2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 400: Exchanges Before the Trip to Luzhou
P.S.: This is a transitional chapter. If you mind, you can skip to the next chapter.

"You can actually make this yourself, really, it's nothing special."

Dong Jinggui was quite curious when he visited the lithium battery assembly workshop.

Although he pursued technology, he was really a poor student, and the things they learned in their time were quite different from what we learn now. He had been exposed to lead-acid batteries for a few years and could understand a little bit about them.

But lithium batteries were a completely new thing to him.

Tan Jincheng is different. Tan Jincheng's learning ability is really good. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to communicate with Gen Z without any generation gap when he was over thirty in his previous life. He was also doing very well on Bilibili.

These days, there's a significant information gap. Many companies don't actually develop their own products; they just repackage them and claim they're self-developed. This kind of behavior is common in many companies' advertising.

Unfortunately, consumers don't have access to these things, so they believe whatever is advertised. And because of their living standards, people treat buying a car like a treasure, so very few people actually take it apart to take a look.

In your past life, if you bragged that this thing was self-developed, anyone who doubted it would dismantle it and slap you in the face in no time.

Lithium batteries for two-wheeled electric vehicles are actually hard for ordinary people to buy now unless they specifically look for them, as long as the materials are available. But in the future, everything will be available on Taobao.

Those with strong hands-on skills will have no problem assembling it themselves.

Flash's lithium batteries are produced by Boneng, which is located in Changxin County. Thanks to Flash's orders, Boneng has grown into another large lead-acid battery enterprise in Changxin, following Tianneng and Chaowei.

As its market share gradually expands, Boneng is also actively expanding its production capacity and taking on orders from other companies, while fulfilling its orders for Flashpoint.

The biggest expansion is in the lithium battery production line. In the lead-acid battery sector, Boneng still has some gap to close in catching up with the two giants, Changxin. Boneng's ambition is to pin its hopes on lithium batteries for two-wheeled electric vehicles and achieve a breakthrough.

"The biggest drawback of lithium batteries is that their safety performance is not as good as that of lead-acid batteries, so we cannot over-promote them in this regard, because if something goes wrong, it will be a big deal."

"How do we solve this problem?" Dong Jinggui didn't know much about this.

"It will be difficult if this is not resolved. What we need to do is determine the capacity of the lithium battery, its type, the protection board with its capacity, its function, where it will be used, and the load it will be matched with. These conditions must be properly matched."

"To put it simply or in layman's terms, it's about maintaining a balance. So technology is key, but the way it's used also needs to be promoted effectively. We can't over-promote its benefits just to get it to go."

Lithium batteries are relatively easy to catch fire, and they can be found in mobile phones and cars. The most serious example is the Samsung explosion incident, which directly led to Samsung's withdrawal from the domestic market, but in fact, there are quite a few in cars as well.

Two-wheeled electric vehicle batteries also catch fire from time to time. Tan Jincheng has always been very careful in his publicity efforts regarding this issue, trying to avoid excessive promotion.

Lithium batteries are not as safe as lead-acid batteries, a fact known to both manufacturers and marketers. However, there's no way around it; lead-acid batteries simply have terrible battery life, while lithium batteries offer far superior performance.

Many things have two sides. In this case, companies can only follow suit. If you don't, you will be eliminated. All you can do is improve your technology and avoid false advertising.

Finally, it's important to do a good job in public relations to avoid a collective attack like that that happened with Sansa, but that's unlikely to happen to Flash.

I'd like to remind Dong Jinggui that I'm not saying I'm helping competitors. Competition among peers is fine, but you can't use consumer safety as a pretext. We should avoid safety incidents whenever possible.

If he encountered another factory owner and had such an opportunity, Tan Jincheng would also speak up.

It's not about being noble, but a company that puts consumers first and improves user experience has outperformed most of its competitors and can maintain its advantage in the competition.

Take Apple as an example. When it first entered the Chinese market, in addition to its innovative design, its customer service was truly excellent. It offered many service policies, such as free replacements, which was the key to its success in gaining a foothold in the market.

I vaguely remember there was some kind of policy about free battery replacements or something, but it was ultimately taken away by those unscrupulous merchants.

Next, Dong Jinggui visited Shanchi's electric tricycle production line. Visits between industry peers are usually open to each other, except for some confidential areas. When Tan Jincheng visited Wuxi last time, neither company held back much.

FlashTech's main business is two-wheeled electric vehicles, but it has not given up on niche markets such as electric tricycles and balance bikes. On the one hand, it enriches its production line, and on the other hand, it is a process of accumulating technology.

