Eye-Opening

A group of people huddled in the corner discussing quietly for a long time without reaching any conclusions.

They could only disperse and go observe the textile machines again, trying to remember more of the structure so they could find some skilled craftsmen back home to secretly study and copy them.

Soon, most had seen enough and moved in groups to the next workshop.

After finished fabric was produced, the next step was the cutting area.

At this moment, the cutting area had tables arranged in rows that were ridiculously long.

Female workers transporting fabric distributed fabric along the long tables one by one.

Female workers who received fabric immediately spread it out for cutting.

But they were only responsible for cutting fabric into fixed shapes, then neatly stacking them in piles without another glance.

When the fabric piles grew high enough, transport workers would move the cut fabric to the next process.

The merchants stood by the long tables and began whispering again.

"Brother Liu, have you ever seen this setup? Why do they only cut and not sew?"

"Never seen it. It looks like they wait for the next step before sewing."

"Who knew there was such a clothing-making method! Those female workers can cut fabric so fast! How much fabric could they cut in a day?"

After the merchants expressed amazement, they soon followed the workers transporting cut fabric to the next process.

They quickly reached the sewing area, where most of the factory's female workers labored, sewing clothing.

This section had the most female workers, with hundreds of tables arranged in the sewing area.

The sewing workers' tables were quite wide and had pre-drawn sections on them.

The transport workers carefully placed cut fabric according to the sections.

The sewing female workers grabbed fabric without looking up and began sewing.

In no time at all, a piece of clothing emerged fresh and new, thrown into a basket at their feet.

Seeing this, the merchants couldn't help but gasp.

Someone exclaimed, "I understand! This separates the clothing-making steps. Each person is only responsible for one step."

"This way they can become sufficiently skilled! Items produced this way have both stable quality and high efficiency!"

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

"Who knew there was such a production method in the world? I think this method is something each of us can learn. It is even more important than the textile machines!"

The other merchants all nodded in praise.

However, these merchants obviously hadn't observed carefully.

This sewing section actually had some "fatal flaws."

Looking at all the steps, the slowest was the sewing area, which greatly slowed down the entire assembly line's production.

Since there were no sewing machines and they could only use hand sewing, this area was allocated the most workers.

Fang Zheng had naturally thought of having people make sewing machines and similar auxiliary equipment.

Unfortunately, while he had seen foot-pedal sewing machines before, he could only grasp a fraction of their principles.

He had Old Qi from Taoyuan County try making some.

Old Qi also made several prototypes in succession, but problems immediately appeared during testing.

Although textile machines had complex structures, they had traceable patterns, so innovation was possible.

But sewing machines had even more complex structures with no precedent, so Fang Zheng had people temporarily suspend exploration in this area.

Although the female workers sewed quickly enough to match the pace of the textile and cutting areas, the stitching itself was somewhat lacking. To maintain speed, the seams were neither sturdy nor aesthetically pleasing.

But finished clothing was adequate to wear, just prone to seam splitting and tearing.

Female workers had reported this, and Fang Zheng had carefully considered the problem, but to ensure adequate market supply, he had them maintain the status quo.

Fang Zheng had even considered directly selling pre-cut fabric for people to sew at home.

But thinking carefully, people might as well buy finished fabric to cut at home themselves. It would not be necessary at all.

Poor sewing was actually just a small problem because fabric quality could be guaranteed!

Needlework was never a problem. In this era, women in almost every household knew needlework.

As long as sewn seams split or tore, people could mend them themselves at home.

This was still better than not being able to afford clothes in winter.

After the merchants finished touring, they began walking out of the textile factory interior one by one.

Outside was an open area where dozens of chairs had been arranged in advance. Fang Zheng stood at the front with his hand shading his eyes, looking toward the textile factory interior.

The merchants began gathering around Fang Zheng one by one.

But no one sat down. Some looked at Fang Zheng with hopeful eyes.

Others huddled in pairs, quietly discussing.

Still others lowered their heads in thought.

Seeing everyone had arrived, Fang Zheng lowered his hand and said, "Everyone should have finished touring. How do you feel?"

"Worth the trip! Absolutely worth the trip!"

"Thank you, Master Fang!"

"Master Fang, your generosity and vision are truly admirable!"

Fang Zheng smiled and pressed his hands down. "Please sit, everyone. You must be tired after all that walking and talking."

The merchants obediently began taking seats.

Indeed, after walking so long and being excited for so long, they were somewhat tired.

Now should come the main event! Who knew what Master Fang had up his sleeve!

Even if he didn't sell textile machines today, they'd struck it rich! Just this new division of labor method had opened everyone's eyes.

Going back to copy it would immediately improve production efficiency and reduce costs. It was like money falling from heaven!

Everyone stared at Fang Zheng with burning eyes, like looking at the God of Wealth himself.

Fang Zheng smiled as he looked at everyone, saying nothing.

It seemed everyone's enthusiasm had been mobilized. Very good.

Finally, a merchant couldn't contain his curiosity and spoke up. "Master Fang! Today you've truly opened our eyes. I've run cloth shops my whole life and never seen such looms and production methods!"

"So this humble person boldly asks, are these looms available for purchase?"

Fang Zheng smiled faintly and began pacing slowly in front of the merchants, his hands clasped behind his back.

Occasionally, he paused to scratch his nose or glance at the crowd, his expression thoughtful and conflicted.

The merchants' hearts tightened with each step.

Fang Zheng didn't directly answer his question but asked instead, "What do you think? If Banshan Textile Factory's fabric and finished clothing entered the market, would there be any competitors left in the capital?"

As soon as these words came out, quite a few merchants broke into cold sweats.

Fang Zheng saying this was practically threatening everyone!

The cost of clothing and fabric basically consisted of raw materials, labor, storage, transportation, and other elements.

Raw materials needed no explanation. The larger your volume, the lower your costs.

Ordinary cloth merchants all had roughly similar raw material wholesale prices.

Storage and transportation wouldn't create huge gaps, except for high-end clothing like silk and fur.

Ordinary clothing was produced and sold locally.

So apart from raw material cost differences, the biggest gap was labor!

With Banshan Textile Factory's terrifying production efficiency, where one person does the work of ten, who could compete?