In 1978, I was admitted to Harbin Institute of Technology

Chapter 171: The business is definitely in trouble, Mitsubishi's defense is broken
"Minister, four-axis CNC machine tools are the most urgently needed key process equipment for aerospace-related equipment."

The deputy minister said seriously, "The four-axis CNC system can ensure that many complex and difficult-to-process parts can be processed in one go, avoiding the shape and position errors caused by multiple clamping in the current manual processing process..."

"Five axes, it should be impossible to get them at the moment."

"Not to mention the four-axle one, they don't even want to sell us the three-axle one."

How could Minister Zheng not know the importance of four or even five axes?
They don’t sell it.

"Then let them know that we already have a two-axis CNC lathe system, and three-axis will be available soon."

Vice Minister Hu smiled.

"Can it be done?"

Minister Zheng did not think that such a plan would make Mitsubishi people make many concessions. Three-axle might be available, but four-axle, "But we can try, anyway, we can't talk about it now."

Ever since the last negotiation ended in a bad mood, the people from Mitsubishi are not in a hurry at all.

Although I couldn't go wherever I wanted, I took advantage of the time to visit tourist attractions around the capital, accompanied by staff from the Ministry of Commerce. I even went to Chengdu specifically to see giant pandas.

Even though the Capital Zoo has had giant pandas since 1955, Masao Murata instinctively believed that the pandas in Chengdu would be better looking.

But as time went by, the negotiation progressed at a standstill. Masao Murata didn't feel anything, but Okasaka Hinakawa began to worry.

"Okasaka, there's no need to worry. This is the other party's negotiation strategy. Once we get anxious, we can only lower the conditions in order to reach a cooperation... Whether it's providing more advanced equipment or lowering the price, we can't accept it! The company is not urging us, so just treat it as a paid vacation."

In response to Okasaka Hinakawa's worries, Murata Masao comforted him.

"Mr. Okasaka, if this was just a negotiation strategy, they wouldn't be like this now. They seem to have given up..."

Okazaka's face was serious.

As time went on, his uneasiness grew.

The other party went from being eager at the beginning to being cold, and now doesn't even ask or contact us. How can this be explained by negotiation strategies?
There must be something wrong in between.

However, the direct superior did not take it seriously and believed that no accidents would occur.

In desperation, Okasaka could only contact the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building through the Ministry of Commerce, hoping to understand the situation clearly.

Before, he could meet Deputy Minister Hu, who was in charge of the negotiations, just by asking. But now, Okasaka Hikawa found that he couldn't meet him at all, and his bad premonition became even worse.

After several attempts, I finally met a staff member in the negotiation team who was responsible for taking notes.

"Negotiation? Mr. Okasaka, there may be no more negotiations. One of our subordinate units has successfully developed a CNC system, and Deputy Minister Hu is currently arranging production..."

"what?"

Upon hearing the news, Okasaka Hinakawa felt like he was struck by lightning.

Research and development success!

How can we achieve cooperation like this?

I was counting on getting a promotion and a raise thanks to this business, and I had even made various plans for what to expect after a successful negotiation.

Reality tells them that something they thought was a sure thing had unexpected consequences!

For a moment, it was totally unacceptable.

"How is that possible? Don't you have no R&D foundation for CNC systems?"

Okasaka Hinakawa's defenses were completely broken at this moment. His worries became a reality, and his dreams and ideals all drifted away from him.

"Mr. Okazaka, our foundation is indeed poor, but no one has stipulated that we cannot develop! Besides, weren't you technologically advanced from the beginning? Didn't you develop from the basics?"

The staff member who received Okasaka Hinakawa looked at him unfriendly.

I have always been angry with the other party before.

"Sorry, that's not what I meant!"

Being stared at by the other party with unfriendly eyes, especially the sharp eyes of the staff from the Ministry of Commerce who had been helping them with the arrangements, Okasaka Hinakawa instantly realized that he had lost his composure.

It is one thing to look down on China's industrial base, but saying it in front of others is a bit too much.

"Mr. Okasaka, if you are willing to provide CNC systems and machine tools that are better than what we can produce ourselves, perhaps the cooperation can continue. After all, our current industrial foundation is too poor and it is too difficult to manufacture... Of course, if you still insist on the current conditions, please don't bother us again in the future..."

Dissatisfied with Okasaka Hinakawa's attitude, the staff of the Seventh Machinery Department said seriously.

Now that we have it, who the hell is willing to endure the humiliation and pay a higher price to import it?
Okasaka Hikawa's head was a mess.

I had no idea how to get back to the hotel.

It was not until the accompanying Ministry of Commerce staff sent him back to the hotel and left for an unknown amount of time that he came to his senses.

