Development of productivity started in 1981

Chapter 24 Lighter Factory Construction

1981年8月9日，农历7月10日
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The whole family got up early in the morning. Except for Wang Jiankun, everyone else didn't sleep well.

The adults were concerned about the lighter project because, looking at so many boxes in the yard and two brand new machines that had been opened, it seemed that a lot of money had been spent.

So everyone wanted to know exactly how much money Wang Jiankun had spent and what he was going to do in the future.

My younger sister wanted to learn how to ride a bicycle. Even though her feet couldn't even reach the ground when she sat on it, she just wanted to learn.

During breakfast, Wang Jiankun told his family about the situation in detail, but of course he could not tell them about his super powers and related secrets.

First of all, these boxes are not all filled with lighter machines and materials. Ten boxes contain clock glass, totaling more than 10 pieces.

There are two boxes of clockwork springs, containing 2 springs. We will deliver 1 sets to Fengshan every three days and get the money back at the same time.

There are also two boxes containing some precious metals, which he will bring with him when he goes to the county town to attend school. He wants to do some research on them.

What remains are the machines and raw materials for the lighter project.

The machines are the two that are turned on. I looked at them yesterday so I won't talk about them again.
There are 7 large boxes left, two boxes are galvanized iron plates for making silver lighters, two boxes are brass plates for making golden lighters, and the remaining three boxes are stamping molds, flints, and springs.

These plates, flints and springs were all synthesized by Wang Jiankun using his superpowers on the way back, and Hu Xiyang had no idea about it.

After explaining what each box contained, he went on to say how much money it cost.

The two machines cost three thousand, the molds five hundred, and the supporting materials three thousand, which can make 1 sets of lighters.

When the family heard that so much money was spent on the lighter, they were a little worried. If it didn't work, all the money would be wasted.

Wang Jiankun asked them to relax, saying that all the money was earned from air guns and clocks, and if they lost money it would not affect their family, and they would not lose money at all.

Then he described the money prospects and said, "The wholesale price of this more expensive lighter is 25 yuan per piece on average. So if we make 1 lighters, after deducting the material and production costs, we can earn 2 yuan. Suddenly, our family will become two millionaires."

After hearing his confident words and seeing the tempting money, his family members put aside their uneasiness and asked how he had made the deal.

Wang Jiankun said that the machinery and equipment could be provided to the production team for free, and they would be given 3 cents for each lighter punched and 1 cents for each lighter assembled. The cotton and wicks provided would be 5 cents each, and the kerosene would be 5 cents each.

The family members did not understand or agree with giving the machine to the team for free.

Finally, a compromise was reached, that is, the machine was considered to be rented by the team, and 1 cents was paid for each machine made. The remaining 2 cents would be considered as the equipment fee paid by the team, and after payment, the price would be restored to 5 cents per machine.

After saying this, Grandpa and Dad went to the hydropower station construction site, and Grandma and Mom went to work on their private plots.

Wang Jiankun was pestered by his sister to ride a bicycle. Wang Jiankun held the bicycle and let his sister sit on it to try it out. Sure enough, both feet could not reach the ground.

My sister was not giving up and wanted to put one foot under the horizontal bar to ride, but she was too weak and the bike was too heavy for her, so it was even more difficult to control the center of gravity with this method.

Wang Jiankun had no choice but to promise her to bring her a smaller women's bicycle without a horizontal bar next time she went to Raozhou.

Today is the day when the hydropower station will install turbine generators and transformers. Wang Jiankun walked slowly towards the construction site of the hydropower station.

There is a deep pit about 20 meters away from the main road in the team, which is used to bury electric poles.

When we arrived at the hydropower station, we saw that the water diversion channel and gates had been built. The bottom and sides were built with stone slabs, and the seams were filled with cement and smoothed.

The generator has been moved to the location where it will be installed, and several young guys are tightening the fixing screws with wrenches.

Not far away, there were two tall wooden stakes and a wooden hanger. Seven or eight people were pulling ropes to lift the transformer and prepare to install it on the wooden stakes.

At the installation site, team leaders asked Wang Jiankun if there was anything that needed to be adjusted.

Wang Jiankun had just checked the blueprints and shook his head, saying, "There's nothing to change. After a few days when the cement dries, we can dig up the soil blocking the water diversion channel, open the sluice gate, and generate electricity."

