1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 582 You don’t think you’re the only ones, do you?

Seeing Wang Zhiquan and other factory leaders' faces suddenly turn ugly, Du Chuanming remained calm and threw out a set of data:
"According to comprehensive estimates, the water level in the disaster-stricken areas of East China will drop to a suitable level by the end of August at the earliest and the beginning of September at the latest. By then, the country will inevitably start the first phase of post-disaster reconstruction;"

"Based on the calculation of the 20 disaster-stricken cities in Dezhou, even if all of these 20 cities are small and medium-sized cities at the county level, according to the general standard of 11.56 km/square kilometer for fourth-tier cities in rainy areas (depending on the natural conditions, a density of 8 km/square kilometer is also sufficient for inland cities with little rainfall), the various types of internal diameter drainage pipes required for upgrading, replacing and expanding the urban drainage system are at least 9200 km (calculated based on the area of ​​40 square kilometers for each county-level city);"

"Please remember that this is only the county seat, not including some townships that also need to add drainage systems. If the township areas are included, the number of kilometers of various types of internal diameter drainage pipes required will at least double!"

"Although a variety of drainage pipes are needed to improve a city's drainage system, there are socket pipes and flexible tongue-and-groove pipes made of concrete; there are ductile iron pipes and steel pipes; there are double-wall corrugated pipes, hollow wall winding pipes, structural wall winding pipes made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) raw materials, and the inner diameters are even more varied;"

"However, considering that East China has just experienced a flood that happens once in a hundred years, the urban drainage system will be reconstructed based on past experience. The main body will certainly not use the lowest cost but most prone to leaks and blockages concrete pipes as before (it is not that concrete pipes are bad, but the current technology and quality of concrete pipes are still lacking and cannot be compared with later generations); instead, it will be based on the disaster standard of at least once in fifty years, and use a large number of better quality metal steel pipes and HDPE pipes!"

After a slight pause, Du Chuanming crossed his hands on the dining table, as if he was treating this place as a conference room: "In the preset industrial economic cooperation framework of Shandong, Hebei and Henan, each region and city will give full play to its own industrial advantages and form business cooperation and complementarity with each other;"

"Tianjin and Dezhou have relatively large-scale chemical industries and downstream manufacturing industries, so the supply of HDPE pipes is naturally mainly in Dezhou and Tianjin;"

"Henan Province has a relatively developed level of small machinery and spare parts manufacturing, so things like dredging hoses, small and medium-sized water pumps, and other various special operation tools are mainly provided by them;"

"Hebei Province has one of the most concentrated steel bases in the country. Even Cangzhou has a very developed metal parts industry chain. Therefore, the manufacturing and supply of metal drainage pipes will naturally be led by enterprises in Cangzhou and Hengshui... I can responsibly tell you that this general direction is the tone set by our General Manager Yang and the leaders of DZ City. As long as the Shandong-Hebei-Henan industrial economic cooperation framework is officially established, it will be impossible to violate this distribution principle!"

Wang Zhiquan's eyes lit up when he heard this. The demand for at least 9,000 kilometers of drainage pipes almost made his heart jump out. Although this was only a unit of length and certainly not as shocking as it sounded after being converted into various inner diameters and specific products, this was already a huge cake that he could never imagine in his lifetime.

However, if the companies in Cangzhou mainly make metal drainage pipes...

Thinking of the limitations of the application of metal drainage pipes, he became a little worried again.

Du Chuanming seemed to see through his doubts and smiled gently: "Yes, metal pipes have disadvantages such as high price, poor corrosion resistance, and ductile iron pipes are brittle. Therefore, under normal circumstances, gravity drainage metal pipes are rarely used... Unless the drainage pipes are subjected to high internal and external pressures or in special areas with high leakage requirements, such as pump station inlet and outlet pipes, areas crossing rivers or railways, areas with earthquake intensity of 8 degrees, heavy rain, high groundwater level, and serious quicksand, otherwise, under normal circumstances, no one will use too many metal pipes."

"but……"

"Have you forgotten that the rivers in the Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui regions are densely networked? The areas affected by the disaster are concentrated in the Huaihe River and Taihu Lake basins."

"This geographical environment, coupled with the fact that we had to rush to build and expand the system just as the water level receded, led to a much higher proportion of metal drainage pipes than normal."

At this point, Du Chuanming raised three fingers with great confidence: "2760%! At least % of the various specifications of metal drainage pipes... Even if we don't take into account the drainage systems in some townships, the length is at least kilometers!!"

hiss~
Hearing this logically sound, even though conservative, yet crazy-enough number, not only did Wang Zhiquan feel itchy all over, but even Liu Yonghui beside him couldn't sit still and looked at him deeply... You didn't tell us these numbers before.