"No! It can't end like this!"

After figuring everything out, Okasaka Himikawa knew that he had to tell his superior Murata Masao about the predicament they were currently facing.

If he fails to negotiate the business in China, not to mention promotion and salary increase, Murata Masao may be fired by the company, and Okasaka Hinakawa will also be seriously affected.

"Impossible! They don't even have the basics, how could they suddenly have a two-axis CNC system or even a three-axis CNC system!"

After hearing Okasaka Hikawa's report, Murata Masao, who had originally planned to visit the Terracotta Warriors Museum before it opened, suddenly jumped up and said, "Okasaka, don't be so nervous. This is still a smokescreen they are throwing out. With their current foundation, they can hardly produce even high-precision ordinary machine tools, let alone CNC machine tools!"

Mitsubishi conducted research before coming.

The whole world knows what the mainland's technological foundation is like.

New China was founded 30 years ago, but when it was first established, it was just an agricultural country and it took only a short time for it to complete industrialization.

The development of the industrial base cannot be accomplished in a short period of time.

"Mr. Murata, they couldn't have done it before, but it's different now. According to the information I got, the mainland has developed an 8-bit general-purpose chip that is sufficient to support a three-axis CNC system..."

"impossible!"

Masao Murata didn't believe it at all.

"HP was preparing to export calculators to the mainland at a high price, but was blocked by calculators from mainland China... The mainland's advanced foundation in the field of electronics is far stronger than we know... Before this, we rarely got any intelligence from them..."

Although he didn't see the sample, Okamoto Hikawa didn't think the other party was trying to trick him.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be possible.

“If it can’t be verified, the company won’t believe it!”

Murata Masao turned serious.

As a middle-level manager, he knows the situation of the company's board of directors better than anyone else.

No one believed that mainland China's technology was advanced. From the very beginning, they were prepared to make huge profits from the mainland and gain a larger market, so the conditions were harsh.

······
"It doesn't matter whether they believe it or not. Since Harbin Institute of Technology has developed it, they don't want funding, but just hope that we can provide orders and obtain funds for continued research and development through market orders. We can completely provide them with some transformation services according to their requirements..."

Minister Zheng was really surprised at this moment.

He didn't expect that Li Rui did not take the opportunity to ask for more funds from the ministry, but only expressed the hope that the ministry could support and order a batch of CNC systems for the transformation of CNC lathes in the core units.

This will support the research and development of CNC technology at Harbin Institute of Technology.

"How much is appropriate?"

Vice Minister Hu asked.

"What do you think? The key is how much their CNC machine tools transformed with CNC systems can improve the manufacturing capabilities of subordinate units?" Minister Zheng did not understand the situation.

Li Ruilai asked for funding before, but he never said anything.

"Mitsubishi said before that it can ensure a processing accuracy of 0.05mm, but we haven't seen the actual product and there is nothing to prove it. Harbin Institute of Technology's metalworking workshop already has 7 modified CNC lathes. These equipment are not only responsible for the trial production of sample parts for some R&D projects of Harbin Institute of Technology, but also responsible for helping Harbin First Machinery to process related parts... The 7 CNC lathes can process 24 hours a day, which can match the work efficiency of Harbin First Machinery's 60 ordinary CNC lathes. The key is that the production quality is also very stable..."

Vice Minister Hu saw it with his own eyes at Harbin Institute of Technology.

In order to verify it, I even went to the production workshop of Harbin No. 1 Machinery.

There are many rotating parts on the lathe, especially the various parts in the spindle box. The early process of the gear needs to be turned, and the spindle also needs to be lathe processed...

"So the efficiency has increased by at least three times?"

The seven experimental CNC lathes in the metalworking workshop of Harbin Institute of Technology are in production 7 hours a day, which is almost three times the efficiency of 24 ordinary machine tools in Harbin Institute of Technology in one shift.

"Almost. The processing quality of the main CNC lathes is stable..."

"In that case, how about placing an order for 100 sets first? Then we can see how things go after the modification. By the way, how much do their CNC lathe systems cost?"

As soon as he said 100 sets, Minister Zheng regretted it.

The domestic infrastructure is not as advanced as the international one, so the cost is naturally much higher.

If the price is too high, it will cost a lot of money.

"Including all the spare parts, the whole system only costs 36000 yuan..."

"How many?"

Minister Zheng's eyes widened and his expression changed drastically in an instant.

Seeing the change in Minister Zheng's expression, Deputy Minister Hu regretted his impulsiveness for a moment. Xie Wei said that the school could provide the equipment at a price of 32000 yuan per set. In order to support Harbin Institute of Technology to continue its research and development and avoid being blackmailed in future negotiations with international advanced equipment suppliers, he said that the ministry could set the price at 36000 yuan.