"Yes, we have just finished the construction this morning and need to do some finishing work. By then, we will build a stone house for the transformer and generator to protect them from wind and rain."

"When will the main line be installed?"

"We have to wait two more days. Today we sent someone to Jingdezhen to buy insulators. The day after tomorrow we will fix the insulators on the poles and we can string the lines."

"It's not too late. Will anyone install indoor wiring in each household?"

"Not yet. I'm waiting for you to teach us. The day before yesterday I counted the knife switches, fuses, lamp holders, switches, etc. that I needed to buy, and yesterday I sent someone to Wuyuan County to buy them."

"Then arrange for them to come to my house this afternoon to learn. Send five young and steady people. I will install it at my house first. After these five people learn, they will help with the installation and calculate the centimeters for them."

"It's settled then. I'll have someone go learn from you at 2pm."

Wang Jiankun asked his grandfather to find time to talk to the team leaders about building a lighter factory, and to discuss issues such as how to allocate resources and where to build the factory as soon as possible.

Grandpa agreed to this and said that he would hold a meeting to discuss it after the installation was completed.

Seeing that there was nothing to do here, Wang Jiankun prepared to refine some copper and iron elements to make lighter parts.

In Raozhou, Wang Jiankun listened to Cheng Yong's talk about making lighters from gray cast iron. He searched through the material in his mind and found the smelting process and composition of gray cast iron.

He found that this material was really suitable. Gray iron, also known as gray cast iron and ductile iron, mainly consists of iron, carbon (2.5%-3.8%), and silicon (1%-3%).

The carbon content affects toughness and hardness. The higher the carbon content, the harder the hardness and the worse the toughness. The higher the silicon content, the more wear-resistant and corrosion-resistant it is and the harder it is.

So I had some time this morning to experiment with what ratio would be best for making lighter shells. After confirming it, I made 1 sets first.

When the time comes, let the team try to assemble it first, and when electricity is available, provide iron sheets for the team to do stamping.

We rode our bikes to a tea mountain far away from the production team. The soil here was all red, so it was rich in iron and silicon.

Wang Jiankun first used his superpowers to synthesize an iron plate containing 3.8% carbon and 3% silicon, and then synthesized an iron rod as a testing tool.

First, we tested the toughness and hardness, and used an iron rod to drop freely from a height of 1 meter to hit the iron plate. The iron plate obviously had poor toughness and cracked.

Then the carbon content was continuously lowered and tested. When the carbon content reached 3%, there would be no more cracking, but the deformation was still very small, which was not conducive to stamping.

Then reduce the silicon content. When the silicon content is reduced to 1.5%, a falling iron rod can make a noticeable dent.

When scratching the iron plate with an iron rod, the marks left are not very obvious, which means that this ratio of carbon and silicon is more suitable for stamping the outer shell.

So Wang Jiankun synthesized lighter parts according to this ratio, and after making 200 of each type, he made a wooden box with wood to pack them. In total, he made 1 sets.

Wang Jiankun hid these parts on the tea mountain. Now is not the tea picking season, so no one will come to the tea mountain. He will come here and transport the parts back home when he has time and opportunity.

When I went home for lunch at noon, my grandfather mentioned the lighter incident.

The team leaders are not averse to arranging work for people to earn money, especially when it comes to manufacturing such high-end products.

The team decided to set up production in the tea factory first. Now is not the tea picking season, so there is a place cleaned up there. If the orders are stable, they can consider building a separate house as a factory.

Wang Jiankun was also very happy with this decision, and the assembly work would be handed over to the women in the team.

They are more careful and have more nimble hands, so they can let their mothers manage the assembly and control the quality.

This way, the mother can also relax and earn a stable amount of work points.

Unlike before, when I just stayed at home to take care of my own plot of land and do some small jobs.

In the afternoon, Wang Jiankun and his five apprentices began to install the home's electrical wires, switches and sockets.

First teach them that the red wire is the live wire and the green wire is the neutral wire, and then they must not make any mistakes when connecting to the outside main line.

The next step is to install fuses and switches. This is to protect the home electrical appliances when the power is off, by pulling down the switch, although it may only be a light bulb.

The live wire and neutral wire from the fuse box are arranged in parallel and fixed along the beams with nails and wood chips. After being distributed to each room, lamp holders, switches and sockets are installed.

