The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 159 Eight pilot manufacturers usher in a new era

The successful development of high-strength automotive steel plates has caused a considerable impact on the Ministry of Metallurgy, the First Ministry of Machine Building and the Fifth Ministry of Machine Building.

This also further accelerated the pilot reform of expanding the power of the factory management system proposed by the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant.

In March 1979, the Economic and Trade Commission and six other ministries selected eight enterprises in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, including Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Capital Steel Plant, Capital Qinghe Woolen Textile Plant, Tianjin Bicycle Factory, Tianjin Power Plant, Shanghai Diesel Engine Factory and Shanghai Steam Turbine Factory, for pilot reforms to expand their power.

The fact that key factories in three cities that are particularly important in this era started the pilot project at the same time is a very instructive thing for many factories.

After receiving the official document, Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant held a special launch meeting and formally announced a series of reform measures.

"Xiao Jiang, now that our war production mission has been completed, the factory is officially preparing for the large-scale production of the new BJ212."

"It is estimated that by then, all the pilot projects of expanding the rights of various business reforms will be carried out around the production of the new BJ212."

"Do you have any special ideas?"

Chen Qi is still very confident in Jiang Hui's brilliant ideas.

Now that the ministry has chosen to make Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant one of the pioneers of reform, we must definitely do a good job in this regard.

By then, everyone will be able to enjoy the benefits of this.

This is also an important reason why Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant is so popular now.

"All work on the new BJ212 is now underway. The only thing we need to worry about is whether our production capacity can keep up."

"After the reform, in addition to completing the production tasks assigned by the First Ministry of Machine Building, we also need to consider how to produce more products to sell to other factories."

"This part is the easiest to generate revenue, but the materials and other supplies allocated by the Planning Commission are limited. How to deal with this contradiction is very important."

Jiang Hui was not at all surprised that Capital Automobile Manufacturing was approved so quickly and became one of the first eight pilot manufacturers.

According to original history, in May this year, eight companies including Capital Steel Plant will be announced as pilot manufacturers.

Any ambitious factory manager will surely realize that the existing management system can no longer adapt to the needs after the reform.

In the past, no one dared to propose changes easily. Now that the conference has set the tone and various departments have begun to take action, everyone's enthusiasm has naturally changed.

The risk is greatly reduced, but the returns are very attractive.

Not only did the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant actively apply to become a pilot manufacturer, many other manufacturers also wanted to apply.

It is estimated that the second batch of pilot manufacturers will be officially announced soon, provided that the first batch of eight manufacturers do not encounter any major problems during this period.

In Jiang Hui's opinion, it is impossible for any major problems to arise.

After all, the so-called business reforms, when viewed from a later perspective, are actually very small steps that will not cause any major problems.

Most of the actions are focused on motivating workers to produce more products.

What could be wrong with something like this?

"That's true. The current materials are all allocated by our superiors. If we want to make changes, we must first find a way to convince our supporting factories to follow our lead. The problem in this regard is not that big."

"But many of the material manufacturers are not under the management of the First Ministry of Machine Building, so we need to make more efforts."

"Fortunately, we purchased a lot of steel from the Capital Steel Plant this time, so they should be cooperative."

Chen Qi naturally realized the problem that Jiang Hui mentioned.

However, these problems had already been realized when the factory was discussing reform plans, so Chen Qi was not particularly worried.

As the first of the eight pilot manufacturers to formally launch reform work, every move of Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant has attracted everyone's attention.

"There is really no need to worry about Shougang, but there are many kinds of materials involved in a vehicle, so I am worried that something will fail."

"In addition, if we want to sell some unplanned models separately, it would be best to expand the sales strength of the factory. When there is no worry about sales, we can take the initiative to go out and let more people know about our new BJ212. Even if there is no quota, as long as you have money, you can buy it."

From the supply of parts and materials to the sales of complete vehicles, Jiang Hui has some concerns.

Be prepared for a rainy day. If you don’t make some preparations in advance, you will easily be in a panic when things happen.

"Well, I'll talk to Director Zheng about this and see how to arrange it."

Although Chen Qi doesn't think the sales of the new BJ212 will be a problem, since Jiang Hui mentioned it, he will pay proper attention to it.

……

The Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant's factory management power expansion reform will definitely have an impact on the entire supply chain.

