Calvin College – Interim 2019

One of our stops during the last few days was a company visit to Dynajet. Dynajet is a small German company that specializes in manufacturing high pressure systems and tools. Such applications include cleaning graffiti off of walls and cleaning dirt off of surfaces. One of the more interesting applications is replacing concrete in concrete structures. This is useful so that you can get rid of the old concrete without damaging the rebar, whereas using a jackhammer would damage the rebar.

Dynajet started out as a brand within a larger company, Putzmeister, but was sold and became a full company. Our tour guide, Carsten, was instrumental in this transition as well as currently running the company. Recently, however, Dynajet has been bought by Uraca, since it was struggling to meet market demands as a small company.

Dynajet’s high pressure systems are built into a trailer so that they could be transported easily and quickly. Dynajet believes in creating a reliable product, therefore their machines are created in a modular fashion so that parts can be easily replaced if needed. They are also concerned with being up to date with EU regulations, so they had the most revised design on the shelf and ready to sell.

This was an interesting company visit since we have mostly visited larger companies on this trip. The size of the manufacturing facility was big enough to produce about four machines at any point in time. This is pretty small compared to the big distribution plants of the other companies we have visited thus far.

We started with a bus ride through the winter countryside to the foothills of the Alps where we visited the Neuschwanstein castle.

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Next we visited a the Church of the Meadows. It looks fairly average on the outside, but is spectacular on the inside.

Off to Munich to make a company visit to Steelcase’s Learning and Innovation Center. An interesting tour and discussion.

Then dinner in Munich and back to the hotel (after sitting in another traffic jam).

Today we visited the Munich branch of the Steelcase company, originally based in Grand Rapids MI. This particular facility was named the Steelcase Learning + Innovation Center, and upon arrival, seemed like an unassuming business place. However, once you entered you immediately knew this was not the case. Instead of having a traditional front desk and reception area, we were greeted with lounge chairs, unconventional furniture and even samples of their products.

Klaus Pronaf was our guide throughout the facility and we were immediately aware that Steelcase was unlike any other. In addition to having three separate buildings, each floor was specifically designed to suit the needs of the business, curated after years of analysis. We were taken on a tour through the cafe floor, where they have an in-house barista and refreshment station, the leadership floor that reversed the idea of traditional hierarchy by having the managers in an accessible and practical place, 3 floors of dynamic work stations and a top floor with plenty of seating for “town hall” discussions and creative exploration.

What immediately caught my eye was just how far they strayed from the traditional, conservative workplace setup. On one floor, I noticed that instead of a desk someone had a couch, a tv screen and a low table with their laptop on it. It’s obvious that Steelcase recognizes that the world is changing and so are people and the one-size-fits-all mentality that has been assumed all these years is no longer producing the results they want. I was also impressed by how they integrated technology into the workplace with the use of consoles outside of meeting rooms that were connected to the building’s server, telling people which rooms were occupied and or reserved and by who.

Overall, I really enjoyed our visit to Steelcase. After seeing and understanding how their facility works, I know why Steelcase is as successful as it is today. By not sticking to the status quo and allowing the core beliefs of the company to guide their direction, Steelcase is a pinnacle of innovation and I only hope that one day I have a business that runs so well.

Yesterday we visited two businesses in Germany- Gentex and Dynajet! Dynajet is a company that makes long lasting, high pressure water jetting systems. It was interesting to hear about the culture of the business and different business and engineering strategies they have.

After a German buffet dinner at our hotel we had a group meeting to discuss the businesses we visited. I learned how to do a SWOT analysis for businesses and realized that this type of analysis could work for many different organizations (for example, hospitals!)

My group analyzed Dynajet as a company, and this is what we came up with:

Strengths:

1. The company has a very passionate and charismatic leader.
2. They don’t have many competitors (one was mentioned)
3. They have many different models of water jetting systems to accommodate different needs

Weaknesses/ threats

1. It’s a small company so if a lot of people get sick or they receive too many orders, they may not be able to keep up with the demand.

Opportunities:

1. There are much older and dirtier buildings in Europe that need more cleaning/restoration.
2. There are a lot of people seen cleaning in the streets, so we could assume there would be need for a jetting system.

Overall another great day in Germany, and excited to keep learning and experiencing more new things!!