The choice of sockets is up to each household, and if you feel they are unnecessary, you can choose not to install them and save some money.

The installation took three hours to complete, with most of the time going into explanations and letting the apprentices practice.

I believe that after they learn how to do it, each person should be able to install five houses a day, and all of them should be installed before the hydropower station is put into operation.

During dinner in the evening, grandpa said that someone would go to the tea factory to clean up the site tomorrow and let Wang Jiankun see how to install the equipment and it would be best if he could come up with a blueprint.

Wang Jiankun said he would go to the site tomorrow to take a look, and then suggested that his mother be responsible for managing the factory at that time.

Because at that time, the assembly and stamping work will mainly look for women who are quick and careful. If the mother is in charge, she can control the quality. Otherwise, if the work is not done well, the price cannot be sold.

Grandpa said it should be no problem, because my mother has the highest education in the village and she has never had a suitable job before, so it should be no problem for her to manage such a factory now.

My mother was also very happy. She had been in Wangjia Production Team for so many years. In the first few years, she was mainly responsible for taking care of the children. Later, when the children grew up, there was not much mental work to do. She could not speak as rudely as the rural women, and the work points she earned every day were not high.

Now I can manage a factory and manage production, and I hope the knowledge I learned before can be put to use.

The next morning, Wang Jiankun and his grandfather arrived at the tea factory. The door was already open and there were several women and two men cleaning inside.

Because it had only been a few months since the tea was made, there were relatively few cobwebs and dust, and the team cleaned it up in no time.

The ground was very flat. Wang Jiankun looked around and chose a position near the window and decided to set up the assembly station here.

A stamping station was to be set up near the window at the other end, so that the noise during assembly would be less. After seeing it, Wang Jiankun said he could leave first and ask someone to come back for the decoration after the blueprints were finished.

After returning home, Wang Jiankun and Tomoko discussed how to set up the workstations to achieve the highest efficiency. Wang Jiankun was responsible for proposing restrictions, and Tomoko was responsible for implementing them. Finally, an assembly line was designed.

Wang Jiankun used his superpowers to draw what each part would look like, and then handed it over to his grandfather. The team had carpenters and stonemasons who could handle this simple decoration.

After finishing all these, Wang Jiankun planned to go to Fengshan to settle last month's account with Master Quan, and then see if Cheng Yong had sent a telegram.

I told my grandmother and mother about going to Fengshan and said that I might not come back for dinner.

Riding his bicycle along the loess road, Wang Jiankun arrived at the blacksmith shop in less than half an hour.

Here, Wang Jiankun saw his classmates Fang Guihua and Hu Chunming polishing clock parts and greeted them, but it was not convenient to chat with them since they were working.

He asked Uncle Bing where Master Quan was, and Uncle Bing said he was at home and told Wang Jiankun to go to his house to find him if he had any problems.

When we arrived at Master Quan's house and saw him, Master Quan said that he would go to the blacksmith shop less often in the future, and would mainly take care of the accounts and deliver goods at home. The production over there would be in charge of his eldest son and second son.

Wang Jiankun stated his purpose and said, "Master Quan, we agreed to settle the bill once a month. I was too busy this month and didn't have time. Now that I have time, can you settle the bill for last month?"

"My dear nephew, if you don't come, I will come to see you in a few days. I promised to give you 10% of the sales volume. I will not break my promise. Here is the account book. You can take a look. You are a top student and you should be able to understand it."

Wang Jiankun took over the account book, looked at the sales volume and unit price, and compared it with the data of the springs and glass he had delivered several times before and after, and found no discrepancy.

Because the production was very low in the early part of last month, the sales volume was only 8400 yuan, so 840 yuan should be distributed to Wang Jiankun.

But Wang Jiankun made 6 sets of pot-carrying machines and some accessories here, so he used 720 yuan of raw materials. After offsetting the two items, he should get 120 yuan.

After Master Quan asked Wang Jiankun to sign, he gave him 120 yuan and said that he should be able to sell more than 1200 units this month, and the profit would be at least 3 yuan.

Wang Jiankun congratulated him on becoming a household with an annual income of 10 yuan, and maybe even a household with an annual income of yuan by the end of the year.

Master Quan smiled and told us not to say that and to make a fortune quietly.

