Nanyang 1931: From piglets to giants

Chapter 21 The First Production Line Designed by the Chinese
Three months later, at the Li family’s rubber plantation.

"Are you ready?"

"All right."

"The 32nd test flight begins."

As Zheng Yi gave the order, his engineers calmly turned on all the switches on the production line. Hululu, hululu, sizzle~, kukuka, kukuka~
Accompanied by harsh noises and roars, the conveyor belts slowly moved, transferring huge, white, but dirty rubber blocks to a huge, still buzzing rubber crusher.

Boom, boom, boom.

The rubber crusher, which was four meters tall and as big as a steel monster, started to operate with huge noise, and the ground was shaking. After a while, the large clumps of rubber were all torn into small pieces and fell back onto the tracks, heading to the next process.

Zheng Yi: "The rubber crusher started and operated normally, but the noise was louder than expected. After only thirty or so tests, the machine body was already shaking noticeably.

The shock absorption is probably not good enough, and some component inside has been deformed by the vibration. Make a note of it, stop the machine later, and check the inside before the next test. Then we can figure out how to improve the shock absorption.

On the side, Wu Wenhao put on his glasses and kept writing furiously.

The poor child had only been with Zheng Yi for less than half a year and he had become nearsighted. However, behind his eyes, the pair of pupils belonging to a teenager were exceptionally bright.

'This is a machine made by my master. It was designed and produced independently based on the actual situation of the rubber plantation. It is our own machine!

In the future, I will also produce such a machine. After learning the skills of my master, I will also design my own machine!

On the side, Li Xiaoshi, who had been with Zheng Yi for almost two days and one night, also sighed repeatedly, saying "fuck" all the time:

"Even though I've seen it over thirty times, every time I see such a large device, I'm still shocked to think that it was made in your factory and not bought from the Japanese. Even the Japanese don't have this thing.

Zheng Yi said: "It's not as optimistic as you think. The motor inside is made in Japan. Although the blades are cast by us, the steel used is imported from the United States. We don't have such good steel in Malaya.
This thing looks big, but it is actually empty inside. It is just a big iron shell. The core components are the motor and the cutter wheel, which are all foreign. It is still a long way from being domestically produced.
In addition, several key parts were machined by Japanese craftsmen. The Chinese workers in the factory are not yet able to machine such high-precision parts and need to learn.”

Of course, except for the core motor and tool steel, all other parts are indeed made in their factory.

In fact, it mainly consists of iron frames, iron sheets, iron nails, dozens of mechanical components, and dozens of screws and nuts. Just assemble these things according to the design drawings drawn by Zheng Yi. It's very simple.

This is why Zheng Yi insisted on producing mechanical parts by himself.

The entire machine is assembled on-site, and the core components are indeed imported, but at least they are much cheaper. Excluding those two core components, the total cost of installing the entire machine does not exceed RMB 2,000. If mass production can be achieved in the future, the cost can be further reduced.

Moreover, as long as the two core components inside are not broken, the maintenance, care and repair of this machine can be done by yourself, and the operating costs will be greatly reduced.

If he did not have the ability to produce spare parts, such a large machine would have to be imported from Europe and the United States, and then European and American engineers would have to install and maintain it. Even the entire rubber plant would not be as expensive as this machine.

Sometimes, the so-called industrialization capacity is just such a simple account: if it is cost-effective and cheap, you can do it.

This was the first step for the Chinese in Southeast Asia to industrialize.

Although he spoke modestly, Zheng Yi's chest had already been puffed out high, and the pride on his face could not be hidden.

Li Xiaoshi: "Haha, anyway, I fucking think that just with this rubber cutting machine, you are already pretty awesome."

As he spoke, Li Xiaoshi didn't mind the dirt and noise. He walked over and gently stroked the iron shell of the thing as if he was caressing a beauty, especially the Taiyou trademark on it. He was so happy like a fool that he even kissed it.

"Damn it, I knew you could get it done, but I didn't expect you to be so fast, so fast."

Zheng Yi: "This thing is really not difficult. Your requirements are too low. I built an entire production line, which is still far from complete. Moreover, it still needs to be certified for cost and benefit."

Li Xiaoshi: "Why bother with a certificate? As long as it's a machine, it's better than a worker chopping with a knife!"

Li Xiaoshi didn't understand the technology, but he thought that this machine was so fucking huge, more than four meters high, so it was amazing.

Big machines are more powerful than small machines.

Just for this rubber-breaking machine, Li Xiaoshi felt that all his hard work and the scolding he had endured over the past few months were not in vain.

Moreover, this thing really does not exist in the West, and it is indeed Zheng Yi's own design. This is even more worthy of pride and worth bragging about.

Of course, the reason why the West does not have this thing is purely because it is not used. After all, the majority of the world's rubber planting industry is in Southeast Asia and in the hands of the Nanyang Chinese.

The Chinese in Southeast Asia had only been engaged in mechanized production for about ten years, and they had no idea that they would need to build a special machine to cut rubber.

