CH42 - Dongguk Precision

"Equipment... Right, you need equipment to build. Young man, you think deeply. The future of our country is very bright. I like it."

The president patted me on the shoulder.

He was a man who loved construction.

It might be natural since the first step for a poor country to become a developing nation is construction.

"I will do my best with the personnel you send."

I am more interested in heavy equipment itself than in construction.

No, to be precise, I am interested in machines.

Since I have returned to the 1960s, I want to seize the driving force that propelled Japan's development.

Even after the bubble burst and the so-called lost of 30 years, Japan still thrives because of its advanced machinery industry.

Some experts claim it's due to Japan's unmatched material industry competitiveness, but in my view, that's only half true.

From the perspective of someone in heavy industry like me, the foundation of Japanese industry is precision machinery technology, including CNC.

Japan's rise to become the world's second-largest economy by the late 1960s was due to the massive success of products known as the three Cs: Color TV, Cooler (Air Conditioner), and Car.

All these industries require precision mechanical parts.

I intend to acquire that technology.

"We will send you the best talents. Teach them well."

"Leave it to me."

Starting with precision instruments isn't my specialty, and it's still too early.

What our engineers need is an opportunity.

Just as our soccer skills skyrocketed with more chances to play in Europe, our engineers' skills will explode if given the chance to examine American jeeps and heavy equipment.

We have brilliant minds, perseverance, and, most importantly, a determination to make a lot of money and live well, which is world-class.

Let's start with machine repair and move on to heavy equipment. Maybe it's because my knowledge base is in plants, but heavy equipment is much easier to understand than precision machines. You can see it with your eyes, for starters.

"When you return to Vietnam, depart from Jinhae. You can go straight to Quyen with the advance party of the Tiger Division. The Viet Cong are active everywhere, so be careful."

"Yes, sir."

As if reading my mind, he even arranged for a boat.

It made things easier.

"Go. Do your best."

"Yes, sir."

I quickly downed the symbolic bowl of makgeolli and left the Blue House.

Makgeolli in the 21st century is a harmonious blend of rice's sweetness and refreshing carbonation, but in the 1960s, it was just thick flour paste.

It seemed to symbolize the 1960s, which erased the essence of what liquor should be, pursuing extreme cost-effectiveness.

Suddenly, I missed the Korea of the 21st century.

'I should just make it myself.'

With that thought, I headed to Ulsan.

***********

Ulsan, Daese Chemical

"President Hwang."

"President, it's been a while. Are you hurt anywhere?"

Hwang Hyesung, the president, greeted me while scrutinizing me as if I were a soldier returning from the battlefield.

"I didn't even see a trace of the Viet Cong. More importantly, how is the progress here? I'm too curious to hold back."

I could ask over the phone, but seeing it myself is the most certain.

"I was wondering when I'd get to show you. Let's go."

Hwang Hyesung moved with brisk steps.

"Welcome, President."

"Thank you for your hard work, President."

"Yes, thank you. You've all worked hard."

As I walked, employees greeted me with bright faces.

Luckily, it was the expression of a well-running company.

After all, plants are industries where demand begets demand.

Supplying cheap naphtha increases demand, which leads to more production, lower prices, and even greater demand... it's a snowball effect.

"Look, President."

"Oh! You've already completed Unit 4."

It was astonishing. Even completing half of Unit 4 would have been fast progress, but they finished it.

Moreover, Unit 4 had appropriately sized pipes, and the welding quality seemed much better than before.

"Yes, I didn't expect it to be this fast either. Now, the employees just need the PFD you provided to get things done."

"Wow, there are many employees who can read PFDs now."

It was excellent news.

"Just as you said, dividing them into teams for the catalyst tank, main column, pipes, valves, etc., made everything work seamlessly."

"Indeed, dividing tasks is beneficial, right?"

"Yes, it's reassuring from a technical security perspective as well."

Fragmenting the organization is a double-edged sword, but they managed it well.

This meant that Hwang Hyesung, as the top manager, was excellently coordinating the overall team operations.

As expected, Hwang Hyesung had become an expert in reactor manufacturing.

'If only we could synthesize polyurethane in Unit 4, we could sweep the world...'

It was a pity, but it needed more time.

