Chapter 881 - National Stock Number
"My plan is to first establish standardization for Harmony Wheel parts, then implement this standardization system through procurement contracts," Shi Jiantao explained. "The indigenous Guangdong workshops certainly won't meet our requirements initially, but they possess a desire for profit. As long as we propose quantifiable standards while simultaneously helping them achieve compliance, after a period of training they'll be able to produce according to our specifications."
Chinese enterprises before the 1980s had also performed poorly in controlling tolerances. Even in the relatively precise aviation industry, complete interchangeability of parts for the same aircraft model remained elusive. If 20th-century China, with three decades of industrialization, couldn't achieve it, how could the Ming shipbuilding industry—still entirely in a state of handicraft production?
Wu De expressed considerable doubt. In his experience, handicraft workshops in this time-space, unless directly under elder management and operation, fell far short of industrial requirements in both product quality and production efficiency.
"Honestly, I'm not optimistic about your proposal. This process is too lengthy; I'm afraid it won't happen overnight," Wu De said. "Raising the technological level of indigenous shipyards requires too much training and retooling."
Most shipwrights were illiterate; parts dimensions and shapes relied entirely on memory, with skills passed down orally. Establishing parts standards for such a group of artisans and making them produce according to precise specifications—Wu De considered the investment excessive.
Rather than painstakingly cultivating them through such a laborious process, it would be more expedient to simply annex the indigenous shipbuilding workshops, merge all their manpower, and retrain the craftsmen according to the new model.
"To be honest, I'm not very optimistic about your proposal," Wu De reiterated. "I've observed plenty of indigenous craftsmen. Their hands are skillful and their minds sharp, but making them comprehend weights and measures, understand the significance of modern metrology—instead of relying on their hands or crude measuring tools—is extraordinarily difficult for them. The retraining alone will consume enormous manpower and time. Do you think we can afford to wait? Naturalized citizen craftsmen are under our direct management; we can supervise and correct them constantly. Now you want to issue orders to independent workshops one by one, requiring them to follow a system they don't understand at all—I'm deeply concerned about the practical results."
"You're right." Shi Jiantao acknowledged Wu De's reasoning was sound; refutation proved difficult. "But I believe we should attempt it. Even a one percent success rate would significantly alleviate our production pressure. Let's try outsourcing some small parts for manufacture; even if it fails, the impact won't be catastrophic."
After prolonged deliberation, Wu De agreed to the plan—though he restricted it to initial trials within a limited scope.
Through Shi Jiantao's persistent efforts, the Planning Commission finally issued an order for Hong Kong Shipyard to construct twenty-four H-800s, all standard models. Per requirements, Shi Jiantao had to complete at least two-thirds of the order before the end of 1631.
Wu De issued the approval documents for material requisition and the usage permit for shipbuilding funds.
In the fiscal budget for 1631 established at the beginning of the year, the Planning Commission had secured a sum for purchasing or constructing ships—specifically to acquire a transport fleet. Part of these funds had been successively allocated to Lingao Shipyard for constructing Type 901 tugs and several coastal barges. The remaining funds remained untouched because shipyard capacity was limited.
Originally, Wu De had intended to convert part of the funds into foreign exchange to purchase ready-made large-tonnage Guang ships or Fu ships from Guangdong, but because the Elder Council's current "foreign exchange"—silver reserves—was strained, this hadn't materialized.
The funds were denominated in circulation notes, but Shi Jiantao was based in Hong Kong, and according to his plan, many raw materials had to be procured from Guangdong. Circulation notes possessed an extremely narrow circulation range in Guangdong, barely extending beyond Guangzhou city proper. Their limited acceptance in Guangzhou was largely due to the Purple House's prestige and financial clout.
Beyond the city gates, circulation notes held no purchasing power whatsoever. Wu De therefore reminded Shi Jiantao to apply to Delong Bank for a certain amount of "foreign exchange" to pay for raw materials imported from Guangdong.
"Now that foreign trade volumes have increased, using grain circulation notes is genuinely inconvenient," Wu De remarked. "I don't know what the finance and financial people plan to do about it. They only think of ways to conserve silver, but many things simply require silver expenditure."
"I'll make revolution through thrift."
"I've given you the order; you must complete it on schedule," Wu De emphasized. "You understand—I originally planned to purchase some large Guang ships and Fu ships directly from Guangdong to participate in the Dengzhou and Zhejiang operations. If you fail in this, the situation will become extremely difficult to rectify. Understood?"
