DAIMLER TRIP REPORT 

by Mazvita NDAWANA 
 

We had to wake up earlier than usual on Wednesday to be on time for the bus which was set to depart at 07:45. One of us was a bit late, but he made it on time and we began our journey there.
It was a cold morning but everyone was so excited and so the bus ride felt shorter than it actually was. We arrived at the museum and Barbara explained to us how the tour works and what would follow when we had finished with the tour.
Everyone went their separate ways in small clumps of one, two or three people. There was so much information on the plaques on the wall to read. A few of us were pleasantly surprised that the history kept in the museum was not just about Mercedes-Benz, there was history on Germany and the world.
In their small groups, not only were people occupied with all the vehicles and visual displays around us, they were also occupied with taking pictures of themselves and the museum.
A handful of individuals finished the museum tour early enough to visit the Mercedes-Benz gift shop there. Some even finished on time to grab a coffee and a muffin. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the factory. Barbara asked the help of a passerby to take our group photo and we were on our way!
We arrived at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen and were so amazed before even entering the building. On entering the building, we went straight to lunch and enjoyed ourselves.
Following lunch, some went to the bathroom, some shopped in the Benz shop at the factory and others looked at the cars that were parked in that area.
It wasn't long before our lovely tour guide joined us and introduced herself, following which she ushered us into a room with a large TV screen. She spoke a little bit about what the Mercedes-Benz plant in Sindelfingen does and informed us that there's a Mercedes-Benz plant in South Africa that manufactures the C class range. We watched a short film on Mercedes Benz and every second was magical.
Following the film, we began the factory tour with goggles for our eyes, bright orange safety vests and earpieces to hear our guide.
Our first stop was the area where the metal parts of the car are put together for different sections of the car. We were all fascinated by how most of the work was done by robots and the motions of the robots almost made it seem as if they were alive. Scary! This area was also quite noisy due to all the welding, bolting and screwing going on.
Our next stop was the area in which the different parts are put together before heading to the paint shop. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the paint shop but our tour guide explained the process really well and showed us a visual aid of how the process happens. This impressed a lot of us.
Our final stop was the area  were the body is put together as a whole and then the interior is manually and semi-automatically installed. Seeing the big work stations of the employees was quite interesting and we learnt more about the entire process during our time in that area than the other 2 areas put together.
After this stop, all our faces lit up as we saw brand new finished cars parked outside with their black or white paint. Our tour guide made us all happy by giving us Mercedes-Benz key chains and we returned the happiness as her gift was presented to her by Fortunate.

As usual, we took a picture with our guide before our departure. It was an amazing time.