The tap that does it all!
On Thursday the 12th of October we visited Quooker in Rotterdam, arguably the most ingenious tap manufacturer in the Netherlands.
Upon arrival, we were warmly welcomed by Laurence and her colleagues who all happened to be alumni of the Mechanical Engineering Master at TU Delft. They gave an interesting presentation on the history of Quooker and what excites them about working at the company. Following up, we received a tour of their production facilities where it became clear why Quooker stands out from other tap manufacturers from an engineering perspective. They produce almost all parts for the Quooker in-house using a production line that they mostly engineered themselves. Also, in preparation for their planned expansion in a few years, they were testing the use of autonomous pallet trucks in their warehouses which was quite a sight.
The last section of our visit included a case study on designing the next generation Quooker with a focus on e.g. sustainability, manufacturing or cost. After the explanation, every team had one hour to come up with an idea which they had to pitch to the group and a jury. It took the jury some time to decide on the best of five very interesting pitches but eventually a sharp-eyed group that came up with a great suggestion on how to improve the manufacturing process won their well-deserved prize!
Quooker was a fantastic host and gave much insight on why they could be an interesting employer for High-Tech Engineering students.