Chapter 19: A single cent can bring down a hero

  See off Wang Xiaochen, Qin Hai returned to his own desk. He did not continue the work just now, but supported his chin with his hand and pondered the affairs of Qingfeng Factory.

  Regarding the Qingfeng Factory and Wei Baolin, Qin Hai had already been briefed in detail by Ning Mo over the past two days. From what Ning Mo said, Wei Baolin was a bookworm who was all talk and no action, with great ambitions but little talent, and he was also very selfish, only caring about his own interests, to the point where he had turned the factory into a complete mess.

  The foundation of Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory is very good, and the equipment in several workshops such as machining, casting, and assembly are not top-notch in the country, but they have everything they need. Equipment like high-frequency quenching furnaces are rare in county-level agricultural machinery factories, but can be found in Qingfeng factory.

  Apart from the equipment conditions, the level of workers in Qingfeng Factory is also not bad. According to Ning Mo and Wang Xiaochen, there are several old workers in Qingfeng Factory whose technical skills are very famous throughout the system. During Ning Zhongying's more than 10 years as the factory director, the atmosphere for learning technology was very strong, so the general workers' technical skills were relatively solid, and this tradition of learning technology has continued to this day.

  With such a good production foundation, if there is a capable leader and some good products, in this era of rapid development, it will be easy to develop and become one of the top domestic enterprises in the future.

  Unfortunately, the leader of Qingfeng Factory was a short-sighted person like Wei Baolin, who would hastily launch a new product with just a casual thought, and as soon as he encountered some setbacks, he would completely deny everything and wouldn't even make any effort to salvage the situation. Even the best enterprise, after being tossed about like this several times, would suffer greatly and eventually withdraw from the market like many small and medium-sized state-owned enterprises of later generations.

  Fate brought me to this company, with my own ability, it's not difficult to save the company, but what's difficult is whether I can have a platform to showcase my skills?

  It now appears that Xiang Jiyong, Leng Yuming and Xiao Dongping, these mid-level cadres, should be trying to save this factory, and they also appreciate Qin Hai's talent. However, these people are only mid-level, and according to Ning Mo, because they are all under Ning Zhongying's command, they have always looked down on Wei Baolin's style, and Wei Baolin has not been able to take them in, so he regards them as another type. It is actually because the appointment and removal procedures for state-owned enterprise cadres are complex, and Wei Baolin cannot find any handle to remove them from these important positions.

  Xiang Ji Yong and the others came to find Qin Hai in the single dormitory building after the meeting, with a very clear purpose, that is, they hoped Qin Hai could help them solve the quality problem of the rotary tiller blade as soon as possible. However, Wei Bao Lin had already planned to switch to producing washing machines, so what's the point of solving the problem of the rotary tiller blade now?

  Alas, the sky is going to rain, and my mother is going to get married. Let them be, I'll just have some small fights with Ningmo and others, earn some capital for starting a family. If Qingfeng Factory really goes bankrupt in the future, at least I won't starve to death.

  Qin Hai had made up his mind in his heart, and only then did he bring his thoughts back to the present, starting to draw design diagrams for several military equipment.

  The next morning, Qin Hai arrived at the casting workshop on time and saw that Xiang Jiyong and three other department heads, as well as Workshop Director Miao Funan, were already waiting for him in the office. In addition to these mid-level cadres, there were also several middle-aged workers in the office.

  "Everyone, sorry, I'm late." Qin Hai began with a self-criticism.

  "You're not late yet, there are still five minutes before work starts." Xiao Dongping said to him after glancing at his watch.

  "Now that we're here, let's talk about this high-frequency induction welding business." Leng Yuming didn't waste any words and directly cut to the chase.

  Miao Funan pointed to several middle-aged workers beside him and said, "These are all heat treatment workers in our workshop. This is Peng Jingen, Liu Jianping, Wei Jiali, they are all old operators."

  "Master Peng, Master Liu, Master Wei." Qin Hai nodded to each of the workers, who responded with slight nods. However, in their hearts, they were all wondering: Why are these high-ranking officials being so polite to this young kid?

  "Alright, let's cut to the chase. I'll tell you all about the high-frequency induction welding technology." Qin Hai didn't mind what others thought; if he wanted to convince them, he had to show his true abilities, otherwise, even with a big beard and a truckload of diplomas, what was the point?

  The purpose of high-frequency induction surfacing welding is to cover a layer of alloy weld on the surface of the workpiece, so as to improve the wear resistance performance of the workpiece and prolong the service life of the wear-resistant parts.

