Although expanding the production capacity of the Life Womb Factory was the most important task at hand, Alex's inspection of Rostov III was not limited to just that.
Riding on a high-speed train on the intercontinental commuter railway, Alex was discussing the production of Astartes equipment with 32.
Outside the window, the rapidly passing industrial zone flickered with the flames of countless Forges, and the cogwheel symbol of the Adeptus Mechanicus loomed between the chimneys.
"Currently, we have a very complete range of STCs for various Astartes equipment. Whether it's the discontinued equipment from the 30K Great Crusade Era or Archmagos Cawl's Primaris series, we now have STCs for all of them and can produce them," 32 said, still petting the cat, her mechanical fingers gently stroking the black cat's back.
Because they could directly exchange various STCs with Old Man Huang, they never lacked STCs.
The problem Alex and his team faced had always been a different one.
So, while stating these advantages, 32 also complained, "But our biggest problem now is insufficient production capacity! Even a simple weapon like a Bolter requires blessing and manual assembly by a Low-ranking Priest, which is very inefficient."
She pulled up a set of holographic data, showing the slowly moving Bolter components on the production line: "Not to mention larger items like Thunderhawks and Terminator Armor. We might not even be able to assemble one Power Armor set a year now."
"The production capacity is that low? Can't we use an assembly line?" Alex frowned, tapping the table lightly with his finger.
He wasn't surprised by the low production capacity; Astartes equipment wasn't illegal firearms cobbled together by Hive City gangs, so a slow production process was quite normal.
And at least it was only Low-ranking Priests performing the blessings. If it were the Grey Knights, every Nemesis Power Weapon in their hands would be a master-crafted weapon personally blessed by a Forge Master.
That was truly an outrageously low yield.
"Of course, I've thought of what you're thinking," 32 didn't find Alex's suggestion amateurish. She just shook her head, tapping the production chart on the data pad: "Even with assembly line division of labor, where each person is responsible for only one process, the production capacity only increases slightly.
Those sacred Machine Spirit blessing rituals and mechanical calibrations simply cannot be simplified."
She sighed, switching the holographic projection to the resource allocation interface: "Ultimately, too much of the production line is occupied by Titans, and coupled with the sheer volume of things we need to produce, our capacity just can't keep up.
Just maintaining the plasma reactors of Warhound-class Titans consumes the entire capacity of three refineries."
This was unavoidable. Although an entire planet's factories (even if factory coverage only reached 30% of the planet's surface area) were responsible for producing various items, the demand of an entire Sub-Sector was still too great.
On the surface of Rostov III, the chimneys of countless Forging factories continuously belched thick smoke day and night, yet still couldn't meet the demands of the front lines.
Not to mention, the supplies needed by the mortal troops in the Expeditionary Force alone included everything from Lasguns to bayonets, combat knives, power cells… and even lunchboxes and military boots.
Hundreds of thousands of cargo containers sent supply requests from the front lines every day, and quartermasters could only prioritize the most urgent orders.
This was a complete logistical system, capable of arming an Astra Militarum soldier from head to toe, while also ensuring he could fight, battle, and ultimately survive on the battlefield.
From gas mask filters to power cells, every component was crucial to a soldier's life or death.
This didn't even include heavy weapons and armored vehicles.
Because these items were produced separately, and most armored vehicles couldn't even be produced in Rostov and needed to be imported from other Forge Worlds.
Transport fleets often had to travel for months in the Warp to deliver a batch of precious armor to the front lines.
This was also one of the current helpless realities of the Imperium. With the Imperium of Man's technological level, it could handle most of the horrors in the galaxy.
From plasma weapons to graviton weapons, from anti-matter bombs to Void Shield technology, the Imperium of Man's armory never lacked terrifying creations capable of destroying stars.
But the decentralized industrial system and long supply lines made it difficult for these powerful weapons to exert their full potential.
An Expeditionary Force might lack a third of its standard equipment when it set out, and by the time they crossed several Star Districts to reach the front, most of the remaining equipment would be lost in Warp Storms.
Moreover, the Imperium of Man's productivity and production model made it difficult for the Imperium to produce enough equipment to arm the Imperial Army.
Each Forge World clung to its own production traditions and technical secrets, and the Adeptus Mechanicus's cumbersome rituals and dogmas made production efficiency outrageously low.
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