Chapter 198
Ye Manzhi's sudden idea made Lei Wanyuan very interested.
When Factory 833 was built, Anyang County was still a vast wasteland and the city's power supply could not reach Anyang County at all.
Therefore, in order to meet the production and living electricity needs of tens of thousands of people, the factory installed its own steam turbine generator system, which was very large and cost millions.
Even if the city's power supply is cut off every few days, it will not affect the factory's daily production.
The power supply conditions have improved in recent years, and with most of the people from Factory 833 taken away, the factory actually no longer needs such a large generator set.
It's not impossible to exchange it with the car manufacturer.
That's right...
Lei Wanyuan said something from his heart: "This sounds a bit like the work of a prodigal son."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
It does seem a bit like a family that has fallen on hard times and has to sell off its property.
The two men stood beside the truck, looking at each other in silence.
Ye Manzhi gathered his thoughts and said, "Our main focus right now is business development. If we can exchange the generators with the car manufacturer, we might be able to make a difference of several hundred thousand. If we can negotiate, we'll ask the manufacturer for ten vehicles to build a fleet and then cash in the remaining money."
"That's just wishful thinking on our part," Lei Wanyuan said, pacing back and forth. "They have a few hundred thousand. Shouldn't that be enough to buy another generator?"
Ye Manzhi reminded him, "Director, don't forget that generators are state-allocated supplies. You can't just buy them. Otherwise, for such a large auto factory, selling a car can earn over 10,000 yuan. How could they not have money to buy generators?"
There are 61 types of materials allocated by the state.
24 types of raw materials and fuels, including steel and gasoline.
There are 37 kinds of electromechanical products, and complete generator sets are one of them.
In recent years, many new factories have been built in the city, and many of them, such as automobile factories and food factories, have expanded in scale. However, not all companies can replace their generators in a timely manner.
Lei Wanyuan knew that what she said made sense, and thinking about the former 833 Factory Racing Team, he was also quite tempted.
However, as soon as he became the factory director, he sold the factory's generators.
Moreover, everyone else was changing to a bigger one, but they changed to a smaller one. Isn't this clearly telling outsiders that Shuguang Factory is no longer viable?
Intellectually, he knew that doing so would be beneficial to the development of Shuguang Factory, but he still felt a little uncomfortable mentally.
"Let me think about it again."
Lei Wanyuan listened absent-mindedly to the following explanation. After asking about the price of a 5-ton truck, he took his people back to the factory.
He digested the problem for two days and then called other factory managers to discuss the feasibility of exchanging generators.
Kang Jian said, "The generator casing alone weighs several thousand pounds, and disassembly and assembly is very complicated. Our generator set has been used for some time. If it continues to be used, there will be no major problems. However, if it is disassembled and reassembled, some parts will definitely need to be replaced with new ones. I guess the situation is similar in the car factory."
Tian Chunshan also mentioned the issue of state-controlled distribution of materials.
"Just because we don't have access to such a powerful generator now doesn't mean we won't need it in the future. What if the factory expands and needs a large generator again? Not only will we have to spend more money, but we'll also have to wait in line for the State Planning Commission to approve the generator."
Everyone spoke in a rather euphemistic way, but the general meaning was that they were against the exchange generator.
Life is still manageable, and we haven't reached the point where we have to sell off our property!
Furthermore, the generators at both plants are old. How is the depreciation calculated? What is the standard for calculating the price difference?
Whether you calculate too much or too little, someone will be dissatisfied.
If you're not careful, you might even be called a prodigal by the workers.
After summarizing the opinions of several people, Lei Wanyuan suggested, "Then wait a little longer and go to the Canton Fair to check out the market. If we can get export orders, we can save money little by little to buy a car and equipment."
Otherwise, you should consider exchanging generators with external manufacturers.
It also leaves a way out for the factory.
Ye Manzhi asked: "Are you going to buy a truck soon?"
“…”
If you need to replace the generator in the future, you will lose money if you buy the car now.
The two cars have retail prices, and the ten cars have wholesale prices. The unit price differs by 8%, so buying ten cars can result in the difference of one car.
Lei Wanyuan hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and said, "Then wait a month or so. During this time, I'll rent a car from another company. After the Canton Fair, we'll see how the orders go."
