Most Households in the Western world are spacious enough to include an area that can be converted into a “Workshop.” The Workshop’s location could be inside the garage, basement, or a shed. It might even be a few rooms, or an entire building designed to facilitate the manufacture of finished goods. For the purposes of the SSE, the Student Government should know that the Workshops of the Student Body are designed to function as their way of “getting their foot into the door” of the VCS Economy’s Manufacturing Sector. It may be simple and rudimentary compared to the larger manufactories of the VCS Economy, but the Student Body has to start somewhere.
Given the smaller size of an average Workshop, it is to be expected that although the Work-Productivity (WP) will nowhere be as high as the WP of actual manufactories, the Quality of Arbeit is still good enough to warrant further investment. This comes at a period after the Death of Bretton Woods where the days of entire cities hosting huge industrial parks are becoming distant memories thanks to Globalization and Automation. And back in The Work-Standard (2nd Ed.), this Author has sought to find ways of revitalizing the American Rust Belt, some of which did involve a combination of Federal-State investments from the Federal and State governments. To buttress the conclusions of that endeavor, allow me to mention that the Workshops of an SSE are another way method of revitalizing the known Rust Belt of any Western nation other than the US.
Roles and Functions
A Workshop is ideal for tinkering and developing prototypes as a proof of concept, the Scale and Scope of its economic activities allowing for small, limited production runs. This can allow a potential craftsman to build some artisan wares which are characteristic of their own handiwork. If they have enough manpower, they might be able to create some more finished goods. Alternatively, the Workshop may decide to have a larger manufactory produce the parts for them so the craftsmen at the Workshop can assemble them. The Workshop can also facilitate repairs and tuning as well as sell modifications distinguishable from the stock factory models.
The operation of a Workshop could be coordinated with the efforts of a Small Business and Cooperative as part of an affiliated Guild. The Cooperatives might produce the Equipmentalities that are needed by the Workshops, creating finished goods out of the Equipmentalities and hauling them to Small Businesses where it will be sold for Actual Geld. With enough creativity, leadership and technical know-how, an entire logistical supply chain could be erected by the Student Body to create a steady stream of Arbeit and Geld from the production process.
Moreover, the Workshop could operate as its own Small Business and still be affiliated with their Guild. The craftsman creates their handmade artisan crafts and sell them at their Small Business. Since the Workshop and the Small Business are generally considered to be two separate economic organizations under the Reciprocal Theory of Value (RTV), whoever owns both will be able to create two separate sources of Arbeit and Geld within the same length of Zeit (Time).
Due to the fact that the Workshop can constitute as its own Small Business, it should not come as a surprise that the conclusions established regarding Small Businesses back in Section One are applicable here as well. In essence, the Workshop is what allows some Small Businesses to be able to operate in the Manufacturing and Services Sectors as well as conduct Life-Energy Charging (LEC) like the Cooperatives. That enables the Workshop to take on special orders which cannot otherwise be readily filled by larger manufacturers. It can even be able to sell its finished products on the National Intranet as part of the Digital Sector through eCommerce websites. Should that prove to be the case, the Workshop can be expected to create Digital Arbeit and Digital Geld. These capabilities are enhanced further if the Workshop is attached to a Small Business and creating two different sources of Actual Arbeit and Actual Geld.
Additionally, if the Workshop is of sufficient size and have the prerequisite production capabilities, it might be in the position to create Military Arbeit and Military Geld. In this context, the Workshop is capable of manufacturing special matériel intended for niche combat roles or to be deployed by the reserves of the armed forces. One good example is the ability of a Workshop to be servicing and repairing a potentially cheaper alternative to the “Main Battle Tank (MBT),” the “Miniature Armored Fighting Vehicle (MAFV).” Aside from providing maintenance of MAFVs and other military vehicles, the Workshop is also the best economic organization to manufacture MAFVs or perform conversions of their civilian equivalent, the “Miniature Automated Tractor Vehicle (MATV),” into military-grade variants. Should that be the case, the craftsmen of the Workshop will be accompanied by a “Miniature Automated Repair Vehicle (MARV).”
The key takeaway from Workshops is their flexibility in performing a variety of intended roles and functions within Production for Dasein. The flexibility is complimented by the fact that it can easily convert its production capabilities toward other purposes beyond their original functions, something that would a longer period of Zeit for the regular manufactories of the VCS Economy’s Manufacturing Sector. A single Workshop could be attached to a Small Business as part of the Services Sector, offer its wares on an eCommerce website in the National Intranet for the Digital Sector. That flexibility is what also enables the SSE to be capable of creating additional sources of Actual Arbeit and Actual Geld, Digital Arbeit and Digital Geld, and Military Arbeit and Military Geld. Those who are training to become future Economic Planners and Inspectors will be able to apply their education and training in actual practice as part of MTEP (Mission-Type Economic Planning). These traits should give them the opportunities they need to gain valuable experience.
Operation of Workshops in Guilds
In spite of these inherent advantages, the Student Government should realize that the capabilities of Workshops are only possible because they are relying on the rest of the SSE for its economic livelihood. If something where to happen to the other Small Businesses and Cooperatives, the Workshops will grind to a halt. It is because of this particular Implicit Intent that it would be best that the Workshops, like the Small Businesses and Cooperatives, be organized as part of a Guild. Their smaller size and production capabilities limit them to the status of PDEs, POEs, and NSEs. Similarly, the Workshops will also need larger Enterprises controlled by the SSE to reap full extent of their aforementioned benefits.
There are two other Enterprises which are of strategic importance for the logistical supply chain of the SSE. Those are the “Department Store” and the “Supermarket.” Note that not all Department Stores and Supermarkets will be operating under the overview of the Student Government. For the ones which are overseen by the Student Government, its Economic Planners and Inspectors in training should consider having the Workshops manufacture special products to be sold at the Department Stores and Supermarkets. These items will be exclusive to those which are attached to the Student Government’s SSE, so they will not be found among the Department Stores and Supermarkets in the regular VCS Economy. The rest of the Workshop’s Guild should do their parts to ensure that their own activities will support the activities of the Workshop.
The Explicit Intent here is to provide the Workshops with two additional areas where their wares can be sold. Special Work-Plans, preferably those of the Four-Year variety, will need to be arranged with the Kontor (Financial Office) to harness the potential of the Workshop with those kinds of Enterprises. That should be enough to allow the participating Workshops to promote the skills and talents of their craftsmen because Department Stores and Supermarkets cater to customers outside of the SSE, namely the Totality of the Socialist Nation.
Another Explicit Intent worth mentioning involves the Workshop obtaining its Equipmentalities in addition to those sent from the Kontor. The Student Government should consider looking into operating other Enterprises devoted to processing anything that never got sold at the Department Stores and Supermarkets and breaking them down into new Equipmentalities. Another set of Enterprises could also be established where the resale of heirloom or rare specialty items produced by the Workshops can be arranged in advance. These two Enterprises are referred to as the “Second-Hand Store” and the “Antique Store,” both of which supplement the logistical supply chains of the SSE.
All four of these Enterprises will be discussed over the course of three Entries within Section Two. Their own roles and functions are to be further elaborated and explored in comprehensive detail to demonstrate how they fit in with the activities of the Cooperatives, Small Businesses, and the Workshops. The overarching aim is to describe how they are integral parts of the educational curricula of those training to become Economic Planners and Inspectors, not to mention an extended discussion about any “Household Appliances” which are created by Workshops and sold at the Department Stores and Supermarkets. Everything else will be discussed later on in their own Entries as they become relevant.
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