Chapter 24 - 24 Factory Operations Begin
Riley, Lala's father, and Myra, her mother, had arrived for work at the factory located in the center of the village. There, in the yard, they witnessed a strange sight. A boy, about the age of their own son, was waiting for them. Judging by his high-quality clothing, they assumed he was the child of a noble or a merchant. Standing beside him was a young man, also dressed in expensive clothes, but by all appearances, the young man was using deferential language toward the boy.
Furthermore, a commoner stood next to the two of them, laughing and speaking without honorifics (T/N: speaks without honorific, signaling intimacy).
In addition to Riley and his wife, about twenty other migrants gathered in the yard. Then, the boy began his self-introduction.
"My name is Steve Archibalt. I am the eldest son and heir of this territory's Lord. I will be the proprietor of this factory. And this is Nick. He will be the person in charge, holding the position of Factory Manager. Finally, this is Lord Cyril Sis Earhart. He is a technician belonging to the Royal Research Institute and will be observing the factory's operations."
A stir ran through the assembled migrants. They couldn't believe the boy before them was the proprietor. Being the son of a noble, it might be some sort of honorary title, but he was far too young even for that. There was also the fear that they might be treated cruelly based on this boy's whims.
Steve continued his explanation.
"First, factory work is from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. During busy periods, there will be overtime. Unlike day labor, the wages follow a system called a monthly salary, so even if the number of working days in a month changes, the wage you receive each month remains the same. After working six days, you are given one day off. Besides that, you have about ten days a year of what is called paid leave—time off without penalty. If you use those up, your wages will be reduced at a fixed rate."
Riley couldn't understand everything Steve explained, but he understood it was different from farm work, which had no set breaks. He felt impressed that such things existed in the world, but the concept of a regular day off did not exist in the Kingdom of Cascade. Aside from festival days like the New Year or a King's coronation, merchants, craftsmen, and farmers all basically worked without rest.
Regarding the setting of these holidays, Cyril had once asked Steve if it wouldn't be more profitable to make them work without rest. Steve's answer was that the goal was to have them spend money at shops on their days off, thereby recovering the wages he had paid out. Cyril had nodded in realization.
However, Steve actually believed that having breaks would make the work more sustainable in the long run. Since he wasn't confident in this theory, he didn't mention it to Cyril.
"As for the cafeteria staff, your shift is from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The holidays are the same. However, even if the factory is closed, the cafeteria will be open for the villagers, so you will work on a shift rotation. Once the population increases a bit more, there will be work in the morning hours as well. Even so, the standard will be eight hours of labor per person per day."
This was one of the mechanisms for recovering wages from the villagers. By providing an environment where villagers, who had no experience with dining out, could do so, he would have them drop money at the cafeteria. There were also plans to procure ingredients from the existing village and the Emmanuel Trading Company to sell in the Third Village, so it would be possible for villagers to cook for themselves without using the cafeteria.
Additionally, since preparing meals was time-consuming labor, he aimed to reduce that burden. Without convenience stores or supermarkets, making meals oneself was the norm, and without gas stoves, toasters, or microwaves, preparing three meals a day could easily consume about five hours.
By turning that time into leisure, a new lifestyle would be born, which he aimed to link to profit-making.
Beyond that, there was the sale of daily necessities by the Emmanuel Trading Company, but since only a small amount of tax would come in as income from that, Steve was pinning his hopes on the cafeteria's sales.
"Also, regarding wages, they will increase by becoming a supervisor for each department. So, please work hard and learn the job."
This was a major difference between a factory and a workshop. In a workshop, it was common for everyone to become independent and open their own shop once they learned the trade and became full-fledged craftsmen. However, since the factory currently performed processing using machine tools created by Steve's magic, one could not become independent even after learning the work. Since that would lack motivation, he decided to pay management allowances to those who became supervisors.
"Any questions so far?"
Steve asked, but not a single person questioned him. While no one fully understood everything Steve said, everyone hesitated to speak to a noble child.