It’s much cheaper than the price quoted by the Japanese.

Unexpectedly, Minister Zheng reacted like this.

"Uh~"

Looking at the expression on Minister Zheng's face, Minister Hu didn't know what he meant. After all, according to his promise, he was prepared to place an order for 36000 sets at a price of 1000, and the total cost was only million.

Apart from the costs, the profit should only be two to three million...

After all, the current CNC system of Harbin Institute of Technology costs more than 32000 yuan per set, and in order to get the order, they have reduced the price to yuan per set...

“Minister, if you think the price is too high, you can talk to them and let them bear part of the cost themselves.”

"Old Hu, how can this be possible? We can't let the comrades in the scientific research of our subordinate units suffer losses!"

Minister Zheng's face immediately darkened, and he looked at Deputy Minister Hu, "The CNC system that Mitsubishi provided to us costs more than 40,000 US dollars! Who can guarantee that it is the most advanced? Since we have developed it, we can refuse their blackmail. We have to support it even if we have to sell everything we have!"

what?
Vice Minister Hu did not expect that Minister Zheng meant this.

"How about giving them an order for 300 sets?"

"We have a total of 8 major research institutes in the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building. Each research institute has many supporting factories. Let's give an order of 100 sets to each research institute!"

This means that Minister Zheng intends to place an order for 800 sets.

800 CNC lathes are not a lot considering the large number of mechanical processing plants under the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building.

But the terrifying production efficiency and stable production quality, especially for some mass-produced parts with low precision requirements, one worker can watch over several lathes...

As the Deputy Minister of the Seventh Ministry of Machine Building, Deputy Minister Hu naturally also hoped that the production level of the ministry would be rapidly improved, preferably to catch up with or even surpass the world's most advanced level.

800 sets!
This means nearly 3000 million in funding.

Even if mass production is carried out and the R&D costs are diluted, with only a 30% profit, it would still be tens of millions of dollars in expenses.

What a big deal!

Deputy Minister Hu couldn't help but understand why he was still only a deputy minister...

"800 sets? That's so many? Is this a mistake?"

Du Guowang looked at Li Rui, who informed him, with an unconvincing look.

800 sets.

It's just a modification of the CNC lathe.

"That's right. I asked several times, and Vice Minister Hu made it clear on the phone that according to Xie Wei's quotation of 36000 per set, we hope to complete the delivery within one year..."

At the end, Principal Li's face showed worry.

Is it possible to complete the transformation of 800 CNC lathes in one year?

What’s more, more importantly, the superiors did not provide funds, but purchased according to the quotation provided by the school-enterprise office. This is a commercial contract!

The entire contract was only worth 2880 million, and they had to bear the production costs and be responsible for installation, etc.

It would be great if we could just give this money as research and development expenses for the school!
"Completing the delivery and transformation is not a problem. The key now lies in the production unit..."

How could Du Guowang not know what Principal Li was thinking?

"How about we build our own factory? It's easy to produce this anyway..."

Principal Li is unwilling to share the profits with others.

We built our own factory and all the profits belong to the school.

"When I went back to Chengdu to pick up Xie Rou a while ago, I had already negotiated that Hongguang Factory would set up a new workshop, and the technicians who were arranged to receive training should arrive soon..."

Xie Wei, who had been silent the whole time, said calmly.

When Li Rui heard this, he wanted to refute again.

Xie Wei didn't even give him a chance: "Although the school has invested part of the R&D funds in the CNC system, it has already been allocated to the school-enterprise office... and it belongs to the category of civilian products!"

"..."

Li Rui was speechless for a moment.

Seeing Xie Wei's calm expression which concealed his disdain, Principal Li's defense was instantly broken, and he didn't even know how to start cursing.

"Principal, you don't have to think about the profits. The Ministry gave us this order so that we can speed up the research and development of CNC technology... If it weren't for the blackmail of the Japanese, we wouldn't have been able to get so many orders."

It seemed as if he didn't see the principal's expression and didn't know what he was thinking.

Xie Wei reminded Li Rui not to try to profit from this order.

"Who wants to take advantage of this profit? Besides, aren't you providing it at a loss?"

Li Rui stiffened his neck and denied it.

"Who is losing money? Even now, the cost of a CNC system is less than 18000. With such a large order, the R&D cost and production cost will be diluted. The price of each CNC system will drop to less than 12000..."

Hearing this, Principal Li regretted it instantly.

This means that the order for 800 sets of CNC lathes can bring a profit of nearly 2000 million.

(End of this chapter)