“This is new stuff, the materials are very expensive, but we have ways to save money. We should cut corners on the materials on the motherboard.” Lu Feng picked up the motherboard and glanced at it, then suddenly frowned and asked Liu Cheng, “Didn’t I tell you these circuit wires didn’t need to be so thick? Why weren’t they changed?”
"There's no time to make changes. We'll have to modify the blueprints for mass production," Liu Cheng replied.
“Look, this circuit wire, and this one, and let me tell you, this material is very expensive. Just these few circuit wires can save more than ten yuan in costs per machine.” Lu Feng said to General Manager Zheng, “Don’t underestimate these ten yuan. If we save a little here and a little there, we can squeeze out hundreds of yuan in space per machine.”
Over a hundred dollars?
That's a huge number for a product!
Contract carefully examined the components on the motherboard and asked, "Mr. Lu, these lines can't be changed, right? These are the main circuits; if they're too thin, they won't be able to withstand the current and will easily burn out."
"Look at you, you don't understand. No machine is immune to breaking down. How long do you plan to use this thing? For a lifetime? That's impossible. It'll be fine for three to five years. We've done power-on tests, and it can withstand unstable voltage. The problem is that after three to five years, it will easily break down as it ages."
“Three to five years is good quality, and if it doesn’t break down, who would buy a new one?” General Manager Zheng understood the business strategy perfectly and smiled at Lu Feng.
“Look, look, Mr. Zheng is clearly a big businessman who knows the ropes.” Lu Feng pointed at Liu Cheng and said, “Connect the VCD player to the TV and show it to Mr. Zheng.”
The staff connected the VCD player, inserted the disc, and the TV screen displayed a completely white image.
"What happened? Is something wrong?" Mr. Zheng asked, craning his neck.
"This is normal. The machine takes time to start up. The white background doesn't look good, so I've already had them change it to blue. Let me tell you, don't make too many changes to this part. The point is to make the user wait. There's a profound psychology behind it," Lu Feng said to President Zheng with a smug look on his face.
"Psychology? You know about that?" Mr. Zheng asked in surprise.
"I've read two books on leisure reading. A group of experts from the University of Florida conducted a social survey experiment in the 1970s. They discovered a phenomenon: the faster you gain something, the faster you lose it, almost in a direct proportional relationship."
"You can't let users get it easily. When they wait for that time, that's how much they like the machine!" Lu Feng said in a very mysterious way.
"I still think it's better to hurry up, I just like things to be fast!" General Manager Zheng said, not entirely satisfied.
"The key issue is that this thing is a defect that can't be fixed. Everything else is secondary; the main problem is the circuit board." As he spoke, Lu Feng picked up the circuit board and said, "President Liu, could you explain the key technical points?"
"Isn't this inappropriate?" President Zheng couldn't help but laugh as he spoke, and declined, "There's nothing inappropriate about it. We're like family. Just tell me. If President Zheng doesn't understand, just give him the blueprints and let him take them back and study them slowly."
Liu Cheng was basically telling the truth about the core technology. He Tian listened and kept nodding. If they hadn't been so honest, He Tian would have definitely thought that the reduction in those lines was to plant mines.
Because many foreign machines are like this: when imported, they are found to be different from local products. They can only be used and cannot be disassembled. In fact, many circuits are deliberately convoluted, just to confuse local engineers who want to replicate them.
But Lu Feng was so sincere that he was certain that those lines could be reduced in size. If they were to try to copy it, they wouldn't have time to conduct long-term circuit tests in order to compete for market launch time, and they would have to trust the original manufacturer.
Although General Manager Zheng said he was just here to take a look, he listened more carefully than anyone else, and would ask follow-up questions if he didn't understand something. This made Liu Cheng look at Lu Feng frequently, because this kind of skill was bought with money.
They studied until noon, and then Lu Feng treated everyone to lunch at a restaurant on the next street, ordering a whole table of dishes.
Mr. Zheng raised his glass and looked at Lu Feng with a smile that almost disappeared his eyes. He kept calling him a good brother. After two drinks, he put his arm around Lu Feng's shoulder, acting very intimately.
“Mr. Lu, I’ve been around for many years, and to be honest, people these days don’t say a single decent word. What brotherhood? They’ll turn around and betray you. But you’re different. You make me believe that there is true friendship in this world.”
I salute you!
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