Sensing the atmosphere, Nick placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"Now, now, Wakasama. Everyone's nervous on their first day, so no questions are gonna come out even if you ask right here. So, if anyone has something they want to ask later, just tell me. If it's something I can answer, I will; if I can't, I'll ask Wakasama for you."
Everyone's eyes widened at this attitude. The man called the Factory Manager spoke casually to the noble child. In response, the noble child didn't even get angry. Moreover, the man said to be a technician didn't rebuke him for it either. They wondered what was going on.
"Well then, it's about time to assign the work. Wakasama told me to listen to your preferences regardless of gender, so please choose whichever you like: the factory or the cafeteria. Though, if everyone chooses the cafeteria, we'll have to draw lots."
As Nick said this, he drew a line on the ground in the yard.
"This side is for those who want to work in the factory, and this side is for the cafeteria. Please line up on the side you prefer."
It was then that the first question came. The one who asked was Riley.
"I'd like to know more about the work details."
"Let's see, the factory shaves wood and metal. The cafeteria makes food. In the factory, you'll be expected to learn letters, and in the cafeteria, you'll be expected to learn calculation."
Riley was stunned by Nick's answer. No, it wasn't just Riley; the other migrants were too. None of them had ever learned letters or calculation, and they believed such things were impossible for them.
"Aren't letters and calculation things for nobles and merchants to learn? You're telling us to learn those?"
"Regarding that, it's not like you have to do it immediately. Besides, your children are going to go to school and learn letters and calculation. If children can do it, adults can too."
Nick spoke from experience. In fact, upon becoming the Factory Manager, Nick had received an education in literacy. And his wife was being taught calculation for running the cafeteria. The Nick couple had also said it was impossible at first, but they were able to learn after receiving Steve's instruction.
The idea that it was difficult was just a preconception; basic words and addition or subtraction could be learned without spending much time. Nick understood this. Looking at Riley, he gave a warm smile, seeing his past self.
"Don't worry, we won't fire you just because you can't learn it right away. Besides, if the work doesn't suit you, there are reassignments. Whether you can go back to farming will be up to the Lord's judgment, though. Well, I'm sure you're anxious since it's your first time, but we don't intend to make unreasonable demands."
Riley said nothing more after Nick's words.
Then, Riley chose the factory, and Myra chose the cafeteria. The cafeteria staff were all women, while the factory consisted of a mix of men and women.
From there, they split into their respective workplaces. Riley was led by Nick into the factory. There, he received an explanation of the upcoming work.
Nick picked up a block made of wood. It was a building block.
"What we're going to make from now on are children's toys like these building blocks."
Hearing that, everyone wondered if toys would actually sell. Since no farmer ever bought toys for their children, they couldn't understand how it would be a viable business.
However, Steve believed they would sell. This was, of course, because he had knowledge from Earth. Furthermore, while other products had a high chance of clashing with existing workshops and guilds, there were no business rivals for toys. Even in noble society, children's toys were rare and usually custom-ordered from workshops.
He believed that if he mass-produced them and sold them cheaply, it would be a perfectly viable business.
Incidentally, he had considered producing Reversi in the factory, but since survey results showed that the existing residents didn't want their work taken away, he decided to devise a different product.
Nick's explanation continued.
"The work is a division of labor: those who shave wood to the same thickness, those who shave wood to make blocks, those who round the corners, those who apply oil, those who make wooden boxes, those who inspect the blocks and put them in boxes, and those who transport items between each process. We'll decide the final jobs while looking at your aptitude, but at first, everyone will take turns doing all the jobs."
They would start by having everyone do a single task in each process. Steve had created a process chart, and based on that, he assigned workers and clarified what should be done and managed in each process. Until now, such things were learned by craftsmen through experience and were never put into writing.
To a craftsman, making things this way was common sense, and the idea was that one only became full-fledged once they understood it. However, since that took too much time to train a craftsman, he had created process charts for the sake of factory operation as part of territorial management.