Noticing that everyone present was caught up in a kind of enthusiastic frenzy, Du Chuanming tapped the table gently, and finally, after going around in circles, brought the topic back to the starting point: "The demand is huge, but practical problems also arise!"

"I checked the data before I came here. Although there are many metal manufacturing companies in Cangzhou and Hengshui, there are only 14 local state-owned enterprises that have the qualifications and conditions to produce various types of metal drainage pipes... Even if we add the state-owned enterprises that originally did not have this business but can transfer production capacity after slight transformation, the total number will not exceed 25!"

"I said before that firing the first shot is very important, and even this first shot cannot allow any serious mistakes;"

“So here comes the question…”

"According to the previously estimated time nodes and the process and general plan of post-disaster reconstruction, we need to dredge or replace the main drainage systems of the 10 small and medium-sized cities we are helping to build before October, and expand the original urban drainage system by at least 20% before November, so as to ensure that the rest of the reconstruction work will not be seriously delayed;"

"A rough estimate is that at least 1100 kilometers of various types of metal drainage pipes are needed... If these 1100 kilometers of metal drainage pipes are evenly distributed among 25 companies in Cangzhou and Hengshui, each company will have 44 kilometers."

Leaning forward slightly, Du Chuanming created an increasingly obvious sense of oppression: "Director Wang, you are a local enterprise in Cangzhou, you should be more aware of the situation here; the production capacity of these 25 enterprises varies. In addition to the 14 enterprises that originally produced steel pipes, it is not certain whether the other 11 potential enterprises can adjust their production capacity in time, or even whether they are willing to adjust their business lines. Naturally, we cannot simply calculate based on the 44 kilometers of drainage pipes for each company."

"Therefore, for an enterprise like yours that is already a leader in the regional industry, the flexible production capacity that needs to be allocated is at least 80 kilometers, or even 100 kilometers."

"Then, given your factory's current situation, is it really possible to supply 60 kilometers, or even 80 kilometers of various types of metal drainage pipes at market prices while ensuring quality in less than three months?"

Du Chuanming tapped the table again with a serious expression: "Let me reiterate once again, the dredging and reconstruction of the drainage system is the first shot in the reconstruction of the disaster area. If the first shot is not fired well, the consequences may be fatal... Believe me, no one has the ability to bear such serious consequences!"

Wang Zhiquan's face suddenly turned embarrassed when he heard Du Chuanming repeatedly emphasize the importance of the first shot and the need to supply sufficient quantities of various types of high-quality metal drainage pipes at market prices in less than three months.

………………

In the 1980s, 1990s, and especially from the mid-1980s to before the millennium, state-owned enterprises had many problems.

I won’t go into more details, and just talk about the most intuitive and superficial issue - the product.

In the eyes of most people in later generations, many products of state-owned factories may be old-fashioned in style or outdated in concept, but they are definitely synonymous with quality, and have even become the object of pursuit for many people in the post-Internet era... This is certainly due to the contrast with peers in the "era of comparing the worst", but it is also an indisputable fact.

However, those who are familiar with the situation in the early 1990s often jokingly substitute the almighty impossible triangle and then come up with a painful conclusion at the product level, namely:
In many state-owned enterprises, it is impossible to ensure production costs and production efficiency while ensuring product quality.

Similarly, in many state-owned enterprises, it is impossible to ensure production efficiency while ensuring production costs and product quality;
Even in many state-owned enterprises, it is impossible to ensure production efficiency and product quality while ensuring production costs.

Although this argument is somewhat contemptuous and sarcastic, and avoids the particularity of state-owned enterprises and some objective constraints, it also points out a problem that cannot be avoided - before China entered the Industrial 3.0 era, that is, the era of highly automated industrial production, state-owned enterprises that retained a large number of manual production processes generally had huge deficiencies, at least in terms of yield rate and cost control.

To put it bluntly, in order to accommodate more jobs, state-owned enterprises at this time adopted a production model that deliberately increased human intervention, which in turn restricted the market competitiveness of state-owned enterprise products.

As the saying goes, "Success or failure depends on Xiao He". If the workers' enthusiasm and subjective initiative can be maintained at the level of the 1950s and 1960s, then state-owned enterprises, which actually have a large number of skilled workers and senior technicians, will naturally be able to burst out with amazing energy, and even create unique advantages in some industrial products with relatively high technological content.
However, if the overall atmosphere of the enterprise collapses, the workers are no longer motivated and only want to do their job, with the "sense of ownership" that is still the mainstream;
Ha ha……

Therefore, the four words "three months", "sufficient quantity", "market price" and "quality assurance" that Du Chuanming repeatedly emphasized together became an embarrassment that Wang Zhiquan could not avoid.

