Fable
The blacksmith shop and the blacksmith: one makes tools, the other makes blades
In the town there was a blacksmith master, Old Zhou, who was highly skilled and ran a shop. He used to forge hoes and sickles himself, one piece at a time. Later he took on five apprentices, each specializing in one thing. Old Zhou made a set of fixtures himself—molds, stamping hammers, and annealing tanks—and the apprentices used this set of fixtures to forge knives of the same specifications, producing forty per day.
A merchant came to ask Old Zhou: Are you a blade smith or a jig maker? Old Zhou paused, then said he did both. The merchant said his shop needed a dedicated blade smith—would he take the job? Old Zhou thought it over and said no—I make jigs now; you take my jigs and go find someone who can forge blades.
The merchant did not understand. He returned to the city and spent three months preparing, bought two sets of fixtures, hired three blacksmiths who could forge knives, and also signed on a designer who specialized in studying new knife styles, opening a cutlery shop on the street corner. By opening day, Old Zhou went to take a look and only then realized that his set of fixtures was just one link in the cutlery shop—it made knives, but what truly took orders, discussed sizes with customers, set prices, handled after-sales, and collected payments was the operation of the whole shop.
The tool shop had been open for half a year when the navy yamen came to discuss an order. They wanted a blacksmith to go personally to the shipyard, bring tools, and test blade shapes together with the sailors, adjusting as they went. Ordinary tools were no longer enough. The tool shop assigned the order to its most seasoned blacksmith, who went to the shipyard carrying Lao Zhou's set of fixtures.
Old Zhou later went to the shipyard too, wanting to see how his fixture was used in the big order. He saw the blacksmith using his fixture to re-adjust the blade shape, make samples and submit for inspection — the fixture was very useful, but the party the navy office signed off on was the blacksmith himself, not the fixture. The purchase order bore the name of the tool shop, covering the blacksmith's labor, the fixture, consumables and inspection services.
A saying later became popular in the town: buying Old Zhou's blacksmith shop is buying capability; buying a knife from the cutlery shop is buying an outcome. Opening a blacksmith shop means you find the blacksmith yourself, decide the knife shape yourself, and take responsibility for quality yourself. Going to the cutlery shop means you pay a sum and receive a usable knife, with all the details in between handled by the shop.
Someone asked Old Zhou, since your fixture is so important, why not open your own tool shop? Old Zhou moved the newly arrived steel onto the fire and said, yes, but running a shop and making fixtures are two different trades; only after clearly separating the trades do you know whom to hire and what debts to owe.