Extreme Carpooling (MAP Weeks 2 & 3)

For the last two weeks I and my MAP team have been traveling around Ohio, learning about cabinets, touring manufacturing and distribution facilities and getting a move on on figuring out who wants what we're selling. 

Driving

Basically, because I have the biggest car and don't mind driving long distances, I am the team driver. I have lost track of the number of hours / miles we have driven in the past two weeks but let me tell you, it has been intense. Usually I am the only one who is awake but Sang Hee and I have had some long and lovely conversations and I now know a lot more about South Korea than I did before MAP. While we are working at MRCG headquarters we are staying in a Residence Inn about 45 minutes away. This is because HQ is in Middlefield, OH ... 4th largest Amish community in the US! ... which means there isn't a whole lot to do and there are only two restaurants worth going to but there were several enjoyable and unique roadsigns. 

The commute really isn't that bad. There is never any traffic (except that one time when the GPS misdirected me and it took us two hours to get back to the hotel ... after that I decided to go GPSless, it worked out much better) and we have dedicated time to talk as a full team, brainstorm and give feedback on what everyone is working on. We also take advantage of the adapter that makes it possible to plug my computer into the car and draft many of our team documents during the longer road trips.

Cabinetry

I have been a fan of cabinets for as long as I can remember. One of the reasons I picked this project is because we are working for the same company that makes Kraftmaid (I'm hoping there's a future discount there but I wouldn't bet on it). There is something about beautiful kitchens that makes my heart go pitter patter. When I own a home, I'm going to have one seriously sweet kitchen. Due to my fondness for cabinetry I already knew most of what we have been told about the product we are working with. In fact, on our first plant tour, I was told that I wasn't allowed to answer any more questions because it wasn't fun if he didn't get to share any information about the product.

Plant Tours

Over the past two weeks we have toured millions of square feet of manufacturing space. That's right people I said MILLIONS. And we have done it all at "plant speed" which is just a touch slower than "missionary speed" which meant that I was the only person on my team that could keep up with the guys showing us around. I was told that, had I been interviewing for a position, I would have passed the crucial laziness test with flying colors. As many of you know, I like myself a good plant tour every now and then. Ever since college where I had an internship at Subaru and would go out on the catwalks just to watch the cars zip around the factory I've been hooked. I never pass up the opportunity to see how something is made.

Who wants what we're selling?

Who the heck knows?? But seriously, we are making some progress on this front. We hammered out some initial estimates of the size of the opportunity for MRCG last week. Now we just need to figure out the characteristics of the people that fall into that group. We should probably also work on understanding what motivates them ... I'll have to think about that one some more. We've put in a lot of long hours and expect to put in many many more before we're good and finished. Guess what that means. Diet Coke!!! It also means palling around with a rooster (no terrorists here) but you don't really want to know about that. No, don't even try to get it out of me. It won't work and no I don't have photographic evidence. I said NO!

Monsters in Lake Erie

On Thursday MRCG let us use their box at the Q to watch a minor league hockey game. It was super fun to unwind and enjoy some downtime with some of the people we are working with on the project. They are great people and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to know and work with them. (MAP team = 4 people in the middle)

Taking Multidisciplinary Action (Week 1)

This term in the good old b-school we are taking multidisciplinary action. We have all been assigned projects at companies around the world and this week we had our project kick off, met all of our faculty advisers and other support personnel, started drawing up our letter of engagement and team charter, assigned project roles and started doing research. My team is assigned to Masco RCG and so we headed off to IKEA, Home Depot and Lowe's to learn about how kitchens are designed and cabinets are ordered. I fell in love with a kitchen in IKEA. Chocolate cabinets with modern lines and white quartz counter tops. It is a deep and abiding love that will one day result in my being the proud owner of such a kitchen. I picked this project because I LOVE cabinets and logistics in manufacturing organizations. Love, love, love. The next month and a half have the potential to be brilliant. The picture at the start of the post is of one of my teammates, Sang Hee, during her first ever trip to a home improvement warehouse. After cost accounting she (and the rest of the MBA1s for that matter) has a special space in her heart for John Deere.

Spring Break

At the beginning of February I indulged myself in fantasies of secluded Mexican beaches, trips to Hawaii, the possibility of South America, and adventures in Spain and then I got the call that I had been selected for final round interviews at BASF in Florham Park, NJ. Those dreams faded and were replaced with the reality of spending at least some of my spring break in New Jersey being interviewed for a summer internship position. I readjusted my plans and decided to stay in the region and visit friends and family that I don't get to see as often as I would like as well as cities that I love and have not visited in years. 

After my interviews I met up with my mom in NYC. We spent a few days together going to restaurants, the ballet, shopping and MOMA (the picture at the left is Joan Miro's The Birth of the World... I like it). 

We were also able to meet up with Maria for lunch at a tasty noodle bar. 

On Thursday I boarded a train to DC and I have to say, I quite enjoy traveling by train. The seats are more comfortable, there's more space in the overhead compartment so you don't have to shove all your stuff in there, there's lots to look at during the trip and phone conversations that should really be held in private to eavesdrop on. You see what I mean? Quite enjoyable.

In DC I got to spend time with my sisters. The one thing I really wanted to do while there was visit the Newseum. As I think I may have mentioned before, I LOVE the news. Just love it. I've wanted to go to the Newseum since it opened. 

They have a section of the Berlin wall there as well as the antenna from the top of the world trade center not to mention endless exhibits on, well, news and the journalists that make it all happen. Abi and I spent several hours there and could have spent much much more time looking at everything. I nearly bought a "news junkie" t-shirt. It felt appropriate but I really never wear t-shirts so I didn't buy it. After the Newseum we went to Curry Fest 2009 and all I have to say is tasty. I really like curry. In fact, I don't think I've ever had a curry I didn't like.

Now I am back in Ann Arbor getting my apartment in order after a very busy term and taking advantage of a few days of down time to get caught up on several things I let go by the wayside over the past couple of months. Soon I'll be heading off on my next great adventure, the Multidisciplinary Action Project. Very exciting stuff.