Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 194 Continuous Improvement
1998 October.

Yan Hui was actually a little disappointed about Li Shengli. He thought that this cooperation could be long-term, but after a few batches of ash wood business were completed, there was no follow-up.

The business deal was done, and there was no need to stay in touch, but since the deal was very pleasant and Yan Hui made a net profit of about 3 yuan, he was willing to build more good relationships.

That day, Yan Hui called Li Shengli in advance and arranged to meet at the construction site.

"President Yan, it's been a very pleasant collaboration lately. The ash trees here are of excellent quality, and the factory feedback has been very positive," Li Shengli began by praising them.

"Manager Li, it's all the best I can do. You trust me, so I have to live up to your trust." Yan Hui didn't waste any words and took out a string of rosewood beads. "I promised to get them recently, so I thought I'd bring them to you."

"Huh?" Lee Seungri was taken aback.

In fact, both parties knew that the cooperation had ended. Li Shengli wouldn't just move on to another location to take charge of the project. The later stages of the project still required handling the facade, leveling, water and electricity, landscaping, and so on. It would take at least half a year of work, and the later stages wouldn't be very related to the timber industry.

No one in the business world would take what Yan Hui said seriously, since everyone has seen plenty of empty promises.

"You have to keep your word, haha," Yan Hui said, casually shoving the item over.

"President Yan, you really know how to get things done," Li Shengli said, obviously pleased. "Did you come all this way just to bring me this?"

“There are indeed other things. I’ve done business with ash wood before, but I’m not sure what it looks like when it’s made into stair railings. I’d like to come back and revisit to see how it looks,” Yan Hui suggested.

"That's too easy." Upon hearing this, Li Shengli's impression of Yan Hui improved even further.

The two put on hard hats and went into the construction site. They randomly picked a building and went inside. Li Shengli said, "The effect is quite good. It's much stronger than the pine wood we used before. Mr. Yan, why don't you give it a try?"

"Hmm," Yan Hui carefully touched the armrest and nodded. "The workmanship is also quite good. It's very well polished, and the surface has been polished as well. I wonder which factory made it?"

"I don't know either. It's someone else's responsibility, and it's not really my place to ask," Li Shengli said, somewhat embarrassed. Asking too much would make it seem like he had something on his mind.

"It's nothing, I was just asking casually," Yan Hui said, genuinely not very curious. There are quite a few factories in Northeast China that can achieve this level of quality.

"Uh-huh."

The two chatted, and Yan Hui continued to tour the construction site and even visited the completed sales office.

"The exterior of this sales office is complete, but the interior decoration is still underway. Would you like to go in and take a look, Mr. Yan?"

"It's all here."

"Alright, let's take a look together."

After taking a stroll around, Yan Hui had gained some knowledge. He exchanged a few pleasantries with Li Shengli and then left.

After returning, Yan Hui strolled around the market again and talked to Lao San about the order.

“The company has a total of about 80 in assets, but only 50 are in circulation. Fifth brother, I think we should also do low-profit projects,” the third brother suggested.

"There's no point in rushing to lower prices; it would only reduce the profits of our other projects. Since the company doesn't have suitable orders, we're not in a hurry. I plan to go back to Northeast China again and bring back some new products," Yan Hui explained.

"Something new?" The third brother was immediately intrigued. "What new thing?" "A higher quality larch tree," Yan Hui explained.

"Better quality?" the third brother asked, somewhat puzzled.

He's been here for over half a year and has already learned quite a bit about timber.

"You'll know once I send it back."

"Okay, call me anytime and I'll transfer the money to you." The third brother nodded.

Su Jin was already studying at a university in Shanghai. She had her own phone number. Yan Hui and Su Jin had a brief phone call, then Yan Hui took a plane back to Northeast China.

During the floods, Yan Hui bought and sold logs through spot transactions. Now that he has extra funds, he can certainly continue with spot transactions as well.

The problem with spot trading is the slow turnover of funds, but the advantage is high profit margins.

To do spot trading, you need substantial capital to hold onto the goods and display them in a fixed location for everyone to see. Those who buy timber are generally not big bosses, but they're not naive; they'll compare the quality and price of timber from different suppliers before making a purchase.

Yan Hui was inspired by Li Shengli and decided to work on polished steel sheets.

He plans to process the processed larch boards again, removing burrs and polishing them!
Yan Hui had seen polishing machines before, but after returning to Northeast China, he approached several factories again to discuss cooperation. Although Yan Hui was already considered an expert in the timber industry, he had to learn everything again when it came to the delicate field of polishing.

In the woodworking industry, polishing is used to improve thickness accuracy, flatness, and surface finish. The corresponding woodworking machinery is called a sander or polishing machine. Some can precisely determine thickness, while others can only improve surface finish. Yan Hui needs the latter.

Polishing wood provides a good base surface for secondary processing such as painting and gluing, and most importantly, it enhances the appearance. Polished boards have a texture several times better than unpolished boards.

After visiting several companies, belt sanders and wide-belt sanders were deemed unsuitable. These two types of machines have high-precision positioning capabilities, which are unnecessary for Yan Hui and would only increase costs. Roller sanders, on the other hand, have poor product quality, so he ultimately chose a brush sander.

Brush sanders can easily remove burrs and improve the overall smoothness of irregular shapes. Most importantly, they do not significantly reduce the thickness of the wood, which is very friendly to the sale of raw materials.

Yan Hui saw the wood planks after they had been sanded, tried to pick one up, and sighed.

Back when I was moving timber for my second brother, if it were this kind of material, how many fewer splinters would I have gotten pricked by?
He could imagine that even the movers would love this kind of material!

Polishing increases costs and reduces volume, making it a thankless task. However, Yan Hui had worked as a porter and had been thinking about polishing wood for several years. Now the time had finally come.

Only those who have worked as porters can truly sympathize with them.

The brush sander is very efficient. Yan Hui's custom-made slabs were processed here one by one, and gradually more than 100 cubic meters were piled up.

Yan Hui returned to Northeast China and has been there for more than ten days without realizing it.

Compared to traditional boards, polished boards are like works of art. If they are further polished and then waxed, they can be used directly in daily life.

Looking at the piles of slabs, Yan Hui could imagine what the sales results would be after this batch of goods arrived at Jianye.

(End of this chapter)