Carrara Marmotec -- International Trade Show for the Marble Industry

Here are pictures from the trade show, Marmotec. There are large machines for use in the quarries (to cut blocks), and then machines for transforming the blocks into other products. The trade show also has samples of marble from different parts of the world. Pure white marble comes from Carrara, but other colors and qualities are also located in particular parts of the world.

Marble Quarry in Carrara

We went from the trade show, Carrara Marmotec, up the mountain to where they excavate large blocks of marble (the small ones are ten tons). This year we went to a different cava than in previous years, and the owner of the site was able to talk with us about their operations. The weather was rainy, so we did not drive to the other quarry, but here are pictures from last year, when we had a bright sunny day.

Marble, Bronze and Mosaic

We visited Barsanti, a family business in Pietrasanta that produces art pieces in marble, bronze and mosaics. Some are done at the direction of artists and others are commissions from customers who want artwork for their buildings (or for cruise ships).

After the visit we stopped and had lunch in Viareggio, which is one of the beaches that is easiest to reach from Florence. It is mostly a boardwalk and you pay to "rent" the place you sit, but we were able to see the Mediterranean and have a relaxing lunch.

Nuclear power in the Italian news

Here's an article from the NYTimes about a possible return to using nuclear power in Italy. An opponent of the plan said the following:

Emma Bonino, an opposition politician who is vice president of the Italian Senate, said that it made no economic sense to build nuclear plants because they would not be ready for 2o years or longer.

Think about the "production process" to build a nuclear power plant. That would clearly be set up as a "project," but do you really think the throughput time would be twenty years? What would likely be some of the longest tasks? The bottleneck(s)? Could you arrange tasks in parallel to make the throughput time less than twenty years?

This is something you could research and talk about on your journal page, if you're interested in this topic.

Olive oil production in Italy

We visited a small but very high quality olive oil company, Frantoio di Santa Tea. It has been a Gonnelli family business since 1585. We toured the production facility and had an oil tasting. Because of the way they organize production, they can produce oil from green olives, or from black olives, or from a mixture. Each has a different taste. Here are some pictures from the day.

Next up is a company that produces pieces of art from marble, bronze and mosaics.

wiki formatting conventions

I would like you to use the "Edit Page" function instead of the "Comment" button, if possible. I will save the comments for questions or my feedback that will not be part of the "final" version of the page.

When you enter something, start and end your comments with your name, like this:

[jeff]
blah blah blah
[jeff]

You can use colors to (or italics or bold) to set your entry apart, but try to choose 'good' colors. Use the button that has a capital A, and try to avoid the button with the picture of the highlighter. Also try to avoid the really light colors (like yellow).

The right side menu bar has "Company Visits" for each group as a page. There will be a link to a separate page for each company we visit. Put your comments on this page, not the "Company Visits" page. I will move misplaced entries, but it will be easier keep everything straight if you make comments on the right page. Thanks (and sorry for the confusion).

Let me know if you have other questions about this. I can meet you in the computer lounge before/after your M&M class if that would help. Just let me know what time works for you (send me an email).

Friends and Families

Please feel free to give the website address for this blog (jeffrummel.blogspot.com) to your friends and family if you want. I'll post some pictures and update a little about what we're doing in the class.

People who are reading the blog are welcome to leave comments (with questions, for example) and I will try to respond to them as quickly as possible. To minimize the amount of "blog spam" the comments are moderated (by me) and so they will not show up immediately.

Frantoio di Santa Tea

Most everyone seemed to have the idea for the trip, and the tour was pretty quick (small place). I'll post some pictures later. There are now pages under the Company Visits tabs on the website where you can add your observations, analysis and questions about the visit (note that good questions are a positive contribution to the website).

The only potential hassle will be if two people edit the same part of the page at the same time. One of you will get a sort of error message from the website -- just let me know if you do and I'll go in and try to fix it. If you are just adding some text, it is sometimes easier to prepare the text off-line and then cut-and-paste it quickly onto the page. That will minimize the chances of two people saving at the same time.

You can also add comments, but I would prefer you use the Edit Page tool (top of the right menu bar). You can also upload attachments, but try to make sure the files are not too big. If I start to run out of space I may have to delete some files.

I would also like you to use the Edit Page tool for your individual journals -- I will go through and fix some of your pages.

Remember that Wednesday is earlier (7:30 departure) because Pietrasanta is a bit farther away. The tour there may be slightly longer (we will see bronze, marble and mosaic production) and I'm hopeful we'll break into two groups for this trip. We will stop for lunch on the way back at Viareggio, and you are welcome to stay there and get a train back to Florence or to ride back on the bus. I'll see what time we arrive for lunch, but we'll probably have the bus leave Viareggio around 2:30 or 3:00.

Thursday is a full day as well, up to Cararra with another 7:30 departure. You'll be able to snooze a little on the bus if you want.

Long weekend travel plans

We will be going to Cararra on Thursday and there will be no class on Monday, so people are making travel plans to take advantage of the extra day. I hear there are some bus tours that leave Florence on Thursday at 7:30, and I wanted to let you know that we will be leaving the trade show in Cararra at 3:30 (or 15:30 if you prefer), so we should be back in Florence between 5:30 and 6:00 (17:30-18:00). So you will have plenty of time to catch your bus to Capri or Interlaken or wherever.

