Chapter 106: Off the Board (Fourth Update, Please Vote Again)
Everyone became serious when they heard Zhou Heng talk about business. Qin Zhongnian stopped attacking Tang Zifeng. He had to admit that although Tang Zifeng was a bit messy about some small things, he was indeed a capable person. In business, I am afraid that we really need such sharp-edged people.
"...That's roughly the situation."
Tang Zifeng introduced everyone in detail about the trip to Xizhong, and then analyzed:
"Currently, Xizhong's attitude is more hesitant. Importing heavy boring machines from abroad is technically guaranteed and can show the strength of the factory. This is the reason why they prefer importing. However, the price of imported equipment is high and the after-sales service is poor. It was quite a headache. Director Zhou asked Mr. Xu to come forward and say hello to Xizhong. There was also some pressure on Xizhong. After all, the national policy was to encourage the use of domestic equipment, and Xizhong also had to consider this factor.
"I think that when Xizhong gave us three months to design a new type of heavy boring machine, it gave us the decision-making power. If we can come up with a design that is no worse than imported equipment within three months, Xizhong will have nothing to say. It can be said that the order will be given to us for the sake of price. But if we cannot come up with a qualified design, they will not have a psychological burden and can freely import from abroad."
"I agree with Xiao Tang's analysis." Wu Weiqin said, "I used to work at Hongbei Heavy Machinery, and our factory also bought imported equipment. In fact, everyone is very conflicted about buying imported equipment. On the one hand, imported equipment is indeed It is more advanced and more convenient to use. But on the other hand, the price of imported equipment is too expensive. Not only the price of the equipment, but also the price of various spare parts are also horrifyingly expensive.
"There is also the issue of maintenance. Asking foreign technicians to come to China to repair it costs a lot of US dollars per hour, and the calculation is based on the time of boarding the plane from abroad. Isn't this a scam? For some minor faults, we ourselves It can be repaired, but people said that as long as you have touched the machine, the warranty will no longer be provided. What do you think this is? In contrast, buying domestic equipment does not have such troubles. Our own country’s manufacturers have everything. It’s easy to negotiate, isn’t it?”
Zhou Heng said: "There are also national policy factors. The reason why Xizhong applied for foreign exchange from the ministry is that this kind of heavy boring cannot find a substitute product in the country. If we can design heavy boring of the same level, Xizhong has no reason Since last year, the country has tightened its foreign exchange controls, and Xichong also needs to consider the political impact."
"So, it depends on whether we can win it." Qin Zhongnian sighed.
Tang Zifeng said: "Chief Engineer Qin, please don't feel any pressure. Even if the technical department cannot get this design, no one will blame you. At that time, I will say that it is because I have not reached an agreement with Xizhong. It’s not that you, Chief Engineer Qin, are incompetent.”
"..."
"Hahahaha, Xiao Tang, you are too bad!" Ning Suyun burst out laughing. Tang Zifeng was not helping Qin Zhongnian relieve his pressure, but he was clearly motivating the general. Qin Zhongnian was a technical authority and a loyal person, so everyone in the room was embarrassed to put pressure on him. Only Tang Zifeng, a middle-aged man, could speak so openly and push Qin Zhongnian over the cliff.
"It takes three months to come up with the design drawings of a new heavy boring machine, which is quite difficult." Qin Zhongnian did not pursue Tang Zifeng's evil intentions, but explained to everyone in a very serious manner:
"Heavy boring is a traditional product of our Linyi Machinery, but because it is a traditional product, our current design is a bit outdated. Yesterday I took a look at the needs of Xizhong that Han Weichang brought back, and they still have quite a few requirements. It is mainly combined with CNC technology, requiring the addition of automatic head change, bidirectional feeding, automatic compensation of boring tools for deep hole boring, etc. These technologies are not difficult ones, and we have basically mastered them. But It will take some time to integrate these technologies into a heavy boring machine.”
"Three months is not enough?" Tang Zifeng asked, "The last time we designed a baler, it was equipment we had never built before. Didn't it take ten days to complete it? After all, we have a foundation for heavy boring. You just We need to add something to this foundation, but why do I think three or five days is enough?"
Three-thirds of these words are out of ignorance, and the other seven-thirds are Xiao Tang's habitual arrogance. Of course, he knew that even if there was an original design, adding a number of new functions, especially when converting from traditional manual machine tools to CNC machine tools, would require a very large amount of design work, and it would not be enough in just three to five days. However, in his mind, he always felt that spending three months on a design would be too procrastinating. If it was one month, or one and a half months, it would still be acceptable.
Regarding the three-month time limit, Han Weichang told Zheng Mingyuan when he was in Xizhong. Han Weichang is aware of the difficulty of design, but he has spent more time doing business with Tang Zifeng, and he also knows the importance of catering to customers. He knew very well that if he told Zheng Mingyuan that it would take half a year or half a century to design a heavy boring machine, Zheng Mingyuan would kick them out without hesitation. How could he give them a chance?
