On our second day in Manaus we traveled to the outskirts of the town to tour around a manufacturing plant by the name of Salcomp. This place was serious business as we had to go through metal detectors, security checks and leave our phones in lockers before we entered the manufacturing floor. We were then lead into a room filled with snacks and water, followed by a warm welcome from Salcomp staff.
The staff then introduced us to their company, what they do and how they function. Salcomp's slogan is "powering the mobile world" and that is exactly what they do. Chargers and power adapters for a variety of electronics companies are produced at their plant and distributed all throughout Brazil. At anytime they could be producing products for eight to ten different companies and have worked with over 200 different clients with different specifications that they must meet.
After the introduction and presentation, we had the chance to tour the facility and see how the facility functioned but we had some safety precautions to follow...
A box was brought out, opened up and ankle straps were pulled out. Now at first I scoffed and laughed a bit thinking, "pfffhh are they trying to chain us together by the ankle prison style or something!?" I looked over at my buddy Eric and asked him what was going on to which he answered, "they have to ground us." At this point everything clicked. We were at an electronics manufacturing plant with high powered electronic machinery, the ankle straps were meant to keep us from being electrocuted and saying tchau tchau to life. At this point one of the staff demonstrated how to put on the ankle straps and made it clear, "they need to be tight around your heel and wrapped around your skin." Once everyone got word of what the ankle straps were for, fear set in. You ever see a video of someone sticking a piece of metal in an electrical outlet?
Yeah, that would have been us if we put on the ankle straps incorrectly. Except we would be the piece of metal not the kid. Did you see his reaction!? *cue ominous game of thrones music*
We were then asked to wear lab coats and hairnets which did not bother us at all with the looming threat of being electrocuted.
Outside of the fear of being zapped the manufacturing area was super interesting. As a group we got the chance to see all the economic concepts we learn in class being applied in real time. For Phil "Pão de Açúcar" Klafta IV it was being able to see lean production being utilized through cutting bad equipment and training of workers to attain a 93% efficiency. Did i mention Salcomp trains and educates its workers by having them play a game similar to family feud? Rob enjoyed being able to see labor vs. capital in action. Smit said that, "Looking at the machines, product yield, workers, and the workers' shift schedule, i was able to grasp the economics behind the production" For me, i felt like a kid in a candy store. One of the staff members was kind enough to let me split from the group, walk every inch of the facility with me and answer all of my questions. (I can get real annoying people)
In the words of my friend Robert Currie the Fourth, "The manufacturing place was like Willy Wonka but in real life." Rob C. IV was indeed correct. Like the Willy Wonka factory there was an immense amount of interesting knowledge to gather on the floors of Salcomp, but with great knowledge comes a great likelihood of being electrocuted.
(Ben Franklin was one brave dude for flying a kite in a thunderstorm)
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