Our area is still very conservative right now, so we plan to adjust our sales strategy.

I sell it to people I know in Wuyuan County and no longer promote it. I mainly go to Raozhou and Dexing for wholesale. This way, it sells quickly, fewer people know about it, and it is relatively safer.

Wang Jiankun said that Master Quan was the most thoughtful.

Inspired by him, Wang Jiankun also planned to do the same, that is, to develop wholesale traders to do sales.

After chatting for a while, Wang Jiankun went to the commune post office to see if there was any telegram from him.

After some searching, I found that it really was there, and it said "Brother, please send a hundred yellow and a hundred white to Rao Yong."

Translated, it means asking Wang Jiankun to deliver 100 brass lighters and 100 galvanized lighters as soon as possible.

It seems that Cheng Yong has found a buyer, otherwise it would not have been possible to sell it so quickly.

This time, the goods he wanted had a retail price of 1 yuan, so I guess he wanted to take advantage of the 1% discount.

Wang Jiankun decided to go to Tsinghua University and make a phone call to talk about the lighter he had made of gray cast iron and asked if he wanted to send it over as well.

It was almost noon, so I went to a restaurant run by the commune to have lunch, and then rode my bike to Tsinghua University.

No one was calling Tsinghua Post and Telecommunications Bureau at the time, so Wang Jiankun asked the staff how to calculate the cost for calling Raozhou.

The staff said that Raozhou is within the province, and the charge is 5 cents per minute, and any time less than a minute will be counted as a minute.

Wang Jiankun dialed the number of Raozhou Hotel and asked the waiter to help call Cheng Yong, saying that he would call back in 20 minutes.

After 20 minutes, Wang Jiankun heard Cheng Yong's voice when he called, and the two of them briefly explained the situation.

Wang Jiankun said that brass and galvanized ones will be available tomorrow, and that unpainted gray cast iron ones will be available in a batch of 1 in two days, with a wholesale price of 1 yuan each. Painted ones will be available a week later and will be 10 yuan more expensive.

Cheng Yong said that they would be delivered on the 12th, and he wanted all three types, and would talk about the painting later.

Wang Jiankun thought about it and agreed.

Wang Jiankun then went to the cement factory to find Hu Xiyang and asked him if he could go to Raozhou again the day after tomorrow. The round trip would still cost 500 yuan.

Of course Hu Xiyang agreed. Two trips like this were enough to earn him a month.

After leaving the cement factory, Wang Jiankun went straight to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy kerosene and cotton. Seeing army green paint and red paint, Wang Jiankun also bought some.

The parts made yesterday will be used by the team members to practice first, and that batch will have an additional painting process.

Wang Jiankun plans to ask Chieko to help design a pressurized air spray bottle, which will be pressurized manually and then improved to an electric one.

After buying the things, Wang Jiankun started to rush back. He passed by the mountain where he made parts yesterday. He went up and used his superpowers to make two spray bottles.

The spray bottle is very small, and the two spray bottles each spray a different color. The base is green, and the words are printed in red. The words are a piece of iron plate with words carved out of it, and it says "made-in-China".

Wang Jiankun brought out the spare parts, spray can and paint and tied them to the bicycle. He left the kerosene and lighter on the mountain. He would use his superpowers to make 1 gray iron lighters tomorrow. He also had to go home to get zinc for the galvanized and brass ones. The flint and spring were also at home, so he would do them together tomorrow.

After returning home, Wang Jiankun unloaded the things from the bicycle and told his mother that he was going to train them to assemble lighters the next day.

My mother said that the decoration started after you gave me the drawings, and the assembly station should be available tomorrow, but the fixation of the punch press needs to wait for the cement to dry.

After hearing this, Wang Jiankun suggested that they go take a look together. When they arrived at the factory, they saw that the stamping machine had been moved to a window position and fixed there, and someone was installing electrical wires.

The installation stations at the other end have been built with bricks and wood. The team can now process wood very quickly because they have a sawing machine powered by a pot-camel machine.

Wang Jiankun took a look and found that the workbench was flat and solid, and the bench was installed in place.

After thinking about it, I realized that I forgot to isolate the painting process. The paint still has a strong smell. Now I have to ask someone to make a small partition with wood and then make a small door, and the paint will be sprayed inside.

