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Chapter 76 - A Long Journey[]
22 June 2787
Mackolla (Federated Suns)
Smythe Mining and Metals was up and running smoothly and currently stockpiling both raw material and finished metals for when all the companies came back online. The smaller mining outfits on Mackolla complained loudly to Governor Nelson about the loss of business since Smythe Mining started full operations, to which Timothy Smythe had replied "Compete or die" when confronted by the smaller outfits. None of the smaller mining companies or even combined would be able to provide the amount of material Mackolla Enterprises would consume once they were all fully operating, but Smythe Mining and Metals could easily with leftover capacity.
Trimble Precision Machinery had just finished a test run and announced that they were ready to begin taking orders. Gerald Mitchell had his order for Mackolla Special Metals waiting, bumping into the head of the line, before anyone else, placing an order for three exact duplication of the Endo Steel manufacturing equipment they already had. This would bring them up to 40 tons of Endo Steel per month. This had been met with a small laugh from Unger Trimble.
"Sir, that is a small portable setup. Each line only makes 10 tons of Endo Steel per month. I provided much of the manufacturing equipment for every outfit on New Earth and beyond. You want the ES500 setup. It can produce up to 5,000 tons per month at maximum output. It was usually installed in a 17,000-ton orbital station. It is fully automated, just feed it the raw material and it does the rest. Newhart Industries alone is going to eat up 1,000 tons per month when they get fully up to speed, it was what they used at New Earth. Two hundred million for the ES500, take us about four months to get her fully built, but you will need a station to mount it inside of. Then we can test it all out before you put into production. Better hurry, because Smythe is ruthless when he smells an opportunity for a profit. I am sure it will not take long before he is placing an order for one to fill the void." Unger Trimble said
"Then start working on that ES500, me and Mister Smythe are going to have a small talk about where my folks are going to be buying their Endo Steel from. If Smythe comes calling, send him to see me. He got first dibs for the building, but he is down the line some for new manufacturing equipment. Newhart Industries comes next, I want them up and running as soon as possible. Then we will decide who comes next." Gerald Mitchell replied
Excellent Electronics had just finished moving into their new building and getting all their machinery set back up. They needed another two weeks of testing before they would be ready for new orders.
Froy Industries were in the process of installing their manufacturing equipment. Both the surviving lines but also the spare equipment they had brought with them. The only lines that were not being installed were the ammunition production, these needed special hardened buildings far away from everything else and were not completed yet. Froy Industries was also getting the production equipment that had been brought from Terra by General Mitchell. She had laid out the production lines as close as she could to what she had on New Earth to make it easier on her employees. Once fully operational Froy Industries would be able to manufacture:
-Double Heat Sink - Two Lines - Maximum Production of 1,000 per month, 500 per line
-M7 Gauss Rifle - One Line - Maximum Production of 10 per month
-Ail Arrow IV - One Line - Maximum Production of 5 per month
-Blankenburg 25 - One Line - Maximum Production of 8 per month
-Holly Mk II - One Line - Maximum Production of 6 per month
-Defiance P5M - One Line - Maximum Production of 14 per month
-Defiance P5S - One Line - Maximum Production of 20 per month
-Thumper Artillery - One Line - Maximum Production of 4 per month
-Blankenburg Large Pulse - One Line - Maximum Production of 6 per month
-Multi Use Standard Laser - Three Line - Maximum Production of 10 per month, per line
She had made sure when helping lay out the building plans to leave room for future expansion and each section could handle another complete manufacturing line whenever there was space for Trimble Precision Machinery could fit her in, which could be a few years down the road at the current pace she was seeing, but at least Froy Industries could start earning some much-needed money.