Tian Chunshan, the deputy production manager, warned, "If we do receive an export order, our current inventory of raw materials will definitely be insufficient. The Provincial Materials Bureau is holding a 'Consolidated Materials Ordering Meeting' this week. We need to quickly organize our staff and prepare a materials plan for the second half of the year."
*
Material ordering is a top priority for all companies, even more important than production and sales.
Under the planned economic system, all important means of production are uniformly allocated by the state.
The State Planning Commission holds two ordering meetings every year, one for annual orders and one for advance orders.
After the national ordering conference is completed, it is the turn of each province and city to organize enterprises to place orders.
When Ye Manzhi worked in the food factory, he was not eligible to participate in the provincial ordering conference.
The materials ordered at the ordering conference were "nationally allocated materials" and "ministerially allocated materials."
The raw materials of the food factory are mostly agricultural and sideline products, and the tinplate and glass bottles used for packaging can be directly allocated by the Binjiang Municipal Materials Bureau.
So, it was her first time to attend the provincial unified material ordering conference.
The provincial ordering fair has a very high level of conference standards, which can be seen from the venue of the conference.
Ordinary meetings are usually held in the conference rooms of various units or in an agency guesthouse.
But the "Provincial Unified Material Ordering Conference" was held at the Friendship Palace!
As the only foreign affairs hotel in the city, Friendship Palace has always been the most upscale hotel in the city.
Even though the Sino-Soviet Friendship Palace became the "Friendship Palace" due to the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations, its status remains transcendent.
Five people from Shuguang Factory came to attend the ordering meeting this time. In addition to the three factory directors, the heads of the supply and marketing department and the production planning department also came.
The materials they wanted to order included steel, pig iron, coal, copper, lead, copper wire, aluminum wire, lathes, drilling machines, and casting equipment. In total, there were twenty or thirty kinds of materials.
However, since Shuguang Factory has not yet officially received the production task, their order quantities are all estimated, and the province may not be able to allocate materials according to their requirements.
Therefore, several people have to act according to circumstances and adjust their own order forms at any time.
The conference lasted for three days. When the Shuguang Factory team came into the city from the suburbs, most of the factory directors and managers had already arrived when they entered the venue.
A red banner with the words "Provincial Unified Materials Ordering Conference for the Second Quarter of 1966" was hung above the venue.
According to convention, the leader will give a speech at the beginning of the meeting to convey the spirit of the National Materials Bureau Directors' Conference, emphasize that industry should learn from Daqing, and all enterprises from top to bottom must improve their ideological and political awareness.
These are all old sayings. If the factory directors and managers below were asked to come on stage and speak, they might be able to explain them better than the director of the provincial materials bureau!
However, the director of the supplies bureau on the stage quickly told a new story.
"At the national conference on learning from Daqing on the materials front, it was called on all levels of materials departments to establish service teams to provide services to production and construction units. Following the spirit of the conference, specialized companies in our province have also established service teams, which will soon be stationed at major enterprises, delivering orders and settling accounts on-site. They will also conduct in-depth investigations and research in supply and marketing departments, technical departments, workshops, and warehouses, reporting on the situation and serving production and construction, truly ensuring that supply, utilization, and conservation are managed..."
Upon hearing this, the corporate leaders in the audience immediately started buzzing about it.
The leader on the stage shouted "Quiet" twice, but failed to quiet down the venue.
Tian Chunshan asked quietly, "What does the Materials Bureau mean?"
They are conducting investigations and research, reporting on the situation, and also asking for savings. Does this mean that we need to reduce the supply of materials to various units?
Lei Wanyuan folded his arms and said, "What else could it mean? The service team is here to serve production and construction. Why think so much?"
The discussion in the meeting hall was too loud, so the director of the Materials Bureau raised his voice and said, "Everyone, please pay attention to the meeting discipline. Comrades from any unit who have questions can stand up and speak. Let's discuss it together."
After that, the venue became much quieter.
But no one took the initiative to ask questions.
This service team sounds like it is for businesses, but many businesses are accustomed to reserving some supplies in the warehouse just in case. If the service team finds out the inventory situation in the factory, they will most likely have to cut back on the next order.
There was a vacuum in the conference hall for more than ten seconds, and no one spoke on or off the stage.
Seeing this, the Director of Materials Bureau coughed lightly and was about to continue his speech when he caught a glimpse of someone raising their hand in the middle of the meeting room.
He nodded and said, "A female comrade in the fourth row has raised her hand. Does she have any questions?"
