Chapter 56: Assembly Line (Gift Bonus Chapter 1)

Dear readers, if gifts reach 50 units, I can add a chapter. As long as the cumulative total is met, I will add chapters. If you want to see more and more exciting content, feel free to send more gifts~ (Thanks to the readers for the tips; the gifts have arrived, so here is the first bonus chapter. The previous count has been cleared.)

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"Pah, putting on airs." Liu Haizhong spat, his heart full of jealousy. "We paid so much money and are eating such a little bit, yet he's eating so well at home by himself."

Yan Bugui also quietly passed by with his son, Yan Jiefang. Seeing the fragrance wafting from Li Mingyuan's house, he swallowed his saliva greedily: "Dad, what kind of meat is that? It smells so good."

"Don't look!" Yan Bugui gave his son a hard tug. "That Li Mingyuan is just showing off his wealth. Isn't the wedding banquet we get to eat for free good enough?"

Xu Fugui was more honest; he stood at the edge of the courtyard, staring straight at the food from Li Mingyuan's house, his eyes wide with envy:

"This Chief Engineer Li really knows how to enjoy life; no wonder he didn't attend the wedding banquet. Look at that braised pork knuckle—fat but not greasy, lean but not stringy. This craftsmanship..."

Several courtyard residents returned to the wedding banquet table. Looking at the meager portions of dishes in front of them and thinking back to the scene they had just witnessed, they all wore sour expressions, and nothing they ate tasted good anymore.

After serving the last dish, He Yuzhu saw everyone's expressions and couldn't help but feel curious: "What's wrong? Is the food not to your liking?"

Liu Haizhong sneered: "The food is fine, it's just not enough to eat. It's one thing for Li Mingyuan not to come, but to have big fish and meat at home—he's looking down on us poor folks."

He Yuzhu was stunned, then immediately understood. Liu Haizhong and the others must have seen the food being cooked at Li Mingyuan's house.

He couldn't help but defend Li Mingyuan: "Uncle Li really had something to do; he's at home working on design blueprints, isn't he?"

Yet in his heart, he thought that the food Uncle Li made was indeed much better than what was at the wedding banquet, but he couldn't say it out loud for the sake of appearances.

Jia Zhangshi was wandering around the courtyard collecting gift money. Hearing Liu Haizhong's words, her eyes rolled: "Oh? What good food did that Chief Engineer Li make at home? Let's go have a taste too."

He Yuzhu hurriedly stopped her: "Auntie Jia, Uncle Li is busy right now; it's not convenient to disturb him."

Jia Zhangshi curled her lips: "He didn't even come to the wedding banquet, so what's there to worry about regarding disturbing him? Isn't that just looking down on our Dongxu's wedding?"

He Yuzhu didn't want to explain further, so he turned back to the kitchen to continue working on the remaining dishes.

He stole a glance at Qin Huairu and found that she was also looking toward the West Courtyard, a hint of longing in her eyes.

……

Night fell, and the wedding banquet gradually dispersed.

The people in the courtyard went home one by one, leaving only Yi Zhonghai and a few elders chatting at the Jia Family home. After cleaning up the kitchen, He Yuzhu returned to the West Courtyard, exhausted.

Pushing open the door, he found that Li Mingyuan was not in the room, and the food on the table had already been cleared away.

He Yushui was reading in the room. Seeing He Yuzhu return, she hurriedly greeted him: "Brother, Uncle Li said he had important work and went to the factory, telling us to rest early."

He Yuzhu nodded, thinking that Qin Huairu was going to be with Jia Dongxu tonight...

He shook his head, cast aside those messy thoughts, and decided to get some rest early.

……

The Rolling Mill office was brightly lit. Li Mingyuan sat alone at his desk, the pencil in his hand moving rapidly across the blueprints.

The table was covered with various design drawings, and the teacup beside him had long since gone cold, but he didn't notice at all.

"Assembly Line, we must establish a modern assembly line." Li Mingyuan muttered to himself, constructing a blueprint of the entire production process in his mind.

Although there was no numerical control equipment, he could design a more efficient production method based on his previous successful experience with semi-automatic equipment.

The key lay in breaking down the entire production process into several simple steps, with each step handled by a specific person or machine in sequence.

He drew a preliminary production line layout on the blueprint:

First station, material inspection, to ensure raw materials meet standards;

Second station, blanking, where various metal materials are cut and shaped according to the blueprints;

Third station, rough machining, using lathes and milling machines for preliminary processing of parts;

Fourth station, precision machining, using our modified semi-automatic machine tool to ensure part accuracy;

Fifth station, heat treatment, performing quenching, annealing, and other processes on key parts;

Sixth station, surface treatment, including phosphating, bluing, and other processes;

Seventh station, assembly, assembling various components according to the established process;

Eighth station, inspection, ensuring product quality meets standards;

Ninth station, packaging and warehousing, completing the entire production process.

Li Mingyuan repeatedly thought through every link, refined the operating steps for each process, and even calculated the movement routes and time for workers between stations to ensure the entire production line operated efficiently.

"Under current conditions, achieving automation is still very difficult, but we can have workers replace some of the automated equipment. Through specialized division of labor and standardized operations, we can also significantly increase efficiency." He quickly recorded his thoughts in his notebook.

The key lay in standardization and modular design.

Li Mingyuan decided to break down the complex weapon system into several relatively independent modules, each of which could be produced and tested separately before being assembled into a complete product.

This would not only increase production efficiency but also facilitate future maintenance and improvements.

"The rifle is divided into four major modules: the barrel group, the bolt group, the trigger group, and the stock group; the rocket launcher is divided into three major parts: the launch tube, the rocket shell, and the launcher. Each part is further subdivided into smaller components, manufactured separately by different production lines, and finally assembled together."

To solve the quality control problem, Li Mingyuan designed a set of simple testing tools and gauges to ensure that the products of each process met the standards.

He even thought of using jigs and guide devices to replace the workers' experiential judgment, allowing even workers with low technical skills to produce high-precision parts.

"In addition, we need to establish a complete technical documentation and training system to ensure that every worker masters the standard operating procedures for their position." Li Mingyuan wrote the outline of the training plan next to the blueprints.

It was late at night, and the factory area was in Silence, with only the light in Li Mingyuan's office still on.

He rubbed his sore shoulders and looked at the clock on the wall; it was already three in the morning.

"Hold on a little longer, finish the overall plan." He cheered himself on and continued to immerse himself in work.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, a complete factory renovation plan was finally presented before him.

Li Mingyuan looked at these blueprints with satisfaction; although they couldn't compare to modern CAD designs, in this era, they were already an epoch-making innovation.

In the early morning, when the workers arrived at the factory one after another, they found that Chief Engineer Li had already been waiting in the office for a long time, with a large pile of blueprints and documents spread out on the table.

"Chief Engineer Li, have you been working all night?" As soon as Factory Lou Changzhang entered the door, he noticed Li Mingyuan's slightly tired but excited eyes.

Li Mingyuan nodded, signaling for Factory Lou Changzhang and the newly arrived Li Shouzheng to sit down: "I have designed a factory renovation plan; please take a look, both of you."

He spread out the blueprints and began to explain in detail: "This is a complete Assembly Line production system. From raw material warehousing to finished product shipment, every link has been carefully designed, interconnected to form an organic whole."

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