Chapter 278: Chapter 274: Tinplate Lunch Box
Perfikot’s will and ideas were quickly implemented.
The Seventeenth Guards Division is now under Northern Territory management, and as a Lord, Perfikot naturally has the right to equip her army with what she deems necessary, even if it’s just a lunchbox.
There is naturally no opposition from Pignes Castle regarding Perfikot’s decision on this matter; on the contrary, they are very supportive, or rather, very welcoming of it.
After all, Perfikot placed orders with factories in Pignes Castle, which is like a blessing amidst a prolonged drought for a place with persistently high unemployment rates, although it cannot solve the problem immediately.
The local factories quickly signed contracts with Perfikot, and after she provided samples and specific parameter requirements, they soon produced the first batch of samples.
After all, it’s just a lunchbox; there’s no difficulty in making such a thing.
Although historically in the original world, such lunchboxes are more commonly made of aluminum, obviously, during this period in this world, there is no large-scale industrial capacity to produce aluminum, so they are still using iron.
Tinplate used for making cans has a certain strength and hardness, is easy to shape and weld, and is a very good material. Using it to make lunchboxes is naturally no problem.
Pignes Castle originally had relevant factories that produced military supply cans for the army, but with the end of the war, the troops stationed there no longer needed long-range rations, and soldiers could eat fresh food, so naturally, no one wanted to chew on cans.
However, this did not lead to the closure of the canning factories; instead, they turned to the civilian market. After all, canned foods that can be preserved for a long time are still useful and marketable to ordinary citizens.
Correspondingly, Pignes Castle also established relevant industries complementary to the canning plants, and a steelworks capable of producing tinplate naturally followed.
To some extent, the canning factories are considered one of Pignes Castle’s economic pillars; relying on canned sales to sustain operations has stabilized associated industries, preventing the unemployment rate from spiraling out of control.
Perfikot was not too satisfied with the tinplate lunchboxes produced by Pignes Castle, but considering that producing aluminum or stainless steel lunchboxes is unrealistic in this era, she had to make do.
Even if she could solve the related production technology with alchemy, this is not something a city like Pignes Castle, with industrial decline, can meet in terms of technical requirements.
Having inspected those factories, Perfikot’s evaluation was simply outdated and in dire need of upgrades.
As for tinplate, Perfikot is not unfamiliar with this material. After all, before she crossed over, various products using such materials weren’t scarce in the original world, especially with the preponderance of canned goods during Perfikot’s childhood.
What is called tinplate, more professionally or technically referred to as tin-coated steel sheet, is a cold-rolled thin steel sheet coated with a thin layer of tin on its surface. Its rust-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties, combined with being non-toxic and tasteless, made it a widely applied major material in food packaging before the emergence of stainless steel.
Using this material for lunchboxes may have issues like peeling of the tin coating after prolonged use, leading to less durability, but from the factory’s perspective, it’s seen as an advantage.
After all, if a lunchbox lasts for decades without breaking, wouldn’t that mean they could only sell it once?
These lunchboxes need replacing after a few years to bring the factory continuous orders and revenue.
Perfikot naturally understands this, but she wouldn’t make any special comments on it; she just insisted on utilizing enamel technology on the lunchboxes to enhance their lifespan.
Though enameling on tinplate may sound redundant, it is indeed a very practical approach.
Factories naturally dare not refuse Perfikot’s request, and for Pignes Castle, this is a life-saving new industry; they cannot lose this batch of orders.
But for Perfikot, Pignes Castle is not the only option she has.
Even though Pignes Castle does not have an enamel factory, they are gritting their teeth preparing to squeeze out funds for a technical upgrade to meet Perfikot’s requirements.
This doesn’t mean the factory owners of Pignes Castle value this order tremendously, although they indeed value it highly, not to the extent of upgrading factory technology for such an order.
Over the past decades, it’s not like Pignes Castle hasn’t encountered very important orders, yet none could prompt them to proactively upgrade factory production technology.
This time, the willingness to bite the bullet and squeeze out funds is partly because Pignes Castle’s situation has become increasingly severe, and life cannot go on without upgrading.
Another aspect is that Perfikot’s status indeed plays a certain role, but mainly the factory owners see potential markets for such lunchboxes, selling them not only to the army but also to workers.
At this time, factories did not kindly provide canteens for workers; most required workers to solve meal problems themselves, with the most they would offer being a bit of time for lunch.
Some factories that were willing to provide a lunch also required employees to prepare their own utensils.
From the factory owner’s perspective, they wished workers didn’t even eat lunch, so they could work an extra half hour, but that’s obviously unrealistic.
Therefore, shortening mealtime for workers became a primary consideration for these factory owners.
And while a small lunchbox might not seem conspicuous, it can shorten the time required for fetching and having meals, and makes it easy for workers to bring food themselves. In the eyes of the factory owners, this is a good thing, and they naturally see the market prospects for these lunchboxes.
These factors naturally affected the workforce in Pignes Castle because workers who originally faced unemployment due to low factory operation rates could return to the factories to find work, and the perpetually rising unemployment rate even faced its first decline.
This immediately put the Workers’ Federation, preparing for activity, into a passive position. They began to hesitate and ponder whether to still organize worker movements at this juncture, as causing disturbance now would largely impact the entire city.
But after some heated discussions, Kallen and the leaders of the Workers’ Federation still decided to initiate this movement and let the factory owners and officials of Pignes Castle suffer a bit.