Ye Manzhi stood up under the gaze of hundreds of eyes and took the loudspeaker handed to him by the staff.
In front of so many people, she started by singing a high-sounding tune.
"The Provincial Planning Commission and the Materials Bureau have set up a service team to go deep into the enterprise to solve our practical difficulties. It is really timely..."
Leaders of other companies: “…”
I thought someone could reflect the voice of the masses, but in the end, someone came to flatter me.
Several leaders from the Provincial Planning Commission and the Materials Bureau on the stage smiled and nodded.
That’s right, the original intention of the province to set up a service team is to help enterprises solve their difficulties.
I didn’t expect the reactions of these business leaders to be so intense.
Ye Manzhi continued to praise: "I just heard Director Sun mention that the service team will deliver orders and settle accounts at the doorstep of enterprises. This will indeed save enterprises a lot of time. If this can really be implemented, then the service team can be said to be the link between the materials department and our enterprise's supply and demand!"
Director Sun thought the woman spoke very well, but a few compliments would suffice; there was no need to take up too much time. Just as he was about to ask her to sit down, Ye Manzhi said, "However, I still have a small question."
"Oh, you still have questions? Then please tell me and let's discuss them together."
Ye Manzhi asked, "Each specialized company in the province should form a service team. Should the metal materials company have one, the timber company another, and the electromechanical equipment company another?"
Director Sun affirmed: "Yes, every professional company has a professional service team."
Ye Manzhi smiled and said, "Actually, our factory has been troubled by a problem. I believe most of the business representatives here have encountered similar situations. Every time we transport supplies, we have to go to the supply stations of various specialized companies to pick up the goods. For example, if we transport steel, we go to the supply station of the metal materials company, and if we transport wood, we go to the supply station of the timber company. For a company like ours with a large demand for supplies, just to get them together, we have to drive trucks all over the city. It takes at least six or seven days to collect all the supplies."
Running around like this not only wastes time, but also wastes money.
When Shuguang Factory could not borrow a truck, it rented a truck from the Materials Bureau's transport team.
1.8 cents per ton per kilometer.
If a 5-ton truck is fully loaded, the cost of transporting supplies is 0.9 yuan per kilometer.
And you will also be charged for returning empty.
In this way, if you transport goods all over the city in a week, you can travel hundreds of kilometers and easily spend a hundred yuan.
Ye Manzhi's words were echoed by many people at the scene.
Although the factory has trucks, transporting goods everywhere does take time and costs fuel.
Ye Manzhi continued, "Take Binjiang City for example. The supply stations of various specialized companies are scattered across the districts, forcing everyone to run all over the city. Could our Materials Bureau consider setting up comprehensive supply stations in each district? So everyone could just go to the nearest supply station and bring back all their raw materials?"
Director Sun agreed with the proposal, but it could not be realized in a short period of time.
The Provincial Materials Bureau has eight specialized companies under its jurisdiction, all of which are managed vertically and each is responsible for a specific business.
It takes a lot of effort to get these eight companies to cooperate.
Director Sun didn't say yes or no, but said ambiguously, "That's a good suggestion. I'll make a note of it."
If they just say they've noted it down but don't say it can be done, then it's probably difficult to do.
Ye Manzhi didn't sit down, but instead asked, "Director Sun, setting up a comprehensive supply station may take some time to adjust, so it doesn't matter if we don't have one. However, since the service team can provide door-to-door delivery and settlement services, can you also provide us with door-to-door delivery services?"
Director Sun: “…”
Why do you think it is so beautiful?
It’s not enough to have the goods delivered to the supply station, do they have to be delivered to your doorstep?
Ye Manzhi said: "Our factory has a huge demand for steel. Sometimes, a whole truckload of steel is shipped from the steel mill to the supply station, all for our factory. However, the steel mill delivers the materials to the supply station, and after the supply station takes over, they notify us to pick up the goods. This unnecessarily increases the workload of loading and unloading, and also increases transportation costs. If the materials can be shipped directly from the steel mill to our factory, and a comrade from the service team is responsible for delivering and following up on the orders, wouldn't it be more convenient for both us, the supply and demand sides!"
Her proposal was echoed by more people.
"Yes, that's a good idea. If the entire truckload of supplies belongs to the same unit, then there's no need to send it to a supply depot. We can just let the supply and demand parties meet directly!"
