Chapter 159
The car sped along the national highway. Even at the fastest speed, it still took five hours to drive from the provincial capital to Ningcheng. It was already twelve o'clock in the afternoon when they arrived in Ningcheng.
Qin Xiang and Miao Xiaofeng got out of the car with pale faces and staggered towards the guesthouse.
Who would have thought that they would get carsick? It was really painful.
After entering the guesthouse and washing their faces, Qin Yang went out to buy them food and ate it in the house. The whole person slowly came to life.
Qin Xiang went to call He Shengnan, and soon, He Shengnan hurried over.
When she saw Qin Xiang, He Shengnan was more friendly than her own niece. She stepped forward, held Qin Xiang's hand and said, "Boss Qin, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Although she dared to pull down the leader and took control of the factory, the situation in the factory was too bad. If she was not careful, she would follow the footsteps of her predecessor. So every day Qin Xiang didn't come and didn't tell her about the solution, He Shengnan felt uneasy.
Qin Xiang smiled and said, "Director He, should I call you that?"
He Shengnan nodded with a smile on her face, "Okay."
To be honest, if it weren't for Qin Xiang, He Shengnan wouldn't have dared to be so bold and dare to completely break up with her old leaders.
She paused, "Let's go, I'll treat you to lunch."
Qin Xiang shook her head, "I've already had lunch. I'm very busy. I only have three days off. I have to leave the day after tomorrow morning, so why don't we go to the factory now?"
"Okay, let's go and have a look." He Shengnan was just relying on her courage. The situation in the factory was not good, but Qin Xiang knew all of this, so there was nothing to hide. She was even eager to talk to Qin Xiang about cooperation and the development of the factory. Qin Xiang was so positive that she felt relieved.
The two went to the factory and found that there was a large banner hanging at the gate of the factory, "Warmly welcome Qin Xiang to our factory to inspect the work."
Qin Xiang only glanced at it and then retracted her gaze. For the first time, she followed He Shengnan to understand the entire clothing factory.
Because He Shengnan had just taken office today and the factory had not resumed production, the whole factory seemed very quiet.
At this time, several people who looked like cadres hurried in. He Shengnan introduced them to them and found out that they were all new leaders.
However, Director Feng, who was in charge of the warehouse, was still Director Feng, and he looked more energetic than before. He was quite happy about Qin Xiang's arrival.
Qin Xiang said, "Let's go to the production workshop to have a look?"
Qin Xiang had not mentioned the mode of cooperation, and He Shengnan was a little nervous. She was even ready to accept the public-private partnership reform.
"Okay." Anyway, the other party already knew the run-down appearance of her factory, and there would be no problem in taking a look at the workshop.
But what surprised Qin Xiang was that the production machines in the workshop were actually quite new.
Seeing her curiosity, He Shengnan explained with a wry smile, "In fact, our factory was very prosperous a few years ago. Even the reform and opening up at that time had little impact. It was only at that time that a batch of new machines were introduced. Who knew that although the new machines were in place, the situation in the factory was getting worse and worse, and it even reached the point of stopping production. To be honest, the factory has not been in operation this year, and the workers have not been paid for half a year."
She looked at Qin Xiang, her face full of enthusiasm, "I want to ask, what method do you have to revive the factory?"
Qin Xiang glanced at the other leaders, and they were all looking at her.
Qin Xiang didn't play tricks. She took out the map she carried with her from her bag and unfolded it for He Shengnan to see. "Take a look."
He Shengnan looked at it carefully and looked at Qin Xiang in surprise. "Are you planning to open a store along this line?"
"Yes." Qin Xiang explained. "Although we can transport goods by rail now, it has a certain time limit. We have trucks for transporting goods in our factory, so we can use them. Although the journey to the capital is not short, it will not be a big problem if we deliver the goods all the way."
He Shengnan was a little excited. "Let's go to the office and discuss it in detail."
If this matter is done, although the factory cannot be developed immediately, it can at least solve the problem of suspension of work and production, and can also solve part of the wage problem.
Who would have thought that the factory that everyone had been trying so hard to get into would become a joke among everyone. Many workers had to secretly go out to find odd jobs after the shutdown, otherwise they would not be able to make ends meet.