His idea at the time was to make a three-month commitment first, and then find a way to delay it for a few months. If he worked overtime on his side, he might be able to complete the design.
Tang Zifeng didn't understand this. He regarded the three months mentioned by Han Weichang as a bargaining strategy. He thought that Lao Han deliberately said more time to leave room for further negotiations.
Zheng Mingyuan and Zhu Qilin from Xizhong are also knowledgeable people. They know that the three-month time limit is very tight. Of course, it is impossible to compress this time limit. Instead, they just made a statement and asked Linyiji to keep this promise, otherwise it will Don't blame Xizhong for not giving him face.
In industrial affairs, it is true that laymen only see the excitement, while experts only know the rules. Tang Zifeng was full of wits when discussing business, and when it came to professional issues, he often made jokes.
Qin Zhongnian knew about Tang Zifeng's shortcomings. He did not laugh at Tang Zifeng's ignorance. Instead, he patiently explained: "Xiao Tang, you don't understand. To transform a traditional heavy boring machine into a CNC heavy boring machine, there are many problems. Modifications need to be made. Some places may just be small adjustments, such as changing the size of a part a few millimeters smaller, but this also requires redrawing the drawing.
"The progress of designing the baler last time was fast because the structure of the baler was relatively simple, the number of parts was small, and there were not many things to calculate, so it was relatively fast to do. But even so, everyone in those days was Have you seen how you work overtime?
"This time we need to design and re-boring. The number of parts has increased several times. The matching relationship of some parts has to be adjusted repeatedly. If it is not correct, it will have to be redesigned. It will definitely take much more time than the baler. Three months , if everyone works hard, it is not impossible, but the pressure is indeed very high.”
"It's still the old method. There must be a brave man under the heavy reward." Tang Zifeng said matter-of-factly.
Zhou Heng shook his head and said: "There must be incentive policies, but incentives are not omnipotent. Human energy is limited, and we cannot make everyone work overtime again and again. This is not sustainable. After all, design is still Mental work makes everyone too tired, and creativity is gone.”
"Is it mental work?" Tang Zifeng said with a smile, "Why do I think that engineers' design is manual labor? I visited the drawing room of the technical department and saw everyone wearing sleeves to draw pictures. It’s no different from workers working in a workshop.”
Qin Zhongnian couldn't laugh or cry: "You think you don't need to use your brain to draw pictures? Of course, drawing is indeed a physical job and takes up a lot of time and energy."
Tang Zifeng's eyes lit up: "Hey, Chief Engineer Qin, if you don't tell me, I've forgotten. It's 5991 now. Why is our technical department at Linyi Machinery still drawing pictures by hand? If it were replaced by CAD or something, it would be Wouldn’t it be possible to increase efficiency exponentially?”
"What year 5991?" Qin Zhongnian couldn't accept Tang Zifeng's language habits, but he immediately turned his attention to the topic Tang Zifeng said: "Are you talking about dumping the drawing board? The Mechanical Department is promoting this matter , but now our conditions are not mature yet.”
"What is drawing board?" This time it was Tang Zifeng's turn to be confused. Why does it sound like the name of a mass sport?
Qin Zhongnian smiled and said: "It's what you said about using CAD to draw drawings. Now some units in the country are using computers to draw drawings, which is equivalent to throwing away the original drawing tablets, so it is commonly known as throwing away the drawing board. I When I was at the design institute, I also drafted a report for instructions to the ministry, proposing that the national machinery system should launch a drawing board throwing movement. By the year 2000, 50% of state-owned machinery enterprises should get rid of the drawing board, like our Linyi Machinery Co., Ltd. Such a large state-owned enterprise must be 100% off the board.”
"Then why not do it?" Tang Zifeng asked.
"How can it be so easy?" Qin Zhongnian said, "The biggest obstacle to getting rid of the drawing board is the problem of funds. A computer costs tens of thousands of yuan, right? I specifically inquired about a set of imported CAD software, and it cost more than 20,000 yuan. Yuan. Even if our technical department purchases 50 sets of equipment, plus software, it will cost two to three million. How can our factory come up with so much money?"
Tang Zifeng looked at Qin Zhongnian and asked: "Chief Engineer Qin, let me ask, if you provide the technical department with 50 sets of equipment, including software, how much can you improve the design efficiency?"
Qin Zhongnian thought about it seriously and said: "I think it is no problem to improve it by more than three times. For example, the design of this heavy boring machine cannot be replaced by computers, but the workload of drawing can be huge. The magnitude is reduced. If there are enough equipment...well, someone will need to help with training. I think it is possible to come up with a design that satisfies Xizhong in two months."
"This matter is all on me!" Tang Zifeng said, patting his chest.
I fought hard for the monthly ticket...