Moreover, tricycles still have great potential in the rural market, and you can make a profit once you reach a certain scale. However, it is quite difficult to make money in a niche market like balance bikes.

It's nothing new for technology-driven companies to develop and produce some unusual products, but many of these products fail to reach mass production capacity after development, which leads to losses.

Often, it's those unusual products that can't be mass-produced that achieve technological breakthroughs, such as concept cars in the automotive industry and concept phones in the mobile phone industry. It's quite interesting to think about; perhaps this is a goal set for oneself, and the same applies to products.

"Looks like you guys aren't going to be launching any new products to launch a surprise attack at the Shanghai exhibition this year."

After touring the area, Dong Jinggui said with a half-smile.

"Haha, this year we're going to maintain last year's results, and there's nothing major going on this year, so there's no need to be as shameless as we were last year," Tan Jincheng laughed, not shying away from the topic.

Last year's marketing event has even been included in some university marketing courses, and Flash is very proud of it; there's nothing shameful about it.

The story of the weak defeating the strong has always been a topic of great interest and discussion.

"Well, is there anything I can point out? Mr. Dong has more experience running a company than I do. If Flash has any shortcomings, please feel free to offer your advice."

Managing a large factory is an art. Thanks to its internal management software, Flash has made significant progress compared to its previous small-workshop-style management approach, but it is still only a company that has been established for three years.

There are still many shortcomings. Tan Jincheng usually studies the management methods of other companies, but one person's ability is always limited.

Yadi has been able to survive for so many years, gradually becoming the market leader from among various competitors. Dong Jinggui's management style must have its merits. Listen to his opinions, and it would be even better if they could be applied to Shanchi.

"Your company's employees have a great morale, which may be related to your compensation, but my management style doesn't seem to suit these employees because they are too young."

Being young has its advantages, but it also has its disadvantages. Dong Jinggui believes that Flash's employee management is rather lax, whereas his company, due to his own experience, has very strict management.

Therefore, the age structure is somewhat older, and those who couldn't stand the high-pressure management all left.

According to Dong Jinggui, if Flash's salary and benefits were managed more strictly, production efficiency could still be improved.

However, the FlashTech workshop, which is mostly staffed by young people, may not be able to achieve its goals; overly strict management could have negative effects.

In addition, Dong Jinggui also noticed that the factory's parking area was filled with a lot of cars. Although many of them were cars provided to the company's management and did not belong to them, could those cars really make the employees feel at ease to work?
You probably earn more driving an unlicensed taxi than working in a factory, right? Isn't this treatment a bit too good?

Tan Jincheng understood Dong Jinggui's meaning: "If employees are too rich, it's not conducive to their hard work?"

Dong Jinggui was stunned. Damn it, why does this sound so awkward, but he can't quite put his finger on what's wrong with it?

"You know that, so why are you asking me?"

"Haha, I also want to manage them more strictly, but as you said, they are all young people. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to manage them either. But it's okay, it will be fine once they are all married."

Once you get married, you'll know to work hard. If all else fails, just bring in some fresh blood to increase the competition.

In fact, Dong Jingui's concerns, if viewed from the perspective of ordinary entrepreneurs 10 years from now, do have some merit. Capital, after all, cannot make ordinary people save money; it has plenty of ways to make you spend it.

Even though it's 2007 now, there's no need to worry too much about this. After all, it's a vibrant era where everyone is a workaholic.

It's important to know that in online novels of this era, the male protagonists were all ordinary people who rose to power. There was no protagonist model like that of more than 10 years later. Although Tan Jincheng, who had lived two lives, was unorthodox, he at least knew a bit about economic trends.

Even if single people have money, they can't save it. Apart from those rich kids, Tan Jincheng rarely hears of single people being able to save a lot of money. They will spend all the money they earn, and once they've spent it all, they will work hard.

Besides, if Boss Tan takes the lead in finding girlfriends, he'll definitely promote the benefits of marriage within the company. Once they're all married, they'll behave themselves.

Tan Jincheng's series of theories broadened Dong Jinggui's horizons.

"Damn, it's true. I also became more honest after I got married, thinking about making more money. When I first came home from the army, I felt like I could fly."

They, being older, certainly understand many principles, but Tan Jincheng's approach to summarizing and applying them to business management is truly unique.

The question is, why does he know so much? He acts like he's married, raising children, and managing household expenses—he seems to know more about these things than anyone else.

(End of this chapter)