On a crisp early winter morning, you could see white wisps of air when you breathed on them. But the machining workshop was already bustling with activity—an overhead crane slid past with a rumble, lathes hummed deafeningly, and planers clanged and banged. The whole workshop smelled of cutting fluid mixed with metal shavings, and it was quite warm.
The task sheets and process cards for the early shift had already been stuffed into the toolboxes of each workstation by the dispatcher. Veteran lathe operator Master Li picked up his enamel mug, took a big gulp of strong tea, and then slowly pulled out the process card from the control box of his old C620 lathe—the B-07-34 bushing. He could machine it with his eyes closed. Usually, the process sheets issued by the technical department were just a quick glance at the dimensions, full of "correct but useless" statements. It was much easier to do it himself based on experience.
But this card today was thicker than usual. When Master Li opened it, his eyebrows immediately rose: the process was written out clearly, specifying which saw to use for cutting the material, which fixture to use for precision turning, and even several lines of "notes"—"Test cut the scrap material before precision turning the inner hole, don't put the workpiece directly on it" and "Use copper pads to clamp the outer circle, don't use too much clamping force to prevent deformation."
"Wow! This weaving craftsman knows his stuff!" Master Li couldn't help but click his tongue. He flipped to the last page and saw the signature—Liu Li? Isn't that the girl who was quite famous in the workshop a while ago and was later transferred to the technical department?
"Old Li, what are you looking at? Your face is all scrunched up like a walnut." Zhang the fat fitter leaned over and said in a loud voice.
"Look at this!" Master Li handed over the card. "Liu Li wrote this, and it's even more detailed than we thought of it ourselves! She even wrote down 'to measure the inner hole, we need to check the hole opening, the middle of the hole, and the bottom of the hole.' It's just like how we usually chat and work!"
Fatty Zhang glanced at it twice and immediately exclaimed, "Hey! This is what a process sheet looks like! Last time, the one Little Zhang from the technical department made up told me to turn the outer diameter at 600 RPM. Would my old lathe really dare to do that? The cutting edge would have blown off long ago!"
His shout drew a crowd of workers who were sharpening tools and studying blueprints.
"Let me see! Let me see!"
"That's right, it's written very clearly! 'Prevent being hit by a knife' and 'Slow down when aiming for the center' are exactly what we're talking about!"
"After rough machining, we also recommend annealing to relieve stress. The last batch of work in Workshop 3 deformed because we didn't do this!"
Everyone chimed in with their own opinions, and everyone praised her. The workers were the most practical; they were fed up with those unrealistic "theoretical processes." Liu Li's card was like an old buddy lending a hand, pointing out everything from the difficult to the easy, so they could work with confidence and weren't afraid of scrapping parts.
"Liu Li is truly worthy of being from our workshop! She understands the hardships of our work!" Master Li neatly folded the process cards and stuffed them back into the toolbox. "Alright, alright, let's all go! With these excellent processes, let's make sure our work is done beautifully today!"
News spread like wildfire in the workshop. At lunchtime, the assembly workshop director overheard a conversation between several experienced workers in the canteen; in the afternoon, when the tool department came to collect supplies, a worker mentioned that "Technician Liu's process sheet is useful." Within half a day, this news reached Director Zhao's ears.
Director Zhao flipped through the copy of the process card, patted the dispatcher on the shoulder and laughed: "I knew this girl was reliable! Those 'bookworms' in the technical department should have learned how to write something practical long ago!" He waved his hand, "From now on, any process cards written by Liu Li that are for our workshop should be distributed first, so everyone can learn what down-to-earth technology is!"
The wind eventually blew back to the second floor of the technical department.
Just as Chen, the section chief, was getting water with his teacup in the afternoon, he was stopped in the corridor by the deputy section chief of the production department: "Old Chen, you're something else! Little Liu from your section has made a process that's become a hit in the workshop! Old Zhao was just praising it to me, saying that the workers all say it's 'easy to understand and easy to do,' and that it's improved their efficiency! That's a rare compliment!"
Section Chief Chen was taken aback for a moment, then pushed up his glasses: "Oh? Is that so?"
"Of course it's true! You guys really did something worthwhile this time!" The deputy head of the production department patted him twice, laughed, and walked away.
Section Chief Chen returned to his office, his gaze sweeping over Liu Li's workstation—she was engrossed in the blueprints, her profile tense and focused. He recalled that Technician Zhang had mentioned that morning that "Liu Li's process is a bit special," but he hadn't paid much attention then. Now, it seemed that this "specialness" was truly effective.
He pulled out a copy of the craft card, B-07-34, and examined it line by line. The more he looked, the more relaxed the hard lines on his face became, and finally he couldn't help but mutter, "He really put his heart into it." He picked up the now-cold tea and looked at Liu Li again, his eyes filled with genuine appreciation.
Not everyone in the office was happy. Technician Zhang, sitting opposite Liu Li, felt a pang of resentment as he listened to the praise circulating outside. He leaned close to the technician next to him and whispered, "Processes need to be standardized and regulated. Her writing is like an operations manual—it's too down-to-earth! Shouldn't our work as technicians have a bit more 'higher standards'?"
The person next to him adjusted his glasses and mumbled, "Good feedback from the workshop means increased efficiency, which is a good thing overall..." But the hesitation in his eyes was obvious to everyone. Old ideas can't be changed overnight.
Liu Li wasn't unaware of these subtle movements, but she didn't get distracted and continued to tidy up the desk and arrange the tools neatly. Just as she was about to leave, Section Chief Chen called out to her, "Xiao Liu."
"Section Chief Chen, you wanted to see me?"
Section Chief Chen pointed to the process card and said calmly, "The workshop's feedback on this process is good. You'll be in charge of more processes for these types of parts in the future. Keep it up and combine it with practical experience."
These words weren't loud, but everyone in the office who hadn't left heard them—it was practically the section chief's open affirmation of her.
Liu Li felt a warmth in her heart and said with a smile, "Thank you, Section Chief. I will do my best."
Stepping out of the technical department, the hallway was already dark, and the factory streetlights were on, casting long shadows of the factory buildings and chimneys. She knew that a single process sheet had only opened a small crack; there were others watching, and even more difficult tasks awaited. But at least it was a good start—her down-to-earth approach, honed in the workshop, had made the technical department hear the voices from the front lines. She took a deep breath of the cold air and steadily blended into the crowd of people leaving work; there would be new work tomorrow.
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