Chapter 504 A Difficult Task
Zhou Yimin was in the office, fishing for a while, and soon the bell for the end of get off work rang.
After get off work, Zhou Yimin returned to the courtyard where he lived.
After a busy day, he just ate something simple and went to bed early.
Thinking about catching the pigs tomorrow, he quickly fell asleep.
The next day, before dawn, Zhou Yimin woke up from his sleep.
He washed up quietly, then closed his eyes and summoned the magical shop in his mind.
He searched carefully in the store and finally found a big fat pig. After spending some money, he successfully bought it.
Zhou Yimin came to the yard and it took him a lot of effort to tie the pig securely to the back seat of the motorcycle.
Everything was ready, he got on his motorcycle, started the engine, and drove towards the steel plant.
Along the way, the morning breeze gently brushed across his face, bringing a hint of coolness.
There were not many pedestrians on the road. Occasionally there were a few workers who got up early to work and saw the huge thing on the back seat of Zhou Yimin's motorcycle from a distance.
When they got closer and saw that it was a fat pig, they couldn't help but widen their eyes, their faces full of surprise and envy. One of the young workers pointed at Zhou Yimin and said excitedly to his companions: "Look, isn't that Section Chief Zhou! He's here to get meat for the factory!"
Another worker responded excitedly: "Oh my goodness, now we can eat meat. It can finally satisfy our craving!"
For a moment, the workers around gathered around, pointing and talking at Zhou Yimin and the pigs in his cart, their eyes full of anticipation.
Zhou Yimin rode his motorcycle all the way and soon arrived at the gate of the steel plant.
Director Zheng had been waiting there for a long time. He kept looking around, his eyes full of anxiety.
When he saw Zhou Yimin appear, he immediately walked up to him quickly.
Zhou Yimin stopped his motorcycle, and Director Zheng walked up impatiently and carefully checked the pork on the motorcycle, muttering: "Oh, it's a big fat pig! This is great! The workers must be very happy!"
He raised his head and said to Zhou Yimin with a smile on his face: "Yimin, you really helped a lot! Thank you so much!"
Zhou Yimin smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Director Zheng, you are too polite. This is all for the people!"
He also knows what to say in different situations.
Director Zheng also quickly responded: "Yes, it's all for the people!"
He quickly called a few workers for help. With their help, Zhou Yimin successfully unloaded the pork from the motorcycle and transported it to the factory's warehouse for storage.
After finishing all this, Zhou Yimin returned to his office.
He sat comfortably in the chair and stretched himself, thinking that he could finally take a break and be lazy for a while.
He hummed a little tune and began to fiddle with some small objects on his desk, enjoying this rare leisure time.
However, the good times did not last long.
Just as Zhou Yimin was immersed in this moment of relaxation, the office door was suddenly pushed open.
Zhou Yimin looked up and saw Director Hu walking in with a serious face. Zhou Yimin's heart skipped a beat and he immediately had an ominous premonition.
He thought to himself: Is there some problem in the factory that needs my help to solve?
Before Zhou Yimin could ask, Director Hu quickly walked to his desk and said solemnly, "Yimin, we have encountered a big problem this time. Our superiors have just given us an urgent task, requiring our steel plant to produce a batch of steel with special specifications in a short period of time."
Zhou Yimin couldn't help but frowned slightly after hearing this, and asked doubtfully: "Director, shouldn't this kind of production task be given to the technical backbone of the factory? It doesn't seem appropriate to tell me."
Director Hu sighed helplessly and said, "Yimin, you don't know. The previous tasks assigned by the superiors were successfully completed with your help.
Now, everyone in the factory has become dependent on you, and when there is a problem, they think of you first.
The superiors know your ability and have specifically named you to take the lead in this task. We all believe that as long as you are here, no matter how difficult the task is, our factory can complete it on time."
After hearing what Director Hu said, Zhou Yimin secretly groaned in his heart.
He knew that he was being roasted on the fire.
But looking at Director Hu's expectant eyes, he really couldn't bear to refuse.
After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Yimin gritted his teeth and said, "Director, since everyone trusts me so much, I will give it a try. However, I have to understand the specific requirements of this special specification of steel before I can think of a solution."
"Also, after all, I'm not a professional, so I may not succeed."
When Director Hu heard that Zhou Yimin agreed, he was overjoyed. He held Zhou Yimin's hand tightly and said excitedly: "Yimin, thank you so much! I knew you wouldn't refuse.