In this situation, He Shengnan was actually ready for public-private partnership, but she did not expect that the leaders in the market would directly pour cold water on her proposal, "If it was possible last year, it would still be possible, but in this situation this year, do you think any individual business owner has the ability to participate?"
He Shengnan knew Qin Xiang had, but Qin Xiang directly refused.
Several people went to the factory director's office, and He Shengnan asked, "How do you want to cooperate? You know, the designers in our factory are not very good. The clothes they design have remained the same for several years. If it weren't
for the fact that the factory cannot fire people at a critical moment, I would have wanted to replace them directly." This was also something she couldn't do. She could bring down the leader because there were workers waving flags and shouting behind her. But the people in the designer position are also workers. The workers in the factory are intertwined, and many of them have relatives over the years. If she dared to fire those people, they would definitely not let it go. Her position is not stable now. It is not right to fire them just because their design is not good. They can say that the design is the leader's intention and has nothing to do with them.
But if the factory design continues to be handed over to them, it will not be a way to continue to seek death. That's why I mentioned this problem now. Instead of being blamed in the future, it is better to make it clear in advance to see what solution Qin Xiang has.
Seeing her embarrassment, Qin Xiang took out the OEM production plan that she had written long ago and handed it to He Shengnan, "This is my idea. If you agree with this plan, I will provide other methods to help the factory overcome the difficulties."
While He Shengnan was looking at the plan, Qin Xiang continued, "My current base is in the capital, and future development will definitely radiate outward from the capital. The current situation of your factory is very bad, and I am not prepared to participate in it. After thinking about it, I chose the OEM route. The reason why I chose to go to Yang Hong, it's because I have a friendship with Xiang Yang Hong, and I'm still grateful, otherwise I wouldn't give you this opportunity."
After reading it, He Shengnan handed it to several deputy factory managers, looking serious, "You mean we only take care of production, and we don't have to take care of the early design and later sales?"
Qin Xiang nodded, "That's what I mean, you just do OEM, whatever plan we give you, you produce."
He Shengnan frowned, and a deputy factory manager next to him disagreed, "Then we are still controlled by others, how is this different from before."
"It's very different." Qin Xiang smiled. "You couldn't start work for half a year before, and the accumulated inventory in the warehouse couldn't be piled up, right? Although my plan will make you lose some of your autonomy, isn't the loss of autonomy the key factor in your factory's current situation? The materials used in the factory are all from partners in the south, and the quality is no problem. The workers are all experienced old masters, and even new employees are guided by old employees. If there were good designs, if your sales department could play a role, and if the leaders in the factory played their due role, would the factory have developed like this?"
Qin Xiang said it bluntly, and the few remaining leaders in the factory blushed. They knew that what Qin Xiang said was the truth.
After Qin Xiang left last year, He Shengnan and the people in the sales department forced the business to continue for a while, and some goods were indeed sold, but it didn't last long. The factory didn't support them and they felt it was embarrassing to deal with individual business owners. The workers didn't cooperate, and they offended the few individual business owners who came to purchase goods, which led to the current situation step by step.
The deputy factory director who is now in charge of the sales department said unhappily, "Can our sales department be directly abolished? Boss Qin might as well go and ask who can agree. I have no objection if you can settle it."
Qin Xiang looked at her mercilessly, "I'll settle it for you? It's a great favor for me to bring production to your factory. I'll do everything for you. I might as well be your factory director. If I were your factory director, I'm afraid all of you here would have to go home and take care of your children."
"You! You're going too far." The deputy factory director blushed.
He Shengnan frowned and glanced at the deputy factory manager, then shook his head and said, "Old Liu, what Boss Qin said is right. This is our shortcoming. Didn't we agree at the beginning that we must make a desperate effort to carry out reforms? Now the most important thing is to resume production first, otherwise so many workers will have nothing to do, and we will have no explanation. Let's start the work first, and then solve the subsequent problems one by one. There are more than 200 workers in our factory who are engaged in production alone. Boss Qin The clothes needed by the board are not enough for more than 200 workers, and our other departments still have to operate. We rely on others to pave the way for everything, so what are our factory leaders doing in their positions? "
Since Deputy Factory Director Liu was promoted, it was obviously recognized by He Shengnan. He could listen to what He Shengnan said. In fact, he also knew that Qin Xiang was telling the truth, but seeing that the other party was so young, he always felt that he was not reliable.
