There is something I really like about the University of Valencia; that is the incredible number of subjects available. Just a quick look in the “asignaturas de libre eleccion”/optional modules shows you the vast range of choice; for example you can study "Empresas y negocios en China" (Business in China) Or "Marketing on-line" (as I will study it in June) And some courses are taught both in Spanish and English. The only problem is that maybe there is a lack of information about all the opportunities offered by the University. The very worst informed about this are more often the ERASMUS students, but maybe most of us are not really interested.
Anyway, a few months ago I was checking my mail and I discovered a mail which invited students to subscribe to an interesting subject : “Gestión de la producción en el sector del automòvil”. As I like to learn new things I subscribed, and I think it was a really good idea! During 3 weeks we received intensive courses (5 hours with some short breaks) from various executives working for the Ford factory in Valencia, among the teachers we had the privilege of having the Director of production himself during the first session. And I have to admit that you quickly realize why is the Boss ; his presentation was the clearest; the most interesting, the most fascinating: definitely the best in fact.
But the best part of this module was visiting the factory in Almussafes (a village close to Valencia city), in one word: impressive!!! I think we were all like kids with wide-opened eyes, just amazed by what we discovered. I could not help asking myself how human beings could build such big and sophisticated thing. The manufacturing process of a car is really amazing: every 25 seconds a car was produced, in 270 hectares factory where work everyday 7300 people; we are talking about a real city! In 2006. The Ford plant in Almussafes was the one which produced most cars in Europe : 420 000. To conclude with figures, the Ford Motor share of the Valencian Community GDP was about 8,2%.
It was a really educational trip. No regrets. The next plant I want to visit: An Intel’s microprocessor factory. Can someone in the audience help me?