78: Bringing his wife and children to Harbin Institute of Technology

The elderly expert in the middle flipped through the materials in his hand, then looked up at Ye Bingwen.

"Well done. One more question about your mixer: where did the motor come from?"

Just as Liu Xiaojun was about to speak, Ye Bingwen spoke first.

"High-quality domestically produced motors, sourced through legitimate channels."

The old expert nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The middle-aged expert on the right spoke up.

"You said the impact strength increased by 34%. Was this data measured under laboratory conditions or under mass production conditions?"

"The test was conducted under mass production conditions. Twenty samples were randomly selected for testing, and the data showed good consistency. We have the original records and can provide them at any time."

The middle-aged expert nodded and made a note in his notebook.

The female expert on the left put down her teacup.

"You said you want to increase production capacity to 5,000 units per year. Is the current equipment sufficient?"

"Our current equipment is sufficient. If the project is approved, we plan to add two more precision presses, which will increase our production capacity to 8,000 pieces. The equipment purchase funds have been included in the project budget."

No one asked any more questions, and the meeting room fell silent again.

The older expert in the middle glanced at the expert next to him, then looked at Ye Bingwen and said...

"Okay, we'll look into the results. You can go back and wait for our notification."

Ye Bingwen nodded, put away the card, and left with Chen An and Liu Xiaojun.

In the corridor, Liu Xiaojun wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Uncle Ye, was my answer alright?"

Ye Bingwen patted him on the shoulder.

"OK."

Chen An breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally finished."

The three of them went downstairs, got on their bicycles, and left the gate of the Provincial Science and Technology Commission.

Liu Xiaojun glanced back at the building.

"Uncle Ye, is it possible to pass?"

Ye Bingwen looked at Liu Xiaojun and said firmly.

"You can pass, you definitely can pass."

A week later, the notification arrived.

When Ye Bingwen received the call, he was in the workshop watching Chen An prepare a new batch of test reports.

"Ye Bingwen, right? I'm from the Provincial Science and Technology Commission. Your project has passed the review, and the contract will be signed next week. But there's something I need to tell you: your project score isn't the highest; it's ranked third. The main reason for the deductions is that the expert panel believes your equipment has an excessively high rate of self-modification, and its long-term stability needs to be verified."

Ye Bingwen held the receiver but didn't speak.

"The specific comments are in the review report. You can read them yourselves. Come and sign the contract next Monday."

The phone hangs up.

Ye Bingwen put down the receiver and stood next to the telephone for a while, stunned.

Chen An walked in from the workshop and saw his expression.

"Director Ye, what's wrong?"

"The project has been approved."

Chen An looked at Ye Bingwen and smiled.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Ye Bingwen repeated the contents of the phone call.

Liu Xiaojun came out of the workshop to ask about the situation.

Chen An recounted the story again.

After listening, Liu Xiaojun lowered his head, turned the wrench in his hand, and then put it on the table.

"It's still about that mixer, isn't it? The experts still don't trust what we modified ourselves. I just think our work is perfectly fine, and the data is real, so why should it be unacceptable just because we modified it ourselves?"

Ye Bingwen looked at him and said.

"Because people haven't seen it before, it's normal to distrust something they haven't seen before."

Mr. Li arrived at the office door at some point, listened for a while, and then pushed the door open and came in.

"Xiao Ye, let me tell you something. I've worked in the factory for thirty years. I've used both imported and domestic equipment. Imported equipment is good, but it's too expensive to repair when it breaks down, and the parts take three months to arrive. Domestic equipment is rough, but we can repair it ourselves, modify it, and use it for a long time. Your mixer, the motor was found at the scrap yard, and the circuit was modified by myself. It doesn't look good, but it works well."

Ye Bingwen looked at Master Li.

"I know it works."

Master Li stood up.

"Whether the experts trust it or not is their business. You can believe it, Xiaojun can believe it, and everyone working in our factory can believe it."

After saying that, he left.

Chen An turned to the page with the deductions in the review report and placed it in front of Ye Bingwen.

The label states that the equipment has an excessively high rate of self-modification, and its long-term stability needs to be verified.

Ye Bingwen was thinking about how to solve this problem, which still needed to be verified.

Just then, Chen An spoke up and made a suggestion.

"Continuous production, saving the test data of each batch, the longer the time and the more data, the more convincing it is. After a year, we will take out the data and let him see for himself. Who can still say that the stability is not enough?"

Ye Bingwen nodded in agreement and decided that from today onwards, all test data for each batch of products would be archived, and not only archived, but also made into graphs, one per month and one per year.

Liu Xiaojun, standing to the side, watched as Ye Bingwen made a suggestion.

"Uncle Ye, there's one more thing. The experts don't trust what we changed because they haven't seen it with their own eyes."

"If they could come to the factory and see for themselves, and I showed them how the machine runs from startup to operation, they might believe me."

Ye Bingwen looked at Liu Xiaojun and thought for a while.

"We'll talk about this later; let's focus on doing the things at hand first."

On Monday morning, Ye Bingwen went to the Provincial Science and Technology Commission to sign the contract.

On his way back, he made a detour by bicycle and went to Harbin Institute of Technology.

He wanted to tell Professor Zhou about the situation and see what Professor Zhou's thoughts were.

When Ye Bingwen entered the office, Professor Zhou was preparing for his lesson.

When Professor Zhou saw that it was Ye Bingwen, he took off his glasses and asked.

"Signed?"

"Signed, but the rating isn't high; it's ranked third."

Professor Zhou nodded.

"I heard that the deduction is due to the excessive proportion of unauthorized modifications to the equipment, right? Xiao Ye, let me tell you something, don't take it personally, but what the experts said isn't entirely without merit."

Professor Zhou's tone was very calm.

"Your mixer has an old motor, a modified speed controller, and an externally manufactured dispersion disc. These things work fine, but there's no standard, no certification, and no traceability. You're the factory manager, so you know how to use this equipment, but what about someone else? What about another factory?"

Professor Zhou paused, looked at Ye Bingwen, and continued.

"Why do experts trust imported equipment? Because imported equipment has standards, certifications, and numerous usage cases. If there's a problem, they have manuals, after-sales service, and spare parts. If your mixer has a problem, you can only contact Liu Xiaojun."

Ye Bingwen remained silent.

Professor Zhou noticed his pale face and softened his tone.

"I'm not saying your stuff is bad, I'm saying that to convince people of your stuff, data alone isn't enough, you need standards."

Ye Bingwen looked up at Professor Zhou and asked what the standard was.

Professor Zhou answered patiently.

"Industry standards: The carbon fiber composite materials you're producing currently use Professor Cai's lab testing methods. Could these methods be adopted as industry standards? Could your modified mixer be considered a recommended technical upgrade solution for the industry?"

He put on his glasses and looked at Ye Bingwen.

"If you have the ability to include your technical approach in the industry standards, then when experts review your work, they won't question you, but will evaluate others according to your standards."

After listening, Ye Bingwen sat in his chair for a long time.

Professor Zhou did not speak again.

After a while, Ye Bingwen stood up and spoke.

"Professor Zhou, thank you."

Professor Zhou looked at Ye Bingwen and smiled.

"You're welcome. Go back and work hard to gather enough data, and I'll contact the standardization committee for you."