"Let's dedicate Unit 4 to polyester."

"Good. Do that."

With Unit 4 in operation, there would never be a shortage of yarn causing the factory to halt.

Once the merged company's utilization rate is up, Daese Industries will explode in growth.

"You should eat. Today's menu is seolleongtang, and you came at the right time."

Wow, now they serve seolleongtang in the company cafeteria.

"Sounds delicious. Let's go."

As time passed, Daese Chemical increasingly resembled the 21st-century plant I knew.

Meeting Hwang Hyesung was indeed a stroke of luck.

I had nothing to worry about here.

Let's head to Masan.

***

Younggwang Synthetic

"Masan, you say? This looks more like Changwon. Or was there no Changwon City at this time?"

Despite being at the entrance of Masan Bay, there were no wide roads.

In terms of location, it seemed to be near Changwon City in the 21st century, but the surroundings were all farmland.

It appeared that the Changwon I knew hadn't been created yet.

"Is anyone here?"

"What brings you here?"

"I am Woo Chan-soo, President of Daese Industries. I'm here to see President Park Dong-sik."

"Oh my, President Woo. President Woo is here!!!"

Upon hearing my name, the security guard bowed 90 degrees and shouted into the factory.

"Oh my, welcome. I am Park Dong-sik."

"Nice to meet you. I am Woo Chan-soo."

"Unfurl the banner! The banner!"

"Yes, President."

"Please, come this way, President Woo. This way."

Amusingly, as we stood in front of the factory, a banner was unfurled.

"Welcome. President Woo Chan-soo of Daese Industries visits. Younggwang Synthetic."

Clap clap clap clap clap.

All the factory employees came out and applauded.

They welcomed me so warmly it was almost embarrassing.

"I'm not here for such a grand reception. I just came by to say hello."

Honestly, I came to understand why they didn't betray us, but I couldn't ask outright.

"Since you're here, you should take a tour. What are you all doing? Go to your places so I can explain."

"Yes, President."

At Park Dong-sik's words, the employees dispersed like a receding tide and took their places.

The factory floor was clean, and the equipment was well-organized. It passed our company's stringent quality standards.

"Let's start here. This is where we inspect the incoming yarn to ensure it's up to standard."

"Oh, I see."

I thought it would just be a line tour, but it was quite impressive.

To think they did such meticulous raw material inspections in the 1960s.

"If the incoming yarn is normal, it can go through the twisting and spinning machines to be combined. Although Daese Industries supplies us with combined yarn, we can also handle just nylon and cotton."

"You have a lot of interest in machinery."

I expected only Karl Mayer knitting machines, but they also had twisting (combining yarn) and spinning (twisting yarn) machines.

"Yes, Younggwang Synthetic aims to nationalize all machinery. Although polytech is difficult and has a high defect rate, we will overcome it."

"Nationalization, you say?"

"Yes, everyone takes Karl Mayer knitting machines for granted, but in this rural area, once they break down, there's no place to properly repair them. We've had to grit our teeth and bear it many times. I thought I had to do something."

Park Dong-sik clenched his fists.

Judging by his expression, he was sincere about nationalization.

"Isn't this a Karl Mayer machine?"

I patted the knitting machine.

"Yes, it is on the outside, but most of the internals have been replaced by me."

"Really?"

"Would you like to see?"

Park Dong-sik, as if used to it, crawled under the machine. I lay down and followed him.

Before I knew it, Park had a flashlight in his hand.

"Ha ha, you've replaced all the parts."

Under the machine, the parts were different colours.

It seemed like he had inserted parts he made into a used Karl Mayer machine. It was basic parts copying, but such experience could lead to real nationalization.

"There's no problem when knitting tricot, but the diamond pattern of polytech is very difficult. The thread breaks or sometimes twists."

"It breaks or twists?"

"Yes."

Simple defects are the hardest to fix.

Because the cause is usually too simple.

"Turn on the machine."

"Turn it on? Then you have to come out."

"No, I'll stay here. Turn it on."

"The noise and dust will be terrible."

"Ha ha, just turn it on. Give me a mask."

I'm an engineer too. Dust and noise are daily things.

After a moment of hesitation, Park handed me a mask.

