174 5.63 Kaori No Kyandoru Scents And Logistic Matters. (2/2)
They were impressed and some of the ladies even tried their hands at it and finds it very convenient. I told them for the Kurin Detergent, they can proceed to the owners of the cosmetics shop.
I held up a blank sketchpad and told them that they need to write in their names and house lot so that once its ready they would be contacted here to sign the papers and be the proud owners of the Seijuro Tumbler Machine.
Those who were interested stepped up and wrote their names and house lot on the table that had been brought out of the office for this purpose. I went over to the sales lady to report to the ambassadors directly and inform the clients to come and sign the instalment agreement before the item be delivered to their house. She understood and took over from there.
Next, we send a note to the Blacksmith alliance and within minutes the message had been distributed to the rest of the Blacksmith in town. In ten minutes they had come and collect their orders of Refined Iron and they even started to complain in a good way that they have backlogged orders that they can't meet due to the shortage of these Refined Iron.
The Refined Iron was definitely a hot commodity!
The sketchpad will be in the shop and the ambassadors informed the sales lady to send the figures of today's order by tomorrow morning. She nodded while the ambassadors went to the Treasury to bank in the coins of 67,000 and changed it into a slip of deposit paper under our corporate name.
I passed the 1,000 coins to Hiko-sama and he hid it in his secret pocket of the kimono. Once we had settled our transaction, we head back to Kitakata and arrived during lunchtime. The convoy had reached back early after they had settled the shipment and had prepared to load the wagon for next day delivery to Yonezawa and stopped for lunch before continuing.
After we had lunch, Hiko-sama and the rest returned the horses back to the stable boys and Hiko-sama made the deposit. The head of treasury was happy to meet since he saw the deposit slip was from Aizuwakamatsu.
Hiko-sama went to meet mesen-san and informed him to meet me for a while because I had informed Hiko-sama that I would need to talk to mesen-san regards to Mass production of the STM.
Mesen-san went along with Hiko-sama and when the duo returned I invited Mesen-san for some snacks and tea. He obliged as he was worried that the machines had failed in some way.
”Masters, you wanted to see me? Are the machines OK? Did they perform well? Is anything wrong with the operations? Did it leak or somehow?”
”No, Mesen-san... Everything worked well for the machines. There is nothing wrong with it. I would like to highlight, however, there is a slight problem that only you can handle it alone.”
”Problem? What's the problem and I will try my best to rectify it soonest possible.”
”There is a problem and a solution as well. The problem is the space that you have right now in manufacturing the machines. Don't you think that the area is quite small? Would you like to have a dedicated space where you can work freely and leave to return home on the upper level of the workshop?”
”If we can find a bigger workshop to work in, definitely the output would be increased. Right now we are running on a 2 12-hour shift and 4 men are working on 2 machines at the same time. What would you propose, Masters?”
”We would be building 3 more warehouse here and there is one particular warehouse that can be used to operate 2 lines. If we operate an assembly line here would it be a hassle to train those workers? Would ladies be able to handle such tasks?”
”The assembly would not be much of a problem, even someone as young and able to handle a screwdriver or wrench would be able to perform the simple tasks. However, by the end of the day, I need to monitor and perform quality assurance on those machines before I could release it to the public.”
”How is your nephew coping, is he able to be a recognised machinist by now?”
”Masters, he can be seen as a qualified machinist right now.”
”You were saying that you had 2 shifts, right? Any of the workers in the day and night would be able to be promoted as a machinist apprentice and able to perform excellent quality control as you and your nephew are?”
”I could say yes, Masters. Each shift has a capable man who could be a machinist apprentice.”
”That's good to hear that. Now listen carefully I would promote you to head machinist while your nephew is the machinist taking over your current position.”
”Your job is to promote the men capable to be apprentices thus ensuring that the quality of the work done. I would not allow any room for errors even if its marginal. Everything has to be clockwork.”
”Since you have one apprentice in both day and night each, that leaves the positions empty for another 2 more manpower am I right?”
”The apprentices would ensure that quality assurance is tip-top on the interest of Fasuto Japan, so find another 2 men quick so that we could add in their payroll with Hiko-sama.”
”Next, you said as long as a girl is able to operate a wrench or screwdriver, would your workers able to produce the knocked down components known as (KDC) and Deliver it here so that the girls would be able to finish the assembly while you and your nephew monitor them?”
”That would be most appropriate. Once the KDC had been made the assembly would only take less than a day to complete one. If girls were to handle them, I guess it could be assembled in 4 hours by 3 girls each.”
”What do you have on mind, Masters?”
”I would like you to travel here to give guidance and supervisions to the girls that we would be employing right? There won't be need of a work table or anything and it could be worked on the floor itself?”
”Yes Masters, they can work on a floor on an elevated platform and assemble the parts there. Upon assembly, we would run the dry and wet test and make sure everything is working like a well-oiled machine.”
”I would provide you with 24 girls per 8-hour shift here, each 3 working on the assembly at the same time and completes a machine by 4 hours, right? Meaning per shift they could produce 2 machines by 3 girls.”
”In short, a single shift alone would be able to assemble 16 machines, am I correct in this statement? In short, on a 24 hours cycle, with a manpower of 72 girls and 16 machines per shift, the production of the machines would amount to be 48. Let's say 35 to 40 per day with a few minor adjustments need to tinker here and there.”
”My most important question is how fast can your workers produce the KDC? And would you be able to shift your operations here and commit with your nephew, so each one of you takes a 12-hour shift work, to ensure that the work done here is smooth? I would like your nephew to work on the 1st shift while you take the second. Would that be alright?”
”I agree with Masters, your planning and forecast are very wide and far and at an average of 30 machines per day we would be able to go far and produce more results.”