The previous proposal was not accepted. If this one is also rejected, it would seem that this newly established "service team" lacks sincerity.
If they can’t even do this, what else can the service team do?
Director Sun was also aware of this, so he didn't refuse this time. He nodded and said, "If the supply and demand sides are in the same area, and the supplies are only for one unit, we can consider having the service team act as a matchmaker to facilitate the transaction. We'll discuss the specific details after the meeting."
Upon hearing this, Ye Manzhi led the applause and sat down contentedly.
Lei Wanyuan clapped his hands and praised softly, "This is a great idea! Steel and pig iron are the hardest to transport; they're heavy and they travel long distances. We don't have a fleet right now, so if we could have the steel mill deliver the supplies right to our doorstep, that would really save us a lot of money on renting a car!"
*
The meeting will last for three days, and the formal ordering meeting will start tomorrow.
Since many business leaders came to Binjiang on business trips from other places, the organizers booked guest rooms for everyone at the Friendship Palace.
Each business has one room.
Shuguang Factory is located in the far suburbs and received the same treatment as other local companies, and was given a room.
Lei Wanyuan gave the key to Ye Manyi and asked the only female comrade to stay here and rest.
The other four men all live in the Shuguang Factory staff quarters and can take the factory truck here tomorrow morning.
Ye Manzhi did not refuse. She really wanted to stay in the Foreign Affairs Hotel for one night. Besides, there was really no room for four men in the room.
It was only three o'clock in the afternoon when the meeting ended.
Ye Manzhi returned to the guest room and took a look around. It was indeed a foreign affairs hotel built strictly according to Soviet standards.
There is a toilet and shower inside, as well as a telephone and radio.
She picked up the receiver and dialed Wu Zhengrong. No one answered the first call, but his operator answered the second.
Ye Manzhi suppressed her excitement and left a message asking Wu to call her back.
When she received a call from Wu Zhengrong a quarter of an hour later, she excitedly said, "Wu Zhengrong, I've moved into Friendship Palace! Pick up Youyan from school later, and come over quickly. We'll take a shower here tonight!"
Wu Zhengrong said with amusement, "You've already moved into Friendship Palace, why are you only thinking about taking a bath?"
"Oh, that shower head is so loud, it's much bigger than the one we have at home! I think it should be really useful!" Ye Manzhi urged, "Hurry up and bring Yan with you. This is a rare opportunity, let the child see the world!"
The entry threshold to the Friendship Palace is too high.
The last time she came here was ten years ago, when she came to the Friendship Palace with Wu Zhengrong to attend a fashion party and met the elders of the Wu family for the first time.
After working for ten years, she finally had the opportunity to live in the Friendship Palace.
I don’t know when the next time will be!
She took her conference pass, ran to the hotel entrance, and welcomed the father and daughter in.
They went home early to get some spare clothes and a camera. As soon as the country bumpkin Wu Yuzhuo entered the lobby on the first floor, he strongly requested to take a photo with the Welcoming Pine mural at the door.
"Wait for my dad to develop the photos and let my great-grandparents see them."
"Your great-grandfather and great-grandmother have already been here." Ye Manzhi took her upstairs.
"Then show it to my grandparents, Cheche brother, and Qiuqiu brother." Wu Yuzhuo turned around and took her father's hand. "Dad, where are we going to have dinner?"
Wu Zhengrong ruthlessly exposed her, "I asked you to eat at home, but you kept saying you weren't hungry. Isn't that because you wanted to go out for a meal?"
Captain Xiao Wu said stubbornly, "I just wasn't hungry at that time!"
After putting their clothes back in the guest room, the family of three asked for directions and went to the restaurant on the second floor.
Ye Manzhi had already prepared herself mentally. If they still needed foreign exchange coupons to eat here, they would go outside and find a state-owned restaurant for dinner.
However, after looking at her conference certificate, the waitress said that she only needed to pay money and did not even need to pay for food coupons.
After all, it is a foreign affairs hotel, and occasionally it has to receive the Polish ice hockey team, the North Korean inspection team, etc. Foreign guests cannot pay with food coupons.
When eating out, one has to be mindful of the impact. Even though they could order whatever dishes they wanted, the couple still restrained themselves and only ordered two dishes.
Then I changed the staple food to bread and ordered two small cakes.
