Chapter 171
Niu Enjiu's attitude towards the several tasks that Director Ye is promoting has always been very clear.
That is full support!
Especially the "Angang Constitution".
The "Angang Constitution" was formulated by the Chairman himself and was successfully implemented in the cannery.
Anyone with a modicum of political wisdom would not openly oppose such a matter.
Niu Enjiu has been the one who has the final say in the food factory for more than a year or two, but no one has ever caught him and reported him to the higher authorities on major issues. Can it be said that he lacks wisdom in this regard?
Therefore, from the perspective of bystanders, Director Niu is absolutely very supportive of Deputy Director Ye's work.
But Ye Manzhi has been working with Niu Enjiu for almost a year, and she knows what Director Niu is like when he supports her work.
That's the kind of guy who can hang up a long-distance call and go to Beijing to stand guard!
Niu Enjiu is just shouting slogans and saying he supports the movement, but he has not taken any real action.
Ye Manzhi discovered it after a few days of observation. Lao Niu neither supported nor opposed it.
He just drags it out!
Sometimes, work is done with a strong will, and the first burst of energy will fade away and the next burst of energy will eventually lead to exhaustion.
It got delayed until it turned yellow.
As for the production of candied haws that Ye Manzhi mentioned, he also used the strategy of procrastination.
"Director Ye, the Lunar New Year is less than a month away. Soda sales will see a small surge before the Lunar New Year, so the soda workshop can't stop operating just yet." Niu Enjiu flipped through the calendar and said, "How about this? The white sugar we borrowed earlier should indeed be returned to the candy workshop, but let's tentatively set it for after the Lunar New Year."
The price of candied haws is low and the profit is not high. It is good to make a profit of three cents on each candied haws. Even if 3,000 candied haws are produced a day, the profit is only 100 yuan.
Niu Enjiu is the head of such a big family, and this little money is not worth his attention at all.
Ye Manzhi frowned and said, "Director, the peak sales season for candied haws is also during the period before the Spring Festival. After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, the market demand decreases, so we should prepare canned fruit for the spring."
"Tanghulu is not part of the plan. We need to complete the planned soda production first."
The reasons given by Niu Enjiu are reasonable.
Even if it were discussed at a team meeting, his words would still hold water.
Ye Manzhi wanted to ask what would happen if the provincial leaders came to investigate and saw the empty canning workshop, but then she thought that Niu Enjiu might not want the leaders to see anything.
It is an objective fact that canned food production is seasonal, and leaders cannot do anything about it.
Seeing that he was pretending to support but actually dragging his feet, Ye Manzhi stopped talking and walked out of the factory director's office with the teacup.
Superficial support is also support, as long as he supports it.
…
"Director Chen, how's the situation in the workshop these past two days?"
"We can't get enough raw materials, so we either work half a day or a full day and rest a day," Chen Guilan said with a smile. "This year is relatively good. We can produce canned meat in the winter. Two years ago, when we stopped exporting canned meat to the Soviet Union, most of our workers stopped working."
Ye Manzhi sat with several workers. It was time to stop work and wait for materials. Everyone held an enamel pot filled with hot water to warm their hands.
"Is there anyone in our workshop who knows how to make candied haws?"
Chen Guilan said: "Before liberation, when our factory was still a cannery, we used to produce candied haws in the winter. Some of the old masters should still be able to make this craft."
Ye Manzhi asked the workers for their opinions, "What do you think about developing a sideline business for our workshop, producing candied haws?"
Chen Guilan certainly supported it. As the workshop director, she could do her work better if she had work to do.
Some employees who are usually hardworking and diligent also nodded in agreement.
But there are many kinds of people in the world. Among the workers in the workshop, there are those who are active and perform well, while others don't want to work hard.
At this time, someone murmured quietly: "The profit margin of candied haws is not high, right? Our workshop has been working non-stop for half a year, and it's finally time to take a break. Why not save the white sugar for canned food production in the spring?"
Chen Guilan spoke first, "It's true that you've been working for half a year straight, but our workshop operates in three shifts, and your shift is eight hours a day. Are you tired after working eight hours?"
The people who are most tired in this kind of continuous operation are actually the workshop directors and team leaders who are always on duty. Ordinary employees only work eight hours a day, which is relatively easy.
