The Mech Touch novel Chapter 985

In the following days, Ves went on a series of tours through the Kadar-Neyvis Group’s manufacturing complexes. They owned four in total, spread across different parts of Bentheim.

Jeff brought Ves to the Haston Complex first. Situated in the poorest city of Bentheim, the surroundings looked awfully rough, but those who worked here seemed happy and grateful to be working for the KNG.

"It must be very hard to base production in Haston." Ves idly commented as he casually inspected the entire plant under the guidance of one of the presiding mech designers.

"This is the old production plant of Neyvis Mechs back before the merger." The mech designer said. "We are a familiar institution in Haston. The Neyvis Family has a good relationship with the local Haston communities. By working together with the locals, we’ve managed to avoid the travails that other mech companies suffer when they think they can just drop down a factory here to take advantage of the cheap labor."

"What does the Neyvis Family do?" Ves asked, even though he already knew the question due to his prior studies.

Jeff answered this question quickly and confidently. "The Neyvis Family is a familiar mainstay in the Bentheim business community. They have long been in the banking and finance sector. Their Industrial and Commercial Bank of Bentheim has invested in many mech companies as well as many grassroots businesses. Eventually, Antoine Neyvis entered the mech industry and achieved great success, propelling him all the way to become the new head of the family!"

"Does that mean that Mr. Neyvis is also in charge of the family’s ICBB?"

"Not directly. The bank’s shares belong to the family’s estate, and every major decision requires the approval of the family. Nonetheless, the ICBB has increased their cooperation with the Kadar-Neyvis Group lately."

As a capital-intensive industry, the vast majority of mech company startups went heavily into debt to get their foot off the ground. The harsh competition and relatively high barrier for entry did not deter many hopeful young mech designers in trying to make it as a mech entrepreneur.

Most failed outright.

Many more barely managed to keep their heads above water.

However, the few wild successes paid off extremely well, especially if the bank held equity in the newly-founded mech companies.

These huge successes made it viable for banks to earn a profit despite investing in many failed ventures.

Even if too many mech companies they invested in failed for some reason or another, the banks usually claimed the collateral which would be put to good use in another company.

Ves figured one of the reasons why Neyvis Mechs managed to achieve success early on was because the Neyvis Family accumulated a substantial amount of insider know-how on how to operate a mech company.

Having invested in so many mech companies through the years and having witnesses so many successes and failures, the Neyvis Family already knew most of the pitfalls of the mech industry!

As Ves continued his tour throughout the Haston Complex, he became struck by the numerous production lines, large amounts of motivated personnel and the extremely complex supply chains intertwined in this central location.

The mech designer brought them to the rear section of the plants where warehouses and landing pads stored hundreds of freshly-fabricated frontline mechs packed in compact containers. Transports occasionally flew down to offload raw materials and pick up the mechs.

"The logistics of running a manufacturing complex that can pump out an arsenal of mechs is extremely intricate. We are involved with hundreds of suppliers, logistics firms and distributors who ship our mechs to where they are sold. Keeping our supply chains running with all of the uncertainties of war and business has been difficult, but we are more than up to the challenge!"

The Haston Complex shipped in a huge amount of raw resources and subsequently shipped out a large amount of cheap but very sizable mechs. This in turn meant that the KNG’s logistical efforts at this particular complex was the most large-scale and intensive operation of the entire company!

From the areas where the mech designer took him, Ves did not see anything amiss, at least on the surface. The large amount of people, the tight spaces and the overall level of monitoring and inspection left very little room for individuals to smuggle anything in or out of the complex.

However, as long as a substantial amount of key personnel were involved, something shady could still happen under the noses of everyone else. If Ves wanted to dig any impropriety out, then he needed to look into some of the personnel susceptible to these schemes.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to do so on this short visit.

"Thank you for the tour. Visiting this complex has opened up my eyes." Ves said.

"It is our pleasure to show off the KNG’s splendor, Mr. Larkinson." The bland mech designer responded.

Ves visited the three other manufacturing complexes of the KNG in turn.

The Ansel Complex was just as large as the Haston Complex. It used to be the center of production of the old Kadar Group and still pumped out spaceborn mechs to this day.

While the frontline mechs produced by the Haston Complex mostly sold for about 4 to 8 million credits, the mechs at the Ansel Complex could be bought for around 15 to 30 million credits.

This was still an extremely competitive price point, and Ves figured the profit margins were already rather skinny even during the good times.

The workers at the Ansel Complex generally appear to be more competent and diligent in their work. Subsequently, they were also much better paid.

"Ansel is known as the mech capital of this planet." The local mech designer explained. "While Ansel is famous for hosting its premier mech university, it is also known for educating some of the most best mech technicians in the Republic. Most of our mech technicians working here at our Ansel Complex come from those institutions."