One after another
The first factory of Quantum Holdings in Iowa was completely equipped with advanced equipment from other planets. This was the first manufacturing facility in the history of Earth to have an Alliance-level production level.
There were three other factories of the same scale in Europe and Asia, and if all of them went into production, they could produce 1200 energy-shield boosters every twenty-four hours.
To maximize the efficiency of the factory, all the equipment was equipped with intelligent machine tools that were commonly used in the Alliance. Not only could these machines be used for the production of energy-shield boosters, but the factory could also immediately switch production once the company launched a new mechanical or electronic product, giving it great flexibility.
These four factories cost Quantum Holdings eighty percent of its capital reserves, and it could be said that Xia Fei had invested a lot in the construction of these factories.
All the workers were skilled workers from the frontlines of production. They had been specially trained by extraterrestrial engineers with a high salary for a month. Now everything was ready. All they had to do was wait for the order, and the energy-shield boosters would be continuously produced on the assembly line.
Vampire slowly landed in the open space outside the factory. Xia Fei, Porter, and Charlie alighted from the ship. Andre was too old to walk around, so Charlie was the one who accompanied Xia Fei to the factory to take a look around.
The factory occupied thousands of hectares, and it was not small in scale. All the newly built factories were in picturesque disorder.
Since they had not officially started work yet, the workers were all training in the workshop, grasping the last bit of time to learn how to operate the machine tools in preparation for production.
Casually taking a stroll around the factory, Old Porters could not stop praising the advanced equipment that Xia Fei had brought in. Though he had spent quite a bit on it, the equipment had decent potential, and its performance was decent, too. Over time, the benefits of such an advanced investment would gradually show itself.
In the laboratory, Potter finally saw the finished product of an energy-shield booster. Charlie handed him the test parameters, and after a detailed look, he said, "31.27% shield repair bonus. From the data, it's not bad. It should have potential."
Xia Fei smiled. If we follow the blueprints completely, this equipment should be able to achieve a recovery rate of over thirty-five percent, but the factory is not in production yet, and the workers have no production experience, so we have modified some of the parameters to reduce the difficulty of production. As the factory runs smoothly, there will be a day when we can achieve a recovery rate of over thirty-five percent.
Potter nodded. "That makes sense. If the production difficulty is too high and the conformity rate is reduced, it will increase the cost. Besides, a 30% repair rate is enough to open up the market."
That's exactly what I'm thinking. Once the break-in period is over, I'll pick out the products that exceed thirty-five percent and sell them as enhanced versions. As for the price, of course, it'll be higher, Xia Fei said.
Porter laughed heartily. Xia Fei, I discovered that youre very talented in being a profiteer. The product design was originally thirty-five, yet you insist on selling the defective product as the normal version and the good product as the enhanced version. Im afraid that youre going to make more than double your profit this way.
"In order to pursue the highest performance, some high-end customers will definitely choose the expensive enhanced version. After all, their spaceships are worth a lot of money, and they don't mind spending a little more. Ordinary customers can choose the standard version because it's more affordable."
"If you set the standard at thirty-five percent right from the start, then anything lower than that will be considered a defective product. Any product that is labeled as defective will have a huge drop in price, yet you're treating a defective product as a standard product."
Xia Fei scratched his head in embarrassment. Actually, in Xia Fei's product plan, other than the standard and enhanced versions, he also planned to have a super and cheap version. The standards were twenty-five, thirty, thirty-five, and thirty-eight respectively.
Even the most advanced machine tools could not guarantee consistent quality because every batch of raw materials would have a slight difference. Even the temperature of the factory and the proficiency of the workers would affect the final performance of the product.
Xia Fei had divided the products into four different grades. This not only solved the problem of quality disparity, but it also made a fine division of the market. Even a defective product would be sold at the price of a standard product. As for the super version with thirty-eight percent, it would be even more expensive.
"Have you received any orders yet?" Porter asked.
Orders were the life of a company. If no one was willing to buy what they produced, they would not be able to maintain their business no matter how good the quality was.
Charlie was slightly worried. "So far, we've already contacted several large suppliers, and they're very interested in the energy-shield boosters. It's just that due to the scale and reputation of our company, these suppliers are still a little skeptical. They said that they need to send a batch of samples first and will only place an order if they pass the test."
Porter furrowed his eyebrows. "Working with the suppliers will allow us to expand the product, but those guys will surely keep the price extremely low. That way, the company's profits will decrease, and they'll also control the distribution channels and retail prices. If it's possible, it's best to bypass those leeches and work directly with the distributors."