Qin Xiang was very satisfied with He Shengnan's attitude. She looked at He Shengnan and said, "Just like what I wrote in my proposal, we will be responsible for the design and subsequent sales of the products. It has nothing to do with your factory. Our relationship with you is to issue production tasks, I pay for it, and you are responsible for production. I will send people here to check the quality. After our production line is running, you can send someone to the south to look for such opportunities and specialize in OEM. Of course, if you don't want to If we go the OEM route, we can send some of the factory's design workers to school for further study. We are a large state-owned factory, so the city will surely have a policy biased towards us. The city does not want to see the local factory develop into this state, so they will definitely help. In addition, since the people in the sales department have made mistakes before, they must correct them and try to clear out some of the goods in stock. "
He Shengnan frowned slightly, "But the surrounding rural markets have more and more varieties of clothes, and the styles are getting better and better. Our styles are not dominant."
"Since you don't have an advantage, let price be your advantage, or just go to a place farther away with less contact with the outside world and sell next to the village."
Deputy Director Liu said, "Will you not lose money?"
Qin Xiang said, "You won't lose money if you pile them up in the warehouse? There is also the risk of being bitten by rats if you keep them in the inventory. You lose a month's money if you keep them for an extra month. If it were me, I would probably sell them at half price. Clear out the inventory first. Can't the funds recovered be used to appease the workers first? Will they appreciate in value if they are not sold and left there?"
The variety of clothes in the rural fairs is indeed much richer than before, but that is only relatively speaking. The styles of clothes in many cities are just like that. How much better can the ones in the rural fairs be?
Although Xiang Yanghong's clothes are not good-looking, they are of good quality. If the price is directly reduced, there will be a lot of people who will buy them for the cheap price. However, the sales group has become elderly aunts. They used to sell them for fifteen or two pieces, so what if the factory directly offers factory prices for promotion? It is difficult for people with poor conditions to wear new clothes, so how can they pursue the style of clothes? Durability is the most important thing.
Qin Xiang explained the words carefully, and Deputy Director Liu finally kept silent. Qin Xiang has explained it so carefully, if the factory still can't make a profit, then there is really no hope.
Qin Xiang said, "I estimated that we can open about seven branches along the line, but it won't happen overnight. We need to take it slowly. In the early stage, we will need about 100 workers, and then gradually increase to more than 100 people. I need you to select experienced and skilled workers to be in charge of my side. I don't want those who are lazy and sly. The rest will have to be arranged by you." As
soon as she finished speaking, several deputy factory managers disagreed again, "Let 100 of the more than 200 workers start working, and the rest will definitely have opinions."
Qin Xiang said, "So you have to decide as soon as possible. My opinion is to go to the south to find a factory to discuss OEM, and then at the same time, the design department will go for further training, and the sales department will sell the inventory, so that they can prove that they need to stay. If they still make no progress after further training, if they are given opportunities and still cheat and slack off, should such workers be kept for the New Year?"
"You should think clearly. I am here to discuss cooperation with you, not to be a savior. You are such a group of capable people. Do you have to rely on an outsider like me for advice on everything? Aren't my advice clear enough? If you can't even do this, then it's better for me to return to the factory as soon as possible."
She didn't need to say anything else, but He Shengnan already understood. They now need Qin Xiang's help, not Qin Xiang's help from them. Qin Xiang has done her utmost, and if they still want to pester her, it would be really shameless.
She nodded, "This matter involves the development plan of the factory in the future. We have to hold a meeting to discuss it and tell the city."
Qin Xiang felt that this was the right thing to do, and nodded, "Okay, but I have to leave early the day after tomorrow, and there must be a result by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. I have already arranged the early production plan. Once the contract is signed, I will arrange someone to follow up, and then transfer the money to resume production."