"I'm not tired physically, but I am mentally exhausted. To make candied haws, you need sugar, hawthorns, and sticks. You also have to prepare the tools to boil the sugar and the piles of candied haws. I work for half a day but don't make much money."
After the "Angang Constitution" was implemented in the workshop, many employees dared to speak out.
Director Ye is young, often comes to work, and doesn't have any airs of a leader, so everyone dares to tell the truth in front of her.
Ye Manzhi fumigated her eyes with the steam of hot water and smiled upon hearing this. "Everyone was indeed very hard-working last year. It's understandable that you want to relax. But while you're relaxing, you should also consider the future of yourselves and the canning factory."
"When superiors set production targets, they must take into account the production capacity of each unit. Last year's production target of 2,650 tons was based on 600 employees and 12 sets of equipment. This year, we have less equipment, so we only received a target of 1,800 tons."
"Every workshop has to do cost accounting, and labor costs are also costs. We have less equipment and fewer tasks, but the number of employees remains the same. Have you ever thought about the consequences?"
Employees: “…”
Are they going to downsize again?
Ye Manzhi revealed: "Although the equipment was burned, the money we borrowed from the bank still needs to be repaid. So our canning workshop will use part of last year's profits to repay the bank loan and use another part to purchase a set of equipment for the workshop."
"Under conditions like last year's extreme, 24-hour work, not only the machines couldn't handle it, but our workers' health couldn't handle it either. Therefore, I've made plans with several workshop directors. In addition to the one production line purchased by the factory, the canning workshop will find a way to purchase another set and a half of equipment this year. Together with the existing ones, we'll have a total of six sets."
"Director Ye, you want to use the money you earn from candied haws to buy equipment?"
"Yes, candied haws are an unplanned product, and our canning workshop is facing practical difficulties, so the profits can be retained in the factory."
An old worker quickly calculated in his mind and frowned, saying, "Director Ye, the profit from a string of candied haws is only three cents at most. It's not realistic to rely on candied haws to buy equipment."
The prices of canning equipment vary, ranging from tens of thousands to less than 100,000.
How many candied haws do I need to sell to buy a set of equipment?
"A little bit adds up to a lot. If we can make 50 yuan a day, we'll still have 3,000 yuan in two months." Ye Manzhi said with a smile, "Let's not hesitate. Let's get started and make up for any shortfalls along the way."
Everyone thought about it and realized that it was true. They were just staying there anyway.
It’s better to earn some money to buy new equipment than to worry all day about being laid off.
So, several experienced craftsmen who knew how to make candied haws signed up first.
Ye Manzhi asked Director Chen to select twenty people first and see the market conditions, then returned to the factory and called Meng Lie from the Supply and Marketing Department.
After hearing her request, Meng Lie scratched his head in confusion.
"Director Ye, hawthorn and sugar are both hard to come by right now. If there were still hawthorn available, we wouldn't have to stop producing canned hawthorn."
Seeing she didn't respond, Meng Lie frowned and thought for a while before saying, "Right now, if we go to the countryside to collect hawthorns, we can only collect one or two thousand kilograms, which is enough to cover a week's production. If we want more, we can only purchase it from the Dehua District. They built a cold storage last year, so they should have fresh hawthorns in stock. However, there's really no way to buy sugar. A few hundred kilograms is fine, but there's really no place to buy more than a ton of sugar."
One pound of white sugar can make about 20 strings of candied haws, based on a daily production of 3,000 strings.
Four or five tons of sugar are needed in two months.
Where can he get this?
Ye Manzhi nodded and said, "The Supply and Marketing Department should purchase the hawthorns first. I have a way to get sugar."
"Director Ye, where can you get sugar?"
Meng Lie has been working in Binjiang for a short time and his supply and marketing connections are far inferior to those of Section Chief Liu Sheng.
However, even Liu Sheng, a local resident, was afraid of purchasing sugar.
Without some connections and favors, you will never get any extra sugar.
Ye Manzhi took out the manuscript paper, quickly wrote a promissory note, signed her name at the end, and stamped it with her seal.
Then he tore it off and handed it to Meng Lie.
"First, get our factory's official seal, then take the IOU to the director of Binjiang Second Brewery and tell them we want to borrow five tons of sugar."
"..." Meng Lie took the IOU and asked doubtfully, "Can I borrow it if I go there?"
"I've already contacted Director Zhang of their factory. Just call the driver and go to their factory to pick up the raw materials."
