Chapter 17 Planning

A week has passed since the celebration of the Axelsen & Nielsen Air Brake Company. Landing three huge contracts from the giants in the railroad industry, the two founders of the company started working their asses off.

To meet up the bulk orders, Poul and Jonathan outlined their plan for the year. They listed how many workers they are going to hire, the equipment they are going to purchase, and the most crucial part, securing a continuous supply of raw materials from various manufacturers.

After listing all of that, they set it aside and worked together on how they are going to upgrade the factory.

As of now, the factory can produce five to ten air brakes and locomotive draft gear per day. With that level of production, it would be impossible for them to fulfill the total orders from three companies, which is an astonishing 11,230 air brakes and 5,612 locomotive draft gear.

To meet up the demand, an extensive upgrade of the factory would be needed. Fortunately, with the money they received from John Morgan, they'll be able to refurbish their factories. However, there's one problem. The city of Columbus is already saturated with various manufacturing factories, oil refineries, and office buildings. It's impossible to expand if the land is limited. Hence, moving their factory to a new location is the only option.

Jonathan, left two days ago to visit one potential site where they can build a new factory. He took notes of the topography, geology, climate, and location from the suppliers. After that, he returned to Columbus and shared his findings with Poul.

"Poul, I just found a site that fitted our criteria," Jonathan shared as he posted a map on the chalkboard.

Poul examined it and he nodded in affirmation. The spot was in the state of Philadelphia, specifically in the borough of Allegheny County.

"That's a nice spot. Away from the population centers, and has everything we need to start. Did you inform Mister Morgan about this?" Poul glanced to his right, looking at Jonathan.

"I just got off the phone with Mister Morgan. He said he is going to help us acquire the land. His only question would be if we can meet up the orders by the end of the year. He was worried that the construction of a new factory would take up five to six months."

"So, what did you tell him?" Poul followed up with a question.

"I told him that we only need two months to build the necessary facilities," Jonathan said confidently before continuing. "As long as we have sufficient manpower, it can be done."

Poul hummed. "So two months are spent on the construction of the factory alone. That means we only have ten months to make eleven thousand two hundred and thirty air brakes and five thousand six hundred twelve locomotive draft gear. Looks like we'll have to up our game."

"What are you thinking?" Jonathan glanced at him curiously.

"I'm planning on speeding up the assembly process by making motorized tools and equipment."

Jonathan raised an eyebrow. "Hoh? What a coincidence. I had thought of that as well. Looks like we are going to be the first company to electrify factories."

Jonathan grabbed something from under the desk and pulled out a rolled, cartolina size, vellum paper, and placed it over the map. Poul looked at it and saw a site development plan for their new factory site.

"That's what I've drawn since yesterday. It has amenities for our workers who will come with us to Philadelphia such as housing, a clinic, restaurant. I also designed the gas, water, and sewage system. You'll have to help me design the heating and electrical systems."

"Heating systems are easy, the electricity would be the tricky one," Poul hummed as he pondered for a second. "We can generate electricity using direct current dynamo as most of our motorized equipment are run by dc shunt motors. However, I have a feeling that this dynamo already exists in this era. To save time, we can simply purchase it and improve it to our standards."

"I'm going to contact Mister Morgan and see if there's already a parallel Thomas Edison in this world," Jonathan chuckled.

"Yes, please do. And if he exists in this world, make sure to ask for a light bulb. I would like to save us some money by using electricity as a source of light instead of gas," Poul said.

"Hmm…if he exists in this world, are you going to clash with him using alternating current as a means of power distribution?" Jonathan inquired.

"That was the plan in the first place, to make money introducing alternating current as a system for transmission. For now, we need to focus on this venture as this will be the one who will be providing the funds needed to start another venture," Poul responded.

"You're right. Now that we settled the site, let's talk about manpower. We are going to hire an additional two hundred workers and twenty engineers, correct? How are we going to assess the knowledge and expertise of the engineers who will apply to our company?"

Poul hummed as he thought. "I guess they'll have to take a written exam where they'll be asked to solve complex mathematical problems related to the field of work. Of course. We will look into how they approach each question. So even if their answer is wrong, as long as their process of solving makes sense, we will hire them. If one of them were to achieve perfect marks then whoever it is, he or she is going to be hired in an instant. Experience is also a plus. So if a person scored low but has at least two years of experience working in a similar industry, they'll be hired."

"Let me guess, you're the one who will be making the questions? Go easy on them. The topics and lessons that we learned in our original world are different here."

"I am aware of that, Jonathan. But don't underestimate the capabilities of the people of this world. They had it hard, we had it easy. We have modern tools and equipment that can help us understand concepts on a deeper level. While the people in the past era continue to theorize knowledge beyond comprehension and conduct hundreds of trial-and-errors to learn the natural law and order of the world. I have massive respect for them. Without those men, civilization won't progress."

Jonathan was speechless for a second. He regained his composure and cleared his throat. "I am not looking down on them, I was simply advising you to go easy on the questions you are going to have them solve. This is a parallel world, there are major differences between this world and our own."

"I'll take that in mind, Jonathan. You don't have to worry about it," Poul assured. "Now then, it looks like everything is set. Let's prepare to move out and create a legacy this world will never forget."