That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1503 We are the ones who share the same ideals.

"Tsk, I've heard that the management model of the No. 1 factory has drawn on advanced overseas experience. Today I've really broadened my horizons and benefited a lot!"

After visiting the No. 1 factory, Director Tan and his team highly praised the factory's working environment and systems. Then, Director Tan changed the subject and, with a smile, raised new requirements.

"President Li, President Lu, since we still have some time, would you mind visiting your new factory in Xishan?"

Lu Zhizhang immediately became alert, because Li Ye had just told him that this Factory Director Tan had the "appearance of a ruthless hero" and might be here to poach employees from the branch factory.

Over the years, the First Factory has put in a lot of effort to enhance its technical capabilities, so it knows the dangers of poaching talent. The loss of a core technical personnel could have serious consequences.

So Lu Zhizhang said with a smile, "That's not easy! The new factory in Xishan is still under construction, and there are foreign experts on-site to oversee it. If we want to visit, we need to apply in advance."

"Do I need to apply in advance?"

Factory Director Tan paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "That's true. Foreign companies have so many restrictions. The engines we imported were designed by the Austrian company AVL. When we first took over, we encountered many limitations and difficulties, but we overcame them one by one."

Lu Zhizhang said with some surprise, "AVL? Lister, one of the world's four major internal combustion engine companies? I really don't know that."

If the Steyr heavy trucks introduced by Sinotruk Group were only of average quality in the 1980s, then the engines they were equipped with were quite distinctive. After all, they came from a prestigious family and were particularly well-suited to the requirements of the mainland in terms of durability and reliability.

A few years ago, the No. 1 factory tried to cooperate with Lister Company, but the deal fell through because a few "experts" wanted the middlemen to pocket the difference in prices.

Factory Director Tan chuckled, then sighed and said, "Whether it's Lister Company or Luster Company, they all struggle to adapt to our inland environment! We've got a hot potato in our hands; we're burning ourselves holding it, and now we're making mistakes if we throw it on the ground."

Lu Zhizhang glanced at Li Ye; both of them were unsure of what Director Tan meant.

Under these circumstances, Director Tan suddenly sighed and said, "I have my own difficulties." How could anyone else respond?

However, Lu Zhizhang was a shrewd and diplomatic person, and immediately smiled and said, "It's getting late, let's go sit in the canteen! Our branch factory's canteen is also very famous."

This statement is somewhat awkward, because just now Director Tan said, "While there's still time," but now Lu Zhizhang says, "It's getting late."

But Director Tan readily agreed, saying, "Alright, alright, I've also heard that the canteen at the First Branch Factory is open 24 hours a day. I definitely need to learn from them."

Actually, not all the canteens in the first factory serve hot meals 24 hours a day. After all, not everyone in the factory works overtime all night like the group of hard-working people in the technical department.

However, the chefs in the canteen of the first factory are definitely competent, because Li Ye never only poachs technical personnel from outside, but also offers several times the salary to poach chefs from restaurants.

A world-renowned economist once asserted that workers' moods at work affect product quality. If factory canteen food is as unpalatable as pig feed, it will inevitably negatively impact workers' morale. The feeling of getting three dollars' worth of food for just one dollar—that kind of satisfaction—wouldn't motivate workers to work diligently?
After tasting the food at the branch factory canteen, Director Tan first praised it highly before revealing his "difficulties".

"When we first came into contact with AVL's engines, we were shocked, but also full of hope for the future, because there were no such high-horsepower car engines in mainland China. If we could make them, we would be number one in China."

We spent six years thoroughly understanding the imported blueprints, mastering the complete engine manufacturing technology, and making hundreds of targeted adaptive improvements. However, since passing the national inspection four years ago, we truly know the ups and downs.

Factory Director Tan took a sip of his drink, then sighed and said, "Because our mindset in the mainland is different from that in Europe and America, transportation companies don't like trucks that are too heavy."
They say heavy trucks have high fuel consumption and are expensive, and for bulk cargo, it's not as good as using a wagon. The entire transportation market only prefers medium-sized trucks under ten tons, and even light trucks under five or three tons.

Mr. Li and Mr. Lu are experts, and they certainly know that medium-sized trucks are not equipped with engines exceeding ten liters in displacement. Therefore, in recent years, we have only had Sinotruk Group as our supplier, with an annual output of less than ten thousand units.”

"."

Li Ye and Lu Zhizhang both fell silent. From Director Tan's words, they both sensed the frustration and resentment of "heroes having no place to use their talents."

Li Ye had visited the Lighthouse in 1985, so he knew that the most common type of truck in the European and American transportation industry was the 18-wheel trailer. He also knew that decades later, the most common trucks on mainland highways were 22-wheelers.
Because this type of trailer has the highest transportation efficiency, transporting fruit from the southern border of the motherland to the northern border only costs four or five cents per kilogram, almost squeezing out the railway giant's less-than-truckload (LTL) business.

However, in the 1980s and 90s, the understanding and demand for heavy-duty trucks in mainland China were extremely limited; otherwise, Jilin Motors and Dongfeng Motors would have paid more attention to them.
Because the market demand for heavy trucks had been stagnant for a long time, Weixian Diesel Engine had production capacity but was always hungry. It wasn't until the late 1990s that its annual output exceeded 10,000 units.

Therefore, people of this era simply did not believe that two thousand years later, Weixian Diesel Engine, a state-owned enterprise that had long suffered from hunger, would rise all the way to become a benchmark enterprise in China's heavy industry.

However, Director Tan's vision is still quite far-sighted.

"Director Li, when I met with the directors of Laidong and Zhucheng factories, they spoke highly of you. To be honest, I was a little unconvinced at first, but after you introduced the Kamaz project, I believed you."

"In just five years, our factory has become the number one light truck manufacturer in China, and that position is unlikely to be shaken for the next five years. Yet you still introduced a heavy truck project that is not popular in China."
Therefore, we are like-minded companions on the same path; we are both optimistic about the future of the domestic heavy-duty truck market, however…

Factory Director Tan paused for a moment, then said, "President Li, President Lu, please forgive me for saying something unpleasant, but Laidong Diesel Engine only took one year to develop light-duty diesel engines, so you might think that developing heavy-duty diesel engines is not difficult either."
However, I can tell you both with certainty that light trucks and heavy trucks are completely different things, and the difference between light-duty diesel engines and heavy-duty diesel engines is even greater. Even though we have successfully developed one four years ago, there are still bottlenecks in production.”

"But this bottleneck will be resolved soon."

"Just two years ago, we learned that Steyr in Austria was going to auction off the equipment of an entire foundry due to industrial restructuring."
Among this batch of equipment is the hot-blast water-cooled cupola furnace that we need most. It was jointly developed by West Germany and Germany, and there are only three of them in the entire world, representing the most advanced level internationally.

Factory Director Tan smiled, a blush of joy spreading across his face: "We were very fortunate to have secured these machines, and it took us nearly a year to disassemble all 1218 pieces of equipment, along with all the accessories and tooling."
Just a few days ago, these devices were shipped from Austria. Perhaps when I return to Weixian from Beijing this time, I will be able to see those wonderful things, so…”

Factory Director Tan shrugged, saying confidently, "So we want to cooperate with you with sincerity and capability. Until you successfully develop your own engine, we are willing to provide you with engines at cost price."
In addition, we can send our most experienced engine technicians to assist you in overcoming the technical difficulties of the KamAZ engine. Once you can produce engines independently, we can part ways amicably.

(End of this chapter)