Return to Hong Kong Island for a Century

Chapter 264 Suggestions (First Update)
"Thank you, Mr. Li. Signing the contract would be best." Ma Shengli knew that Li Song would coordinate with any higher-level department regarding currency, but foreign exchange was definitely better than domestic currency.

This involves local regulations, foreign exchange quotas, and so on.

Although foreign exchange is now under unified management, meaning that exported goods are in foreign exchange, this money does not reach the enterprises; it is managed by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

However, companies that earn foreign exchange have a certain foreign exchange quota, and the departments and regions where the companies are located also have quotas.

Foreign exchange is needed for things like overseas business trips. It is more difficult for companies that do not earn foreign exchange to obtain foreign exchange quotas. The same applies to local areas.

As for signing a contract, that's fine; it makes responsibilities clearer.

“Mr. Ma, there are some things I’d like to suggest,” Li Song said again.

"Mr. Li, please speak." Ma Shengli quickly told Liu Qing to write it down.

"The first aircraft at Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Plant should be completed soon. I hope it will be tested according to the testing standards and procedures we have put forward."

"In addition, we hope that the mainland will adopt the standards we have put forward in terms of aircraft manufacturing, test flights, the formulation of relevant safety regulations, and pilot training. These standards are optimized by professionals based on foreign standards."

"Aircraft safety is the safety of the entire system, involving pilots, control tower, ground maintenance, and emergency maintenance management." Li Song had actually wanted to say this for a long time.

In fact, although the standards of aviation and aerospace in mainland China at that time could not compare with those abroad, they were still among the world's best.

Decades later, according to statistics, a large number of civilian airliner pilots were flying without licenses or with expired licenses. As for the military, it's even more hard to say, which explains why so many planes crashed.

As for spaceflight, needless to say, the Dongfeng-5, launched a few days ago, is the only vehicle capable of carrying a hydrogen bomb.

Although it has many disadvantages compared to solid rockets, it is much more powerful.

However, Li Song hopes that the standards for aerospace will be more stringent.

The reason Li Song raised this suggestion is that aircraft safety involves not only the aircraft manufacturing company, but also the pilots, the control tower, and ground maintenance personnel; every link is crucial.

No matter how safe an aircraft is, if the pilots don't take it seriously, the ground crew doesn't take it seriously, and the control tower doesn't take it seriously, then it won't be safe.

Another factor is the pilot's handling of the situation; a large proportion of air crashes are actually caused by the pilot's inadequate handling of the situation.

"Okay." Ma Shengli didn't expect that the first business jet would be completed so soon.

"That's all for now," Li Song said, and that was all.

Upon hearing this, Ma Shengli took his leave to report on his work.

Then Li Song convened a meeting of senior executives at the BMW motorcycle factory, mainly to discuss the dealer order.

"Zhou, your technical department should set up several quality inspection teams and send them to the factories that have signed contracts. They must focus on quality issues." After announcing the orders, Li Song began to assign tasks. Zhou Yang was the technical head in charge of the factories.

"Also, when allocating orders, be careful not to make them too mixed up; assign only one model per factory," Li Song continued.

“Okay, boss!” Zhou Yang nodded, understanding Li Song’s meaning. Because the order configurations were different, there were 90 model, 125 model, 150 model, and then there were cast iron engine, aluminum alloy engine, ordinary model, heavy-duty model, and so on.

When signing OEM contracts with other factories, one factory per model is beneficial for quality control and the other company's production.

Then there's nothing else to do. The main task now is to complete the order for 120,000 motorcycles. Li Song comes here almost once a week. There isn't much official business to handle, just some documents to sign.

Then Li Song went to the marine outboard motor factory, which mainly produces high-horsepower outboard motors, while the smaller ones are all produced by other companies.

Of course, the factory here also needs to supervise the quality.

Although Li Song knew that other factories wouldn't falsify quality, since it involved exports, the necessary procedures still had to be followed.

After finishing his business, Li Song went to the BMW car manufacturing plant, which was a huge construction site. Some areas were still under construction, some were laying foundations, some were building factory buildings, and some were finishing up.

The BMW car manufacturing plant has more than a thousand employees, most of whom are retired workers from various mechanical-related factories who have passed on their jobs to their children, and a small portion are technicians from the BMW motorcycle plant.

These people are currently undergoing technical training.

Because the company's production standards are completely different from those in mainland China, some people left along the way. These people couldn't stand the standardized process, finding it cumbersome, or they felt that the company didn't trust them.

Of course, Li Song felt it was related to reward and punishment measures; violating the rules would result in a deduction of money.

Standardized processes serve several purposes: improving yield rates, defining responsibilities, and ensuring safety.

