Design Plan for the Transition Period
After the meeting to restart the Gundam TV anime series concluded, Mitsui Chuta's figure was like a shadow stuck to the door of the conference room, as if he wanted to pack up Nakayama Takuya and carry him back to Bandai Headquarters on the spot.
"Executive Director Nakayama, please! The car is downstairs!" Mitsui Chuta's tone was filled with urgent enthusiasm.
Nakayama Takuya, however, remained unhurried, raising his hand in a gesture of restraint to signal him to calm down.
"Mitsui- san, don't rush things." Takuya's voice was calm, carrying a convincing strength. "Bandai's design is in Tokyo, but the production line is in Shizuoka. It's not convenient for me to go empty-handed today and explain the design concept. Besides, even if we come up with the best design, without frontline engineers overseeing it, it's just empty talk."
He paused, looking at Mitsui Chuta's face, which was filled with anxiety, and continued, "No matter how ingenious the design, if it can't be produced, or if the finished product doesn't meet the design standards, then it's all a waste of Kung Fu."
"So, you go back first and transfer a few of the most experienced technical engineers, especially process engineers, from the Shizuoka factory. Have them come to the Tokyo headquarters tomorrow. I'll explain everything clearly to both design and production teams in front of everyone, to avoid back-and-forth communication and the risk of information getting distorted."
Hearing this, Chuta Mitsunami was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh hard.
That's right! How could he not have thought of that!
He was so focused on saving time that he forgot about the most crucial production step.
"Hey! It was my oversight! You've thought of everything!" Mitsui Chuta impressed, and his gaze towards Takuya held even more admiration.
Without another word, he turned around and hurriedly rushed back to Bandai to make the arrangements.
The next day, at Bandai Headquarters.
Takuya, and as soon as he stepped into the design department's meeting room, he sensed the slightly subtle atmosphere inside.
Several middle-aged people with serious expressions sat around the long conference table.
On one side were several core members of Bandai's model design team, and on the other side were several men with slightly darker skin and calloused hands, who were clearly front-line technical engineers who had rushed over overnight from the Shizuoka factory.
These people are the true technical backbone of Bandai, and also the most difficult experts to fool. Their gazes toward Takuya all carry a degree of scrutiny.
After a brief opening, Mitsui Chuta gave the head seat to Nakayama Takuya.
Takuya didn't stand on ceremony and turned on the projector directly. A structural diagram appeared on the screen, showing a complex Nested Locking Structure and a bushing that looked like soft rubber.
"Since you are all experts, I'll get straight to the point."
"We all know that PS plastic is hard and brittle, requiring high precision. If the tolerances are not controlled properly, players will either have to use their King Kong to press the clips white or even break them directly, resulting in a poor player experience. Alternatively, they will have to use a knife to enlarge the holes themselves, which is time-consuming and laborious, easily discouraging beginners."
An elderly engineer with gray hair from the Shizuoka factory spoke in a deep voice, "Mr. Nakayama, we are certainly aware of this problem, but the precision of the molds and the existing processes limit the precision of PS model parts, and material costs are also an unavoidable hurdle."
"Well said." Takuya nodded approvingly. "So the core of my plan is 'compensation,' not obsessing over accuracy."
"I call this structure a ' Nested Locking Structure,' supplemented by a ' PE Liner Lock.'"
He picked up the laser pointer and pointed it at a detail on the drawing.
"Please look at this ' Progressive Engagement ' design. Instead of a simple straight-insertion card, we designed it with a convex shape featuring bevels or spiral grooves. During the rotational insertion process, it achieves Progressive Engagement, which allows for greater tolerance to component errors. It's like tightening a screw..."
It can actively eliminate errors as small as 0.1mm. We no longer need every part to be flawless. At the same time, the interlocking structure after locking is much more stable than traditional clamps, and it won't become loose after just a couple of days of use.
