Rebirth in 1960, My Industrial Age

Chapter 138 The Value and Celebration of Heavy Machine Tools (Subscription Request)
After the machine tool stopped, Zhou Fengnian went forward and took out the processed parts.

The surface is still a little rough and needs surface treatment, but the size data is correct.

"Mr. Zhou, is it ready now?"

Liu Hanfei couldn't believe his eyes. The part he took was very difficult even for an eighth-level worker and would take a long time.

But after being placed on the machine tool for a while and being ground down layer by layer, the parts are processed.

Moreover, the processing method just now was so smooth, the swing of the base fixture was very coordinated with the processing tool.

"Well, let's measure the accuracy of the data."

Zhou Fengnian handed the part to Liu Hanfei, who took it and immediately started measuring it.

After checking each piece of data accurately to ensure that there were no omissions, Liu Hanfei excitedly said, "Engineer Zhou, the data error is within the acceptable range. We succeeded!"

"Success!"

“It’s amazing, it’s only been over four months and we’ve already succeeded!”

"Mr. Zhou is really amazing. He led us to manufacture a five-axis heavy-duty machine tool in such a short time."

"Hey, are you praising Mr. Zhou or yourself?"

"Anyway, since it's successful, it's okay to praise anyone!"

The technical department members and workers who were watching celebrated happily. They had been extremely nervous during the past six months. Except for Zhou Fengnian, the first ones to go home were around eight o'clock every night.

I hardly had any rest at noon. I would come back after lunch to continue my research and I would come to work very early in the morning.

After struggling for so long, I finally completed the task ahead of schedule.

"Don't be too quick to celebrate. Why are you celebrating when you've just reached your destination? We've only gone halfway on the Long March!"

Zhou Fengnian loudly stopped the celebrations of the people around him, and after they quieted down, he continued: “This is just one machine tool, one model;
Next we need to fill this workshop with at least two models to be considered successful!"

This machine is only suitable for processing giant and long parts. Next, Zhou Fengnian also plans to manufacture a five-axis linkage heavy-duty machine tool suitable for precision processing.

The combination of the two models of machine tools can basically solve 90% of the current parts processing problems.

Then this year all the heavy machine tools produced in the factory will be replaced with these two types. With the same resources, if these two types of heavy machine tools are manufactured, the output value can be multiplied several times.

This represents the world's most advanced machine tool technology. It was only invented by foreigners a few years ago, and their technology is definitely not as good as Zhou Fengnian's.

Zhou Fengnian directly relied on the memory of later generations to overtake others.

After Zhou Fengnian finished speaking, the people around him quickly calmed down. They also thought that this was just a machine tool and it was a bit too early to be happy.

But Zhou Fengnian didn't just pour cold water on people. After everyone calmed down, he said again:
"But there must be rewards. I'll go and ask the factory manager to see if he can make a good meal for everyone!
By the end of the year, if we can come up with some impressive results, I will go to our superiors and apply for generous rewards for you."

"Great!"

"Director Zhou Wan."

"Hey, hey, hey, don't yell this randomly, don't get excited and say anything!"

Zhou Fengnian had sharp ears and when he heard something was wrong, he directly held down the person who was shouting.

Then, while people around were celebrating, Zhou Fengnian pulled Liu Hanfei out and told him something.
"Chief Liu, you are basically in charge of the entire manufacturing process of this machine tool. The next task I will give you is to monitor the production.

I will also have the factory allocate personnel to cooperate with you, and starting from next month, we will strive to increase the monthly production to more than ten units."

"Ten? Director, this machine tool is not easy to manufacture."

Liu Hanfei immediately groaned inwardly, it took them more than a month to make just one machine, although they were not very familiar with the manufacturing process at the beginning and there were some bumps and bumps.

But this machine tool is really not simple, it is very complicated; Liu Hanfei feels that once they become proficient, it will be very good if they can make one in ten days.

“Don’t worry, I would suggest cutting production of some machine tool models. Those outdated machine tools whose performance has not been optimized and improved may not be produced in the future.

At that time, we will concentrate on manufacturing more advanced CNC machine tools, and all the spare manpower and equipment will be assigned to you."

Zhou Fengnian comforted him by saying that this would increase the manpower required to produce five-axis heavy-duty machine tools, and even if low-level workers could not process high-precision parts, they could help operate CNC machine tools for processing.