In industrialized production, every process and every standard is not useless; many processes are the result of lessons learned through bloodshed.

Li Song did not try to stop those who wanted to leave, because standardization was the general trend.

Manufacturing cars is not as simple as manufacturing motorcycles or outboard motors. The technology and components used in cars are far more advanced than those two. There's also the scale of the entire industry chain involved.

Fortunately, Li Song brought some key equipment with him on the cargo ship last time: an aluminum alloy die-casting machine, a honing machine, an integrated crankshaft quenching machine, a stamping machine, and several models of stamping dies.

Firstly, minivans, which have relatively low production technology, use cast iron engines, which are durable.

Of course, we also need to develop supply chain companies. We can outsource the production of tires, seats, and other miscellaneous parts to other companies, while our factory will focus on engines, transmissions, chassis, and bodywork.

More than a thousand workers are undergoing training. After the training is completed, the equipment will be installed and debugged, combining theory with practice.

Once the equipment of more than a thousand people is debugged, experimental production will begin. During this period, new processes will be developed. Even on the same production line, the production process will differ due to installation and other reasons.

Then we continue to train new workers, some of whom will be transferred from the motorcycle factory and the outboard motor factory, because these workers are already used to following some of the factory's seemingly cumbersome rules and regulations.

The BMW motorcycle team, which was training at the car factory, has gone to Taihu Lake for acclimatization training.

Li Song wandered around, while Ma Shengli reported his work to his superiors.

“Our prediction was correct; Li Song is a man of principle,” said the team leader from Kyoto.

The deputy team leader nodded in agreement: "Indeed, it has a sense of common prosperity, which is completely different from other foreign capitalists we have encountered."

“Yes, at one dealer conference, we collected over ten million US dollars in deposits, placed orders for nearly two hundred thousand industrial products, and expanded our global trade network,” another person in the group said.

"Unlike the little notebook, which was too greedy when it talked to us back then."

"The higher-ups have reported that McDonnell Douglas has softened its stance, but we haven't made a statement yet. It won't be long before Chang'an Aircraft Manufacturing Company's aircraft undergoes its test flight, and I estimate that McDonnell Douglas's terms will be better."

"Actually, the DC-10 has a bad reputation abroad. Many countries have cancelled their orders, and several countries have grounded it."

"Can we learn the technology? After all, Ami is a powerful family, so we should give them some face. It's much better than the old planes. The old planes were really outdated."

“I think CD10 is also good. McDonnell Douglas is in trouble right now, so it’s easier for us to get our hands on production line technology and the like.”

"As for whose aircraft we will equip in the future, we'll talk about that later."

"One hundred thousand orders! Even at an average price of $1000 per unit, that's a hundred million US dollars!" The factory price of a standard 90cc motorcycle is $800, and the standard 125cc is $1000. The price of a similar small-sized 125cc motorcycle is over $1500.

Of course, the heavy-duty model is more expensive because the body suspension and tires are different.

The 150cc road bike costs $2000. It's the cruiser bike that's popular in China. There are several models of this bike, and the American version has added handlebars.

"One hundred million US dollars, and this is only the first order."

"It's also related to the fact that Li Song is a celebrity. I have to say, the people behind Li Song are really good at doing these things."

"Li Song and his team must have made a lot of money for this movie, right?"

"Yes, it has grossed over $500 million worldwide and is now aiming for $600 million. We'll be importing it here soon."

"Tsk tsk, Li Song can get 15% of the box office, so 600 million US dollars in box office revenue is 90 million US dollars."

"How do these people make so much money?"

"Golden Harvest's total revenue, after all its efforts, is estimated to be less than two hundred million US dollars."

"As for Li Song's suggestions regarding aircraft-related matters, the higher authorities are already working on them, but it cannot be implemented in a short time. After all, there are too many things involved, and it would almost require overturning many previous ideas. We can only proceed step by step."

"Yes, some factories are quite resistant to standardization."

"I think they just don't want to take responsibility. In the past, with the planned economy, it didn't matter whether you did a good job or a bad job, and many factories were a complete mess."

That's true, but change can only happen gradually.

"There's also triangular debt, which is a big problem. The longer it drags on, the more trouble it will cause."

"The higher authorities also have plans for this. They will help those who are willing to make changes, and for those who are not willing to make changes, then forget it. The higher authorities don't have any money right now."

"Xiao Ma, go back and tell Li Song that his suggestion is already being studied by the higher authorities. Their factory can definitely play a leading role. BMW Motorrad Factory has done a great job. The factories in their supply chain have now been revitalized. As long as the workers get paid, everything is negotiable," the team leader said.

"Yes!" Ma Shengli answered.

(End of this chapter)