1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 583 Diagnosis
Although due to the equipment production capacity, all factories in Dezhou have not yet been able to install environmental protection sewage treatment facilities, and the current comprehensive installation rate is even less than 3%; however, the Environmental Protection Supervision and Evaluation Center, which is mainly composed of a well-known central enterprise, was officially established two or three months ago.

Even with the Chinese medicinal materials testing center in the commercial demonstration zone, Dahua Company had already established a series of agricultural material quality testing rooms early on, relying on the central villages that had developed rapidly through the Hundred Villages Support Program. Everyone was accustomed to the fact that Dahua Company liked to act as a referee, so it shouldn't be too surprising that it had brought in some related units to set up an environmental testing and evaluation center.

but……

This environmental testing and assessment center, which is also located in Dahua Industrial Park, looks really awesome!
Although the area is only 8.2 acres, it has 6 office buildings.

All of these office buildings were squeezed out from the original park management center and the investment promotion company office area... In a place like Dahua Industrial Park where every inch of land is valuable, the importance of this environmental assessment center can be seen by squeezing out such a large piece of land from these two key units.

If it were just that, it would be fine. At most, everyone would say that this new unit was lucky and happened to coincide with the Dezhou Urban Development Fund Company's plan to vigorously incubate the environmental protection equipment industry, and occupied such a Feng Shui treasure land for no reason - this environmental assessment center is a public institution. In order to show their determination, it makes sense to set aside such a conspicuous place for them to show their presence.

However, the densely packed list of partner companies hanging in the lobby of this environmental assessment center, the increasing number of new businesses in recent times, and the huge queues of people every day are very frightening.

Even the most ignorant person can see that the new business added by the Environmental Testing and Assessment Center in recent times has nothing to do with environmental protection, strictly speaking; and judging from their clothing and temperament, a considerable proportion of those who come to line up early in the morning every day do not look like ordinary employees.

only……

It seems that during this period of time, most of the well-dressed people did not look very happy when they came out of the Environmental Testing and Assessment Center.

………………

DZ City Environmental Protection Testing and Assessment Center, Building 4, 6rd Floor, HDPE Pipe Testing Division, Business Office .

"Alas! 67 points, C+... I'm done for now. I don't even have a B. How can I participate in the bidding and explain myself to the township government?"

A man in an ill-fitting suit pushed the door open with a sigh, holding a stack of reports, with deep frustration written on his face.

Seeing this man walk to the corner of the corridor and suddenly squat down and hit himself on the head a few times, An Ze, who was waiting quietly on the bench, felt his heart skip a beat.

the fourth!
The man just now was the fourth company representative whose samples had lost the qualification to bid.

Although the comprehensive score of C+ indicates that several basic indicators have been met, that is all. Following the news released by Dahua Company some time ago, many companies have come to compete for orders for HDPE drainage pipes for post-disaster reconstruction;
With such a huge number of companies, even B+, let alone C+, may not be eligible to participate in subsequent bidding.

Although he felt a little bit uneasy, An Ze was actually secretly delighted.

It is said that Dahua Company has a crooked butt. Although it is a big brother state-owned enterprise, it likes to take care of those grassroots enterprises, but is very harsh to local brother enterprises.

Now it seems...

But the rumors may not be credible!
If I'm not mistaken, those few people who walked out dejectedly before were all representatives of township enterprises or village collective enterprises... There's no way, these people are too easy to recognize, no matter their clothes or appearance and temperament, they can be identified at a glance.

But that's right.

Although the production of HDPE pipes is not a very difficult task strictly speaking, unless the pipe is with an outer diameter of 200 mm or above and a length of more than 6 meters, in theory, any company that can produce plastic washbasins and plastic buckets can produce the pipes - the prerequisite is to have HDPE raw materials that meet the quality standards. However, Dahua has helped solve this problem. All the companies participating in the bidding have submitted small-batch trial production samples for inspection, and the raw materials are all provided by them.

However, theory is theory and reality is reality.

Due to the high plasticity of plastic raw materials, it is not difficult to simply produce a section of HDPE pipe with small and medium pore size, whether it is one-piece shaping, extrusion cutting, or other primitive methods. However, it is difficult to say whether the produced pipe can meet a relatively high standard in terms of parameters such as thickness, fluid friction coefficient, and interface air tightness.

If this bidding is for an ordinary infrastructure project, it would be fine. As long as these HDPE pipes do not affect normal use, Dahua Company may turn a blind eye and take care of the livelihoods of those mud-legged enterprises.
However, although the volume of HDPE pipe orders this time is terrifyingly large, they are all used for post-disaster reconstruction projects in the disaster-stricken areas of East China. According to Dahua Company, for such a sensitive project that has attracted the attention of the entire nation, how could it not meet the most stringent standards in terms of the quality requirements for these pipes (although the so-called most stringent standards at this time would only be a passing level in later times)?
Hehe, once this standard is raised...

