The shockwaves from the successful pilot project in the machining workshop did not confine itself to the workshop itself. The detailed summary report and remarkable data, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, stirred up ripples throughout the entire management team of the Hongxing Plant.
The atmosphere at the factory leadership meeting was completely different from the somber tone during previous discussions. The factory director, holding the report submitted by Liu Li, pointed to the data and said in a loud voice, "Everyone has seen this, right? The pilot results in the machining workshop fully demonstrate the enormous role of breaking the 'iron rice bowl' system and implementing distribution according to work in liberating productivity and improving economic efficiency! The utilization rate of working hours has increased by more than 35%, the rate of high-quality products has risen sharply, the scrap rate has decreased significantly, workers' incomes have increased, and their enthusiasm has soared! This is a win-win situation!"
His gaze swept over everyone present, finally settling on Liu Li: "Comrade Liu Li, you are not only technically proficient, but also innovative and adept at summarizing in management. The factory has decided to promote and learn from the 'Excess Piecework Quality Reward and Punishment Method' in the machining workshop as a successful experience throughout all major production workshops in the factory! You are responsible for developing a standardized process that can be replicated, including the core ideas, operational details, and precautions of this method, especially how to set quotas fairly and reasonably, and how to effectively collect and calculate statistics."
This order signifies that Liu Li's reform practices have received the highest level of recognition, and her management approach will extend from the machining workshop to the entire factory.
Pressure and motivation coexist. Liu Li knows that the product types, processes, and personnel structures of different workshops vary greatly, and simply copying the methods used in the machining workshop will inevitably fail. The key to promotion lies in teaching people how to fish, rather than simply giving them fish.
First, under the arrangement of the factory management, she convened an experience exchange meeting attended by all workshop directors, technicians, and key team leaders. At the meeting, she did not engage in empty theoretical discussions, but instead used actual cases from the machining workshop to illustrate her points.
She presented data comparison charts before and after the pilot program, explained the "three-pronged" principle of quota setting (technical calculation, historical data, and worker evaluation), demonstrated the statistical accounting methods for working hours and quality, and particularly emphasized the importance of ideological and political work—"Reform is not simply about punishment and reward; the core is to change mindsets. We must make workers understand that this is not 'control and pressure,' but rather opening up a broad road for everyone to increase their income based on their abilities."
She explained things clearly and logically, and the audience members were all busy taking notes. The forging workshop director asked, "Director Liu, our work is physically demanding, and the output is greatly affected by the temperature of the steel ingots and the condition of the equipment. How can we set quotas fairly?" A technician from the heat treatment workshop asked, "Our quality indicators rely more on equipment parameters and process curves. How can we link individual contributions to the final quality?"
Faced with a variety of questions, Liu Li, drawing on her understanding of the entire factory's processes, provided practical answers one by one, or suggested directions for further research. She frankly stated, "There is no one-size-fits-all template; each workshop must develop its own implementation rules based on its unique characteristics. The core is to grasp the basic principle of 'distribution according to work, more work more pay, and better work better pay,' and find the balance point that motivates the majority of people."
Following the exchange meeting, all workshops sprang into action. The forging workshop organized experienced workers and accountants to begin calculating the "standard working hours" for different forgings; the casting workshop began studying the feasibility of linking defects such as sand holes and porosity to team bonuses; even the logistics department, which is not a production department, began discussing how to incorporate work efficiency and service quality into performance evaluations.
For a time, "Liu Li's Management Method" became the hottest topic at Hongxing Factory. The factory newspaper published a series of articles analyzing the essence of this management approach. Liu Li became exceptionally busy; she was frequently invited to other workshops to provide on-site guidance on quota verification and answer difficult questions. Her figure appeared in the forging workshop with its roaring hammers, in the sweltering casting site, and in the power workshop with its complex pipelines…
In this process, she also encountered new challenges. Some workshops, in pursuit of quantity, showed signs of neglecting safety and equipment maintenance; some work groups argued endlessly about quota setting, making it difficult to reach a consensus. Liu Li promptly identified the problems, guided everyone to correct the deviations, and emphasized that "efficiency must be pursued on the premise of ensuring safety, quality, and the good condition of equipment," thus promoting the establishment of a more comprehensive supporting supervision mechanism in each workshop.
Seeing the other workshops, which had previously been stagnant, gradually begin to radiate similar vitality, and the workers' enthusiasm for discussing production and studying technology noticeably increasing, Liu Li felt genuinely gratified. Her vision expanded from managing a single workshop to how to stimulate the intrinsic motivation of the entire enterprise.
The dissemination of experience, like seeds sown, took root and sprouted in the soil of Hongxing Factory. A wave of management reform, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches, surged through this long-established state-owned enterprise. And Liu Li, the initial initiator, stood at the forefront, leading this transformation that would profoundly impact the future of Hongxing Factory.
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