Last week the College's Year 12 economics pupils visited the BMW MINI car plant in Oxford. In a trip that is sure to be of great use to our A-Level economics pupils, the cohort spent the day learning more about the ins and outs of one of the world's most recognisable car brands.
The group, over 20 strong, departed on Wednesday morning and were accompanied by Head of Economics, Mr Stuart Read. The following is a summary of the trip to the car plant, courtesy of Mr Read:
"On Wednesday 12 October, our Year 12 economics students visited the Oxford MINI car plant to see how MINI cars are made. 3,500 people, and many more robots, work at the car plant that produces over 100 cars a day.
We received a fascinating insight that connects to the economics course, including the role of division of labour, innovation and cost-saving, product development, and how BMW outsources the procurement of ostrich feathers for their production (car-cleaning) process!"
Additionally, it was great to hear some positive feedback about the trip to MINI from the following pupils:
"Seeing the robots make the cars was most interesting. How they work well with each other and the speed of productivity." J Read
"It helped me understand how a business can best maximise its profit and potential." A Veitch
"It was interesting to see the factory part with around 1,200 machines doing the jobs, and only 200 workers did the rest." O Wrobel
"It puts the things we have learnt in class in context and gives us a physical example which therefore is easier to visualise." O Smee
"It was great to see a real-life example of the things we learned in class. It helped me understand the theoretical part better." J Meiswinkel