Binjiang Second Brewery has a soda business, but their factory equipment is all ten years old, unlike the soda workshop of the food factory, where the production lines and warehouses are all the latest.
Therefore, the insulation conditions of the Second Beer Soda Warehouse are relatively backward.
To prevent soda bottles from freezing and cracking, they stop producing soda from December to February of the following year.
But raw materials are allocated on a quarterly basis, and in order to cope with production in March, sugar is piled up in the warehouse.
Director Zhang was Ye Manzhi's meeting partner. She called Director Zhang and made a clear promise to return the sugar before March, so she borrowed the sugar without much effort.
As for the return, we still have the guarantee from Director Lao Niu.
Director Niu said that he would ask the soda workshop to return the sugar after the Chinese New Year.
Then just wait for him to pay it back.
He can shirk his own factory's debts, but he can't shirk debts from other factories, right?
Director Niu has always been a decent person to the outside world!
*
After the raw materials of white sugar and hawthorn arrived, the candied haws team in the canning workshop quickly started production.
I made 500 skewers that afternoon.
It is sold in the pastry shop at the factory entrance.
The winter in Binjiang is very suitable for selling candied haws. 500 strings of candied haws are inserted in ten piles and lined up in front of the door of the store.
It was like there were ten scarecrows, and the scene was quite spectacular.
Because they have a shop in front and a factory in the back, and they sell first-hand goods, their retail price is the same as others' wholesale price, which is 1.2 cents per string of candied haws.
Therefore, 500 strings of candied haws were sold out by the company’s employees in just two hours!
Everyone has a fixed salary every month, so they are willing to spend money to buy a string of candied haws for their children to sweeten their stomachs.
When Chen Qian was getting off work, he passed by the pastry shop. Looking at the row of scarecrows in front of the door, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
This Factory Manager Xiaoye is really...
She always does her work in a high-profile and ostentatious manner, for fear that others will not know that she has accomplished something great!
Last time, the cherry syrup was quite lively, and this time, she made the candied haws even more exciting.
It only takes ten minutes to walk from the workshop to the store. Can't she deliver the goods bit by bit?
Do you have to get ten stacks in one go?
Which product in the factory isn't more profitable than tangshui and tanghulu? And yet, the one with the lowest profit margin is the one that's causing the most commotion!
Chen Qian stood on the sidewalk and watched the employees' rush to buy things.
He didn't understand what was so great about the candied haws, but he couldn't help but squeeze into the crowd and hand over 24 cents.
When Director Chen walked out of the crowd again, he glanced at the two strings of candied haws in his hand and thought absentmindedly that Ye Manzhi had already begun to promote the "Angang Constitution" in the candy workshop.
Unlike the low-key reform of the canning workshop, the reform of the candy workshop was quite loud.
After all, we already have successful experience, and Director Lao Niu is also quite supportive.
Isn’t this just an opportunity for Ye Manzhi to take advantage of?
All team members know whether Lao Niu really supports it.
Judging from his lack of practical action, Niu Enjiu definitely does not want to reform.
However, Ye Manzhi pretended to be stupid and told the workers in the candy workshop that Director Niu strongly supported the reform.
Chen Qian held up two strings of candied haws and thought that he couldn't be too realistic.
Otherwise, you can learn from the slippery and unyielding Director Xiaoye and promote the "Angang Constitution" in the biscuit workshop as well.
Factory Manager Xiao Ye was standing on the other side of the store, wondering whether to buy a string of candied haws for his daughter.
After hesitating for a while, she decided not to buy it for her daughter. She wanted her to enjoy the New Year benefits with other children and the fruits of her labor. She would definitely feel happier and more satisfied then!
Therefore, when Director Xiaoye walked into the nearby grocery store, he only had one string of candied haws in his hand.
Standing by the glass window of the store, I took pictures while watching the hustle and bustle on the street.
After she finished eating the whole string of candied haws, she wiped her mouth and took the bus home as if nothing had happened.
Ever since she agreed to help the children's group purchase candied haws, Wu Yuzhuo asked about the production progress of the candied haws every day.
As soon as she came back from school today, she ran in and asked, "Mom, are the candied haws ready?"
"It's ready. Send someone to the factory to buy it tomorrow. But if you want to get it at the factory price, you need to buy at least 50 sticks. Your children's group should buy two more."
Accountant Wu asked responsibly, "Mom, what's the factory price?"
