Last pictures from Florence

Here are some pictures we took from the top of the Campenile. My family has finally arrived, so the last two pictures are of me with my favorite person (not one of you guys, sorry), but the other pictures show most of the main highlights of Florence.
Have a safe trip home, and relax a little back in the states. See you in the fall.

End of the session

The class is almost over. I will check the wiki on Thursday and Friday and assign grades after that. If you have any questions, please send me an email and I will get back to you.
Thanks for all your cooperation during the trips and in the classroom. I hope you had a great time and please feel free to stop by and say hi when we're all back in Storrs.

Last class

We will wrap things up starting at 10:00 on Wednesday in the classrooms for each group (Santa Maria Novella for UConn, Classroom #3 for PSU). See you then.

More details for Monday

Caterina gave me the itinerary for the trip on Monday:

• Depart 7:30 from Firenze SMN at the regular bus stop
• Meet the tour guides at Ducati factory at 9:15
• Factory, museum and gift shop at Ducati
• Lamborghini factory tour, Excellence centre (museum) and gift shop
• Pagani showroom, factory and gift shop
• Leave from Bologna at 18:00.
• That should put us back in Florence at 19:30 (depends on traffic).

Sometime during the day (maybe between Ducati and Lamborghini) we will stop at a shopping center where there is a food court (variety of places, including McDonald's). We will probably stop there for about an hour.

You might plan to bring water and maybe some snacks for the day. We can also probably stop at one of the highway rest stops on the way back to Florence for people to grab something to eat or drink.

It will be a long day, but I think everyone will enjoy it. See you Monday morning.

Grade Reports and Monday

I am going through the site, and I will post more comments on your journals and the company visits, but I've read through everything enough to have a "rough" grade estimate for everyone. Those emails will be going out shortly, and if you have any questions you can reply to my email. In addition, I will be around Palazzo Rucellai this afternoon, so you can catch me after your art history class if you want.

Please note that the estimate assumes that you are on the bus and engaged in the tour on Monday. Remember, this is a long day (but I hope it will be worth it), and the bus leaves SMN train station at the usual place at 7:30. Set an extra alarm if you are worried, or arrange for someone in another apartment to call you in the morning. Missing the day will change the grade estimate, and not in a positive direction...

Also note that I have put some videos up on the company visit page for the OPIM students, and on the Family Business page that will show you the kinds of products we will see assembled on Monday.

There really is class on Wednesday

Sorry. :-)

9:00-12:00, in our room back in the corner (Santa Maria Novella) for the UConn students, and in Classroom #3 in the "Library" side of the building for Penn State students.

Not an Italian car

I put some videos about the cars we will see next week (on the wiki). This is not one of them.

News for the weekend and next week

First, have a good (safe) time on your travels this weekend. I'll most likely be here in Florence, having a gelato (or two) at Grom (pistacchio, stracciatella, fragola, mmm).

For next week, the schedule will be as follows. On Monday, it will be an optional class meeting day, starting in the classroom you are assigned to, UConn in Santa Maria Novella (back in the corner) and PSU in room #3 in the Library side of the building. We will be around from 10-12 to talk to you about how the class is going and to provide help with your wiki entries. For those of you that have not done any work on your journal, this might be a good time to get some help to get that started.

On Wednesday, we'll have regular class time at Palazzo Rucellai, 9am until noon. We will talk about some of the company visits and do some work to set up our last trip to Bologna/Modena. There are some videos on the wiki (look at the vehicle production page under company visits) to introduce you to the products we will see assembled on Monday. In addition, we are very likely to visit showrooms at each company where you'll be able to purchase gifts from the company (I have a nice Lamborghini tie, for example).

I am working with GE to see about setting up a visit for Wednesday afternoon for those that were not able to go this past week. Sorry about the mixup. When I have the details, I will let you know, but it will be a quick train ride out, the tour and a ride back. Both of us will be on the tour, and may be able to help in explaining some of the things you'll see.

Reminder for GE trip on Wednesday

We will meet at the usual place on Wednesday at 1:00pm (13:00 Italian time). Instead of a bus, we will take a train from Firenze SMN to the next stop, Firenze Rifredi. From there it is about a 15-20 minute walk to the Florence Learning Center that is adjacent to the Nuovo Pignone plant.

The training center is business casual, and the plant will require closed shoes (you will be asked to stand outside and wait if your shoes are not "safe"). This visit is a courtesy extended to us by GE, and this is probably the visit to look your most "professional" -- no shorts or ball caps. There will not be a bus where you could leave alternate clothes. The plant is huge, so comfortable walking shoes are okay (sneakers).

We will have a lecture about the MIS systems for managing the production of these complex products (I have some material on the website that you can look at before we go) and then a tour of the plant. Each will be about ninety minutes, so we should be able to get a train back to Firenze SMN by 6pm. Let me know if you have any questions.

Website posts

I have appended a long comment to each of the first three company visits for each class (PSU and UConn). Take a look some time and think about adding some more analysis or comments to each page.
I have also started looking at all the Journals. If you haven't done much on them yet, remember that six weeks disappears very quickly. What I will (officially) do is have an open class time on Monday June 16 to be in our classroom to talk one-on-one with anyone who wants help with their journal. We will have class at Palazzo Rucellai on June 18. For the Penn State students, Prof. Chelko will be here that week and may want to meet with you on both Monday and Wednesday. He will post something on the class wiki to confirm.

Remember that the Winery Tour on Monday will start at the train station at 8:30. We will have a meeting with the head of the winery in the afternoon, and so we will be back in Florence probably by 6:00.
On Wednesday we will go to Nuovo Pignone in the afternoon and meet at the train station around 1pm. We have a presentation from GE at 2pm, and then a tour of the plant starting around 3:45. The plant is in Florence, and the tour should finish around 5:30, so you'll be 'free' around 6:00.
Let me know if you have any questions. Have a great weekend.

Wednesday Trip Reminder

On Wednesday, June 4th, we will meet at the usual place at SMN Train Station at 9:00 (you get to sleep an extra hour and a half!). We will make a short trip to Prato, which we passed when we drove to Pietrasanta and Carrara.
There are two companies there that we will visit, and so half of the UConn students will go to one, the other half to the other (similar for PSU students). Alan will accompany one group, I will go with the other. On the website, there will be comments from each half of the class and some discussion of the differences between the two companies.
The tours should finish by noon, so we will be back in Florence in time for (Italian) lunch.
Next week: Wine and industrial machines.

Italian trains and strikes

On Sunday, many of the students were off to other parts of Italy and Europe (Venice, Rome, Prague among others), but those still in Florence who were trying to visit cities in the area discovered that Italian trains have a habit of going on strike. The strikes are often announced, and last a specified period and I'm not sure what exactly they accomplish. Usually a few trains run so that people are delayed but not completely stranded.
Here are some pictures of the train station in Florence, called Santa Maria Novella, and the many travellers trying to find a way to get to their destinations.

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.