Today we are in a town called Mulhouse--it is famous for textile printing and wallpaper printing. They have a pretty good attitude about loss of jobs here to India and China, in that in the 17 Century they more or less stole the textile trade and all it's secrets from India--they figure turnabout is fair play. Last night on arrival in Mulhouse, after lunch with our host families, we toured the textile museum here, it was a really fascinating tour.
You would have loved our plant tours of the past two days--first to the Rochere Glass factory which has been in continuous operation and I think the same family since 1475---they still do hand blown glass, mostly to just preserve the tradition. They make much of their money on the production of sturdy glassware for the restaurant and home use and most form the production of glass block. They had tons of glass block ready for shipment--and they can make it in different colors. We got to go through the entire plan. As the flames were blasting out of the furnaces and gas burners, I kept thinking how easy it would be for me to ignite; dressed in my mostly synthetic fibers. It was a fascinating tour---yep I took lots of pictures.
The other interesting facility was the Peugeot Parts plant; wherein you can procure ANY part needed for any Peugeot ever made. Most parts are ordered and shipped out within 24 hours--worldwide. They have mastered the JIT production schedule. As we walked through the plant we saw folks cutting leather from Spain , this done by hand. It cannot be computerized, because each day the specific cuts needed change. We then saw others sewing it into the little leather casing that fits snuggly against the shifting gear. We watched a chorus of men and robots make hoods and trunks of cars and then we watched as these parts and others slowly moved along a dipping line, pulled through the anti rust bath and enter the dryer---then they were inspected, bagged; and placed into shipping bins. We had to be careful not to get in the way of the various tow motor operators who were speeding about the floors taking skid after skid from one place to another, loading trucks and then shipping it out: They said one truck per minute leaves the warehouse 24/7--It was pretty amazing---and that's just the parts plant---not the factory where they actually make the cars. This facility alone was about a mile long on either side of a sizeable railroad switching yard, I' m guessing at least 7 lines. I was not able to take any photos in side but took a few snaps on the exterior of the building.
Gotta go---
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