Sarah

Today we visited a company called Dynajet. They specialize in commercial power washers that go from 7000 psi up to 40,000 psi. The smaller ones are typically used for paint removal while the larger ones can be used in place of a jackhammer to remove concrete. They use these power washers instead of jackhammers because they do not damage the steel reinforcement and only remove the concrete. Another main strength of Dynajet was their environmental aspect. Their products don’t use any chemicals and only use the force of pure water to clean things.

Dynajet is a small company and only about 5 people were working there when we visited. They buy the parts from hundreds of suppliers and assemble the parts in the building we toured. An engineering aspect that I found interesting was the fact that their products were limited by the physics of a hand held device. What I mean by this is that they couldn’t build any bigger power washers otherwise they would have to have a robot operate it because a human couldn’t push back with enough force to keep the power washer stable.

It was very interesting to compare the strengths and weaknesses of both a large company like Gentex that we toured earlier in the day, and Dynajet a smaller company. It has also been very interesting to see the logistics of companies that sell to many different companies in different countries that speak different languages. Although a short visit, Dynajet was a good visit to learn about the strengths of a small company.

Today we went to Steelcase in Munich to see how they operate. I must say, it was vastly different than the work life I have seen in the US. They called their office the learning and innovation center. The office is totally tailored for innovative learning so that employees never feel stuck. Through research, Steelcase found that it isn’t possible to focus for 8 hours straight, and employees need to sit down and focus for an hour before relocating and doing something else.

Thus, they created an office space that is unique, where each office and area is different and each employee can relocate wherever they want to work. They use this space for their tours where over 100 people come each day to see how they operate. The typical customers think conservatively of the way they work. They wouldn’t ever consider these innovative rooms before they visit Steelcase and see how they work. Steelcase got rid of show rooms, and basically tour their customers around their workers and show how they work.

Their selling point is finding out what 3 phases of work are most important to the customer(for example Innovation, people engagement, collaboration—all business challenges). They find 3 topics that have prioritization to the customer and Make customers talk about work trends and how these phases of working are typically operating at their office. They almost act as consultants and have the customers talk amongst each other about ways they can improve on these phases of operation.

From research, Steelcase found that Highly engaged people are only 1/3 people of total workforce. Engagement is important. They believe if they provide a good work environment then employees will be actively engaged. They hope that through the freedom of workspace that they offer employees, they will be more highly engaged. Here are a few examples of the freedom and changes they offered:

They added big windows to the office so that daylight shines in at all times, allowing the employees to know what time of day it is.

They also made the leaders operate on the middle floor so there was no feeling of hierarchy. The leaders don’t even have set offices. In most companies, the leaders will be on the top floor, but at Steelcase, they operate on the middle floor and are available to everyone. Their leaders dont even have an established office. The CEO said, “everyone knows me, I don’t need an office for that”.

Overall, Steelcases “Learning and Innovation Center” is used as a selling point for their customers. Instead of show casing their products, Steelcase just shows how they work and hopes it rubs off on customers. It sure rubbed off on me. Allowing employee freedom and displaying level hierarchy made Steelcase seem like a company anyone would want to work for. This would rub off on perspective clients or employees. It was an awesome visit.

After an exciting visit to Neuschwanstein Castle in the middle of the mountains we made our way to steelcase. Steelcase is an American company that specializes in office furniture. Unlike most business visits, steelcase showed us their innovation center that focused on the productivity of their office environment.

The visit started off with some refreshments and snacks followed with an introduction to the company.

Our tour guide Klause focussed on how their product developed an environment to promote the best workplace and work ethic. Steelcase originally focused on integrating technology into the workplace but now focuses on integration of technology and communication. He talked about how large spread out businesses resulted in a segregation of employees. The mission of steelcase was to connect all employees. Informal information exchange is a really important aspect of business. This means that a lot of information is passed along employees when they are passing or brief encounters. Our tour guide used a metaphor of a get-together in a kitchen. If everybody is close in a business they will be forced to interact with each other and information will be passed much faster and more efficiently. Steelcase recognizes costumers as business partners and after extensive information and talks, tries to provide a floor plan that best suits their company. 

A main priority of steelcase is to incorporate both creative thinking and decision making rooms in one. Some examples of how they do this is through round tables, hands on communication and media platforms like microsoft workplace. 1/3 of the employees in the world are highly engaged in their work and steelcase focuses on making employees more engaged in their workplace and company. 

