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

On the fifth day, the factory entered a state of war.

Liu Xiaojun was the first to arrive at six o'clock in the morning.

Liu Xiaojun arrived and quickly checked both mixers.

Liu Xiaojun turned on the power, let it idle for five minutes, listened to the sound, and observed the rotation speed.

The machine was only stopped after everything was confirmed to be normal.

The workers arrived one after another around seven o'clock.

Meanwhile, Chen An arrived with the completed plan.

The plan clearly marks the cutting shape of each layer.

Chen An cut the carbon fiber cloth to size and stacked it together, waiting for Master Li to close the mold and start working.

Master Li is in charge of operating the press.

Master Li meticulously recorded and preserved the temperature, pressure, and time for each mold.

Everyone was working in an orderly manner, and Old Hu, the carpenter, was not idle either. While others were working, he carved two new wooden molds, applied a coating, and left them to dry in the open for later use.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the first one was finished.

Chen An quickly ran forward to take the measurements.

"The dimensions are correct, but the finish is still a little lacking."

Then the second and third items were finished one after another.

Chen Andu measured them one by one.

The second item was the correct size, but the finish was still poor.

The third item is of the correct size and has a satisfactory finish.

Chen An examined the third item carefully and found that its surface was much smoother than the first two.

Chen An quickly checked the records and found that this wooden mold was being used for the second time, and the surface coating had been worn smoother.

Chen An hurriedly found Master Li and told him about his discovery.

After listening, Master Li touched the sample:

"After applying the coating once, the surface becomes smoother, and the pressed parts naturally turn out better."

"So, each wooden mold will be used for a 'break-in' process first, and then used for formal production on the second attempt?"

"OK."

Chen An wrote this process into the process record.

Zheng Shuyun brought a large bag of food at noon.

They brought enough food for the entire factory.

An'an was also picked up after school.

After finishing her lunch, Zheng Shuyun also started helping Chen An with his testing.

Chen An taught Zheng Shuyun how to read dimensions, how to measure surface finish, and how to record data.

Zheng Shuyun learned quickly and mastered it in less than half a day.

In the afternoon, Chen An was in charge of layup and process control, while Zheng Shuyun was in charge of testing and recording.

The two of them already have a very good working relationship.

Everyone worked busily all day, and it gradually got dark outside.

Chen An glanced at his watch and saw it was already 6 PM; it was time to clock out for the day shift.

Master Li didn't leave; he was supervising the night shift.

"Master Li, if there are any problems tonight, give me a call. I live at the factory."

Where do you live?

"I've cleaned up that little hut next to the warehouse; it has a bed."

"Are you really planning to stay here for a month?"

"One month is one month, it's not like we haven't stayed here before."

At eight o'clock in the evening, the factory was still bustling with activity.

Master Li watches the press alone. After each mold comes out, he checks it himself first. If he thinks there are no problems, he puts it aside and waits for Chen An to retest it the next day.

Old Hu the carpenter didn't leave either; he sat in the warehouse carving wooden molds.

Shining a flashlight, the plane was pushed down again and again, shavings falling all over the ground.

After finishing one, he picked it up and examined it against the light, running his fingers over the curved surface to make sure there were no problems before putting it down.

Ye Bingwen arrived at ten o'clock.

He rode his bike from home, carrying two lunchboxes.

One is for Master Li, and the other is for Old Hu the carpenter.

"Xiao Ye, you can go back now. I'll watch over things here." Master Li took the lunchbox.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came to check on you."

Ye Bingwen walked around the workshop and looked at the finished products for the day.

Chen An completed six pieces during his day shift, all of which passed inspection. Four pieces met the standard for smoothness, while two were slightly below it.

He took the two pieces out and held them up to the light to examine them; indeed, they had subtle patterns.

He went through Chen An's records and found that the two pieces were made using the first pressing of the new wooden mold, and the surface coating had not yet been broken in.

"Tomorrow, press the new wooden mold with the old material before using it officially."

He wrote this down in his notebook.

At 11 o'clock, Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle home.

An'an was already asleep, but Zheng Shuyun was still waiting for him.

Have you eaten?

"I ate at the factory."

"How many items were shipped today?"

"Of the six items, four met the standards."

Zheng Shuyun paused for a moment: "The yield rate is still not good enough."

"Adjust it slowly; once the process is properly refined, it can be launched."

For the next few days, we kept pushing forward.

On the sixth day, seven items were produced, and six of them met the standards.

On the seventh day, eight items were produced, and seven of them met the standards.

On the eighth day, eight items were produced, all of which met the standards.

Chen An compiled the test data into tables, updated them daily, and posted them on the workshop wall.

The pass rate curve slowly climbed from 75% to 100%.

Every morning, Liu Xiaojun would go and check the curve, and then he would clean the mixer.

Liu Xiaojun believed it was thanks to those two machines.

But Master Li didn't think so; he believed that Old Hu the carpenter had carved the mold well.

Old Hu the carpenter didn't think so either; he said it was Xiao Jun's machine that ran steadily.

The atmosphere was great; no one took credit and no one shirked their responsibilities.

It wasn't until the tenth day that the mold factory called.

"Mr. Chen, your mold-making process is a bit behind schedule. The original materials are out of stock, and we need to replace them with alternative materials. It will take another five days."

Chen An became anxious upon hearing this:

"It was supposed to be 20 days, why is it five days late?"

"The processing parameters for the alternative materials are different, so the machine tools need to be readjusted. Five days is the fastest we can do it."

Chen An hung up the phone and, without delay, ran straight to find Ye Bingwen.

"Director Ye, the mold factory will be delayed for five days."

After listening, Ye Bingwen's brows furrowed involuntarily.

"25 days?"

"Yes, 25 days."

"That leaves only five days for production. If we make 80 pieces in five days, that's not enough to make 16 pieces a day."

Chen An was also anxiously pacing around, but there was nothing he could do.

Ye Bingwen sat and thought for a while before deciding to go to the mold factory.

Ye Bingwen rode his bicycle and rushed to the mold factory.

"Mr. Li, this is Ye Bingwen from Hongqi Machinery Factory. Can we expedite the mold production schedule?"

The engineer shook his head upon hearing this:

"Director Ye, it's not that I don't want to help, but the materials have been changed and the machine tools need to be readjusted. It will take at least 25 days."

"Is there any other way?"

"Sigh, there's no other way but to wait."

Ye Bingwen remained silent, but his mind raced. Before long...

"Could you make the rough mold first, and we'll figure out the finishing process ourselves?"

"Can you do the fine processing yourself?"

"We have a milling machine with decent precision, let's give it a try."

"The rough mold can be produced in 10 days, but you are responsible for controlling the allowance for finishing. We are not responsible if the dimensions are off."

"OK."

Ye Bingwen finalized the solution and rushed to the factory.

On his way back to the factory, he kept wondering if the old milling machine could handle the job.

They were still wondering if Master Li was up to the task. Master Li's skills were undoubtedly excellent, but precision machining of steel molds was not the same as milling iron blocks; the requirements were much higher.

Ye Bingwen told Master Li about it as soon as he returned to the factory.

After listening, Master Li thought about it for a long time.

"Xiao Ye, I've never done precision machining of steel molds before, but the principle is the same. Give me the drawings, and I'll mill them out for you. I'll measure to make sure the dimensions are correct."

Are you confident?

"I'm not sure, but it's better to try than to wait."