Chapter 652: Great Potential
The factory director held the dry and fluffy cotton coat in his hands, then looked down at the small dryer on the table, his eyes full of shock.
He really didn't expect that this small machine could have such an amazing effect. He originally just wanted to take a look, but now he was completely impressed.
He looked up at the group of people in the lab, their faces tired but their eyes sparkling, and said with uncontrollable excitement, "Everyone's been working so hard! It's really not easy working day and night these past few days."
He paused, then clapped his hands vigorously. "Well, you guys go back and take three days of paid leave! When I get back, I'll definitely celebrate your success!"
As soon as these words were spoken, cheers erupted in the laboratory. Everyone looked at each other, their eyes sparkling with surprise.
After working at a high intensity for so many consecutive days, everyone was already exhausted physically and mentally. Now, when they heard that they could have three days of rest, and that it was paid leave, they were all grinning from ear to ear.
"Thank you, Director Hu!" everyone shouted in unison, their voices filled with joy.
Director Hu smiled and waved his hand, then carefully picked up the small dryer on the table as if he was holding some rare treasure.
"I'm leaving first. You guys should pack up and go home to rest."
After saying that, he quickly left the laboratory carrying the dryer.
No one dared to delay any longer and began to pack up their things.
Xiao Zhang carefully folded the circuit diagram and put it in the drawer, Xiao Li put the measuring tools back in place one by one, and Lao Wang gave the doors and windows of the laboratory a final check.
Everyone moved swiftly and had a relaxed smile on their faces. It seemed as if most of the fatigue they had just felt disappeared the moment they heard the news of the vacation.
"I can finally have a good sleep. I feel like I can hardly keep my eyes open." Xiao Zhang said while yawning.
"That's right. The first thing I'll do when I get home is to sleep soundly." Xiao Li agreed. The two smiled at each other and walked out of the laboratory together.
Li Chongguang felt relieved as he watched everyone leave one after another.
On the other side, Director Hu walked quickly to the factory gate holding a small dryer. A black car was already waiting there.
Seeing this, the driver quickly got out and opened the back door. Director Hu carefully placed the dryer in the car, making sure it wouldn't get bumped, and then got in himself.
"Go to the city and find your superiors." Director Hu said to the driver with a hint of urgency in his tone.
He couldn't wait to show his superiors this good thing, and believed that this small dryer would be valued and bring greater development to the factory.
The car slowly drove out of the factory and headed towards the city.
In the car, Director Hu turned his head from time to time to look at the small silver-gray dryer, with a satisfied smile on his face, as if he had already seen its bright future.
The car drove into the city and stopped in front of a stately office building.
Director Hu held the small dryer, took a deep breath, and walked in quickly. When he arrived at the door of his superior's office, he knocked gently.
"Come in." The leader's calm and powerful voice came from the office.
Director Hu pushed the door open and saw his superior sitting behind his desk reviewing documents.
The leader looked up and saw him, put down his pen, and said with a smile: "It's Lao Hu, what's the matter that requires you to see me so urgently?"
"Leader, I've brought you something good!" Director Hu placed the small dryer on the open space next to his desk, his face full of excitement.
"This is a small dryer that our factory's research lab just developed. It's very effective. Let me demonstrate it to you."
As he spoke, he began to think about what to use for the demonstration.
His eyes swept around the office and finally fell on himself - he couldn't ask his boss to take off his clothes for him to experiment on, right?
He doesn't have the courage to borrow his leader's clothes.
There is no choice but to sacrifice my cotton coat again.
Director Hu unbuttoned his cotton-padded jacket and took it off, which he had just put on and still retained his body temperature.
The leader looked at his actions and raised his eyebrows in confusion: "Lao Hu, what are you doing?"
"Leader, you will know when you see it." Director Hu smiled, took the cotton coat to the faucet in the corner of the office, took some water to wet the cotton coat, and wrung it to keep it half wet.
The leader looked at him with interest, without saying a word, his eyes full of curiosity about this small dryer.
He wanted to see what was so special about the thing that Director Hu brought with such solemnity.
Director Hu took the wet cotton clothes back to the dryer. Although he had only watched Xiao Zhang demonstrate it once, the operation was not complicated and he had already memorized it.
