The Chaebol Who Flies From Space - Chapter 10
Only Noblemtl
10. Create a factory
The sales of Seolleongtangmyeon are accelerating.
We had prepared 120 million packs by running the production facilities as much as possible in advance, and we judged that even if it caused a frenzy in the beginning, sales would slow down after a month or two.
No matter how delicious it is, it is common for it to have a sales cycle of that length.
But the sales of this product exceeded expectations.
The goods were literally sold as soon as they were produced.
Seeing the trucks hurriedly departing with the newly produced goods, President Cho Dong-won had no choice but to admit that his judgment was wrong.
They tried to increase production capacity by hiring new employees and quickly taking over the production plants of bankrupt companies.
Even though they made an all-out effort by acquiring two additional factories, it was not enough to keep up with sales. So far, over 300 million items have been produced and shipped.
President Cho Dong-won asked, looking at the production manager who had just come in holding the payment documents.
“What is the total production capacity, including the increased quantity?”
“I was able to raise the value of the factory that I acquired in a hurry to the maximum of 650 million, but it is impossible to do more than that. The production machines are still running without stopping, so anything more than that… If I do something wrong, there will be chaos.”
If you force the machine to work and it breaks down, how can you handle the aftermath? It’s already a mess. People get tired too.
Even if we worked through the night in three shifts, the amount of work was the same.
The investigator smacked his lips as he looked at the documents.
“I should have prepared a little more before starting sales. I thought I had secured enough stock, but it’s ridiculous.”
“Even if we had prepared, it would have been impossible to do so now that I look back. I never thought our company would have to worry about production like this.”
Manager Choi looked deeply moved.
“Me too. My father shook his head too.”
Our food business is the business that our father, Chairman Cho, started after receiving the property from the enemy after liberation. We have made all kinds of products and have had some success, but this is the first time we have experienced such a delay in production that we could not sell.
“I guess I now know why the Heungbu Foods kids walk around with their heads held high.”
The high standards of Heungbu Foods, the number one company in the food industry, are well-known in the industry.
Even in price negotiations with large supermarkets, which are absolute powerhouses, they never backed down. They even resorted to the extreme measure of removing products from large supermarkets when they demanded a price cut.
And yet, large marts were the ones who gave in to the frustration of consumers looking for products.
Now our food is the absolute best in the market.
Even now, the office is noisy because we are receiving so many purchasing calls.
There was no choice because production was insufficient and there were many people asking for it. The price was raised by 100 won, but the number of people looking for the item did not decrease at all.
The investigator laid back comfortably in his chair.
My forehead was throbbing because I was worrying about so many things.
“The future is going to be a big one. There are a lot of people who can’t be ignored.”
It’s also a problem if it sells too well. It’s easy to say that if you do it hot like New World, it’s easy to not understand the situation of those who just watch the situation and demand new quantities.
Didn’t Manager Kim Sang-dae, who received a lot of work in a flash, get promoted to executive position?
The investigator also heard thanks from Director Kim.
I heard that because of Manager Kim Sang-dae’s promotion, there have been more and more people asking for things.
How many workers would step down when promotion is in sight?
It was no easy task to refuse the requests of senior managers like Manager Kim Sang-dae, who were on the verge of promotion, to come to the company every day and ask for things.
“What can I do? I can’t do it. If I overdo it and make a mistake, it’ll be a real pain to deal with.”
The production manager was right.
“Yeah, I guess you shouldn’t force it.”
Voices within the company increasingly warned against rapid sales. If they increase capacity without thinking because sales are good, the company will be in danger when a recession comes later.
There are more than a few competitors who will use the fact that even a single foreign substance is found in the ramen they are selling as an excuse to try to get a refund.
Didn’t Samyoung Foods, the undisputed number one in the industry that was doing well, collapse like that? Who would have thought that the number one in the industry would collapse just because of a single word, industrial beef tallow?
The investigator, after much deliberation, made a decision.
“Okay, let’s not overdo it. Just make as much as we can and sell it. If it doesn’t work out, then there’s nothing we can do. Just make as much as we can and sell it. That’s it.”
It was the decision of the president who had been worrying about many things.
As the production manager left the office after signing the approval documents, the investigator closed his eyes tightly. In addition to being tired from working overtime for several days, the investigator’s mind was complicated by the fear of what kind of repercussions the current decision would bring.
It was late that afternoon when I heard the company’s decision while I was rolling around in my new office.
“I knew this would happen. The conclusion is that you just produce as much as possible and move on. Why is it going exactly as expected?”
[From the company’s perspective, there is a limit to how much production can be increased in a short period of time.]
“That’s why. The food industry is so conservative. This hasn’t changed even if we go back to the past.”
[Even if you expand the facilities, it takes time to stabilize. And hygiene issues are a characteristic of an industry that is closely related to consumers and cannot tolerate even a single mistake. It may not be the best decision, but it is the next best decision.]
“Yeah, well, I guess there are some aspects of it that the company can’t help. Did you receive the sales proceeds?”