How can those peasants compete with local state-owned enterprises that have all kinds of equipment and a large number of skilled workers?

Just as I was thinking happily, a young girl in a white coat came out and said, "No. 022... please ask the representative of No. 022 company, Hengde Plastic Products Factory, to come in and get the test report and sign the result communication letter."

This is what makes the newly established Texas Environmental Testing and Evaluation Center very different from other testing agencies. Other agencies only issue a testing and evaluation report and hand it to you, and the rest of the matter has nothing to do with them; but here, they will inform you in detail of every point deducted and the reason, and even help you analyze the reasons for this situation so that you can make subsequent technical improvements... In a sense, this is more like a "product technology diagnosis hospital" that provides consulting services rather than a traditional testing and evaluation center.

Although I feel that Dahua's practice is a bit unnecessary and even seriously slows down the efficiency of receiving test reports, since they are the boss, you have to follow their rules whether you like it or not.

Therefore, An Ze immediately let out a sigh when he heard the voice, quickly stood up, handed the number plate in his hand to the little girl with a smile on his face, and then followed her into the business office.

………………

Unlike what An Ze had imagined, this business room, which was originally converted from an ordinary office, did not look like an office at all. Instead, its layout style was more like a pharmacy in a hospital, with a concrete counter about 1.2 meters high that completely separated the inside and outside.

When An Ze looked over the counter and stopped at the person, he couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

Unlike all the units he had come into contact with before, the office staff in this small business office was neither the most common one person nor the occasional pair of people, but three people... and these three people were not scattered at their respective desks, but sat side by side.

Bad dish!
With this three-person configuration, even if he wanted to be "accommodating", he would not find any opportunity.

After quietly taking a look at this business team which was obviously composed of two technicians and one administrative staff, An Ze swallowed his saliva.

As we all know, when you are facing someone in a relatively private space, it is easiest to "impress" the other person and make him/her do something within his/her ability.

If you are facing two people, although the probability is much lower, but if the two people have a close relationship, or one of them is more powerful, then you may still have a chance if you find a breakthrough point;

But if you are facing three people, and these three people are from different departments, then unless there is a high-ranking leader who can make the final decision, you have almost no room for favoritism.

Although An Ze couldn't understand why this kind of personnel configuration appeared when it was just a process of receiving the test report, he knew that the method of relying on connections would obviously not work here.

"What!?"

"Our factory's sample score is only 86 points, and the overall evaluation is B+?"

An Ze repeatedly confirmed the numbers on the test report and looked at the three people in front of him in disbelief: "Comrade, did you... get the wrong report?"

Although Hengde Plastic Products Factory's asset size ranking in Texas is not even in the top 300, they can definitely make it into the top 20 in the field of plastic products.

To be honest, it is because we are facing super giants like Dahua Company and Urban Development Fund Company that do not play by the rules. Otherwise, according to past practices, the purchaser should take the initiative to visit the factory, finalize the contract on the spot, or even beg them to produce HDPE pipes.

Produce samples as required?
Still need to send it for inspection and evaluation?

nonexistent!

But Anze never expected that, under the requirements of the city's documents, his unit had to compromise and rush out a batch of samples in accordance with Dahua Company's demands for inspection, but only got a quality score of 86?
How embarrassed he was, and how embarrassed Hengde Plastic Products Factory, an old enterprise with a history of more than 30 years, was.
The 86 points is not the point; the point is the comprehensive evaluation of B+.

According to the information they got from their factory, this means that even if their factory has a chance to enter the next round of bidding, it will most likely only be a runner-up - Dezhou Urban Development Fund Company has strict control over the quality of various materials for this post-disaster reconstruction project. If the comprehensive evaluation of the sample inspection does not get an A, there is at least a 90% probability that they will face the dilemma of "better to have nothing than to have something of poor quality".

Seeing Anze almost jumping up from his chair, the technician in the middle in a white coat didn't seem impatient at all. He just smiled, and then with a tired look on his face, he pushed another form called "Evaluation Result Communication", which was actually "Product Quality Diagnosis" in front of Anze, and then opened it directly:

"From the test results of the samples, your factory has done a good job in controlling several basic quality indicators."

“For example, maintaining the stability of material properties;”

"Your pipes did not produce any cracks or leakage during the 20°C hydrostatic strength (hoop stress 9.0 MPa, 100 h) and 80°C hydrostatic strength (hoop stress 4.6 MPa, 165 h) tests, which is rare."