"Yes, I understand. I guarantee mission completion," Shi Jiantao declared firmly.
"Guarantees mean nothing to me. Deliver the ships on time." Wu De waved his hand. "If you can't, I'll have to petition the Executive Committee to implement wartime mobilization of all subordinate vessels, which will seriously disrupt imports, exports, and supplies for foreign stations."
Shi Jiantao's ambition to implement outsourced production brought the issue of industrial standardization compilation and management—which executive committee members and elders had emphasized countless times since Lingao's industrial construction began—to the forefront as an urgent problem demanding resolution.
Industrial standardization compilation and management wasn't required solely by the shipbuilding industry or industrial enterprises. When the Planning Commission and General Staff drafted plans for the Dengzhou and Zhejiang operations, they had already encountered massive difficulties in material mobilization, transport, storage, and distribution.
During the Sanya development operation, both the Planning Commission and military had experienced all manner of inconveniences in transport and supply. Though Lingao's industrial and agricultural system could produce product types and specifications that, by old time-space standards, were inferior to a single hypermarket, the complexity of organizing supply had far exceeded the elders' expectations.
Without Hong Huangnan—who at least possessed considerable theoretical foundation in logistics work—handling the compilation of supply tables and formulation of supply procedures, the Sanya development supply effort would have devolved into disaster.
Even with professionals in command, various errors occurred frequently during supply: urgently needed materials weren't shipped while materials already abundant in Sanya arrived batch after batch; goods meant for Sanya went to Leizhou while goods destined for Hong Kong ended up in Sanya. There were even mix-ups where bills of lading didn't match actual contents upon opening crates. Incidents also occurred where goods "drifted away"—becoming lost or embezzled. During Planning Commission inventory checks, certain goods were found to have "whereabouts unknown." And months later, these goods declared "not in planned location" would mysteriously reappear in inventory checks at locations no one had anticipated.
In the Dengzhou and Zhejiang operations, logistical supply would prove even more burdensome. Not only would they need to supply rations for over a hundred thousand refugees, but also provide clothing, medicine, shelter materials, drinking cups, eating utensils; organizing ships for long-distance round-trip transport also required establishing rest stops and supply points along the route. These stations needed construction materials and supplies for staff and garrison troops; ships required refitting and replenishment of ship materials during shipping operations...
Not only was the quantity of supplied materials large and the variety diverse, but supply had to reach multiple nodes: according to the plan, multiple rest stops would be established along the route from Dengzhou to Lingao for turnover. Each of these rest stops had to supply various materials based on the daily number of refugees detained, arriving, and departing.
To ensure orderly and accurate material supply, a joint meeting of various departments convened in the Executive Committee compound conference room. The meeting topic: establishing a standardized code system.
The Planning Commission led the meeting, but the suggestion to use standardized codes came from Scardal and Hong Huangnan.
Hong Huangnan's idea was straightforward: to supply materials for the ever-expanding army and foreign stations, a standard code system was urgently needed to support logistics. Otherwise, he and his pitifully small logistics staff of several dozen couldn't handle large-scale logistics operations. A phrase Hong Huangnan frequently invoked was: "Among Lingao's various military departments, the Logistics Command is an invisible organ. It not only lacks a commander but doesn't even have a single guard."
Scardal's vision was considerably more ambitious. He proposed implementing this system comprehensively across all fields. In the "standardization construction" promoted by the Elder Council, this represented a critical component.
At the meeting, Scardal distributed a pile of materials to everyone: a US military code system standard that appeared completely unrelated to immediate concerns.
"This is our important reference model. US Military Standard Code: NSN—National Stock Number. When the US military decides to adopt any item, it assigns a stock code. Thereafter, any warehouse and unit of the US military and NATO worldwide will use this code as the item's identification number..." Scardal explained.
"An item refers to, for example—" Facing the skeptical elders, Scardal continued. "For example, this M65 khaki jacket of mine, size L, constitutes one item. Whether manufactured in Taiwan or Mexico, as long as it passes certification, it's the same item. But size M, or desert camouflage color—that's a different item, because Americans don't want to send desert camouflage uniforms to troops in Alaska.
"Now, for every part in the shipyard, we can assign a code. This code connects to a file containing all blueprints, performance data, quality standards, failure and supply records, lists of qualified suppliers, and blacklists of unqualified suppliers. Whether it's a screw or a mast, when someone needs the same item in the future, they can locate it by retrieving the file."