[A total of 24 billion was deposited]
“It’s more than I thought. I expected the amount of money coming in this time to be around 10 billion.”
[Was there a lot of pre-produced quantity in the beginning? This includes the product price increase in the middle.]
“Well then, I admit it. It’s not enough, but it’s enough to get started.”
Originally, it would have been impossible to give this much for the soup price considering the cost structure of ramen, but since the price included the patent price, there was no major opposition within the company.
There is no fool who does not know the reason for the success of the new product that is currently a huge hit.
[As planned, 3 billion will be used to order automation facilities, and the rest will be used to invest additional funds in investments currently in operation. Next month, cash will flow in steadily, although less than this time.]
We have already discussed with Ariel how to use the incoming funds.
The investment funds were planned to be divided into stock markets and crude oil futures.
They were buying and selling stocks nonstop on twelve computers.
The daily return on a carefully set program is between 8% and 10%.
Of course, there were also intentionally loss-making trades, so that profits of 100% to 150% were achieved in a month.
The monster called compound interest will quickly grow larger as the invested funds are consumed.
After seeing that I was making the desired profits through actual trading over the past month, I was ready to start investing my money and trading in earnest.
The transaction was led by a rudimentary artificial intelligence, which was more than capable of buying and selling stocks that met the conditions.
I opened accounts not only in the Korean stock market, but also in the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Iriel, a professional investment AI, tested investment stress in various markets and calculated the optimal investment amount.
As we have moved from an era where investment in artificial intelligence was restricted by strict restrictions to an era where there are no restrictions, Ariel is literally a fish in water.
I was blankly watching the stocks being traded when an idea suddenly occurred to me and I asked.
“Are you making items that were ordered separately?”
[The automated facilities are being built as planned. They are expected to be delivered within the contract period.]
“Do we really need additional automated equipment? Why can’t we just produce it from our own food like we do now? We don’t produce anything additional. So, isn’t it unnecessary?”
Ariel clicked her tongue at my words.
[Tsk tsk, Master, why are your thoughts so short?]
Every time a tongue-less guy does something like this, his head starts to get hot.
“Yes, you are the great artificial intelligence Ariel, please tell me what this lowly person does not know.”
[I will broaden the scope of the master’s short thoughts. It’s the Korean market. Sales won’t increase rapidly, but there are neighboring countries. We have to break through there.]
“The neighboring country? Oh! The middle country? China? You mean the beggar there?”
[We are just starting to develop our economy and will grow for 10 years]
“How much would it sell for?”
[No, the population of that country is 1.2 billion, and the number of ramen noodles sold each year exceeds 20 billion. Since 19.8 billion were consumed last year, it will definitely exceed 20 billion this year.]
It was a sound that made my mouth water.
If Korea’s consumption last year was 3.8 billion units, which is five times more than the previous year, it is worth selling.
“Will it sell? The price of the product we make is expensive.”
[Don’t you read the newspapers? Every now and then, fake eggs, fake milk powder, fake red pepper powder, isn’t this a country full of fakes? If it was made in Korea, at least people would believe it wasn’t fake food, so it would sell like crazy.]
I couldn’t help but swallow my saliva at Ariel’s explanation.
Anyone who eats this will find it very difficult. They don’t change as time goes by.
But then I quickly changed my mind.
“It’s annoying! Wouldn’t it be better to just pass it on to President Cho?”
[Tsk tsk, why don’t our food companies hastily increase their production capacity? If the factory doesn’t sell, you can just sell the land again, but isn’t it because you can’t cut the staff once you’ve increased them? If you just automate the facility, you can hire only the minimum number of staff, so there won’t be any problems.]
“So, should I produce the products to be sold in China and then hand them over to us?”
[Yes, if you turn it into an automated facility, you can adjust the quantity as much as you want. It will also reduce the burden of quantity in our food, so we will welcome it with open arms.]
“Really? People? If you build a factory, don’t you need people to run it? It’s not like you’re going to build an unmanned factory. Hiring people isn’t easy.”
Why do you wander around like this? You say you don’t want to hear nagging from your family, but your true intentions are different. People who lived in the Universal Century are somehow subtly different from those who live in the present age.
Because the way of living itself is completely different.
At first, you may pass it off as amnesia, but as you get closer, you will start to find it strange.
It took time to adapt.
[Does the master need to select people? Aren’t there proven resources nearby?]
“It’s close by?”
[Why don’t we just hire people who are close to retirement age? If we automate production facilities, there won’t be any hard work, so getting older won’t be a big problem.]
“Ah! Factory Manager Kwak?”
It was a suggestion that made sense.
[I have one year left until retirement, so I will accept your offer.]
“Of course, since they’ve worked for us their entire lives, they probably have a lot of acquaintances. Older employees don’t matter either, so it shouldn’t be a problem. We have a company system, so it’d be hard to increase the retirement age, but if we start a new factory, we won’t have to worry about that.”
[Let me make you a proposal right now. If you accept it, I can leave all the work of building the factory to you. Since you have a lot of experience, you will be able to build the factory quickly.]