The Mech Touch

emergency board meeting to discuss the imminent future of the LMC.

He found it kind of annoying that the board decided to convene without his permission, but the circumstances really did call for a major shift in direction.
Ves walked past the foyer and entered the elevator up to the mech broker ’s office.

”Marcella. ”

”Ves.
You ’re here! The board is already waiting.
Let ’s enter the conference room. ”

The conference room in her office looked swankier than his own.
Various precision models of past models adorned the crevices in the walls.
Ves paid little attention to those details and took his seat at the head of the table.
The projectors flared to life as soon as he did.

A total of eight people had gathered to discuss the the dilemma facing the LMC.
Marcella took the word.

”As you know, Michael Dumont issued a challenge to Ves. ” She began.
”Unless you ’ve been living under a rock, then you already know the outcome.
Right now, both the Blackbeak and Ves have gained prominence throughout the Republic, but that won ’t last for long.
With how fast the media works, any attention directed to us will fade by the end of the week. ”

”How are our sales faring so far? ”

”We ’ve sold out our initial production run of twenty-five gold-label Blackbeaks. ” Ves responded.
”It will take a little less than two months to complete this order. ”

”That ’s not enough! Mrs.
Bollinger, how high is the demand for the new model? ”

”They ’re constantly knocking at my door.
My estimate is that if we prepared five-hundred mechs, we could have sold them out within the day.
This is only possible due to all of the hype that followed the duel.
Our failure to meet this spike in demand will potentially cost us billions of credits in lost opportunities. ”

The news sounded very painful to Ves.
By failing to build up a stockpile or declining to expand their production capacity, the LMC effectively waved away an opportunity to cash in on their fifteen minutes of fame.
While they didn ’t actually lose any money, their lack of preparations effectively meant they flew past a pile of free cash.

”There ’s a way for us to salvage this situation. ” Another director stated.
”I ’ve proposed this before, and I think it deserves another chance.
We should partner up a third-party manufacturer and leave the mass production of the Blackbeak up to them.
I know several parties in Bentheim that will be eager to enter a contract with us for the right to produce a popular design. ”

Ves liked to maintain control over his own products, which was why he rejected the suggestion out of hand.
The director ’s ties to those mech manufacturers also seemed rather shady.

He shook his head.
”I ’m still have a lot of qualms about the quality of the products by an external manufacturer.
Any major defects will reflect back to us, which will tarnish our reputation as a premium mech manufacturer. ”

Sadly, out of all the board members, Ves remained the sole holdout on this topic.
Every other board member including his own grandfather indicated that they wished to outsource production!

”Ves, I understand why you treat the company that you founded like a baby, but you are stifling its potential. ” Marcella explained to him.
”There is nothing unusual about contracting out the production of a design.
That ’s why the license model exist.
Any faults resulting from shoddy fabrication will mainly reflect on the contracted company.
We ’ll only get the blame if your design is at fault. ”

The meeting somehow moved on to inspecting a handful of quick-thinking mech manufacturers that applied to mass produce the Blackbeak on the LMC ’s behalf.
They all wanted to waive the massive 3 billion credits licensing fee in favor of slightly higher per-unit royalty fees.
All of the manufacturers had low-balled their offers, but many things could still be changed when they entered talks.

They narrowed down the list to three possible companies, one of which had been recommended by director from Bentheim.
The other two manufacturers possessed their own merits, as they had a long track record of producing various models on behalf of other mech designers in decent numbers.

”Maybe we should contract all three of them? ”

”That ’s not a good idea.
We don ’t know how the current tide in demand will last.
The Blackbeak is still an expensive design.
Even if you lower the price to 50 million credits, there aren ’t enough buyers in the local market to snap them all up. ”

”Then we should expand our reach throughout the entire Komodo Star Sector! The Blackbeak has proven itself in battle.
I ’m sure that we can find some foreign partners to work with to make that happen. ”

”Let ’s not move too quickly. ” Marcella cautioned the high-flying directors.
”First, we have to solve our problems close at home before we can think of entering another market. ”

Despite the Bentheim director ’s clamoring to hand over a contract to his preferred firm, the board decided to pit the three companies against each other by allowing them to enter some kind of bidding process.
The mech manufacturer that offered the most attractive conditions won the opportunity to enter into a contract with the LMC.

”What do you think, Ves? Do you agree with the plan we ’ve hashed out? ” Marcella gently prodded him.
She knew how sensitive he could be about this issue.
”The best way to go forward is if you establish another product category that sits below your current silver label offerings.
Let ’s call it the bronze label.
This can be an exclusive label that you can apply to mechs made by outside parties. ”

Ves had remained silent throughout the discussion.
He still felt rather ill about the whole thing.
Bronze label? He might as well call it the trash label.
However, deep down he knew that his company would be better off if it could borrow the production capacity of another mech manufacturer.

He bent his head until his chin hit his chest and considered the matter deeply for a few minutes.
Eventually, he gave up.
”Alright.
Let ’s contract the bronze label to a third-party manufacturer.
I do want to add that the contract better include strict language on quality control. ”

The board had been waiting for that answer.
With his assent, they formed a brief set of goals for the coming month.
While Ves adjusted the BP-A-01 ’s design for mass production, the LMC had to find a partner by the end of the week.