I will also make Monday June 16 and optional class meeting. For those that would like, I will be available to meet and talk about your journals and company visit contributions. But if you'd prefer to have one extra day for travel that weekend, you do not have to attend class that day.

We will meet at Palazzo Rucellai on Wednesday June 18 for class. Let me know if you have questions.

Classroom at Palazzo Rucellai

While we will spend most of the class "on the road" visiting companies, we do have a classroom at Palazzo Rucellai. It is most likely a bedroom in the old palace, but not the master bedroom (there are better, bigger rooms). To get there, students have to go along a twisty passage way because of the way that the palace was built originally, but also because the palace has been subdivided among the heirs through the years into sets of rooms that are not exactly contiguous.

btw, the fresco pictures on the walls are actually flat walls. The pillars and everything are done with painting the shadows to make it look three dimensional.

Interesting site

There seems to be a lot of information at the English Yellow Pages, including a section on accommodations with reviews. Let me know if you use it and if it works out. Safe travels this weekend (especially to football in Rome).

Strategy Notes

The strategy lecture note is posted on the website on the Syllabus page. This is another link to it. There is also a one page Strategy Checklist available for you to review before the visits.

Have a great weekend and meet me at the Santa Maria Novella train station no later than 8:30 on Monday morning for the trip to Santa Tea. You can come a little early and get a coffee at the train station, or even something from the McDonalds inside the train station.

On Wednesday we will stop for lunch in Viareggio along the beach after visiting the artisans in Pietrasanta (we will see marble, bronze and mosaics). The bus will leave to get us back to Florence around 3pm, but you will be able to stay out at the beach longer (if the weather is good) and ride the train back to Florence in the evening.

I am working to determine the time we will return on Thursday, but right now I am not sure. We should know more on Monday. Let me know if you've arranged travel for Thursday evening and we can make sure that your schedule is feasible with our trip to the marble quarry and trade show.

WSJ article about Italy and immigration

Here's the article if you'd like to read it.

Access to classmates

I would like for you to check one thing for me today: Can people in my class see if they can access the bios/pictures/phone numbers for the family business class student (BADM 2893)? And can the family business students see if they can see the same info for the students in OPIM 4893?

Send me a note or post a comment here. Thanks.

Another way to contact me is to go to one of the pages you can access and leave a comment. I have the website set up to alert me when changes or comments are made, and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

Access to journal pages

I noticed some people have already been able to get to their journal pages and make changes. Some others have gone to their page and clicked on the "Add Comment" to leave a comment. That is fine, but I would also like you to click on the "edit page" link (at the top under page tools) and actually add something on the journal page itself, just to get practice doing that.

And thanks to the few of you that fixed your phone numbers on the "Particiapnt" pages. I have added others that were handwritten in class. Let me know as soon as you have a phone number, just in case we need to get in contact with each other.

Read Benihana and National Cranberry for our discussion on Wednesday. Let me know if you have other questions or concerns. You also have the option of leaving a comment here (in addition to comments on the wiki or email to me).

Arrival in Pisa

The Paris-Pisa flight is in and the students are on the bus to Florence, but stuck in rush hour traffic. I will head over to the train station to meet them, probably between 7:30 and 8:00. I hope it is not too much later.

They are in Florence, and here is a group picture of the students, with Santa Maria Novella in the background:

Arrival in Florence

The Rome-Florence flight arrived on time and the students looked tired but fine. The Paris-Pisa flight arrives this afternoon, and I will meet the bus when they arrive in Florence to say hi. Orientation starts on Saturday morning at 8:25, and will be held in a nice place called Fiesole, on the hills overlooking Florence. Sunday, if it doesn't rain, there will be a picnic in one of the parks in Florence (Cascine). Not far from Palazzo Rucellai.

Here are some random pictures from the airport:

Phone contacts

The material you received from Palazzo Rucellai should have included the phone numbers for the school there, in case someone needs to contact you while you're in Italy. After the first day, you will also have an Italian cell phone number that they can call with the appropriate international calling prefixes. As a final back up, people can feel free to contact me on my Italian cell phone. The local number there is 346-626-3146. From the US, the number would be

011-39-346-626-3146.

See you on Friday

It is almost time to finish packing and get to the airport for the Florence summer study abroad program. There are answers to questions on the wiki, but if you have others, let me know. You can post a comment to the blog, a comment on the Question and Answers page on the wiki or email me directly.
I will take pictures of everyone over the weekend and update the participant pages (post your short bio if you haven't already) and get them on the wiki so that we can all get to know each other more quickly.
For class on Monday, we will talk about how the course will operate (we'll go over the blog and wiki a bit more) and we will also analyze (together) a couple of cases. I will post the cases on the wiki for you to read and will talk to the people at Palazzo Rucellai about hard copies. There may be a small charge for the cases and copying, but I'm not sure the exact amount yet. But there will be no book for the class, and the cost should not be very high.

Welcome Penn State students

All of the students that will be joining the program at Palazzo Rucellai should have received an email with instructions for accessing this blog and the class wiki. Contact me if you have not.

I am looking forward to meeting everyone next Friday. We should have a great time together in Italy.