Tag #125914 - Interview #98885 (Bitoush Behar)

I became much poorer after 10th November. I retired in 1980 and was getting the highest possible pension – 230 levs. Afterwards I was immediately hired again as a locksmith at the same plant that I had worked before. So I started completing my job as a worker again, I was standing at the vice again. I worked for ten more years. I was responsible for the maintenance of the instrumental equipment of the mass consumer goods shop. We were making door hinges, case hinges, shop shelves, we were making the Rubik’s cube, pegs, hairdryers. I was responsible for the entire instrumental maintenance. And that was the most creative period of my, how shall I put it, of my conscious manufacturing life. The boss whose subordinate I was would come and say: ‘Behar, do something because the people who are making this part are putting in too much effort and it’s too difficult.’ And I would go and observe the process, would look the people in the hands to see what they were doing. I would go there, take a seat, make drawings, would move to the machines – I am a technologist, I am a constructor – and start applying the new method and I would assemble the part, bring it to the workers and say: ‘OK, now, my girl, look now, see if this time you will assemble it more easily. Give it a try.’ In half an hour: ‘Wow, uncle Behar, that’s a good thing you have done, a very good thing indeed!’


I have another very interesting story to tell. There was an exhibition of all the shops in Bulgaria producing consumer goods and I went behind the sales stall. The guy standing behind the stall told me: ‘Behar, stay here for a while, I am a little fed up.’ And while he was away there came this guy and I said: ‘How can I help you?’ He was looking at me and said: ‘All you have shown here is very interesting but what I need is hinges. How many can you produce?’ ‘Tell me the quantities you need?’ ‘A really large quantity.’ And while this conversation was taking place I was estimating the time for which I could make new dies and asked him to be more specific about the amounts he would need. ‘Well, a million from each type. From each type.’ I was still thinking at that moment and told him: ‘No problem!’ But I had estimated that I could make one die for a week and that one die could cut 300 parts per minute, depending on the size. And that guy threw a business card on the counter – a director of ‘Raznoiznos’ Directorate. I immediately called the head engineer who said: ‘Have you gone mad?’ I replied: ‘Listen, we will make a mint from that.’ And we started right away – that guy would order 10,000 of that hinge, 40,000 – from another. I would take one of the boys working there and we would make three new dies. That dies provided for 12 people from that shop for eight years. Every year huge amounts of hinges were planned for manufacture.