I saw him skillfully open the lid of the dryer, put the wet cotton clothes in, closed the lid, then turned the knob on the control panel, adjusted it to medium temperature, and pressed the start button.
"Buzz--" The dryer made a slight sound and started to run.
The leader leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed on the running dryer, obviously very concerned about its performance.
Director Hu stood aside, also a little nervous, his palms slightly sweating, and secretly praying in his heart that everything would go smoothly.
Time passed by minute by minute, and the only sound in the office was the gentle running sound of the dryer.
About 40 minutes later, Director Hu pressed the stop button and the sound of the machine stopped abruptly.
He waited for more than ten seconds before slowly opening the lid, and a warm breath hit his face.
He took the cotton coat out of the dryer, shook it, and then handed it to the leader: "Leader, please feel it."
The leader reached out to take the cotton coat, feeling its dryness and fluffiness, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.
He checked it over and over, then sniffed it closely to confirm that there was no trace of moisture. He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration, "Old Hu, this thing you have is really good!"
Director Hu finally felt relieved and said with a smile, "Boss, this small dryer is not only easy to use, but we also plan to export it abroad. What do you think of the prospects?"
The leader's eyes lit up, and he immediately picked up the phone on his desk: "Call Lao Zhang and the others from the Foreign Trade Department and ask them to come to my office. I have a new thing for them to review."
After hanging up the phone, the boss said to Director Hu, "Since you're planning to export, you need to let professionals take a look. The people in the Foreign Trade Department are familiar with the international market, and their evaluation will be more reliable."
After a while, Lao Zhang from the Foreign Trade Department arrived with two colleagues.
Lao Zhang is a middle-aged man in his fifties. He wears a pair of thick glasses and holds a notebook in his hand. He looks like a meticulous person.
"Leader, are you looking for us?"
"Lao Zhang, come and take a look at this." The leader pointed to the small dryer on the ground.
"This is a new product developed by Director Hu's factory. We want to export it overseas. Please give it an evaluation."
Lao Zhang and his colleagues immediately gathered around, took out a tape measure and began to measure the size of the dryer. They also carefully examined its structure and material, and whispered to each other from time to time.
A young colleague took out a camera and took pictures of the dryer from different angles, while another quickly recorded the data in a notebook.
"This folding design is good. It saves space and is convenient for transportation." Lao Zhang nodded as he looked at it.
"The material used is thin steel plate, so the cost should not be high, and it has a price advantage in the international market."
He had Director Hu demonstrate the drying process again, staring at the temperature control panel. "International safety standards for electrical appliances are high," he said. "This temperature control system needs to be improved, ideally with international certification. Also, the manual needs to be translated into major languages like English, French, and German, with the voltage range clearly marked."
Director Hu listened attentively, nodded from time to time, and wrote down the areas that needed improvement.
The assessment lasted for nearly an hour before Lao Zhang and his colleagues stopped their work.
Lao Zhang adjusted his glasses and said to his boss and Director Hu, "Boss, Director Hu, our preliminary evaluation shows that this small dryer has great potential."
He flipped open his notebook, pointed to the data, and said, "You see, there's a huge demand for these small appliances in Europe and the United States, especially in Northern European countries with their humid climates. Also, in Southeast Asia, with its long rainy season, there's a steady demand for dryers. Furthermore, this product is small and competitively priced. As long as we get safety certification and packaging right, we'll definitely be able to capture the market."
The leader smiled with satisfaction after hearing this. "Great! It seems this thing is indeed promising. Lao Hu, when you go back, make quick improvements based on the suggestions made by Lao Zhang and the others, and strive to put it into production as soon as possible and bring it to the international market."
Director Hu nodded excitedly: "Thank you, Mr. Leader, and thank you, Section Chief Zhang! We will seize the opportunity and will not let you down!"
Lao Zhang also smiled and said, "Director Hu, if there is anything we can help you with later, please feel free to ask. We will help you contact overseas distributors and strive to get the order as soon as possible."
The atmosphere in the office was lively. Director Hu looked at the small dryer, as if he had already seen it selling well in the international market.