“在20MPA拉伸强度测试和900MPA弯曲弹性测试中的表现也很不错。”“除此之外，你们的160MM管道样品的公称壁厚也把控的很好，SDRR33的任一点壁厚误差都在4.6~5.3之间，属于是允许偏差的范围内……由此可见贵厂的设备还是比较先进的。”

"Other indicators, such as ring stiffness, tensile yield stress, and elongation at break, all met the standards, and even exceeded the standards, exceeding at least 70% of the companies in the same batch that submitted their products for inspection."

At this point, the staff member smiled gently and said, "It can be seen that your factory's equipment is relatively advanced and your preparation experience is relatively rich. Otherwise, you would not be able to maintain such good properties of the HDPE raw materials provided by Dahua."

Hearing these words that sounded like both praise and encouragement, An Ze showed an indescribable smile on his face, and he didn't even feel like praising his own company's equipment.

What’s the use of having good equipment?

Can't you only get an overall score of B+?
Moreover, it’s useless to praise the words in the beginning. Who doesn’t know that the “but” in the end is the key point?
As expected, the staff member changed the subject: "But..."

"The creep rate of the pipes sent by your factory for inspection is as high as 4.6%. Although it has reached the passing standard, it obviously exceeds our standard of 4% for excellent products... This is not right. After all, the elongation at break of your factory has reached or even exceeded the standard of excellent products by 350%!"

"The same problem also appeared in the thermal stability index (oxidation induction time, 200℃) of the pipes submitted by your factory. Since your factory's equipment is sufficient to fully maintain the stability of the material properties, and Dahua Company also opened some processing techniques of HDPE pipes to all bidding units when providing raw materials, then it stands to reason that the anti-oxidation induction time of your factory's pipes at 200℃ should exceed the 20 minutes of the excellent product standard... But the test results are not the case. The anti-oxidation induction time of your factory's pipes only lasted 17 minutes."

At this point, the staff member's expression changed: "Although the domestic thermal stability index of HDPE pipes required for urban drainage systems is not too high, and there are relatively few times when the thermal stability of pipes needs to be tested, but given the equipment of your factory, the fact that this index is lower than the standard of excellent products reflects the problem. I think it should not be difficult for you to see, right?"

Anze looked a little embarrassed.

Where does the problem occur?
After being compared like this by the other party, how could he not know where the problem lies?

It is simply because in the current domestic environment, most plastic products do not pursue thermal stability. Therefore, when producing samples, the workers and technicians in the factory did not pay attention to the relevant indicators issued by Dahua Company at all, and just muddled through the adding materials or processing links... The creep ratio failed to meet the excellent product standards, probably for a similar reason.

Another staff member on the left glanced at him, without any anger on his face, but his expression became more serious: "If it is just the thermal stability and creep ratio that fail to meet the excellent product standards, then it is not a big problem. After all, your samples have excellent performance in several indicators. Even if some of the secondary key indicators are slightly lacking, you should be given an A- overall score anyway, so that you can smoothly enter the next round of bidding."

"But……"

"The performance of your samples in other indicators is very disappointing!"

The staff member turned to the third page of the diagnosis book with great familiarity, and his tone was very serious: "The final data obtained from the physical and mechanical property tests of your samples made us seriously doubt your production management level!"

"Please look at the MFR column, which is the melt flow rate (5KG, 190℃)/(G/10min). Our requirement for high-quality products is 0.2~1.1, which means that the difference between the MFR of the pipe and the MFR of the melt raw material particles cannot exceed 0.2; the MFR data of the samples from our factory is as high as 1.33!"

"With this kind of data, let alone excellent products, it barely even passes the passing line for qualified products (don't use the indicators of later generations to measure the present)!"

"What does this mean?"

"This shows that your factory has relatively advanced equipment, but there are serious problems in production management!"

"Based on the equipment list attached at the end of your application materials, we can't find any reason why the MFR index could have such a big difference, except that your management was lax and the workers were passive and lazy in the repair and polishing process!"

After a slight pause, the staff member turned to the next page of the diagnosis book: "This problem was confirmed in the evaluation results of the expansion joint and the sealing ring socket joint."

"Indeed, your factory's expansion joints have excellent control over their outer diameters. For a 160mm pipe, the outer diameter is not only the standard 202mm, but the thickness error at any node does not exceed 1.5mm. The outer diameter of the sealing ring socket joint is also the standard 188mm, and the error is also at an excellent level of 1.2mm. "

"As for the expansion joint's combined length, introduction length, and sealing area depth, the error dimension control capability is also extremely accurate... This once again proves the advanced equipment of your factory."

