Customer Project in the Philippines
In September 2013, I, Kevin Thoma, carried out the commissioning of a project on the main island of the Philippines near Manila. The baby milk powder factory in Cabuyao was up to receive a renewal of the continuous powder mixer line. The job was to expand the existing plants with new partial automation equipment and related software.
When, after travelling for almost 24 hours and with a stopover in Abu Dhabi, I arrived in Manila, I immediately got a sense of the tropical climate. The high temperature and the rainy season, which at the time was just beginning, made the day seem like a 24 hour sauna to a cold-resistant Swiss like me. On my arrival it was raining extremely heavily, and the trip from the airport took 2 hours instead of 30 minutes because the roads were flooded. This weather was to accompany me for the whole comissioning. Since I was able to get to know the people in the Philippines as being very motivated and friendly, the commissioning itself was very pleasant and successful.
After work, I was able, together with the local team, to discover the culinary world, which very diverse, but not to everyone’s taste. Due to heavy rains unfortunately I could not get to know the country itself. The only outing which was possible, to Taal Lake at Tagatay, was a wet affair, but the view from the volcano within the Taal lake was however exceptional despite the bad weather, as you can see in the above photo.