So after returning home with his mother, Wang Jiankun found his grandfather and asked someone to set up a small compartment, and Wang Jiankun arranged for his mother to help bring the assembly tools over.

The tools that need to be fixed on the work station are fixed with nails, and those that do not need to be fixed are placed on the corresponding work station. At that time, the mother also has the responsibility of checking whether the tools are intact every day.

After the small compartment was built, Wang Jiankun went in to install the spray can and the bracket for hanging the parts to be painted before going home for dinner.

Early the next morning, Wang Jiankun and his family came to the lighter factory because they were going to start assembly today and the workers had also been preliminarily selected.

We started with the painting process. The painters were two older women. Yesterday, someone said that the paint smell was strong, so both of them wore homemade masks.

Wang Jiankun went in wearing a mask to demonstrate, placing the parts to be sprayed on the rack, 10 at a time.

First put the green paint into the spray bottle, manually pressurize it for a while, then turn on the switch, turn the hanger, and the parts will pass through the nozzle at a constant speed, so that the paint will be sprayed evenly.

Remove the hanger and put aside those that do not need to be sprayed to dry. Put those that need to be sprayed to another work station. Similarly, put the paint in, turn on the switch and turn the hanger. The red "made-in-China" will be displayed on it. Remove the hanger and put it aside to dry.

Once it is dry, you can remove it and take it to the assembly station.

When we arrived at the assembly station, we were taught each process one by one. First, the movable parts were connected and fixed with small nails, using a manual punching machine fixed on the station. This process requires a bit of strength, so it is operated by a man.

The remaining steps all depend on your proficiency in installing the wheels, springs, flints, wicks and cotton in the oil reservoir.

Another thing to do is to check the process, whether the parts are installed in place, whether they can be lit (see if there is a spark from the flint), and whether there are any scratches on the surface.

After the inspection, they just had to wait for kerosene to be added. Wang Jiankun did not plan to leave this step for now, as there were too many people here and he was afraid of danger, so he planned to build a brick house outside, so that he could add kerosene when the goods were ready to be shipped.

After all the processes are handed over, the whole system will be put into trial operation to see which processes need to be adjusted, increased or reduced. This is because it is designed based on ideal conditions, but manual work still depends on people, so adjustments are inevitable.

The dozens of unpainted ones used for teaching will be given to the team when the time comes, and the team will see how to distribute them.

The spray painters continued to spray paint, and the dried ones were sent to the work station for assembly. By 5 o'clock in the afternoon, a total of 120 units had been assembled.

At this efficiency, 8 people can assemble about 8 pieces in 300 hours a day. If they become skilled in the later stage and adjust some processes according to the speed of their hands and feet, they should be able to assemble 500 pieces.

This output is sufficient in the early stage, and if necessary, we can open a few more assembly lines in the later stage.

We will manufacture a few more parts stamping machines, but by then we will have to build a special lighter manufacturing plant.

In the evening, Wang Jiankun told his family that he would go to Raozhou again the next day to buy some cheap raw materials.

My family asked me why, wouldn’t I be able to earn more by doing the more expensive job?
Wang Jiankun said that the expensive ones can only be sold in small quantities, with a retail price of 40-60 yuan, and most people will not buy them. This kind of painted gray cast iron is sold for 15-20 yuan, and many people can afford it.

After hearing what Wang Jiankun said, the family also understood.

My mother asked, "Do you still use the two expensive raw materials you bought to make lighters?"
Wang Jiankun said that they would continue to produce it, but the proportion would be smaller, and it would mainly be gray cast iron.

Wang Jiankun asked his grandfather whether the factory could pay workers by piecework instead of work points in the future. His grandfather said that this could not be done now, and that it would only be possible after more workers felt that it was unfair.

Wang Jiankun expressed his understanding. The area is still very conservative now, and the surrounding production teams are mainly engaged in farm work. If his team rashly breaks the distribution method, superiors may try to stop it.

It seems that we need to come up with a project to get the surrounding production teams to take action. I will go to Raozhou tomorrow to talk to Cheng Yong about what the wealthy people along the coast need.

Or, when the sales of lighters increase and more than 10 units are sold each month, the assembly process can actually be allocated to surrounding production teams in the future. At that time, changing the distribution method together will not be so conspicuous.

(End of this chapter)