Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 126 Appointment
Some meals shouldn't be eaten casually. Today's meal has already settled the score, because at this moment, President Teng doesn't know how significant Yan Hui's favor is.

Yan Hui's help today, with this simple method, will reduce the entire processing plant's losses by at least 2%, which translates to a difference of tens of thousands of yuan per year. Keep in mind that the profit margin for this processing step is only 5-8%!

This process requires personal verification to know for sure, so Yan Hui was in no hurry.

He left his pager number with Haotian, and after the factory here verifies its validity, Boss Teng will definitely contact him. There's no such thing as a free lunch, and Boss Teng couldn't possibly lack this kind of vision.

Moreover, Yan Hui knew several ways to further increase the factory's profits, which could be discussed later.

Winning over Mr. Teng's business is certainly not that simple. Everyone knows Mr. Teng is a major client, half the market knows him, but a major client always means a major supplier.

Yan Hui wanted to snatch this piece of the pie; further words were useless, only profit mattered.

He needs to prove his professionalism and convince Mr. Teng that he can provide better and cheaper raw materials before he can have a chance to get a share of the profits.

The second step is complete. Now all we have to do is wait. Being impatient won't do any good.

Overall, Yan Hui was in a good mood, but instead of resting, he went to Xinhua Bookstore and started looking at books related to wood.

The biggest advantage of businessmen in this era is that they are bolder and have more ideas than ordinary people, but they also all have one problem: they generally lack education. Education is actually not that useful, but knowledge is.

The book Yan Hui was reading was written by Professor Yao of China Forestry Publishing House. Many of the data in it were quite shocking to Yan Hui.

The book states that there are currently over a thousand large-scale timber machinery manufacturing plants in my country. Yan Hui initially thought it referred to timber processing plants, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a machinery manufacturing plant.

In 1991, the production capacity of woodworking machinery reached 29.2 units!

In 1994, the use of digital display, numerical control, and microelectronics technologies began to be planned and implemented. In 1997, which is this year, domestic woodworking machinery has already started using electronic computers.

Currently, woodworking machinery is divided into 13 categories, with saws (MJ) being just one of them. This category is further divided into six subgroups, including three types of circular saws, band saws, reciprocating saws, and chain saws.

Yan Hui is most familiar with band saws, which are further divided into log band saws, re-splitting band saws, and fine woodworking band saws.

Log band saws are now classified into 12 categories (as of 1997).

This knowledge is probably only known to Brother Zhao, the technical head of Fourth Uncle. Yan Hui felt tired just looking at it.

The band saws that Uncle Si and Boss Teng use are the most common "carriage-mounted woodworking band saws." Simply put, this type of equipment consists of two parts. The main body of the saw is stationary, which is one part. The rest is the carriage that clamps the log and completes the feeding motion.

Simply put, the sports car holds the log in place and pulls it towards the saw.

The saw body and the machine bed come in multiple standards and models, which Yan Hui has marked extensively in his notebook. To be more specific, this machine includes a loading platform, main unit, carriage, unloading platform, etc., and has a main motor, as well as an output motor, a saw wheel lifting motor, and a saw clamp lifting motor.
Yan Hui even wrote down the parameters of several classic motors, including voltage, current, speed, transmission ratio, and so on.

In other words, if Mr. Teng needs to upgrade the factory or purchase new equipment one day, Yan Hui can help advise him.

Over the next few days, Yan Hui systematically studied the theory of band saws and also specifically learned about "plane planers".

Both surface planers and thickness planers are planers, the difference being that one is used to level wood, and the other is used to precisely measure thickness. Mr. Teng doesn't really need a surface planer right now, as most of the materials are needed on construction sites. However, he'll need one sooner or later.

My cousin has been quite busy these past few days, but he hasn't been contacting Yan Hui much. He probably feels that Yan Hui is a bit too ambitious.

My cousin is very concerned about his image. If he makes a lot of money, he will definitely not hesitate to help Yan Hui make a little money too. However, his way of looking at things from a business perspective is rather path-dependent.

Merchants rely on personal connections to attract customers, exchange resources for money, and exploit information asymmetry to make money, but they only earn limited profits.
These theories, my cousin's wise words, are not wrong. If Yan Hui were a novice, he should indeed listen to his cousin obediently. But Yan Hui has already come this far, and he still intends to walk his own path.

If Yan Hui fails and goes hungry, his cousin will definitely help him, but at this moment, the two do have a bit of a grudge.

This isn't the cousin's fault; from a relative's perspective, he's right.

Yan Hui couldn't explain it to his cousin, so he just silently paid half of the room fee and bought delicious food for his cousin.

Mr. Teng's pager came a little later than expected. Yan Hui didn't receive Mr. Teng's pager until the following Thursday.

This was a pager waiting for a reply. Yan Hui immediately ran to the phone booth and called Boss Teng.

"Mr. Yan, if you want your business to grow, you'll need a cell phone. It's really inconvenient without one." Mr. Teng's tone was completely different from usual.

Previously, Mr. Teng had always spoken with a cautious and scrutinizing attitude, but now, his words felt very comfortable, like a conversation between peers.

“My family doesn’t give me much money, so I try to put it into my business as much as possible. But Mr. Teng is right, once our business gets going, I’ll get a new phone,” Yan Hui said with a smile.

"Your idea is really effective! We tried it twice, and you'd be surprised we didn't think of it. You're truly amazing! I wonder if President Yan is free tonight? If so, come to my restaurant, the same room we chatted in last time, the Qinhuai Hall, and we can have a good chat." President Teng's tone was very relaxed.

“Mr. Teng has an appointment, how could I not be available?” Yan Hui said. “Then what time should I go?”

"Around six o'clock tonight. There are three of us here, how many are you over there?"

"Just me," Yan Hui replied.

"Okay, see you tonight."

After hanging up the phone, Yan Hui hurried back to his small shop to retrieve the company seal.

If all goes well, we might sign the contract tonight! Whether it works out or not, it's always good to bring it along.

Yan Hui had actually considered bringing his cousin along, but then reconsidered and gave up. His cousin's personality was better suited to interacting with people his own age, and if he actually went to meet President Teng, it might complicate things.

Thinking of this, Yan Hui went and bought two more bottles of Moutai, intending to bring them over that evening. He couldn't drink himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't give alcohol as a gift. If this deal went through, any sacrifice would be worthwhile. Only Yan Hui knew the potential profit involved.

(End of this chapter)