"but……"

The staff member raised his head and stared at Anze: "But among the 50 sections of pipes sent by your factory for inspection, more than 60% of the sealing rings and socket joints have unacceptable plastic burrs. Among the remaining 40%, more than half of the burrs were not trimmed up to standard. Some sealing rings and socket joints even had gaps directly caused by the rough burr trimming, which had a significant impact on the sealing of the pipes!"

Taking a deep breath, the staff member closed the diagnosis and pushed it forward. "It is not difficult to see that the pipe samples submitted by your factory have excellent performance in many major indicators, which is basically due to your factory's advanced equipment. However, such unbearable problems have appeared in various production and correction links that require a lot of manual participation, which proves that your factory's production management has been so lax that it has seriously affected the quality of the products!"

"The city has repeatedly issued notices that the East China post-disaster reconstruction project is of great importance and any supply materials must not have quality problems. In addition, East China has just experienced a flood, and the level of attention paid to various drainage projects and equipment will rise to an extremely high level... Therefore, the quality defects of your factory's pipes, which may not be a big deal on weekdays, will have an extremely bad impact once they are introduced into the post-disaster reconstruction project."

"Therefore, we can only give your samples an overall score of B+... I hope your company will not have any ideas."

After briefly explaining why the overall score of B+ was given, the staff member remained silent.

In fact, he really didn't feel like saying much. Unlike those small businesses or village collective enterprises, the problems at Hengde Plastic Products Factory were not due to equipment and technology, nor to lack of experience. How could you ask him to elaborate on it?
Seeing An Ze's face turning pale and blue, the man on the far right, who was obviously a member of the administrative department, smiled gently, then put the thick test report and the "result communication letter" of only four or five pages together and handed it over: "Comrade, don't be discouraged!"

"Since I gave your company a B+ overall score, I just can't bear to see you lose the opportunity to participate in East China's post-disaster reconstruction. Although there are only three days left until the next round of bidding, there is still the next round, and even the next round... As long as your company has the courage to innovate and improve its production management capabilities, I believe that with your company's good foundation, you will definitely become a member of the aid army!"

After saying that, the man gave a big encouraging smile: "I hope to receive a sample testing application from your factory in half a month!"

........................

A minute later, An Ze walked out of Business Room No. 6 in a daze.

The news of building the North China Chemical Industry Belt has spread. Therefore, even if we do not consider the suffocatingly large demand for HDPE pipes for the dredging and reconstruction of urban drainage systems in the disaster-stricken areas of East China, the significance of participating in this reconstruction project is extraordinary... As for the correctness and benefits of following the baton, there are probably few regions in the country that understand this better than the companies in Qilu.

This is also the main reason why Hengde Plastic Products Factory, which is a well-known time-honored enterprise in the plastic products industry in Dezhou, still "kowtowed" and sent out a batch of samples for inspection... The city leaders had already explained to them the key points involved.

However, he really didn't expect that with the equipment level and technical accumulation of their factory, the bidding that he thought was a sure thing would actually cost him a lot of money as a spectator?

Thinking of how the city had been encouraging local enterprises to introduce Dahua's leadership responsibility system, as well as the widespread opposition, An Ze felt a strange feeling in his heart.

Although he is not the main leader of the factory, he is also a middle-level cadre with some real power. He hates the "leadership responsibility system" with ill intentions from the bottom of his heart... If anyone can jump out and make a fuss, wouldn't it be a mess!

It was just that the few staff members who pointed out the problems in their factory without any concealment just now embarrassed him, but it also made him feel a strong sense of crisis.

In just two years, Dahua has become a veritable leader in Texas, and not just a leader in the economic field. This means that if these companies do not take the initiative to cater to Dahua, they are likely to lose most of the enviable opportunities.

and so……

I was deep in thought.

But suddenly, I heard a wolf-like cry coming from the corridor.

"93 points! It's worth it that the whole village worked tirelessly on the machine for more than a week, it's worth it that hundreds of men went back and forth seven or eight times at night with flashlights to consult experts, and it's worth it that Han Tieniu broke his leg. We... finally got an A!"

"Xiao Li from Xialiu is right. As long as we work hard, there will be rewards... our Xiaoji Village... has hope!!"

A man knelt at the door of Business Office No. 4 like a madman, ignoring the strange and envious looks from everyone, and cried like a three-year-old child holding the test report in his hand.

Looking at the man crying with joy, and briefly sketching a picture of him walking into the city in the rain to consult an expert, An Ze thought of the workers in the factory who were slacking off all day long, and an indescribable feeling surged in his heart.

effort……

Will there definitely be a reward?

Haha, you thought this was forty years ago!
(End of this chapter)