The supporting factories along the automobile industry street are all very concerned about this change.

"Assistant Jiang, our 4MT manual transmissions are having trouble producing even the planned orders right now. We are under a lot of pressure to provide an unplanned quantity."

Ji Hua, chief engineer of the Capital Gear Factory, came to Jiang Hui in person to discuss the supply issues of the subsequent new BJ212.

Since their 4MT passed the acceptance of the First Ministry of Machine Building, several automakers including FAW and SAIC have begun to place orders with them.

At the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, the current BJ212 has also had its gearbox replaced.

As a result, the original production capacity of the Capital Gear Factory would definitely not be sufficient.

"Last year, about 15 vehicles were produced in China, of which more than 4% were various trucks. Most of these trucks cannot directly use our MT manual transmission and need to be developed separately."

"But with the reform and opening up and the rapid economic development, the demand for cars in all walks of life will definitely increase rapidly."

"Both FAW and SAIC are increasing their investment in this area, so the demand for 4MT manual transmissions will definitely increase significantly in the future."

"You need to consider expanding production now. You need to have an annual production capacity of at least 15 4MT manual transmissions."

Jiang Hui didn't beat around the bush and directly brought up his own Jian Yi.

However, this put Ji Hua in a difficult position.

Last year, the national automobile production was only 15 units. Now Jiang Hui requires the Capital Gear Factory to expand production to 15 4MT gearboxes per year.

Isn't this too exaggerated?
Not to mention that after the expansion, the Capital Gear Factory will still continue to produce some of the previous 3MT manual transmissions. Wouldn't there be a serious overcapacity by then?

"Assistant Jiang, logically speaking, this 4MT was developed by you and Professor Zhu. You are the main contributors to the smooth production of our Capital Gear Factory."

“But is the scale of this expansion too radical?”

For Ji Hua, it is hard to imagine how fast China will develop in the future.

Now the production capacity of gearboxes has been directly expanded to the scale of last year's total national automobile output, which is definitely beyond his expectations.

"You didn't manage to achieve this 15-unit production capacity in one go."

"On the one hand, we can transform the current production line and increase some of the production capacity."

"On the other hand, we can build a new assembly line to further increase production capacity."

"Ultimately, I think it is necessary to achieve an annual production capacity of 15 vehicles within next year."

"Let's not talk about other things. Just the new BJ212 and the Hummer project at the Capital Institute of Technology are estimated to consume tens of thousands of 4MTs every year. In the future, it is even more likely that these two models will use up the 15 production capacity."

Jiang Hui confidently gave his reasons. As long as the production volume explodes and the new BJ212 can be developed on the basis of planned production and deployment, the market demand will definitely have an explosive growth.

It would be a real pity if we missed the development opportunity because the gearbox could not be supplied on time.

"I'll take this information back to the factory and report it, and try to arrange it according to what you said."

After hearing what Jiang Hui said, Ji Hua was also a little moved.

If we can convince the First Ministry of Machine Building to agree to allow the Capital Gear Factory to expand its production scale, this will naturally be a good thing.

Because this also means that the Capital Gear Factory will start recruiting workers on a large scale.

At a time when the employment problem is very serious, recruiting workers is definitely a complicated matter.

One indicator can match one's annual income.

The number of workers needed this time may be several hundred, which means there is a lot of room for operation.

"Well, we have to be bolder. Future development will definitely exceed the scale of the past."

Jiang Hui did not force Ji Hua anymore and let him go back to report.

He is just the chief engineer. Even if he nods now, it does not mean that the Capital Gear Factory will definitely agree to expand production.

Another company that is also concerned about the unplanned delivery arrangements of the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant is the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory.

They are of the same level as the Capital Automobile Works.

Since the development of the new generation of 2.5L engines, due to the significant improvement in performance, many domestic manufacturers have tried to purchase this product from Shuuai.

Although the famous car companies in China now are mainly FAW, Second FAW, SAIC, Capital Automobile Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and others, there are actually many more car factories across the country.

There are various local automobile factories such as Jinling Automobile Manufacturing Plant, Southwest Light Automobile Company, JAC Automobile Plant, Jiangxi Automobile Manufacturing Plant, as well as some smaller factories. They are scattered here and there, but their number is not small at all.

Many of these manufacturers do not have the ability to produce engines themselves, or the engines they produce are of poor technical quality.