After saying this, Qin Xiang said goodbye and took Miao Xiaofeng and others back to the guesthouse.
As soon as they left, the office exploded.
Because He Shengnan was so fierce and powerful, although some people disagreed in their hearts, they did not dare to raise objections.
Everyone was waiting for He Shengnan to make a decision .
He Shengnan took out a pen and paper and wrote down the allocation of personnel on the paper. The most important issue was the issue of the more than one hundred workers.
Qin Xiang's visit this time could indeed bring benefits, but the current scale of Qin Xiang's store was just that, mainly relying on two wholesale shops. The one hundred workers that could be used were the number needed by the branch stores. It was indeed difficult to arrange the remaining more than one hundred workers.
But as Qin Xiang said, if they did not accept it, these more than one hundred workers would not be able to start work.
He Shengnan gritted her teeth and said, "We have no excuse to object. If the people in the design department and the sales department do not accept this plan, then they can report it directly to the market and resign directly. We cannot keep idle people in our factory in the future."
The other people could not say anything to object.
He Shengnan said to Deputy Factory Director Wu, "As soon as the contract is finalized in the next few days, you will take people to the south to discuss the OEM matters. Every worker who can be recruited will be a win for us. From the workers' side, pick out 100 excellent ones who are not cunning and have good character, and have them be in charge of Qin Xiang. According to Qin Xiang's requirements, let the workers sign a confidentiality agreement and not let the design be leaked. If it is leaked, it must be handled according to the contract. "If anyone has any objections, they can bring out the contract and talk about it. If they dare to make trouble, they can go directly to the police station, and then the factory will report it to the city and they will be fired directly."
She gritted her teeth and said, "We have no room for objection, we can only go on."
The tone was set, and He Shengnan hurriedly called the city leaders to make an appointment. After hearing the general situation, the leaders also attached great importance to it and asked them to bring Qin Xiang over early tomorrow morning to discuss it in detail.
After hanging up the phone, He Shengnan hurriedly told Qin Xiang about it. Qin Xiang nodded, "Okay."
He Shengnan smiled and said, "Guests from afar are welcome. We have a good relationship. I will treat you to dinner tonight."
Qin Xiang wanted to refuse, after all, he hadn't received his salary for half a year, but He Shengnan didn't let them refuse, "This is what we should do. Don't refuse. Just the few of us plus Deputy Director Liu, let's have a good chat. We can also talk to the city leaders tomorrow."
After saying this, Qin Xiang had no room to refuse, so she nodded and agreed.
At six o'clock in the evening, He Shengnan came over. Because the dinner was in the city, it was not far to walk, so she didn't drive.
When they arrived at the hotel and were waiting for the food to be served, Deputy Director Liu humbly asked about the sales inventory.
Qin Xiang felt that the other person had a good attitude and didn't think it was a big deal, so she told him about it. "In fact, I have talked to Director He about this method before, but the specific operation depends on how the workers in the sales department do it. Those who can enter the sales department obviously have certain abilities. The most important thing now is to let them put aside their pride and not have the same attitude and service as the salespersons in the department store. They should sell with their heart. Don't think that selling at a lower price means losing money. If the clothes can't be sold, they will just be a pile of waste in the warehouse. Selling them can at least earn some money and temporarily appease the workers' emotions. It will bring the factory back to life in an instant."
"Mr. Qin, I don't have that ability. We can only take it step by step and push forward step by step. At this point, we have to do a good job of ideological work among the workers." Hearing her say this, Deputy Director Liu felt a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry about what happened this afternoon. I was just too anxious.
" Qin Xiang smiled and said, "I understand. It's all for the good development of the factory. I may have said something inappropriate. Please forgive me."
Her attitude became humble, and others could not find a single word to find fault with her. Moreover, after thinking carefully, Qin Xiang was right. Not only could she help the factory resume production, but she also helped to come up with ideas for future development. She has done her best.
Later, Qin Xiang talked to He Shengnan about the details of the plan, and the banquet was considered a complete success.
