Chapter 61 Benefits of Standardization
"I personally don't really care about bigger profits. What I'd like more is to recruit a large number of workers, let more people participate in production, and let more people afford to eat. This was also my grandfather's original intention." Sheffield put his hands in his trouser pockets. In fact, it can be seen from this factory that old Sheffield died before fulfilling his ambitions, otherwise he would not understand the application of standardized production lines. He might have had related plans in his mind and was ready to implement them in the future, but he never waited for that day.
The standardized production line became famous only after Ford used it. Although there are prototypes of this kind of production line in factories in the United States today, it has not yet achieved such a blockbuster effect. The assembly line divides a repetitive process into several sub-processes, each of which can be operated in parallel with other sub-processes. Ford's assembly line not only put cars on the assembly line for assembly, but also spent a lot of energy on research to improve labor productivity.
Ford applied this production line to cars, while Sheffield planned to use it on agricultural machinery. Once this production line came out, it produced hundreds of thousands of cars a year. The resulting cost reduction would inevitably defeat some companies with less capital, and would also have the effect of clearing the market.
Squeezing out companies with less capital is only one of the benefits. In Sheffield's view, standardized production lines have an even greater benefit, which is that after the division of labor becomes more detailed, the scope of recruiting workers can be expanded. Any qualified worker, as long as he is not too stupid, can be competent for this standardized production line work.
In the past, once a mature technician mastered the entire production process, he would be in danger of starting his own business. For example, in many factories in the United States today, once the technicians in the factories have learned everything, they can produce the same products by operating the machines. With the capital boom, even a pig can take off.
This is a potential competitor to the company they used to serve. Sheffield favors standardized production lines because it allows workers to only focus on what they are facing and know nothing about other production processes.
This seems to greatly improve production efficiency and workers' wages will rise, but this increase is controllable. The danger is controlled within a certain range. Once these workers are no longer needed, Sheffield can ruthlessly let them go, and there is no need to worry about them being used by competitors, because such ordinary workers are everywhere.
The history that only a few skilled workers could produce cars has been completely overturned. When a pair of blackened coal miners' hands can also make sophisticated machines, it means that the work efficiency of the most ordinary manual laborers has been raised to the level of skilled workers. At that time, skilled workers will be worthless, and enterprises will be free from the constraints caused by skilled workers.
Therefore, Sheffield is not just making empty promises now. The bright future of this factory is indeed just around the corner. In a short while, although the workers' situation cannot be compared with that of future generations, it will definitely be much better than today.
Sheffield, an uneducated man, kept talking about workers' rights, as if he had a strong moral halo rising from the air. He couldn't stop talking, which attracted the attention of the always revolutionary French girls.
If this boy had lived in the era of the French Revolution, perhaps Robespierre would admire him and he would become a very important member of the Jacobins.
After a long speech, Sheffield felt thirsty and had his meal directly in the factory. Facing the almost finished guns, Sheffield enjoyed the meal very much.
In the factory where every bullet took a life, the heirs of this generation of the Sheffield family mingled with the workers, bursting into laughter from time to time and even attracting the attention of some child laborers. Of course, these child laborers also got their favorite candy, Cuban candy.
After being instilled with some inspirational quotes, Sheffield walked out of the huge factory and made his debut at the Habsburg Gun Factory. He reunited with his Black Yankee under the protection of a group of bodyguards.
"It's sad to see those children working in the factory," Annie sighed. "They are so young, and they have to work with a group of adults."
"Cheap!" Sheffield glanced at the sentimental Anne and said, "Not everyone has a background like yours. And there's nothing wrong with working early, it allows them to know what the real world is like. At least they understand it earlier than students in school, so they won't have unrealistic fantasies. Do you still want to change your fate?"
According to the itinerary, after breaking through the station obstruction, he successfully led his Spanish back to the Sheffield Ranch, which was right next to the Indian reservation. To be fair, this reservation did not exist in the history of Sheffield's mind. The Indians in it should be the happiest Indians in the United States, with a population of more than 20,000.
However, he did not see any Indians outside the ranch. He just took a walk here and then turned back. This disappointed Anne, who wanted to see what the Indians looked like. She could only look forward to the next opportunity.
After moving south to Houston, Sheffield finally had a basic understanding of his family's industry. Illegal business was bigger than agriculture, bigger than animal husbandry, and bigger than factories. This was truly a standard model of a local rich man.
But this is not bad, at least it is still there, although it is small, it has all the necessary facilities, but it is just not comparable to the vast industrial areas in the North in terms of scale. Going back 30 years, the situation in the southern states was even more unbalanced. During the Civil War, there were very few factories in the South that manufactured firearms and ammunition, and a large part of the weapons they were equipped with were manufactured in the factories in the North that were raided and occupied when the war broke out.
A few days later, Sheffield was walking on the streets of New Orleans again with his vicious dog Yankee. As soon as he arrived here, Sheffield could clearly feel that the atmosphere here was completely different from the last time he came. It seemed that the air was filled with tension.
"Isn't it just a black youth who got on a public train? Why does it seem like Britain has declared war on the United States?" Sheffield was confused. The black people he saw along the way seemed to be avoiding the gazes of white people, with fear in their expressions.
But this had nothing to do with Sheffield, so he moved into Oak Manor without thinking too much. He came to New Orleans for two main reasons. The first was to care about the plantation owners who had returned from Brazil, and the second was to inspect the port terminal. He planned to do both things together.
(End of this chapter)
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