part of his Lean Manufacturing course that we were able to go to the plant. It was after some string pulling that he managed to get us into the facility. 

The Lean production course is modeled on the lean production system which is actually the Toyota Production System. We were actually able to see what we were studying for the past so many months.

The famous Benz logo revolves proudly on top of a tall pedestal. This thing is huge and keeps revolving on that pedestal. People say that this logo is one of the most popular logo in the whole world. In fact it is said to be the third after Microsoft and coca cola  What good is a photo session at this place if this logo is not taken. This denoted the start of the rejuvenating trip that was to come. 

The employees of the plant are referred to as team members irrespective of their position. So don't be surprised to hear the word team member repeated often if you are talking to a Mercedes employee.

On the left hand side of this photo one can see the bus that takes people inside the plant facility.