Chinese piglets are not expensive, and labor costs are so cheap, there is no need to save them.

In fact, if Zheng Yi did not want to build a full production line, he would not have built this rubber breaking machine.

This machine, while large in appearance, was the most technologically advanced on the entire production line, and it hadn't had any problems since the first test. The entire line had been tested over thirty times, and each time, there had been minor glitches of one kind or another. So, in Zheng Yi's opinion, it was still far from a success.

But Li Xiaoshi didn't care. He was so anxious that he didn't care about the whole line at all. After confirming that this thing was effective, he couldn't wait to contact Chinese newspapers such as Nanyang Siang Pau and Sin Chew Daily to come and take pictures and interview.

As a Chinese, I have produced machines that are not available in Europe and the United States.

Why the fuck are you still calling me a traitor?
To be honest, Zheng Yi really didn't want to be so high-profile in such a hurry.

But he was the boss after all, so I had no choice but to let him do what he wanted.

Soon, the rubber cutting machine cut the large pieces of rubber into small pieces and sent them to the conveyor belt to continue moving forward.

Above the conveyor belt is a water gun that performs a preliminary cleaning on the shredded rubber blocks, washing away large debris and dirt.

The shredded rubber pieces are sent into the cleaning pool via a conveyor belt. Detergent is poured into the cleaning pool, and the paddle above begins to rotate slowly, causing the stagnant water in the pool to flow, thereby playing a cleaning role.

The small pieces of rubber that have been simply cleaned flow to the end of the pool, are rolled up by the constantly rotating automatic net bag, and placed on the rubber squeezer.

"Boom, boom, boom."

The rubber extruder started to work, making a rumbling sound. Everyone watched with their own eyes as a whole basket of rubber balls was automatically sent up by the machine, poured into the entrance of the machine, and turned into smaller rubber particles from the exit amidst a huge noise.

One minute, two minutes, three minutes.

Wu Wenhao had been counting the time with his watch. When the time exceeded five minutes, he couldn't help but jump up and shout excitedly.

"Five minutes! Five minutes, Master! It's done! It's done! It's done!!"

Wu Wenhao, the most impatient, jumped up first, his face as red as Guan Gong's, the veins on his neck bulging. "Master, we did it! The glue extruder is also done, fully automatic! Fully automatic!"

"Calm down, you bastard!"

Zheng Yi went up and kicked him, lifting him to the side.

"Watch carefully! It's only the third step, why are you so excited? Wait a minute."

Having said that, Zheng Yi couldn't help but smile.

The glue extruder is the most complicated machine in the entire industrial chain. Once this machine is completed, more than half of the entire production line will be completed.

Li Xiaoshi was also excited, but couldn't help asking, "This machine is smaller than the rubber cutter just now. Is this more expensive than that one?"

Zheng Yi also said with a sense of relief, "It's not a question of price. It's just that the process is more complicated. I designed it myself, and the multi-layered blade rollers are processed in the factory. They even use tape and water together, which performs the triple function of kneading, cutting, and cleaning. The machine looks small, but there are over a hundred blades inside. The mechanical process is much more complicated than the previous cutting machine."

As he spoke, Zheng Yi's heart began to beat rapidly.

The thirty-second test run was mainly to test this thing.

"It's the same. The motor is from Japan, and the blade is made in-house from American steel. The biggest cost of this machine is the blade. Because it uses mixed water cutting, the blade itself is afraid of rust, so only good stainless steel can be used. And every few months, it needs to be disassembled and replaced. Take the old blade away and re-sharpen it for me."

Li Xiaoshi nodded when he heard this. The principle of this machine was actually quite simple, and even he, who knew nothing about technology, could understand it.

The rubber ball is squeezed, cut and washed in the machine and turned into clean rubber particles.

The wastewater is directly discharged from the rubber extruder and flows away through the sewage channel, and the rubber particles enter the clean water tank again for final cleaning.

A propeller is also installed on the pool for cleaning and conveying. After washing, the rubber particles are sent to the corrugator by the conveyor belt. There are two iron wheels in the machine with only a gap in the middle. They rotate relative to each other and press the rubber particles sent by the conveyor belt into paper-like thin sheets.

Finally, the slices are sent to the shredder via a conveyor belt, where they are first torn into strips and then into pieces, washed with water, and then salvaged by workers, drained of water, and sent for drying.

The dryer was originally part of the rubber plantation, and it still uses the traditional drying method. However, up to this step in the process, not much manpower is needed. If the weather is good and there is no rain, the final step can even be completed by drying in the sun. Therefore, Zheng Yi did not study the dryer.

"The 32nd test run, the automatic rubber washing machine completed the entire cleaning process successfully. Let's throw all the rubber produced in the garden in and try running it for eight hours to see if there are any problems. If not, this production line can be declared a success.

It is also the first automated production line designed, manufactured, and installed independently by the Chinese.”

As he spoke, Zheng Yi closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly, feeling indescribably relaxed all over.

"Do you have a cigar, brother? I want to smoke a cigar."

(End of this chapter)