"One dime."
Ye Manzhi knew that she didn't understand this, so she explained to her in detail the differences between factory price, wholesale price and retail price.
"The factory price is 10 cents, the wholesale price is 12 cents, and the retail price may be 14 or 15 cents. If you buy 50 strings of candied haws from somewhere else, you have to pay the wholesale price, but if you buy directly from our factory, you can save a dollar."
Accountant Wu said excitedly, "Then we can eat candied haws tomorrow? I'm going to tell the group leader!"
"Well, you can send someone to the factory to buy it tomorrow. Bring a letter of introduction from the commune, and it would be best if an adult comes along."
Wu Yuzhuo put on her flowery cotton-padded jacket again, and put on her scarf, hat and gloves. She didn't even have time to eat dinner before she rushed out the door like a little rabbit.
Ye Manzhi glanced at Accountant Wu who was moving as fast as a rabbit and thought to herself that it was a good thing that she lived in the military academy's staff quarters, otherwise she would not be comfortable letting her five-year-old kid run around everywhere.
Most of the children in the Children's Corps go to school and kindergarten.
We have to wait until the group leader and deputy group leader finish school before we can come to the food factory to purchase candied haws.
Ye Manzhi knew their school dismissal time, so she waited for them at the factory after get off work the next day.
According to her idea, the people who came to purchase this time should be commune cadres, plus two leaders of children's groups.
However, at the store entrance, she saw Wu Zhengrong wearing a military coat and a long line of children!
"Captain Wu, why are you here?" Ye Manzhi hurriedly went up to him and asked.
"Ask your daughter." Wu Zhengrong flicked the pompom on her hat. "She said some adults were coming to the food factory to buy candied haws, so she tricked me into coming here."
Wu Yuzhuo pushed up the brim of his hat, revealing his eyes. "Uncle Fang is busy today and won't be here until the weekend."
Ye Manzhi smiled knowingly.
These kids have been drooling over candied haws for days, so how could they possibly wait until the weekend?
"There are too many of you! The little money we saved on the candied haws isn't even enough to cover your round-trip fare!"
Ye Manzhi glanced at the group of children and saw that there were at least ten of them.
The group of children were holding hands, with hemp ropes tied around their wrists.
I guess it was the anti-lost rope that Dr. Wu tied for them.
Wu Yuzhuo chuckled proudly: "We don't have to pay for the ride!"
Wu Zhengrong said expressionlessly, "None of these kids are more than 1.2 meters tall. Aside from the leader, no one taller than 1.2 meters has come."
Children under 1.2 meters tall do not need to buy tickets.
God knows how much attention he received when he, an adult, brought twelve free-ticket children on the bus.
There was a 1.2-meter ruler on the bus ticket counter, and the conductor asked the group of little kids to measure their height one by one.
One little girl was two centimeters taller and almost cried.
Wu Zhengrong didn't say anything and quickly paid for the ticket.
Ye Manzhi looked at Dr. Wu, who had a wooden face, and her stomach hurt from trying so hard to hold back her laughter.
"Auntie, when can we buy candied haws?" A little member of the group looked at the row of scarecrows at the door and couldn't wait any longer.
"You can buy it now. Pick a stack for yourselves." Ye Manzhi said to Tao Xueyi, "You can take the stack back with you."
Tao Xueyi's eyes sparkled as he looked at Tanghulu, but he was still concerned about his identity. He took out the letter of introduction and took Accountant Wu into the house to pay the money.
He watched Accountant Wu stuff the five-yuan receipt into his pocket, then he raised his arms and shouted, asking everyone to go and choose the stacks.
Choose ones with more sugar, larger fruit, and no worm holes!
The group of little kids chose very carefully and chattered for a quarter of an hour before finally choosing a pile that performed well in all aspects.
Ye Manzhi thought that the children were very greedy, so if she let them eat their candied haws quickly, the remaining candied haws would not be so heavy.
However, the children in the children's group were well-disciplined. Although they were all staring at the candied haws and drooling, no one asked to take a bite first.
People want to take all the candied haws back home so that everyone can share them as New Year's gifts.
What matters is the sense of ritual!
"Captain Wu, I'll go back with you," Ye Manzhi said jokingly, "Are you responsible for carrying the stacks or looking after the children?"
Wu Zhengrong tapped his daughter on the forehead, which made Accountant Wu stop laughing.