The performance of the new engine developed by Shounai in cooperation with Capital Automobile Works is the best in its class in the country, so naturally many car manufacturers want to use it.

Even FAW purchased a few vehicles for testing, considering whether to use them on future Hongqi cars.

So they are in a similar situation to the Capital Gear Factory, and their current capacity utilization is very good.

"Chief Engineer Cheng, it will take quite some time to increase the production of engines."

"We need to prepare in advance here in Shuuchi."

Jiang Hui personally went to the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory to confirm the issue of production capacity supply.

"We have submitted a report to the First Ministry of Machine Building, planning to import a large die-casting machine to produce cylinder blocks and cylinder heads."

"We have already made preliminary contacts with potential equipment manufacturers and are striving to finalize the introduction of equipment within this year."

Cheng Tao certainly doesn't want the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory to be eliminated by the main manufacturers due to production capacity issues.

In particular, they have just won an order for high-power diesel engines for the Hummer project and are already developing a new generation of diesel engines in conjunction with the Vehicle Engineering Department of Capital Institute of Technology.

Many of the technologies here require Jiang Hui’s direct participation in order to achieve breakthroughs in a relatively short period of time.

Under such circumstances, Cheng Tao didn't want to offend Jiang Hui even more.

"The introduction of die-casting machines can solve the production capacity problem of cylinder blocks and cylinder heads, but there are so many parts on the engine, and the number of supporting manufacturers involved is also not small."

"You need to take a comprehensive inventory of the production capacity of each component to ensure that there are no bottleneck parts."

If even one bolt is missing, the engine cannot be installed smoothly off the assembly line.

The automotive industry chain is very rigorous, and Jiang Hui does not want the production of new BJ212 or Hummer military vehicles to be unable to increase due to some neglected aspects.

"All the branches under our factory will definitely not let us down. I can guarantee that."

"We will also try our best for other parts factories."

"The only problem is the raw material suppliers, such as aluminum ingots. They are basically factories under the Ministry of Metallurgy, and they are not part of the same system as us. I am worried that something strange will happen."

Cheng Tao did not dare to guarantee that the Capital Internal Combustion Engine Factory could fully meet the various requirements of the new BJ212 and Hummer military vehicles.

After all, judging from the design of these two models, the possibility of them becoming hot-selling in the future is very high.

In particular, the Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, the manufacturer of the new BJ212, is now one of the first pilot factories in China to implement factory power expansion reform.

Who knows, by then the number of models produced may have doubled.

That would be terrible.

Unless there is prior preparation, no matter which OEM it is, it is impossible to double the production in a short period of time.

"You can compile a list of the factories in the Ministry of Metallurgy, and then ask the First Ministry of Machine Building to communicate with them."

"Due to the high-strength automobile steel plate issue, our relationship with Shougang and the Ministry of Metallurgy is also good. We took this opportunity to solve the aluminum supply problem."

The practice of allocating materials according to plan will not disappear for many years to come.

Even if there were some unplanned materials, Jiang Hui didn't want to use them.

Because if the factory is asked to purchase unplanned materials by itself, the price will be very high.

This will lead to an increase in the production cost of the new BJ212, which is definitely not conducive to reforms within the factory.

Of course, if the sales price increase of the additionally produced new BJ212 is much higher than the increase in raw material prices, that would be another matter.

It is also possible to consider solving the problem through various means at that time.

But no one would refuse the low-priced materials within the plan. Jiang Hui would definitely report the relevant plan to the factory, and then let Chen Qi and Zheng Haiming communicate fully with the First Ministry of Machine Building.

"It would be best if the ministry could come forward to coordinate."

"As long as the supply of raw materials is not a problem, then our supply of accessories will definitely be guaranteed!"

Cheng Tao breathed a sigh of relief. It would be best if Capital Automobile Manufacturing was willing to step forward to solve this problem.

Even though the two manufacturers have the same administrative level, their influence is still different.

Just like the administrative levels of Shanghai, the capital and the southwestern provinces are the same, but can the influence be the same?

Throughout the 1980s, the economy developed rapidly along with reform and opening up.

The prices of various raw materials have also undergone tremendous changes.

How to ensure a stable supply of planned raw materials is absolutely a very important matter.

Some people even became rich by taking advantage of the loopholes.

(End of this chapter)