"And then there's this PE inner liner. As you know, PE rubber has the properties of high elasticity and low friction. We make it into a bushing and embed it at the base of the PS hard plastic clip. During assembly, the PE bushing fills all gaps, absorbs stress, and protects the fragile PS parts. Even if the PS parts themselves have a dimensional deviation of ±0.2mm, the elastic clamping force of the PE can ensure that the joints are tight. The PE material itself is also very smooth, making the assembly feel very smooth."
"It's like adding a layer of cartilage to the mounting area. This not only prevents the PS parts from breaking easily, but also greatly delays the problem of them becoming loose after prolonged use, extending their lifespan by at least three to five years."
The conference room was silent, save for the faint noise of the projector fan.
The designers stared at the blueprints, their minds racing.
The veteran craftsmen from Shizuoka initially scrutinized the women, but their expressions gradually shifted to surprise, and finally, they couldn't hide their excitement.
They tried countless ways to improve precision and put a lot of effort into PE parts and ball joints, but they never thought of applying their experience and ideas to the assembly of ordinary parts, using this ingenious structure to "tolerate" errors!
"This PE bushing can be made into a standard part!" a designer suddenly shouted.
"Yes! Production convenience is not a problem! The increase in cost is also limited!" Another process engineer immediately followed up, his voice tinged with excitement.
"Moreover, the ability to repeatedly disassemble and reassemble is amazing! This means players can disassemble and modify the model without damage, which opens up a whole new world for model modification enthusiasts!"
With a loud "boom," the entire conference room erupted in chaos.
The engineers, who had been as calm as a rock just moments before, were now like Columbus discovering a new continent, unable to sit still any longer.
"Let's go, let's go to the design studio!"
"Sugiyama- san, bring up the image of that Zaku arm; we'll fix it now!"
"Quick! Get to CAD!"
A group of people rushed out, leaving only the still-dazed Mitsui Chuta and the composed Takuya behind.
Mitsui Chuta stared blankly at the half-empty conference room.
Takuya walked over with a smile and patted him on the shoulder, "Minamoto-san, they've gone to work on the technical stuff, shouldn't we talk about business?"
"Business?"
"Such a good transitional product, aren't you going to come up with a great name for it?" Takuya reminded him. "Don't forget, once your new production line is up and running next year, this set of molds won't be needed anymore."
Mitsui Chuta finally snapped out of his daze. He rubbed his hands together and chuckled, "I don't want to bother two people at once, Mr. Takuya. You have a lot of ideas, so please lend a hand."
Takuya shook his head and asked leisurely, "In what year was Gundam invented?"
"1979."
What year is it this year?
"1989-" Mitsui Chuta answered subconsciously, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he froze, and then a terrifying glint flashed in his eyes.
Ten years! A full ten years!
He slammed his hand on the table excitedly, "I get it! Tenth anniversary! We can hold a tenth anniversary celebration!"
Previously, due to technological bottlenecks, Bandai did not have the new technology to perfectly replicate the Original Gundam, so they naturally did not consider the 10th anniversary.
Now that Takuya has provided the technical approach, everything falls into place!
"More than that." Takuya held up one finger. "One mold can be used to create three different patterns."
"RX-78-1, prototype color scheme."
"RX-78-2, the Amuro Ray unit that everyone is most familiar with."
"RX-78-3, the color scheme of the G-3 from the novel."
"Released at different times, with a different color, it's a new product. These three original models alone are enough to last until our new TV..."
The anime has started airing.
Mitsui Chuta was speechless with astonishment. He pulled out his notebook, his hands trembling, and carefully wrote down every word Takuya said.
Just then, the noise from the design studio grew louder.
A young designer rushed over with a floppy disk, his face beaming with excitement. "Mitsui -san! It's done! The mold design for the arm part is finished! The craftsmen in the process department have evaluated it, and it's completely feasible!"
The production engineer took the floppy disk. "We'll start trial production tomorrow! If the tests are successful, we can begin designing a new model using the new design approach."