He carried the pile that the children liked.
*
Wu Yuzhuo got his New Year's benefits as he wished, and while enjoying them, he also made suggestions to the food factory on behalf of the children's group.
For example, the flavors were too limited. At the market, there were candied orange haws, but they didn't have any. Other people's candied haws had white sesame seeds, but they didn't.
For example, the deputy group leader was a clean-loving girl. She reported that the journey back from the food factory was too long and some of the candied haws were covered in dust. She hoped that the food factory could ensure the hygiene of the candied haws.
Ye Manzhi humbly accepted all these opinions and suggestions, and also thanked the children's group for their valuable opinions on behalf of the factory.
Then the notes written by the children were handed over to the Tanghulu group.
It is not difficult to increase the variety or even sprinkle some white sesame seeds. The worst that can happen is to raise the price.
But the hygiene problem is indeed not easy to solve.
Logically speaking, the air is very clean after it snows in winter, so there is no problem selling candied haws outdoors.
However, in winter, we have to burn coal for heating, and if there is a chimney nearby, it may be contaminated with coal dust.
"How about we wrap the candied haws with straw paper?" a master chef suggested.
"No, straw paper will easily stick to the candy," another person said. "There's a rice paper workshop next to the candy workshop. I heard they tried making it a few times but weren't very successful. The rice paper is a bit thick. How about we use their trial rice paper to wrap the candied haws? One layer of rice paper and then another layer of straw paper should be enough. Director Ye, do you think this would work?"
"You can go talk to them."
Niu Enjiu worked for two months for the edible film factory, but unfortunately he ended up getting the job at the pharmaceutical factory.
Perhaps unwilling to accept failure, Director Niu thought that producing glutinous rice paper was not a difficult task, so he organized several technicians and workers to trial-produce glutinous rice paper according to a formula he got from somewhere, and even set up a glutinous rice paper workshop for this purpose.
If successful, the factory will be self-sufficient in rice paper in the future.
However, at present, the trial production has not been successful, and the rice paper is as thick as a pancake.
Ye Manzhi bought candied haws wrapped in glutinous rice paper and straw paper at the store at noon that day.
She took three strings of candied haws to a meeting in the city and shared them with her meeting partners.
"Director Zhang, Director Chen, please try the candied haws we just produced."
"I saw it at the market yesterday," said Director Chen. "That haystack had your First Food Factory's name on it. I knew it was made by your factory."
Director Zhang asked, "Xiaoye, how is your candied haws production? Do you have enough sugar?"
"We can sell two to three thousand strings of sugar a day, which is barely enough for us," Ye Manzhi said with a smile. "Thanks to your help, otherwise I really wouldn't know where to get sugar for a while. Sister Zhang, don't worry, we will definitely return it after the New Year."
Director Zhang smiled and said, "You don't have to pay it back, but you can trade it with us for your luncheon meat. Five tons of sugar for two tons of your luncheon meat. Is that okay?"
Ye Manzhi: "That's a big problem. The cost of our luncheon meat is not low."
The total price of 5 tons of sugar is at most 3,500 yuan, with a fluctuation of 200 yuan.
But the cost of 2 tons of luncheon meat is nearly 4,800 yuan.
"I heard your luncheon meat has a pretty high profit margin. The cost price of one ton is only around 2,000. We can make up the difference with sugar or money."
"Impossible, who told you that?"
Director Zhang laughed and said, "I heard this from a deputy director of the Meilin factory when I was in Beijing for a meeting."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
Impossible?
Although factories learn from each other, their cost prices are actually kept confidential.
Everyone’s selling price is similar, but the exact cost of each company is rather vague.
If what Director Zhang said is true, the cost of one ton of luncheon meat at the Meilin factory is 400 yuan less than that at the First Food Factory!
Oh my god!
Ye Manzhi felt a moment of panic.
She is in charge of the canning workshop. Where does the 400 yuan difference come from?
She quickly bit a candied haws to calm herself down.
Director Ye calmed down and consoled himself by saying that it was good to have a gap. If the canning workshop could find the gap and save 400 yuan per ton of luncheon meat, then the annual production target of 800 tons could save 320,000 yuan!
Then what equipment can’t she buy?
However, after implementing the Anshan Constitution in the workshop for more than half a year, the costs of many details have been reduced to the lowest level.
Where does this 400 yuan difference come from?
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