Hewlett Packard factory tour (23/01/03)

I was really excited about our excursion to the HP Solutions Factory situated in Guelstein near Herrenberg. Herrenberg is just outside Tubingen, so the drive with the bus was not very long.

When we arrived at the Factory we were greeted by one of our Tour Guides, Mike who started the tour. The tour started with filling some information for Security access around the factory. Mike then introduced the Solution Factory to us, describing what the basic business model was. The HP Solutions Factory is unlike any other factory where a total solution is built around a customer's request , making each product which leaves the factory be it Server or Desktop machine unique. This presents a one-stop-solution for the customer by also providing consultation, change management and other necessary IT skills to handle the implementation of new servers, or desktop machines. Typical products manufactured at this factory are of course Servers, High-end Servers (Superdomes), workstations and other storage solutions. This factory supplies to all of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (which includes South Africa).

Mike then introduced us our electronic tour guide, Number 4 (one of the HP F.R.O.G.S.) who would be telling us more at each point in the factory. We visited each point in the factory such as the Online Storage Department, where all components are retrivied and stored. The Assembly area was also very interesting where the Servers were assembled according to the customer's request. At the Integrated Solutions Department, all the customer's custom requests are integrated into the total solution. Competitor components are also used according to whether the customer had requested that particular component.

Our final stop was at the Printing Department where manuals can be printed for each unique solution, cutting down on the waste which would normally be associated with printing manuals.

When the tour was complete, I had the responsibility of handing over a small token of appreciation to our tour guides for the wonderful factory tour. We then had a fantastic lunch, which everyone enjoyed and that had concluded our tour of the wonderful HP Solutions Factory here in Herrenburg.

(Lindsay P. Wicomb, PenTech)