Weblog Plakkies Team 11-13 november
November 17 2009
Wednesday, November 11th
Arafath picked us up at 8:00 in the morning for another visit at the Ubuntu Company. My companion was a guy called Dennis from the Cuddle company, who is doing the Financial Administration of the Cuddle and Ubuntu company. Lisa would come later to the Ubuntu company as she needed some time to document the information that she had obtained so far. At the company I focussed on the assembling process of the coated footbeds and the final Plakkies. After some counting I discovered several limitations that would appear at higher production volumes. I discussed some topics with Arafath and what could be tackled from a technical and logistic viewpoint. Lisa spent the day with several visits at local manufacturers that use rubber from tyres to see what techniques they apply for the processing of rubber. At 3PM the power was down, so that the production process was halted. Arafath needed to do his utmost best to convince the energy company that they made a mistake to switch off the electricity at the Ubuntu Company. It was after 4PM that the power was up again. At the end of the day Arafath showed us a Park in Durban that is full of monkeys. After that, we went to a Portuguese-Indian restaurant where we ate another spicey meal. We ended the day at the terrace in front of our hotel, where Arafath was telling us stories about the nature and people of Mozambique, the depth of Arabic Languages and the reason why South Africa has hardly public transport. He did this all without a cigarette (not allowed by the new Durban policy) and considered stopping smoking ... once.
Thursday, November 12th
Last day at the Ubuntu company. Arafath and Dennis will fly to Johannesburg this afternoon. I talked about my findings with Arafath and Nelson. Lisa did talk to Sheryl (quality manager) and someone from PCM (machine retailer). In the afternoon there was a pre-game soccer match outside the Ubuntu company played by the Ubuntu workers (and supervisors) who were preparing themselves for their own organized Ubuntu cup. The ladies proved to be good fans of the Ubuntu team. At the end of the day we said goodbye to Arafath and Dennis and went to the hotel after which we had dinner with three students of the Technical University Delft and their supervisor who came to the Ubuntu company that day. Some experiences of South Africa were exchanged and also the to-do's at the Ubuntu company.
Friday, November 13th
Last day in Durban. A quiet day ... with time to write a weblog. Later on the day we Went to Ushaka to spend the last few hours in Durban ... looking for nice Zulu items. At 19:20 we had the plane back to Johannesburg. Here is where Lisa's holiday will start. I am on my way to Schiphol Amsterdam ... preparing myself for the summer - winter transition. And so ended the second site visit of the Plakkies team.
Wednesday, November 11th
Arafath picked us up at 8:00 in the morning for another visit at the Ubuntu Company. My companion was a guy called Dennis from the Cuddle company, who is doing the Financial Administration of the Cuddle and Ubuntu company. Lisa would come later to the Ubuntu company as she needed some time to document the information that she had obtained so far. At the company I focussed on the assembling process of the coated footbeds and the final Plakkies. After some counting I discovered several limitations that would appear at higher production volumes. I discussed some topics with Arafath and what could be tackled from a technical and logistic viewpoint. Lisa spent the day with several visits at local manufacturers that use rubber from tyres to see what techniques they apply for the processing of rubber. At 3PM the power was down, so that the production process was halted. Arafath needed to do his utmost best to convince the energy company that they made a mistake to switch off the electricity at the Ubuntu Company. It was after 4PM that the power was up again. At the end of the day Arafath showed us a Park in Durban that is full of monkeys. After that, we went to a Portuguese-Indian restaurant where we ate another spicey meal. We ended the day at the terrace in front of our hotel, where Arafath was telling us stories about the nature and people of Mozambique, the depth of Arabic Languages and the reason why South Africa has hardly public transport. He did this all without a cigarette (not allowed by the new Durban policy) and considered stopping smoking ... once.
Thursday, November 12th
Last day at the Ubuntu company. Arafath and Dennis will fly to Johannesburg this afternoon. I talked about my findings with Arafath and Nelson. Lisa did talk to Sheryl (quality manager) and someone from PCM (machine retailer). In the afternoon there was a pre-game soccer match outside the Ubuntu company played by the Ubuntu workers (and supervisors) who were preparing themselves for their own organized Ubuntu cup. The ladies proved to be good fans of the Ubuntu team. At the end of the day we said goodbye to Arafath and Dennis and went to the hotel after which we had dinner with three students of the Technical University Delft and their supervisor who came to the Ubuntu company that day. Some experiences of South Africa were exchanged and also the to-do's at the Ubuntu company.
Friday, November 13th
Last day in Durban. A quiet day ... with time to write a weblog. Later on the day we Went to Ushaka to spend the last few hours in Durban ... looking for nice Zulu items. At 19:20 we had the plane back to Johannesburg. Here is where Lisa's holiday will start. I am on my way to Schiphol Amsterdam ... preparing myself for the summer - winter transition. And so ended the second site visit of the Plakkies team.