"Turning it on."

"Okay! Turn it on."

Whiiiiing. Chug. Chug. Chug. Chug.

Drums and various gears started turning.

When copying parts without official drawings, defects due to tolerance will inevitably occur.

In other words, there was a part rattling.

That part was likely the culprit.

Rattle. Rattle.

There it is. Found it.

The spindle gear was the problem.

Most engineers would think spindle gears are naturally rattling parts.

"Turn off the equipment and come here, President Park."

"Yes, sir!"

"Do you see this spindle gear? This is the culprit. This is a part you replaced, right?"

"Yes? This is defective? I measured the dimensions meticulously and cut it carefully."

"The gears' tolerances don't match. In this case, fill the gearbox with lubricant, reinforce it with a backing plate, and then seal it with plaster."

"Seal it with plaster?"

Sometimes we do this when fixing heavy equipment.

When gear tolerances don't match, you can force the gears to grind against each other.

The easiest way is to seal it with plaster or cement.

It's a brute force method, like locking two fighting friends in a room until they make up.

Of course, if they hate each other too much, they'll fight until they bleed, but in cases like this where the tolerances are borderline, they will make up when confined together.

"Would I make you fail, President Park?"

"Ha ha ha ha. Let's try it. Sounds fun."

He was a cheerful person.

He ran somewhere and came back with plaster in a basin, mixing it with water.

Watching him, I noticed something interesting.

He had erased the Karl Mayer logo on the knitting machine and carved "Dongguk Precision" on it.

"Dongguk Precision? Dongguk Precision Machinery?"

"Ha ha, that's my brother's company name. I asked him to make some parts, and he carved the company name on the equipment."

Park Dong-sik, Park Dong-guk?

What? Is Dongguk Precision owned by his brother?

"Your brother's name is Dong-guk?"

"Yes, my brother is Park Dong-guk."

I can't believe it, Dongguk Precision existed in 1965.

The old-timers used to say.

One of the most regrettable companies among domestic machinery companies was Dongguk Precision.

They said it was a company that developed sewing machines with purely domestic technology and earned two million dollars a year from exports.

Such a promising company was ruined after being merged with Daese Group, according to the old-timers who genuinely lamented it.

That's one of the reasons I dislike Daese Group even though I'm from Daese Group.

After mergers and acquisitions, they would only extract the technology and neglect further development.

Chairman Woo's philosophy was that it was much more efficient to buy technology than to develop it.

Dongguk Precision was one of the most regrettable companies that Daese Group had blocked.

I thought it was a company that appeared in the early 70s, but it had already been founded at this time.

"Would you like to visit my brother's factory too?"

"I will definitely visit next time. I have a tight schedule today."

I really wanted to go, but I had to get to Jinhae today. It wouldn't be too late to go after succeeding in nationalizing sewing machines.

"The plaster seems to have dried. Turn on the machine."

"Yes, sir."

When President Park turned on the knitting machine, the annoying noise was completely gone.

"President, your skills are amazing. I should be receiving lessons, not giving explanations."

"It's nothing. Rather, I'm relieved that you are diligently pursuing nationalization and managing well. Let's aim higher together."

"We are dedicated to following Daese's lead."

The atmosphere was very amicable.

I seemed to understand why they hadn't betrayed us.

They were considered eccentric by Samo.

If they had merged, they would have talked about strange things like nationalization, so Samo didn't actively coax them, and President Park himself was busy with his main job rather than weighing Samo and Daese.

But I could see their potential.

'When I return from Vietnam, I should set up a research lab here. Only for eccentrics.'

The location was also good.

Masan wasn't far from Ulsan, and it was perfect as a middle point considering expansion to Yeosu and Gwangyang.

I planned to dominate the South Coast.

"See you next time."

"Oh, at least have a meal."

"Ha ha, I have urgent business to attend to. This is my token of appreciation. Have a meal with the staff."

"Oh my, a cash gift..."

I handed President Park a packet and left the factory.

After checking the sites, I felt much more at ease.

I already had amazing people around me.

What I needed was money to elevate them to the level I wanted.

I had to extract as much money as possible from Vietnam.

"Let's go, let's go!"

I hurried to Jinhae.