If the factory wanted to produce up to 60 kilometers or even 80 kilometers of various types of metal drainage pipes within three months, it would have to adopt a large-scale battle mode;

But the reason why even a system as rich as oil cancelled the large-scale battle mode two years ago is because due to some reasons that everyone is well aware of, the waste caused by the current production model that pursues output as the top priority has reached an unbearable level.

Therefore, with the current production efficiency and yield rate of Wang Zhiquan's pipeline factory, and the need to complete such a heavy production task within three months and supply it at market prices, it is estimated that before this super large order is completed, their factory will go bankrupt and undergo restructuring due to a series of rising costs.

Thinking of this, Wang Zhiquan showed his embarrassment: "Du Lao, given the current situation of our factory, even if we start preparing now, we have to produce 60 kilometers of various types of metal drainage pipes in three months. This is already the limit of our capabilities, so...how about we ensure that we complete the task and at the same time ensure that the supply price is not higher than the market level;" "But can the product indicators be relaxed appropriately?"

Wang Zhiquan quickly added: "Well, Mr. Du, you also know that with our country's current level of special steel smelting and metal processing, if we follow the once-in-50-year disaster standard, the metal pipes produced will either have good corrosion resistance but be too brittle, or meet the hardness standard but have poor corrosion resistance or toughness;"

"Du Lao, these pipes are buried underground anyway, and the news said that the flood in East China is rare in a century, and it is unlikely to happen again in the next few decades, so... don't we have to make it difficult for ourselves? After all, we should analyze specific problems with specific cases!"

Du Chuanming looked at Wang Zhiquan deeply. Anyone could understand the meaning behind his words; but he really didn't expect that Cangzhou and Dezhou were only separated by a line, but the people here would speak so openly.

Du Chuanming sighed a little, but shook his head without hesitation: "No, this time we actively request assistance for reconstruction in the disaster area, which will certainly make several of our Central Plains cities look up, but it is also a case of attracting the wind to the extreme. Once the funds are in place, this kind of super project involving a scale of tens of billions will attract a lot of eyes... Mr. Yang and the leaders of DZ City are afraid of such problems in the early stage, so they repeatedly emphasize that any link can have problems, but the quality of the project and materials must not have any problems!"

At this point, Du Chuanming sneered: "The water level in the disaster area in East China has not receded yet, and the relevant accountability work is still in full swing. At this juncture, the difference between reconstructing the urban drainage system according to the disaster standard of once in 20 years or laying pipes according to the disaster standard of once in 50 years is enough to make a big article!"

After hearing Du Chuanming's rejection, Wang Zhiquan secretly glanced at Liu Yonghui and found that the other party's face was not very good either. He immediately used the most common tactic used by local state-owned enterprises: "Du Lao, our factory's capacity is limited. We need both quantity and quality and price control. Even a god can't do it... If it doesn't work, can you give me some advice?"

Du Chuanming glanced at him, then glanced at Liu Yonghui with his peripheral vision: "Director Wang, we are all brother companies. Since everyone is willing to cooperate sincerely, there is no need to be so shy about some things... I actually knew about the current situation of your factory before I came here. Although I only took a quick look around the factory this afternoon, from some details, I have confirmed that the information I collected before should not be too different."

At this point, Du Chuanming only groaned: "In fact, from the perspective of market economy, our company's requirements for all material supply units are not excessive; and when initially allocating the production capacity of units in various regions, we also fully considered the potential of units such as your factory."

"I know very well why Director Wang feels that it is impossible to supply 3 kilometers of metal pipes at market prices and in accordance with our quality standards within three months... We are all state-owned enterprises, and we often encounter some of the objective difficulties your factory faces in our subordinate units."

"So, since Director Wang wants me to give you some advice, I'm going to let myself go after drinking."

"In fact, based on our Dahua company's proven experience, it is not difficult for your company to meet our requirements based on its foundation... You just need to fully introduce our Dahua company's leadership responsibility system."

"Reorganize the management process of each business link, subdivide tasks into groups, delegate power to groups, and reward groups. The grassroots will elect team leaders and supervisors on their own, and the team leaders and supervisors will improve and adjust production processes, technical applications, and personnel appointments on their own. The top management will only be responsible for overall management and administrative services... Correspondingly, if there is a problem in any link, the team leader or supervisor of that link will be held accountable; if more than 20% of team leaders/supervisors fail to meet the performance targets for the month, the director will be held accountable and severely punished; if more than two departments fail to meet the performance targets for the month, the deputy general manager will be held accountable and severely punished, or even directly re-elected!"

At this point, Du Chuanming smiled confidently: "Your factory is a production unit. With someone coordinating and controlling the East China post-disaster reconstruction project and material supply plan, the only thing you need to do is to execute according to the plan... Therefore, without having to bear market risks, it is most appropriate to change the management thinking and adopt a two-pronged approach of process management + leadership accountability;"

"This system has been tried out in the tertiary production units under Dahua Company for more than half a year, and the effect is very good... As long as the incentives are in place, there will always be someone who jumps out to be the leader, helping the factory to improve product quality and manage the production team, and even use the power in their hands to discipline those troublemakers and lazy workers... Correspondingly, the middle and senior management only need to be impartial, speak with data and facts, and provide good services according to the management manual we have formulated. It will be much easier, so why not do it?"

