After thinking for a moment, Zhang Yi cautiously asked again, "Then, Jia Qing, since you can't develop computer systems, could you develop control systems for CNC Machines, Fully Automated Production Lines, or Semi-Automated Production Lines?"
Jia Qing did not answer Zhang Yi's question immediately. After thinking carefully, he replied, "Boss! Given enough time, I can develop a numerical control system for CNC Machines. After all, I'm a Scholar specializing in this field, and it's much simpler than a computer system. However, even to develop a numerical control system, you'll need to hire a beginner-level mathematics Scholar to assist me. The time required would be quite long—at least a year and a half.
As for Fully Automated Production Lines, that would depend on how complex the production line is. If it is a relatively simple production line, then its system will be fairly simple as well. That would still be within my capabilities.
But if it is a more complicated production line, such as the automobile and aircraft production lines of your civilization, then I alone would be powerless."
"Do you know about the Aerodynamic Bicycle in the system? Would you be capable of developing a Fully Automated assembly line for that bicycle?" Zhang Yi asked again.
"Boss! Of course I know about that bicycle. It is produced in many universes throughout the myriad worlds. In some civilizations, it is even their most important means of transportation. Although the bicycle looks rather complicated, developing a Fully Automated Production Line system for it would not be difficult. I've also participated in developing similar systems in other universes before, so creating a Fully Automated assembly line system for this kind of bicycle would not be difficult for me." After hearing Zhang Yi's words, Jia Qing finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Good! Then let's do this. Since you're currently the only professional industrial software engineer in the factory, I'll appoint you as the head of the Industrial Software Engineering Department. During this period, you will also fully assist the Product Research and Development Department in building a Fully Automated assembly line for the Aerodynamic Bicycle," Zhang Yi said after some thought.
Originally, Zhang Yi had wanted to assign Jia Qing directly to the Product Research and Development Department. But then he realized that the factory's software engineers certainly would not consist of Jia Qing alone in the future, so he appointed him as the head of the software engineering department instead. After all, the Scholars hired in this world could never be as reliable as the Scholars hired through the system.
After Jia Qing left, Zhang Yi did not follow him out. Instead, he remained seated at his desk, considering what to do next. After all, his factory only had one product at present, and its production capacity was still very low. If he had not handed all the unimportant orders over to Zhu Gang, then his own factory might not even have been able to supply Huang Jie in Hang City, much less open up new sales channels.
While Zhang Yi was thinking about this, Jia Qing, who had just left, came back in. After entering, he said to Zhang Yi, "Boss! I forgot something just now. Besides being highly skilled in software development, I have also achieved something in the Glass Chemical Industry. So I hope you can purchase a set of glassmaking equipment. Of course, it doesn't need to be large-scale equipment. A small set would be enough. Even miniature equipment that can only be used for experiments would do."
"..." Zhang Yi was speechless after hearing Jia Qing's words. He had specifically come back just to say this? Still, Zhang Yi agreed to purchase a small set of glass production equipment for him. After all, small-scale glass production equipment would not cost much, and Zhang Yi also planned to enter the chemical industry once the factory was on track.
Therefore, making preparations in advance was not a bad thing. More importantly, Jia Qing's words carried a deeper meaning. Since he said that he had achieved something in glass, especially the Glass Chemical Industry, then his skill level certainly was not low. Otherwise, he would not have said it, much less specifically asked Zhang Yi to purchase equipment for him.
Afterward, Zhang Yi returned to the Scholar Hiring System. This time, however, he was only looking around and did not intend to hire any more Scholars from the system. It was not that Zhang Yi did not want to hire Scholars from the system, but that he no longer had many Scholar Coins in hand. He could only leave things as they were for the time being and wait until he had sufficient funds before hiring more.
While Zhang Yi continued browsing the Scholars in the system and worrying over money, the core leaders of the Jiangnan Province Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group were also holding a meeting in their office far away in Ning City. Besides the group's core leadership, even some directors who had never participated in the group's management were present at this meeting.
"Everyone, tell me! How should we view this newly emerged Aerodynamic Bicycle? As far as I know, it has been on the market for less than a week, yet more than a thousand units have already been sold.
"At the same time, according to the information I received, aside from the Aerodynamic Bicycles already sold, orders for this bicycle have already reached several thousand units. It has also appeared online recently, and daily sales have now reached nearly a hundred units." After the meeting began, Jiang Zhimin, the group's president, was the first to stand and speak.
"Director Jiang! I have also looked into the Aerodynamic Bicycle you mentioned. I even specifically bought one and had it sent to our new Product Research and Development Department. Over the past few days, the department has been studying that bicycle, and we discovered that it truly is an extraordinary product.
"However, I do not recommend that our group manufacture this bicycle as well. Even if our group wanted to produce the Aerodynamic Bicycle, we would face tremendous difficulties. The first issue is cost. Based on my analysis, the bicycle alone costs more than four thousand to manufacture. In fact, the cost of the raw materials is not high.
"But processing this bicycle is extremely difficult. Every single component has to be manufactured in-house and is completely incompatible with bicycle parts available on the market. More importantly, the precision requirements for its components are extremely high. They must be machined with high-performance machine tools, and some parts can only be processed using imported Ultra-High Precision Machine Tools. Some parts might not even be manufacturable with imported high-performance machine tools.
"Besides that, there is also the issue of patents. Every patent for this bicycle lies at a critical point of its design and simply cannot be bypassed. Once bypassed, even if we solve the processing problem, its performance would decline drastically. With the same air storage capacity, the bicycle we produce would not even have one-third of their range, and its speed would only be a little over ten kilometers per hour." As soon as Jiang Zhimin finished speaking, an executive stood up. This executive was the head of their Marketing Department.
Production Line
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