NABI is a Hungarian company who is owned by a private equity group. NABI designs and builds Buses used in public transportation.
We were hosted by the plant Manager and controller, who had a nice presentation of the company and the two types of busses they manufacture; steel framed and composite.
Both were very proud of the company and it's ability to provide quality and innovation into the US. The composite bus was pretty impressive as it weighed less, consumed 10% less fuel, had a greater seating capacity and a useful life of 18 years.
The questions from the cohort surrounded why they haven't manufacturer for other countries outside of the US and what other products the company could provide.
We were told that because of the US economic stimulus investments during the early 2000's it required NABI to sell only in the US for a period of time.
Additionally because of the large size of the bus they have created a niche market and do not see expansion to other products.
After the presentation, we were provided a tour of the manufacturing facilities - 6 buildings in all. We were allowed to walk the floor, asking questions and seeing all steps of the process. Very impressive operation and couldn't believe how clean the assembly line was of dust and debris.
After leaving the factory we had a nice lunch at the Restaurant Royal in the quite and very clean city of Kaposvar.
We then boarded the bus and started the trip back to Budapest. Along the way we stopped at a local resort town along Lake Balaton. Very nice area, filled with local shops, 10-15 Hungarian wineries had booths set up and there was live entertainment featuring local dancing and music.
As we arrived back in Budapest a small group of us decided to head to St. Gellert Spa. A fantastic experience of the termo-spa and steam room. Highly recommended if visiting Budapest.
For dinner we ate at a Karma which had local food infused with an Asian twist.
No comments:
Post a Comment