On the southeast side of Versailles Palace Square, just outside the Sycamore Grove, there was a small courtyard enclosed by a stone wall, a hundred meters square. Inside the courtyard, there was a crucible furnace for smelting iron, and about ten wooden sheds of various sizes.
At that moment, Joseph stood in front of the main gate of the courtyard, where a stone stele read “Royal Armory,” bowing deeply to the retreating figure of Louis XVI.
Just now, he had accompanied His Majesty the King to the armory’s opening ceremony. His father must have been overjoyed, for he had, exceptionally, delivered a speech of up to five sentences in public, and had hardly stuttered at all.
Of course, this was after all the factory that he had invested in and was mass-producing the weapons he had developed, and even the main craftsmen had been trained by him, so it was only natural to be a little happier.
After seeing off his father, Joseph turned back and looked at the two core managers of the armory, ready to get down to serious business.
“Mr. Gaman, may I ask how much the current output is?”
An elder with a flat nose, two large bags under his eyes, but exceptionally bright small eyes, immediately bowed and said:
“Your Highness, at present, we can make three caplock guns a day, but we will soon be able to increase that to four.”
The armory’s current product line consisted solely of the Auguste 1788 model caplock gun.
Upon hearing this, Joseph immediately frowned—four guns a day meant 120 a month, and the annual output would not even be enough to equip an infantry regiment…
He had indeed kept the armory relatively small in scale—after conducting an on-site survey, he found that not just Versailles, but even the whole of Paris, lacked the supporting industries necessary for weapon production. For example, steelmaking, rough woodworking, screws, belts, etc., could not be supplied.
Therefore, he decided to build only a “demonstration factory” near the Palace of Versailles to train craftsmen and carry out small-scale production. A larger-scale armory construction was already underway in Saint-Etienne, which should be completed next month.
Still, even for a “demonstration factory,” wasn’t this production level a little too low?
He walked with the two managers toward the interior of the courtyard and asked casually:
“Mr. Gaman, is it possible to increase the output in a short time? Like… ten guns a day?”
The locksmith teacher of Louis XVI, who was also the current technical supervisor of the armory, immediately shook his head and said:
“Your Highness, you see, His Majesty has barely rested since he came here a month ago, and it has been with great difficulty that four craftsmen have mastered the manufacturing process of the caplock gun. Oh, and that includes me.”
He had participated in the development of the caplock gun on the spot and needed no training.
“Now the four of us also have to teach apprentices, and we’re busy until late at night just to rush out a single firearm.”
He didn’t mention that the barrels used in the caplock guns were custom rough blanks ordered directly from Charleville; otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to complete even one gun a day.
Joseph frowned again, puzzled:
“Why not involve all the other craftsmen in the manufacturing, with you four supervising and instructing them?”
You see, Louis XVI had poached 16 high-level gunsmiths for his armory from other places, and there were as many as 50 mid- to low-level craftsmen. If all these people got to work, the production capacity surely wouldn’t be so dismal.
Gaman said helplessly, “Your Highness, the caplock gun’s process differs greatly from that of the flintlock gun, especially the barrel and firing mechanism. Each step needs to be mastered and practiced repeatedly to produce a qualified gun.”
Joseph immediately detected a logical issue in his words, “That is to say, aside from the barrel and firing mechanism, the rest is similar to the flintlock gun?”
“Er, that is indeed the case.”
“Then let you four be responsible for making the barrels and firing mechanisms. Have the others make the other parts. Then assemble them together. Wouldn’t that greatly increase the speed?”
“Your Highness, I’m afraid that might not be possible.” Before Gaman could say anything, the short middle-aged man with brown curly hair beside him chimed in, “Each craftsman’s technical habits and characteristics are quite different, and only the parts they make can guarantee a perfect fit when assembled together.”
Gaman immediately nodded in agreement:
“Mr. Martinier is right. Even the craftsmen’s apprentices would find it hard to make something identical to what their masters produce.”
Joseph couldn’t help but hold his forehead, realizing he had forgotten that it was still the time of the handicraft industry and the concept of standardized parts production didn’t yet exist. Not until the early 19th century did the concept of standard parts begin to emerge, and it took another 20 years before it was actually applied in production…
As for the assembly line production model that required standardized parts as a prerequisite technology, there was no need to even think about it.
He sighed and looked at the manager and technical director in front of him:
“Then, let’s try to change this situation. There is a production method called ‘component standardization.'”
The two directors glanced at each other, both showing confusion: “Component standardization?”
“Yes,” Joseph nodded, “To put it simply, when different craftsmen produce the same firearms, they must strictly adhere to the parts standard set in advance.”
“From shape, materials, dimensions, and other aspects, you cannot exceed the tolerance range. Oh, what tolerance is, I will explain to you in a moment.”
“So that no matter who manufactures the parts, they can be freely interchangeable.”
“How could that be possible?!” Gaman and Martinier exclaimed in unison.
Joseph took the two into the office, motioned for them to sit down, and said seriously:
“It is absolutely achievable. Of course, it requires some methods. First of all, we need to create a set of more precise measuring tools.”
Gaman immediately said, “You mean, like a screw micrometer?”
“Yes,” Joseph nodded. “Then, you need to lead the most skilled craftsmen to set the ‘production process standards,’ ‘product execution standards,’ ‘quality inspection standards,’ and other standards for the caplock gun, and even the positions where the tools are placed should have a unified standard.”
“Oh, I will have someone write these standards into detailed documents and give them to you later,” Joseph continued, “Once the standards are set, we must conduct uniform training for the craftsmen.”
“Everyone must use the same tools in making parts, measure in the same way, and strictly operate according to various standard documents. We strictly prohibit any changes to the process based on personal preference.”
“The completed parts will be given to those specifically responsible for quality control to measure, and if they exceed the tolerance, the parts will be discarded.”
“Parts produced in this way, from the material to the dimensions, would be almost exactly the same. Ultimately, even if the parts are given to workers who are not technically skilled, they can still assemble them into a qualified flintlock gun.”
The two directors suddenly widened their eyes—the crown prince’s method sounded unbelievable, but upon closer consideration, it seemed very feasible.
If produced in this way, only a small number of craftsmen familiar with all the processes would be needed to establish the standards, while other craftsmen could simply follow the standards step by step.
It was easy to imagine that production speed would greatly increase, and training craftsmen would become much simpler!
How had the crown prince come up with such a marvelous method? The child of divine favor was indeed worthy of the name!
Joseph then briefly explained concepts like “tolerance” and “quality control” to them, and finally said:
“The craftsmen might not easily accept the new production model. In the initial stage of implementation, output might even decrease, but as long as we persevere, we will surely greatly improve production efficiency.”
“I will work with you during this time to establish all the production standards and help you with the training of the craftsmen.”
Joseph suddenly thought that perhaps he should also implement a standardization system at the machine tool factory, steam engine factory, and other factories, and even introduce national product standards.
However, this would involve the issue of standardizing measurement units.
You see, in France at the moment, no matter whether you’re measuring length or weight, the units used are extremely varied; even with the same unit “meter,” craftsmen in the south and the north of France would measure different results.
Of course, this applied even more so to other European countries.
And if one wanted to promote industrialization at the national level, unifying measurement standards was the most basic requirement.