According to Yang Mo, for most manufacturing companies, unless you are the industry leader and are responsible for exploring and advancing, it won’t go wrong if you fire all the middle and senior management and only leave a human stamp sitting there.

Relatively speaking, the real focus is to stimulate the enthusiasm and initiative of grassroots employees, especially technical personnel and grassroots managers, and form a grassroots mutual supervision mechanism;
The core of leadership responsibility system lies in decentralization and severe punishment;

Another significance of heavy penalties is to create sufficient channels for promotion on the basis of respecting objective facts;

The upward channel is always the most effective means of incentive in state-owned enterprises; thus, a closed loop of promotion with a catfish effect is formed until the ecology becomes stable again.

As mentioned before, no matter how capable those who can get to the management level in state-owned enterprises are, there are almost no real fools when it comes to these things. So how could Wang Zhiquan not hear the sinister intentions of this leadership responsibility system that "can make their daily work much easier"?
He immediately lost his temper: "What!? Mr. Du, isn't your company here to screen material supply units? Why are you interfering in our internal management affairs?"

Du Chuanming spread his hands helplessly: "Director Wang has misunderstood. This is just a suggestion. As a state-owned enterprise, how can our Dahua Company have the authority to interfere in the internal management of your company?"

As he spoke, Du Chuanming glanced at Wang Zhiquan, whose face was still filled with anger, and tilted his head slightly towards Liu Yonghui: "Of course, I have repeatedly emphasized before that the East China post-disaster reconstruction project is of great importance. Any omission may have serious consequences that our Dahua Company cannot afford;"

"So, in order to avoid possible risks in future work, Mr. Yang instructed me to... exclude all uncontrollable factors in the selection process."

"Therefore, from my perspective, no matter which region the material supply companies are from, if they do not accept the leadership accountability reform that has been proven to significantly reduce costs and increase efficiency, and significantly improve the yield rate, then in the specific capacity allocation, I can only reduce the relevant unit order share... Of course, the extent of this reduction varies, it may be 30%, it may be 60%, or even more."

Hearing Du Chuanming's obvious threat, Liu Yonghui finally couldn't help himself: "Du Lao, you said before that when it comes to post-disaster reconstruction in East China, all the necessary materials need to be allocated in accordance with the established direction of the Shandong-Hebei-Henan Industrial Economic Cooperation Framework;"

"But the problem is, as you mentioned earlier, there are only about 20 companies in Cangzhou and Hengshui that can produce metal drainage pipes, and some of them may not adjust their production capacity;"

"so……"

"If your company is going to cut its order share simply because other companies are unwilling to adopt your proposed reform plan, it will be a huge reduction;"

"Then I am curious, how will your company ensure that the urban drainage system in the disaster area is rebuilt on time?"

At the end, Liu Yonghui glanced at him with a half-smile: "I think your company will not say one thing and do another. On the one hand, it will actively promote the establishment of the Shandong-Hebei-Henan Industrial Economic Cooperation Framework, while on the other hand, it will purchase various types of metal drainage pipes from companies in other regions, right?"

It has to be said that this general is quite powerful. Even in Wang Zhiquan's eyes, this is an unanswerable question.

However, they still looked at the problem from the perspective of the past and never guessed Yang Mo's real plan.

Glancing at the people with different expressions, Du Chuanming showed a surprised expression on his face: "How could our Dahua Company go back on its word?"

"Since the plan states that most of the metal drainage pipe production capacity will be reserved for your Cangzhou and Hengshui regions, how could you possibly purchase from other provinces at that time?"

"But what Director Liu said just now is a little puzzling to me. Although there are only 25 state-owned enterprises in Cangzhou and Hengshui that can produce metal pipes, some of the large-diameter special metal pipes can only be produced by these enterprises;"

"But the metal pipes needed to reconstruct the city's drainage system come in many different types, and not all of them require large diameters!"

"and……"

At this point, Du Chuanming showed a strange smile: "If we don't count some large-diameter, high-demand special drainage pipes, it seems that there are more than just these 25 companies in Cangzhou and Hengshui that can produce metal pipes, right?"

"Are you guys narrowing your horizons too much, focusing only on the small circle of medium and large state-owned enterprises in the two places?"

! ! ! ? ? ?
What do you mean?
Not just these 25 state-owned enterprises?
you mean……?
Thinking of a possibility, Wang Zhiquan frowned, but Liu Yonghui's expression changed drastically...

(End of this chapter)