After returning to the guesthouse, Miao Xiaofeng couldn't help but give a thumbs up, "Boss, you are really amazing. You can handle a group of them
by yourself." Although Zhao Ping next to him didn't say it, he obviously thought so in his heart.
Qin Xiang laughed, "It's not that I'm so great, it's Director He who is great. In less than half a month, she was able to bring down all the previous leaders and replace the leadership team. Such courage is not something that ordinary people can have. Because those factory leaders know Director He's methods, as long as Director He agrees, they will not strongly oppose it even if they have opinions. After getting promoted with great difficulty, who wants to end up like the previous leader. Even if I fail, there is Director He in front to take the blame."
She has always known that He Shengnan is ambitious, and she was right.
Qin Xiang was relieved that the negotiation was successful today. She only needs to wait until tomorrow to meet with the relevant leaders in the city, and then she can come up with the agreement.
It has to be fast, because she is in a tight schedule.
Qin Xiang looked at Miao Xiaofeng with some concern, "Don't have any conflicts with them here. If you have any problems, go directly to Director He to solve them. If you can't solve them, call me. If you can't find me, find Mi Hongjun. In short, the product quality must pass the test, do you understand?"
Miao Xiaofeng was a little nervous when she said this, but she also knew that this was her chance. She heard that Tan Xiu would lead people to build a branch store next, and the staff had been trained for half a month. Tan Xiu will become a small leader in the future and she is not bad either. She must not let the boss down.
"I will definitely keep an eye on it."
Qin Xiang smiled, "We came here in a hurry. After we go back and recruit people, I will send two more to assist you in your work. You may need to stay here for a long time, so I will leave you some money to rent a house as a temporary dormitory."
Miao Xiaofeng nodded, "Okay."
After the few people finished chatting, Qin Xiang went downstairs to call the capital to inquire about Tan Xiu's personnel training. He learned that the people had been recruited and the training was almost done. Qin Xiang heaved a sigh of relief, "Tan Xiu, tomorrow you can take your people to Jinshi to look at storefronts. Choose a location first, then call my third brother to inquire about the decoration. The rest will be done after we have negotiated the production of clothes. Then several branches will be opened together. You have a heavy burden, but I believe you can do it."
Qin Xiang had broken down these arrangements to Tan Xiu before. Now, hearing the boss say this, Tan Xiu's heartbeat accelerated.
She hurriedly said, "I can do it."
She had to do it even if she couldn't. She couldn't let down at the critical moment. When she grows bigger in the future, she will be a veteran. After
a night's rest, He Shengnan came early the next morning.
There were so many people to meet the city leaders, so Qin Xiang followed He Shengnan into the car alone.
On the way, He Shengnan sighed, "You don't know how I have survived the past half month."
She smiled bitterly and said, "If it doesn't work this time, I'm afraid I will have to step down in a few days."
As for how He Shengnan did it, Qin Xiang had a few words with the front desk of the guesthouse last night and had a general understanding.
The current predicament of the factory is nothing more than the suspension of production and the inability to pay wages. He Shengnan collected various evidences of the inaction of the factory leaders, reported them to the workers on the spot, incited the workers' emotions, and took the workers' representatives to the city, and quickly pulled people down when several leaders tried to suppress them.
Qin Xiang could understand how difficult it was. She smiled and said, "Director He's courage to fight to the death is admirable. I believe Xiang Yanghong will get better and better under his leadership."
In fact, they all knew that such cooperation could only be temporary. Director He still wanted to develop his own team and didn't want to be controlled by others.
The same was true for Qin Xiang. She just didn't have enough funds, otherwise she would have wanted to buy land and build a factory to start production.
The current stage is just a transitional stage. It would be good for both parties to reach a cooperation.
And He Shengnan's idea was also good. As long as the branches along the line were opened, she would cooperate with Qin Xiang. Even if Qin Xiang no longer outsourced from the factory in the future, as long as their clothes could become beautiful, they might still be able to supply Qin Xiang. This would be a ready-made sales channel.
Arriving at the municipal government, Director He took Qin Xiang upstairs.
Qin Xiang thought it would be the leaders of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission who would meet them, but he did not expect to be standing outside the deputy mayor's office.