Old Porter had already completely regarded himself as a member of Quantum Holdings and was beginning to put himself in the company's shoes, which made Xia Fei very happy.
"Uncle Porter, the biggest problem we're facing right now is how to popularize the energy-shield booster across the universe. If you have any good suggestions, feel free to let me know," Xia Fei asked.
In the complicated and ever-changing Pan-Human Alliance, the businessmen had long reached the pinnacle of doing business. As the saying goes, good wine does not fear deep alleys, but modern marketing experience tells us that the better the wine, the more it fears deep alleys. No matter how good the product was, it would be hard to realize its value without solid marketing methods.
Porter nodded. "Every once in a while, the Alliance will hold all sorts of competitions and procurement bids, and some of them are very influential, such as the Admiralty's warship equipment procurement conference, the Association of Machinists' Golden Finger Cup, and the Supreme Command's single-ship super competition.
"A competition like this not only has an audience from all over the universe, but it also involves some of the strongest departments and organizations in the Alliance. I believe that with the powerful abilities of the energy-shield booster, it will surely be able to stand out in these competitions. If even the Admiralty uses this equipment, would there still be a need for advertising?" Old Porter said with a smile.
Did Xia Fei know that Porter himself was the three-time champion of the Association of Machinists' Golden Finger Cup, so he was naturally very familiar with these competitions.
"Uncle Porter, I've considered your idea before, but these high-level competitions have extremely high requirements for the participants. Our company doesn't have the qualifications to participate in these competitions yet. We can participate in the smaller competitions, but the advertising effect will undoubtedly be much weaker, and we won't be able to achieve the best publicity effect, which is quite a headache for us," Charlie quickly added.
Porter chuckled. "Charlie, have you forgotten? Not only can you participate in these competitions in the name of your company, but you can also participate as an individual. Isn't there someone quite suitable right now?"
"Uncle Porter, are you willing to represent the company in the competition? That's great! "Charlie excitedly said.
Porter shook his head and pointed at Xia Fei. "It's not convenient for me to show my face in public, but Xia Fei has the qualifications. Be it warship piloting, machinery maintenance, or even product design, he's pretty good. He's also a member of the Adjudicator Union, so there's no better candidate than him to participate."
Old Porter's thoughts were actually the same as Xia Fei's. There were not many options to achieve Alliance-level publicity in a short period of time, so participating in various competitions and bidding conferences to raise one's reputation was currently the most suitable method.
After all, participating in a few competitions or bidding conferences cost relatively little, which was practically a drop in the bucket compared to the overwhelming advertising campaign. Moreover, using real swords and guns to win the trust of others was many times better than using exaggerated advertising campaigns.
It was just that Xia Fei had yet to decide which competitions he would participate in. The Pan-Human Alliance was so large that it was difficult to describe it with words. There were so many organizations and organizations, so it was unrealistic for him to participate in every competition.
Xia Fei thought about it and asked, "Uncle, you're more experienced. In your opinion, which competitions do you think we should participate in to achieve the best publicity effect?"
Porter laughed heartily. "You've asked the right person. When I was younger, I was very obsessed with these interstellar competitions, but it's a pity that I wasn't able to participate in all of them."
After finding a quiet office, Xia Fei turned on his microcomputer. Old Porter pointed at the screen and very quickly pulled up the information on several high-end competitions that had started in the past few months.
"I think these competitions and bidding conferences are the most suitable," Porter said. Potter said, "In a little more than three months, the Supreme Command's Single Warship Super Competition will begin. This competition requires the participants to use a fixed type of warship for elimination. There are no requirements for ship modifications, and any new equipment is allowed."
"That's very advantageous for us. Usually, the organizers will require the participants to use fixed parts for modifications. The energy-shield booster is a brand new product, so it's impossible for us to enter the supplier list in a short period of time. That's why we can only participate in these competitions that don't require parts.
"Of course, this competition has its drawbacks, too. Many participants are willing to spend a lot of money to install the best parts in the Alliance on their warships in pursuit of maximum performance. I'm afraid we don't have the funds to buy expensive, top-grade parts at the moment, right?"
Xia Fei nodded. It was undoubtedly unfair for a normal warship to compete one-on-one with many top-grade parts. After all, the performance of top-grade parts was far superior to that of ordinary ones.
Xia Fei still had some savings in his bank account, but he had his own uses for it. Besides, even if he invested all his money into it, he might not be able to gain the upper hand in terms of performance. That was because the investment in assembly was like a bottomless pit, and no amount of money could ever fill it.
Porter smiled. "We can give this competition a try. Youre quite good at controlling the warship. Though youre not as well-equipped as your opponent, you still have the strength to fight them."
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