”Kitakata has a backlog of 110 machines based on 1 demo. Once word of mouth spreads, everyone would want one machine in their households. Take for example the outermost District has 440 households. And if everyone orders one, would it takes a millennium to supply each and every one of them? This figure does not include the commoners and the nobles.”
”We had just returned from Aizuwakamatsu and had done a demo in the trading district and we have over 200 spectators and I would expect the orders to be triple than Kitakata as there are more than 40,000 residents and the figures are nearly the same as Yonezawa and Shibata.”
”The sales lady at Aizuwakamatsu is taking the orders as speak and a total sales order would be sent to us in the morning tomorrow.”
”The more the machines are being produced the higher commission you and your nephew receives. And as for the apprentices that will be promoted soon, Hiko-sama would arrange for their salary increment.”
”Sit down and think on how much you could produce the barrels, the stand, the spindle, and the cogwheel. And let's enjoy the snacks and tea brought by our cooks. It's an offence if you don't eat or else the coos won't prepare anything like this for us in the future.”
I took a snack that has been made by grating tapioca and steamed with grated coconut, covered in banana leaves and served with a spread of Molten palm sugar on it. Yum yum... I'm getting fat on all these delicacies the 'aunties” had prepared. Hahahahaha.
Hearing my last sentence, the machinist took the snack and ate it afraid of offending the' aunties' and being chased with a ladle around the courtyard.
Later Mesen-san told me he had never had snacks like this or for quite some time since he had to face a very tight budget and have to tighten his belt a few notches in order to maintain his daily livelihood.
We explain to him that the meals here were taken care of by the 2 cooks, 6 times a day!
”6 times a day? I could only afford 1 meal a day before you both came over our shop and now we could have extras for our meals. Yes, I'd like to work here in your compound and train the girls to ensure they performed a very good job! We won't disappoint you, Masters!”
”I will only gather the statistics after I had seen the workers produce the KDC. When would you expect me to move the operationshere, Masters?”
”In about 5 days from now. There would be at least 100 more people in these grounds the next time you are here.”
I excused myself just as the 1st shift girls were about to leave and head home before having their snacks. I asked the girls for favour and asked around for girls above the age of 12 and adult women who wished to be employed as assembly line workers to install the Seijuro Tumbler ad you can see here. We need 48 girls and 24 adult women who can handle a wrench and screwdriver and able to lift weights like a sack of rice. Get them to come and see me here now. Thank you very much, girls. Go enjoy your snacks first.”
Upon hearing that Fasuto Japan KabushikiGaisha is opening its doors for expansion and further employment, the girls hurried off and said that they will come and have their snacks later on and soon the girls ran back to the outermost District wearing their prominent and distinctive bright red vests.
In about 35 minutes or so, a group of women and girls came over led by the girls in their vest which means the recruitment drive had been a complete success and these girls hauled up those neighbours of theirs to come and work for Fasuto Japan.
The girls excused themselves and took their snack and shared with their friends and neighbours. As they all assembled and sat in groups, I walked over and asked if the cooks had extras and said they made for supper as well and I told the newly assembled girls and ladies to take the snacks.
They stood and sheepishly formed a queue to get their snacks. I spoke to the two cooks that I would be increasing their pay since by next week their preparation and cooking for the meals would be put to a tremendous test since there would be an extra 100 people working by next week.
They thanked me and asked for 2 more rocket stove and several more pots and pans. I saw a messenger and gave a note for the owner of the kitchen supplies to come and meet the two ladies here and asks them what they need. The messengers left as fast as his short legs could carry him and informed the owner who came within 15 minutes.
He took note of what the cooks needed and I asked if they need more manpower to help prepare and cook and she said another two would be fine and there is no need to increase their salaries since there is more help. I asked them to look for 2 more as competent as them that can whip up 6 different meals every day.
I went back to the group of 72 newly acquired would-be workers and I introduced myself and then to mesen-san and lastly to Hiko-sama who would be keeping a ledger for their payroll and attendance.
After we had briefed them, I broke the mass into 3 groups of people who represent their individual shifts. For each shift, there would be 24 assembly workers and each shift comprises of 16 young teenagers and 8 adults. I explain the working hours and the breakdown of their salary and they all agreed to it with no questions asked. I also told them to approach to the Head Machinist who happens to Mesen-san on the 10 pm to 10 am shift and another Head Machinist on the 10 am to 10 pm shift.
I explained about the meals provided except for the night shift that would have their supper at around 1 am and breakfast by 630am so they would have to bring their own if necessary.
I have mesen-san and Hiko-sama a blank sketchpad and to begin recording their names and age for 2nd and 3rd shift while I handled the 1st shift. I saw another messenger and asked a note for the tailor to come and meet us immediately and in 15 minutes the tailor arrived with their own sketchpad in their own hands.
I showed her that these 72 people that are assembled would be our employees soon and needs a vest like the ones that they had tailored for us. She noted in her sketchpad of the sizes as she took a sweeping glance and then we passed her our sketchpads to record their names on the left breast pocket.
The cooked served some snacks and tea and was surprised that smack in the middle of the outermost residential district we managed to run a manufacturing line comparable to the godown in Shibata. We engaged in small talk and she asked how many employees we have at this moment and when I replied we would have around 150, she nearly dropped the cup of green tea she was holding.
She looked at me that does the talking while looking at Hiko-sama with his frown on his face and she continued to munch on her snack and drank her tea while she records every name on our sketchpads.
”This kid is the main decision-maker for this huge corporation! While the one with a crown look must be his financial adviser or something. I think this kid must have owned a gold or diamond mine somewhere.” she thought to herself.