Day 11: Companies Galore (14 May 2013)

Today was our last day of real work, and it was very full. We visited the final three companies: Hela, Centauro, and Bosque del Mauco. First up was Hela, a company that manufactures different types of tools, with a focus on brushes. We toured the factory floor and learned how they make their industrial scrubbing brushes as well as traditional paint brushes. Most of the machinery was imported from Germany, a fact that really exemplifies Chile's lack of domestic technological innovation. I was very surprised by how much of the work was done by hand (almost all of it) because it seems like it would be much faster and more efficient to use a completely automated assembly line. However, it is important to provide jobs in the local Chilean economy, and these types of manufacturing jobs are probably what helped Chile dodge the worst of the unemployment caused by the global economic crisis in 2009.

Next we visited Conservas Centauro, a canned goods company that specializes in making tomato paste. This is also the company that I researched before arriving in Chile. Since Chile is entering the winter months and fruit and vegetables are not plentiful, there was no actual production happening today. We did get to see all of the machinery used for the processing of the different fruits, however. We also saw some of the packaging process and got to try the tomato paste. I learned that Centauro does indeed produce goods for other companies; they are the store brand of a large Chilean supermarket known as Jumbo. Marketing for other companies does sacrifice recognition of the Centauro brand, but in the long run I think it is smart because many people will still buy their product if it is sold as the Jumbo store brand. 

After a very late lunch (consisting of empanadas--what else?), we finally reached the Bosque del Mauco mushroom farm. The smell was very overwhelming at first: chicken manure and hot, wet straw do not produce a very pleasing aroma when mixed together. We got to see the piles of chicken manure and straw that they use to create the compost that the mushrooms grow on. We also saw the mushrooms themselves growing in large trays stacked high inside of a warehouse. I thought it was strange that the man giving us the tour kept indicating that Bosque del Mauco's processes were somewhat subpar to other factories that he had worked in. He kept telling us about the super-efficient practices on a mushroom farm in Maryland, and the comparison seemed stark. It seems as though this difference has to do with the culture and attitude of the workers in each country. 

By the end of the day, we were all exhausted. I think I learned a lot about manufacturing in Chile today. I was surprised by how important industrial engineering is to all types of companies, as it was the only engineering discipline that seemed relevant at all five visits. Considering how few of my peers are specializing in this field, this seems like a very lucrative field and I am now even considering minoring in it!