Director Hu felt like he had a warm stove in his heart, and his whole body was full of energy.
He held Lao Zhang's hand tightly, thanked him repeatedly, and the smile on his face never stopped.
The steel plant finally has something hard to show off, and it’s a treasure that can earn foreign exchange. This is a great thing!
He discussed some details with his leader and Lao Zhang, such as the safety certification process, the general terms of the foreign trade contract, and the time nodes of the production plan.
When I left the superior office building, the sun was hanging high above my head, making me feel warm.
Director Hu was holding the small dryer, and his steps were so brisk that he seemed ten years younger.
After getting into the car, he couldn't help but put the dryer on his legs and touched it again and again. The silver-gray shell reflected the smile lines at the corners of his eyes, and he was satisfied no matter how he looked at it.
"Drive faster and get back to the factory!"
He said to the driver, unable to hide the urgency in his tone.
As soon as the car drove into the steel plant gate, Director Hu urged it to stop.
He carried the dryer and went straight to the office building. When he passed by the message room, he greeted Old Wang with a smile, which made Old Wang stunned - he had never seen Director Hu so happy.
As soon as he entered the office building, Director Hu shouted to the office director, "Quick, call the deputy director, the production manager, the sales manager, and everyone else to the conference room. Tell them we have great news!"
Within ten minutes, the conference room was full of people.
When several leaders saw Director Hu coming in with an unfamiliar machine, they all stretched their necks to take a look curiously.
The deputy director spoke first: "Old Hu, what's this treasure? You look so happy. Did you find a gold ingot?"
Director Hu placed the dryer on the table, cleared his throat, and faded his smile, but couldn't hide the light in his eyes. "It's more valuable than gold ingots! This is a small dryer newly developed by our research lab. I just went to the city to report to the leaders. The experts from the Ministry of Foreign Trade have evaluated it and said it has great potential and can be exported to earn foreign exchange!"
"What? Can it be exported?" The production section chief suddenly sat up straight in his chair, and the enamel cup in his hand almost fell out of his hand.
“Can you really earn foreign exchange?”
"Absolutely true!" Factory Director Hu patted the dryer. "Mr. Zhang from the Foreign Trade Department said there's demand in Europe, America, and Southeast Asia. As long as we get the safety certification right and the packaging and instructions ready, we'll have no problem getting orders!"
He told them in detail the instructions from his superiors and the suggestions from the Ministry of Foreign Trade, and the atmosphere in the conference room instantly became lively.
The deputy factory director rubbed his hands excitedly: "Good job, guys! The research lab has made a great contribution this time! Our factory has been looking forward to such a flagship product for the past two years!"
The sales manager had already started thinking: "If we can expand into the international market, our reputation will spread, and we'll have more confidence when developing new products in the future!"
Several leaders chatted back and forth, growing increasingly excited. They had spent most of their lives at the steel mill, its success and failure tied to their own lives. When the mill could produce foreign exchange-earning products, it was like their own children getting into college; pride radiated from within.
"Alright, alright," Director Hu said, pressing his hand, "Now is not the time to be happy.
The production department must quickly adjust the production line and come up with a mass production plan next month.
The sales department cooperated with the foreign trade department to keep a close eye on the packaging and instructions.
As for the research lab, after their vacation, they need to focus on the safety certification...” He assigned tasks in an orderly manner, his enthusiasm radiating from every word.
The sunlight from outside shone through the window of the conference room, falling on the small dryer and on the excited faces of every leader.
After hearing Director Hu's instructions, the leaders of the steel plant immediately wrote them down in their notebooks, fearing that their own problems would cause the small dryer to fail to achieve the expected goals.
By then, it will be difficult to explain.
Director Hu saw that the purpose of today's meeting had been achieved: "I don't need to tell you how important this matter is, everyone knows it!"
Everyone present nodded in agreement. This kind of thing must be dealt with quickly.
You have to know that the country's foreign exchange reserves are very small now, and there are many things that need to be purchased, so every penny is used in half.
Soon everyone picked up their notebooks and left the meeting room.
Director Hu sat quietly in the conference room, but his thoughts were drifting somewhere else.
(End of this chapter)
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