70
Helping With Adventurer Party Management
Chapter 6 Creating A Support Team
Episode 70 Mischief
Three days had passed in a blink of an eye. The promised day had finally arrived. Sarah and I visited Kwan Workshop with the required materials and accessories.
Immediately, we started our meeting with the bizarre craftsman Galahad.
His design drawing was excellent.
Different from the amateur drawing the old leather craftsman on the leatherwork street and I created, the gaps on the raw materials that were camouflaged by glue, the placement of the non-slip spikes on the sole, everything was thoroughly thought out and simplified.
The rest would be seeing the result of the production according to this design drawing.
When Galahad saw the tools I took out during the prototype production stage, he asked,
“What are those?”
“A water clock and parchment.”
In addition to the materials, I also brought a water clock and parchment.
Galahad muttered with an indifferent expression and picked up the materials. He then started making the shoes based on the design drawing.
I watched him intently and burned the process in my mind, so I could write down the detailed steps and the time needed to create a pair of shoes.
I needed the water clock to accurately measure the time taken for each step.
I had Sarah count the water droplets of the water clock with a soft voice.
There were a total of 23 steps in the production process. Considering that ordinary shoes were produced in about 7 steps at most, it could be said that the creation of this pair of shoes was tedious and time-consuming.
“What do you think? They are created according to the design drawing, aren’t they?”
With his exceptional skill, Galahad completed the adventurer shoes really smoothly.
Even though the parts and materials were already prepared, it took less than an hour. He worked very efficiently.
I calculated the accurate manufacturing process based on the chart of accurate working time noted on the parchment.
The water clock came in really handy. Moreover, Galahad created a great design for us.
With a soft voice, Sarah asked,
“Hey, why did you make me count the water droplets?”
“Well, What do you think of Galahad’s movements in creating the shoes?”
“It was really beautiful! Uh, and so mysterious.”
“Then, can you imitate Galahad’s movements exactly, Sarah?”
“Well, that’s impossible.”
“Then, how about threading the shoelaces?”
“If that’s all, I may be able to do it slowly.”
“Would you be able to do it better after threading it 10 times?”
“Well, I guess.”
So that’s it!
Instead of hiring a skilled craftsman who could do 23 steps alone, we should hire 23 amateurs and train them to be experts in simple tasks.
And train them hard so they could match Galahad’s speed.
Apprentice craftsmen would be good enough to do many of the steps in the manufacturing process.
As a result, the cost could be reduced while maintaining the manufacturing speed.
While writing down my calculation results on the parchment, it occurred to me that no one in this world would calculate the unit price per hour. Instead, they would calculate the cost ratio.
Moreover, there might be shoemakers who counted the quantity they could produce in a day. However, no one would most definitely keep time on the rate of sewing the toe so accurately using a water clock.
Anyway, I wanted to set this manufacturing process in motion. Once in motion, possible omissions and improvements would be clearly visible.
I could clearly picture the new craftsmen working in the production line in the factory.
* * * * *
As usual, I sat on the first floor of the inn drinking coffee in the morning. Suddenly, there was a shadow.
When I looked up, there was a man wearing a fine quality red top, who was clearly out of place in this third-class district.
A large man with a scar on his face stood behind him.
Who are these people?
“Good morning, Mr. Kenji.”
Despite our first meeting, the man in red called out my name.
At that moment, I realized.
The discussion about the shoes had been leaked.