  The high-frequency induction welding process includes three aspects: First, the design of the weld layer's position, shape and thickness. The cold work knife has design data that can completely solve this problem; Second, the preparation of alloy materials for resistance welding, which is a kind of alloy powder, requires uniform particle size, low melting point, good processability, and also cheap; Third, the resistance welding process specification, including current frequency, power, and welding time.

  The last two items need to be determined based on our actual situation, including the performance of the materials of our existing blades, the capabilities of our existing equipment, and the source of alloy powder. In this regard, I can propose a general direction, but finding the optimal alloy composition and specification parameters must be solved through experimentation.

  Qin Hai said, pulling out several sheets of paper with writing on them from his pocket and handing them to Leng Yuming, "Leng Section Chief, this is some formula data and parameters that I recalled last night. It may be necessary to trouble Master Peng and the others to experiment with them in practice and find the best combination."

  Leng Yueming took over the few papers, looked at them carefully, nodded to Xiang Jiyong and Miao Funan, and said: "What Xiao Qin said is right, these parameters can only be determined by experimenting on their own, this matter requires your two orders."

  Miao Funan pointed at Xiang Jiyong and said, "Don't look at me, old Xiang is the head of the production department, the production department gives me a task list, and as the workshop director, I just execute it."

  Xiang Ji-Yong furrowed his brow and asked Leng Yu-Ming, "Old Leng, how many times do you plan to run these experiments? You need to get the technicians to calculate the consumption and man-hours. If the cost is low, I can make the decision myself, but if it's high, I'll have to go through Wei Bao-Lin for approval."

  Leng Yueming said, "The formula listed by Xiao Qin is high-chromium cast iron powder, which we can configure ourselves. However, the proportion of chromium and flux need to be experimented with. Calculating this way, including materials and labor, I estimate it will cost several hundred yuan."

  "A few hundred yuan..." Yiji Yong was embarrassed.

  Qin Hai couldn't help but speak up, "Leaders, experimenting with a new process, a few hundred yuan isn't too much, is it? We... uh, I mean, some large foreign enterprises spend millions of dollars to develop a new heat treatment process, can't we even spare a few hundred yuan?"

  In the entire industrial field, what is most expensive is undoubtedly materials. Some people think that those international famous cars have a dazzling appearance, imagining how much investment it takes to develop such a model, but in fact, the cost of exterior design compared to the cost of material formulation and craftsmanship is just small magic versus big magic.

  Building an aircraft carrier costs tens of billions of dollars. Developing the special steel used on the deck of an aircraft carrier, which is resistant to high temperatures, wear and corrosion, also requires investment in units of tens of billions of dollars.

  Qin Hai, as a materials scientist of later generations, has a deep understanding of the expenses required for research in this field. Although he excels in theory and achieves astonishing results, he still falls short when it comes to putting these theories into practice. The reason is simple: no one can afford the enormous funds needed for this process.

  Perhaps, in this life, one should make making money the top priority. If one can become a billionaire, or even a multi-billionaire, then the theoretical ideas from past lives will have the opportunity to be realized...

  At this moment, Qin Hai suddenly found his goal of crossing over and rebirth, that is, making money.

  "Xiao Qin, what are you thinking about?" Everyone noticed Qin Hai's brief daze. Xiao Dongping patted Qin Hai's shoulder, pulling him back from his beautiful dream of becoming a billiard master to reality.

  "Oh, I mean, this welding process is related to one of our factory's main product quality, spending a few hundred yuan isn't a big deal, right?" Qin Hai hurriedly said.

  Xie Ji had a bitter feeling in his heart, but he couldn't tell this young man. He nodded and said: "I'll take care of this matter. Old Miao, let Peng Shifu, Liu Shifu, and Wei Shifu follow Xiao Qin's and Lao Leng's arrangement to do the experiment, and report back on the consumption and working hours later. I won't make you pay out of your own pocket."

  Miao Funan got Xiang Jiyong's promise and didn't ask much. He turned around and said to the heat treatment workers: "Old Peng, Old Liu, Old Wei, you just follow Xiao Qin and Leng Kechang's arrangement. This matter is very important and involves whether our factory's 200,000 blades can be revived. If it's done well, I'll give you this month's bonus."

  Peng Jinggen laughed and said, "Director Miao, you're really joking. The bonuses for the past two years haven't been paid yet, what's the point of reporting this month's bonus? However, if Master Qin's method is useful and can sell our factory's blades, it would be a great thing. When the time comes, if you can help me get my child's medical expenses for measles reported to the finance department, I'll kowtow to you."

  "If things can be done, I'll take care of it." Xiao Dongping patted Miao Funan on the chest and agreed to Peng Jingen's terms.