I have already asked someone to sort out the specific requirements of this task and will send it to you right away. If you need anything, just let me know and the factory will fully cooperate with you!"
He also believed that as long as Zhou Yimin helped, this matter would surely succeed.
After saying that, Director Hu hurriedly left the office to arrange related matters.
Zhou Yimin leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.
He was fully aware of the difficulty of this task. The production of steel of special specifications not only required advanced technology, but also the transformation of existing equipment, and more importantly, ensuring that every link in the production process was correct.
But Zhou Yimin had no room to retreat. Since he had already agreed, he could only do his best.
Not long after, a young technician walked into Zhou Yimin's office holding a stack of documents.
He placed the information on Zhou Yimin's desk and said respectfully, "Section Chief Zhou, this is the detailed requirements for this special steel production task, as well as the factory's existing equipment parameters and other related information. Please take a look and feel free to ask me any questions you have."
Zhou Yimin nodded and said, "Okay, thank you for your hard work. Go ahead and do your work. I'll find you if I need anything."
After the technician left, Zhou Yimin opened the stack of information and began to study it carefully.
Only then did he realize that the problem was more complicated than he had imagined. The production process of this special steel was almost unheard of in that era, and the purity and strength of the steel were extremely high.
Moreover, the existing equipment in the factory is far from the equipment required to produce this type of steel, and it is extremely difficult to transform it.
Zhou Yimin frowned, looking at the information while thinking of various solutions in his mind.
He recalled some metallurgical knowledge he had learned in modern times and tried to find some inspiration from it.
After some thought, he felt that he could try to start by optimizing the production process and adopting a new smelting process.
Although this process is not widely used in this era, it is theoretically feasible.
However, to implement this process, a series of modifications to the equipment are needed, as well as relevant training for the workers.
Zhou Yimin knew very well that relying on his own strength alone was far from enough.
He decided to call an emergency meeting of the factory's technical backbones and relevant persons in charge to discuss countermeasures.
He could only seek help from Director Hu. After Director Hu learned about this matter, he immediately summoned all the technical staff in the factory to a meeting.
Soon, the conference room was full of people.
Everyone knew the importance of this meeting, and everyone had a serious expression as they waited for Zhou Yimin to speak.
Zhou Yimin stood up, cleared his throat, and said, "Everyone, I believe everyone has already known the task assigned to our factory by our superiors this time. To be honest, it is very difficult, but we cannot back down.
I called you all here today to listen to your opinions and work together to come up with a feasible solution.”
Then, Zhou Yimin introduced in detail the production requirements of this special steel and some of his initial ideas.
As soon as he finished speaking, the conference room exploded with people expressing their opinions.
Some technicians thought that the new smelting process proposed by Zhou Yimin was too risky and worried that problems would arise in actual operation. Others felt that the equipment modification project was too large and time was tight, and it might be difficult to complete.
Facing everyone's doubts and concerns, Zhou Yimin patiently explained: "I know everyone's concerns. This new smelting process does have certain risks, but we cannot shrink back because of fear of risks.
Theoretically, it is completely feasible. And how can we know that it is not possible if we don't try?
As for the equipment transformation, although the workload is large, we can arrange the time reasonably and everyone works together, so we will definitely be able to complete it on time."
After an intense discussion, everyone was gradually moved by Zhou Yimin's confidence and determination.
In the end, the meeting reached a consensus and decided to try the plan proposed by Zhou Yimin.
In the following days, Zhou Yimin devoted himself to his work. He came to the factory early every day, worked with the technicians to study the equipment transformation plan, and repeatedly considered every detail.
At the same time, he also organized training for workers, explaining the new smelting technology and operating procedures to them in detail to ensure that every worker could master them proficiently.
During the equipment transformation process, many unexpected difficulties were encountered.
After receiving an urgent task from his superiors to require the steel plant to produce steel of special specifications, Zhou Yimin devoted himself to the preparatory work.
According to the new smelting process he proposed, it is imperative to transform the existing equipment, and among them, several key parts play a decisive role.
The design specifications of these parts are extremely special, and there are no ready-made products available for purchase on the market.
Zhou Yimin fell into deep thought. In 1961, when materials were scarce and industrial level was limited, it was not easy to obtain these key parts.
After some hard thinking, he suddenly had an idea and thought of the experienced masters in the factory.
