July 7, 2023

This morning we had the opportunity to visit Consorci and Estoko. We learned about the 3incubator non-profit 3D printing whose goal is to 3D print and increase the Barcelona Metropolitan area economy. Estoko logistics was very interesting to learn about because it differs widely from the logistics company, I am familiar with and work for. Estoko’s main interest is to coordinate the use of warehouses and to optimize space in the available warehouses in Spain, Portugal, and southern France. I was very curious about the transportation aspect of the company because he also admitted that most of the profit comes from the transportation side of logistics. Estoko explained that he wanted to stay away from the trucking, sea, and air legs of the transportation to avoid a liability on his hands. I asked him why he would not take advantage of being able to make a profit from transportation and furthermore increase his revenue and overall he seemed to be strongly against this idea and aimed to push his customers more towards using his partners for those aspects of the shipment. However, I did enjoy that he touched on the importance of his companies attempts to be eco-friendly. Estoko reduced 30% of carbon emissions by providing warehouses near the pickup/destination locations. Overall, it was a very insightful visit and was amazing to see successful startup businesses in the logistics and innovation networks. In the afternoon we had lunch and did two more tours with Marga. We walked around the Mercat de la Boqueria and saw the fresh produce, fish, meat, and cheese vendors. Afterwards, we took the train to the Sagrada Familia and took part in a guided audio tour around the temple and the surrounding school. The inside was absolutely beautiful, and I particularly enjoyed the stained-glass windows.