Ardashir Machine Works

Ardashir Machine Works, a state-owned heavy industrial enterprise situated in the Governorate of Alalehzamin.

History

As the Benacian Union's industrial might grew in the early 1720s, so too did the demands for heavy equipment, machinery and manufactured components across many sectors. The rapid expansion of armaments and vehicle manufacturing required immense quantities of materials and specialised engineering products.

To meet these escalating needs, the decision was made in 1723 to charter a new state machine works in the city of Ardashirshahr, strategically located in the central Governorate of Alalehzamin. With its proximity to major rail lines and the River Elwynn, Ardashirshahr offered ideal logistics to receive raw inputs and distribute finished capital goods.

The new company, grandiosely titled the Ardashir Machine Works (AMW), was established as a industrial conglomerate under the oversight of the Legatine College for Industry, Resources, and Public Works. It began operations by nationalising and consolidating several smaller liveried companies in the region, incurring protests from the Guild of Artificers in the process.

Thousands of labourers, engineers and technicians were rapidly conscripted and brought together, many directly from the Benacian Labour Reserve's pool of forced labour. Overseen by technical experts recruited from industry, and managed by cadres from the Commission for the Sacred Treasury, AMW quickly took shape - retrofitting older facilities and breaking ground on massive new mill, factory and fabrication complexes.

Within four years, AMW's furnaces and assembly lines were operating at full capacity to manufacture a vast array of heavy machinery and industrial products to rigid state specifications.

AMW's output fed directly into Benacian military-industrial projects as well as being exported across the Raspur Pact via the Neridian Commodities Exchange. Company towns arose near the factory complexes, allowing the regimented and monitored daily cycling of conscripted workers from barrack housing directly to the production lines.

Product ranges

• Oil/gas processing components like storage tanks, pressure vessels and fractionating columns
• Power plant boilers, furnaces and heat exchangers
• Automotive products from engines and axles to freight vehicles
• Specialty metal products like alloy steels, flanges and industrial components
• Civil engineering and construction equipment like cranes, bridges and drilling rigs
• A wide range of pumps, valves and hydro-mechanical equipment for infrastructure
• And associated general machinery from lathes to high-temperature industrial furnaces.

Many products of the enterprise would be considered dual use, having civil and military applications.