Of course, Steve only thought of this because he had experience creating such documents when requested by clients in his previous life.
"Now, next I'll show you a sample of the work."
Nick said this and demonstrated making building blocks. He brought wood from the warehouse, adjusted the thickness, cut it into squares, used a lathe to make rods round, and then sanded them to round the corners. When that was finished, he took out two metal plates. The plates had holes in the shape of the building blocks.
"These are called inspection jigs, tools for inspecting the products. You put the product you just made into these. The block must fit into the hole marked 'Go'. It must not fit into the hole marked 'No-Go'. Once the size is confirmed here, you apply oil."
After that, he showed the work of making the wooden boxes, and once that was done, he showed the work of packing the blocks into the boxes. The packing was also designed to prevent missing items. Instead of putting the inspected blocks directly into the box, they were first placed on an inspected-item tray. The placement area was outlined, and they were to be placed accordingly. Furthermore, there was an obstruction bar above the tray. The mechanism was such that if one tried to lift the tray, the bar would get in the way.
And this bar was designed to rise only when the weight of the blocks and the tray reached a certain level; if there was a missing item and the weight was insufficient, the tray could not be lifted.
However, if one just pulled it out from the side, that would be the end of it, but that part was to be covered by work education.
This mechanism was what is known as a Poka-yoke, installed to prevent worker errors on the production line. If making it in Japan, one could control the movement using sensors and the like, but in the Kingdom of Cascade, this was the best that could be done.
Even so, this concept was fresh to Cyril, and he ended up summarizing the idea in a report again.
"Also, each process has what's called a limit sample. Since we're using wood, they won't all be the same, so please judge the quality of the finish by comparing it to the samples to see what's acceptable and what's not. If you're still unsure about a judgment, just tell me."
The limit samples Nick explained were also a concept that didn't exist in the Kingdom of Cascade. If one could judge uncertain items by comparing them to limit samples, they wouldn't have to check with the supervisor every time, and it would also prevent misjudgments by the workers.
This, too, was based on Steve's knowledge from his previous life.
Afterward, there were standard work procedure manuals for each process, but since they couldn't read yet, those were currently limited to being used by Nick when he gave instructions.
In this way, although the factory had introduced completely new systems, the residents had only ever experienced farm work and simply assumed this was what a factory was like.
Once the general explanation was over, it was time for lunch. Led by Nick, Riley and the others moved to the cafeteria in a separate building. There, a meal prepared under the guidance of Nick's wife was ready.
Normally, one would pay for a meal here, but since they obviously didn't have money yet, it was free until the first payday after their migration. This included the children, of course. Thus, children attending school and those staying at home also came to the cafeteria.
At first glance, it seemed like a grand gesture, but the goal was also to have them learn the taste during the free period and induce them to want the service even when it cost money.
Everyone ordered what they liked. Of course, since they couldn't calculate, they didn't know how extravagantly they were eating, and because it was free, they ordered quite a lot.
As a result, they spent the afternoon receiving work instruction while fighting off sleepiness, and at 5:00 PM, they returned to the cafeteria.
When the day ended, Riley and Myra returned home separately.
"You're late. Was there some kind of problem?"
Riley said to Myra.
"It's because you lot ate so much; cleaning up was a nightmare. Well, I managed because they said we'd get special wages called overtime pay. Besides, they said we could eat the tastings and the leftovers. It's like a dream to be able to eat as much as I want of food that uses that much salt."
Hearing that, the look in Riley's eyes changed.
"Is it all-you-can-eat?"
"Just the leftovers. You can't eat that much from just tastings."
"Good grief. I should've chosen that side too."
"What are you saying? From now on, for the orders, we have to learn calculation and handle receiving money and giving change ourselves. They even said we might be entrusted with procurement. Can you do calculation?"
"Ah—"
Riley put a hand to his forehead.
Listening to that conversation, Lala thought that working in a cafeteria sounded nice too.