Thursday 6/13/2013:
Another full day, today consisting of a visit to Audi and a
brewery. One part at a time then.
First off, Audi in the morning. There was so much to see,
and so much interesting information to process. Everyone was impressed with all
the sustainable methods Audi employs. Social sustainability is prevalent, as
the tour guide was explaining, as Audi really seems to value its employees.
Fitness centers where employees can work out the kinks in their bodies, three
shifts to choose from, better than average bonus, yearly health assessments and
more I’ve likely forgotten. As to the cars themselves, Audi recycles all
“trash” metal left behind after the processing, uses water from the river and
returns it cleaned to the river, and uses a per order inventory style, where a
part isn’t ordered from a vendor until the car has been ordered. This keeps the
stocking of unnecessary parts from occurring, and that can be a sustainable
practice, too.
After lunch we headed on to the brewery, where we heard more
about the brewery process and sampled some beer (a lot of us seemed to like
that part). The brewer uses organic ingredients and purified water, and
purchases previously used hops from other brewers to make his beer. The water
is gotten from the monks of the nearby monastery, and in return the brewery
supplies beer, creating a symbiosis between the two that is mutually beneficial
(and sustainable).
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