Handing the menu to the curious children, Ye Manzhi proudly whispered to them, "This place is quite grand, isn't it?"
Wu Zhengrong said flatteringly, "I'm lucky to be following Director Xiaoye."
Captain Xiao Wu was extremely excited, his chin in his hands as he exclaimed, "This place is even nicer than the hotel in Guangzhou! There are so many paintings hanging on the walls, the chandeliers are sparkling, and there's even a ceiling fan!"
She has only stayed in hotels in Guangzhou.
There are fewer references, but she thinks the hotels in Guangzhou are already very good!
Upon hearing this, Ye Manzhi looked up at the ceiling and saw that many chandeliers actually had ceiling fans installed above them.
She recalled the layout of her room and asked uncertainly, "Is there an electric fan in our room?"
The two comrades surnamed Wu both had surprisingly good memories and answered in unison, "No."
The waiter brought the two dishes they ordered. Ye Manzhi scooped a spoonful of braised beef from the pot for the rumbling kid, then turned her head and asked the man, "What do you think about selling our factory's electric fans to the Friendship Palace?"
"..." Wu Zhengrong thought back to the electric fan he had seen at the social gathering and said affirmatively, "Of course it would be great if we could sell it here. This is the largest foreign affairs reception center in the province, and provincial, municipal, and even national conferences are often held here. Many comrades from other places stay here every day. If we can sell electric fans to the Friendship Palace, it will definitely have a great advertising effect."
Ye Manzhi said excitedly, "Yes, not only can comrades from other places see our electric fans, but when we go out to sell them, we can also say, 'Binjiang Friendship Palace uses our electric fans.' How classy!"
Wu Zhengrong sometimes admires Ye Laiya's work enthusiasm and can see that she really loves this job.
"Let's eat first," he pushed the beef over. "After you're full, we'll try to sell the electric fans to the Friendship Palace as soon as possible."
After eating and drinking their fill, the three of them toured around the Friendship Palace, then returned to their room to try out the large shower head.
The effect of the big shower head is indeed better than the one at home.
Encouraged by the two ladies, Wu Zhengrong decided to go back and improve his own shower head.
*
Ye Manzhi was thinking about selling electric fans to the Friendship Palace. When she met the supply and marketing section chief Cheng Liangcai at the venue the next day, she first asked about the recent sales of electric fans in government agencies and major guesthouses.
"The municipal labor union purchased 22 oscillating table fans, and the Binjiang Steam Turbine Plant's guesthouse has expressed interest in purchasing them, but nothing has been officially finalized yet," said Cheng Liangcai. "The attitudes of several guesthouses are rather ambiguous, so we'll probably have to negotiate further."
Ye Manzhi asked, "We're having a meeting at the Friendship Palace soon. Can we contact them and sell our fans there? With the Friendship Palace's endorsement, it will be easier for us to sell our fans to other companies."
Cheng Liangcai shook his head and said, "After the meeting ended yesterday, I took a special tour of the Friendship Palace. They have ceiling fans installed in the restaurant and conference room, but not in the guest rooms. So I contacted the purchasing department of the Friendship Palace yesterday, hoping to sell our electric fans there."
"However, our Shuguang brand is a new one, and it doesn't have a timer or speed adjustment function. It's not as versatile as other brands of electric fans. A foreign affairs hotel like the Friendship Palace wants to buy the best equipment, so I shook my head and refused."
The electric fan project was launched hastily, and in order to participate in the Canton Fair, the technical team only developed basic functions.
Compared with other electric fans on the market, such as 360-degree oscillating fans, its functions are indeed a bit thin.
After listening to the conversation, Lei Wanyuan said regretfully, "If we could sell fans to the Friendship Palace, so that comrades from all over the country could see the Shuguang brand, the advertising effect would definitely be extraordinary. However, we also need to look within ourselves for the reasons. When we get back, have the technical team improve the functions as soon as possible, so that we can at least match the market average."
Ye Manzhi leaned back in his chair and muttered, "We can't come up with a new product for a while. If they really don't want to buy our electric fans, why not just give them a few? They won't refuse something for free, right?"
"An electric fan costs hundreds of yuan," Cheng Liangcai exclaimed, "Is it really free?"
"Let's not give away too many. We can still afford three or five. Spend a few hundred yuan and put fans in the guest rooms of the Friendship Palace. It will be like upgrading the quality of our Shuguang brand fans."
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