Throughout the visit, it was interesting to see how a company that specializes in office furniture can improve work ethic and productivity in a company

Today is the 13th day of our trip which means we are almost ⅔ of the way done! This trip has been incredible so far but also very, very busy. Every day has been filled with many breath-taking tours, adventures, company visits, and bodacious food stops. The days are long and tiring, but every bit of it is worth it. So far, we have been to five countries, and each one is unique and poses its own challenges. We have been to huge, bustling cities like Amsterdam and Paris that are always moving all day and all night. We have faced multiple language barriers. We conquered public transportation on the trains in France. Some of us have even been measuring our steps and we have averaged almost 9.5 miles of walking a day! Having all of this pile up together can really be draining.

With that being said, the devotion that we read today was about refreshment. Based from the book of Proverbs 25:13 it says, “Like a snow-cooled drink at harvest time is a trustworthy messenger to the one who sends him; he refreshes the spirit of his master.” I took this to meaning that we are only truly refreshed by God, and at this point in the trip, I think we could all use a little refresher to reflect on everything we have seen and done so far and prepare ourselves for the last bit of the trip so that we can enjoy it with the same energy that we had on the first day.

Everyone finds their refreshment in different ways. For me, I found my refreshment on the bus ride to Hockenheim, our first day in Germany. On the way, I was just sitting in the back looking at my phone and listening to music like usual when Professor Betts summoned me to the front. After a couple moments of panic, I found out that I was not in trouble but rather it was just to catch up and see how the trip was going so far. After talking for awhile, I moved forward into the fold up seat next to Joop, our legendary bus driver. At this point, I finally began to look out the window, and I was so glad I did. We were in the Rhine River Valley driving alongside the river with beautiful mountains on either side and sun shining down on us(a rare sight to this point). As we went along, Joop informed me about all of the small communities on the water’s edge and pointed out all of the castles that overlook those communities as well as many fun facts. Seeing all of this gorgeous region just reminded me that God’s beauty is everywhere on this earth, and combined with the pleasant interactions with Joop and the professors, I received that renewing feeling that I think we all need on a trip like this. I can’t wait to see what comes next in this last leg of the great European adventure!

Today was the beginning of the second half of our trip throughout Europe, so I thought it’d be a good time to reflect on some of the faith and cultural differences that I’ve experienced so far.

Christianity is probably the most important influence on the history of Europe and as we’ve been touring through these massive cathedrals, that has been very clear to see. But the thing that has surprised me the most is that the majority of these beautiful churches are no longer used as they were originally intended. Some of the ones we visited still hold regular services, but most of them are just tourist destinations. I had never realized until this trip that Europe has become far less religious than the United States.

I have been surprised by some of Europe’s cultural norms as well. Even something as normal as just walking down the street is a different experience here. In the US, if I make awkward eye contact with someone while walking in a popular area, I would normally just give a quick smile or nod and continue walking. But here in Europe I don’t think I’ve received either a smile or a nod in return when this has happened, I just get a strange look and then they pick up the pace in the opposite direction. Europeans just tend to keep to themselves, which was kind of weird to get used to at first.

Another difference I’ve noticed is that Europeans eat dinner far later than I’m used to in the US. When we have free time to get dinner on our own, we will show up to the restaurant around 5:30-6 o’clock and the entire place will be empty. Then once we’ve eaten and paid the bill (on one check because usually they won’t let you do separate checks), the locals will start to show up and fill the restaurant.

These are just a few differences I’ve seen so far, but it’s been an awesome experience. It’s easy for me to get comfortable where I live and forget that there are different places and different people out there in the world. This trip has done a great job of immersing me in new cultures so far and I’m looking forward to the second half of it.

Hamilton Mutschler

As we were visiting Heidelberg (where the famous Catechism was written) we learned a little bit about how religion in Germany is different than in the United States.

We had a tour guide through part of the city named Roland, and he told us about how all citizens fill out a form relating to their taxes which declare their religion. So if I were to declare as Protestant, an additional percentage of my income tax would be taken and given to the Protestant church. So, our guide mentioned that some people will declare as atheists just to avoid that additional tax. This cooperation between church and state seemed strange to me because the US was founded upon the idea that those to should remain separate.

Along the same lines, Roland mentioned that someone’s religion is no secret in Germany. Often times, religion is one of the first things that is asked when you meet someone new. While in the US, you’d be looked at a little funny if you asked someone that upon meeting them. Americans see religion as a very private thing, while Germans wear their religion on the sleeves. This is not a big deal for the Germans because Roland stated that they tend to be more welcoming to minorities (both religious and otherwise).