These old masters have worked in the steel mill for most of their lives. They have superb skills and are familiar with all kinds of mechanical equipment. Perhaps they can be of great help with this difficult problem.
Zhou Yimin went straight to the rest area where the factory's old masters often gathered, where there was a faint smell of tobacco.
Several experienced workers were sitting together, discussing some minor repair issues that had occurred in the factory recently.
Zhou Yimin walked up to them, greeted them respectfully, and then said sincerely: "Masters, this time the factory has received a big task to produce special steel, and the equipment transformation urgently needs several special parts.
I searched the market but couldn't find anything that met my requirements, so I wanted to ask the experienced craftsmen to help me see if I could make it myself."
As he spoke, he took out a carefully drawn parts drawing from his pocket and handed it to Engineer Kong in front of him.
Engineer Kong took the drawing, put on his reading glasses, and looked at it carefully.
His brows were furrowed more and more, and Engineer Zhou and Engineer Wang beside him also came over, and the three of them studied the drawings together.
After a long while, Engineer Kong raised his head and said solemnly, "Section Chief Zhou, it's not that we don't want to help. Look at the drawings. The precision requirements for these parts are too high. Take this part for example,"
He pointed to a complex structure on the drawing and said, "The diameter tolerance of these holes must be controlled within a very small range. It is extremely difficult to achieve this kind of precision with the existing equipment and technology in our factory. Even for a few of us old guys, we dare not guarantee that we can process it. We can only give it a try."
Zhou Yimin felt a little disappointed after hearing this, but he still said firmly: "Mr. Kong, I know this is difficult, but our factory has an arduous task this time. If we fail to complete it, it will be bad for everyone. I believe in the workers' skills. As long as we work together, we will definitely be able to come up with a solution."
Seeing Zhou Yimin's eyes full of expectation and trust, the old masters felt warmed in their hearts and nodded one after another, indicating that they were willing to give it a try.
In the following days, the master craftsmen plunged into the work of parts processing.
They first carefully inspected and debugged the existing processing equipment in the factory to improve the accuracy of the equipment as much as possible.
Relying on years of accumulated experience, Kong Gong carefully polished and adjusted the lathe tools, striving to achieve higher precision during the cutting process.
Engineer Li focused on studying how to optimize the machining process. He repeatedly tested different cutting speeds and feed rates, trying to find the most suitable parameter combination for machining these high-precision parts.
When processing the first key part, the master craftsmen encountered many difficulties.
Due to the complex shape of the parts, the tool is prone to wear and vibration during the turning process, resulting in large dimensional deviations in the processed parts.
For several times in a row, the processed parts did not meet the requirements, and everyone was in a very heavy mood.
But the old masters were not discouraged. They got together to re-analyze the problem and look for solutions.
Engineer Wang suggested that some auxiliary supports could be added during the processing to reduce the vibration of the parts. Everyone thought this was a good idea and immediately started to make improvements.
After some attempts, the precision of the parts processed again was significantly improved, but it still did not meet the requirements put forward by Zhou Yimin.
At this time, several days had passed and the pressure of the task was increasing. After all, there was not much time left for the steel plant.
If you continue to waste time on this step, there will not be enough time for the next steps.
Zhou Yimin comes to the processing workshop every day to pay attention to the processing progress of parts.
He was deeply moved when he saw the tired but determined eyes of the old masters.
He encouraged everyone, "Masters, we are very close to success, just hold on a little longer. I believe that as long as we don't give up, we will succeed!"
The masters took a deep breath and gathered their spirits.
They once again optimized the processing technology and strictly controlled each operation step.
During another intense processing, the workshop was so quiet that only the roar of the lathe could be heard.
The old masters' eyes were fixed on the parts being processed, and beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads.
Finally, when the parts were processed and precisely measured, it was found that the dimensional accuracy of each part met the requirements.
“Success!”
There was a sudden cheer in the workshop.
Zhou Yimin ran over excitedly and held the hands of the masters tightly, tears in his eyes: "Masters, thank you so much! If it weren't for you, this mission would never have been completed."
The masters also showed gratified smiles on their faces. Kong Gong said: "Xiao Zhou, this is also thanks to your constant encouragement and our joint efforts."
With the experience of successfully processing the first part, although some minor problems were encountered in the processing of the subsequent parts, they were all solved one by one with the joint efforts of the experienced workers.
(End of this chapter)
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