The decision to continue working in two shifts will maximize production efficiency.

"Then I'll try, I'll try my best to complete the task"

Liu Hanfei said with some hesitation that even if he was given manpower and equipment, he was still unsure and could only try his best to complete the task.

"Very good, Chief Liu, I trust you very much. If the task is completed, I will immediately recommend you for the credit."

Zhou Fengnian drew a big pie and stuffed it into Liu Hanfei's mouth.

"I will also develop other models of five-axis heavy-duty machine tools. There is still a lot of room for development in five-axis linkage, so you can only help me keep an eye on the production matters."

"Okay, Mr. Zhou, leave it to me."

Liu Hanfei gritted his teeth and said that since Engineer Zhou had not slacked off at all and was still working on his research, he couldn't fall behind either.

Afterwards, Zhou Fengnian sent someone to call the factory director and other deputy directors to see the new achievements of the technical department.

It's a pity that the factory currently has no production tasks for giant and long parts, otherwise it would be possible to demonstrate the operation on site.

However, Zhou Fengnian had drawn a car before, and he planned to mark the data dimensions on the drawing of the reduced model of the car, and then have it processed by a five-axis heavy-duty machine tool.

Gao Zhiyuan, Ma Sisheng and Hong Bowen, the three factory directors and deputy factory directors, witnessed the entire process of processing automobile reduced model parts with five-axis heavy-duty machine tools.

The debris was ground off layer by layer, and the processing was so smooth that it looked like art. Gao Zhiyuan and others applauded after watching it.

"Well, that's great, Fengnian. You and the Technical Department have really made great contributions."

Gao Zhiyuan applauded. Even if one did not understand the technology, one could see how powerful this machine tool was. Besides, Gao Zhiyuan had worked in the machinery factory for so many years, how could he not understand any technology at all?

He knew how difficult it was to process such a large part, and the surface was so complex, but this machine tool completed the process so smoothly.

How awesome!

"It's really amazing, and the processing speed is also very fast."

After Hong Bowen praised him, he turned and asked, "But Deputy Director Zhou, what are these processed parts?"

"A scaled-down car model was an idea I had before, but I didn't have the chance to realize it, so I put it aside for now."

As Zhou Fengnian spoke, he took out the design drawing of the entire car's exterior that he had in mind, handed it to Hong Bowen and the other three, and continued
"This five-axis heavy-duty machine tool is best suited for processing long or large parts. The factory doesn't have such tasks, so I can only choose this one for display."

Zhou Fengnian explained that the main purpose of the exhibition is to demonstrate the integrated processing of giant parts by five-axis heavy-duty machine tools, which is the greatest value.

It can play a huge role in aerospace, shipbuilding, military industry and other fields.

"Is this a car? It looks quite new. Not to mention, the shape is quite nice." Gao Zhiyuan suddenly remembered and asked, "Fengnian, is it the one I told you about before?"

Zhou Fengnian said: "Yes, after I talked about it last time, I went back and drew a few drawings, but I didn't have time to produce it, so the drawings have been kept."

“Hey, there will be a chance later.”

Gao Zhiyuan comforted him by saying that he liked this car more and more, and that its appearance was much better looking than the current Hongqi car.

In two years, when the output value of Hua Xia Machine Tool Factory has increased several times and there is spare capacity, we can also build a few subsidiary factories.

Then we will produce cars!
It would be a waste for other factories to use their resources to produce cars, but since they have Zhou Fengnian, the cars they produce are definitely high-quality and can be considered as creating value.

Gao Zhiyuan thought to himself that he was now full of confidence in Zhou Fengnian. Even if Zhou Fengnian said tomorrow that he wanted to study tanks, he might have to go to his superiors to ask if he could build this thing in the city.

"Director, Deputy Director Ma, and Deputy Director Hong."

Zhou Fengnian called a few people over and said, "I want to adjust the production tasks of the factory. Among the current 21 production plans, seven types of machine tools are 'old' machine tools with average performance.

Maybe in a dozen years, the technology won’t be up to date and there will be no need to produce them. My suggestion is to cut these production plans and invest all the manpower and resources into the production of new machine tools.”

"In this way, the same resources can create more output value, and our machine tool factory should also make adjustments. We can no longer manufacture "old" machine tools together with advanced machine tools. In the future, we will only produce advanced machine tools."

Zhou Fengnian almost said the word "junk machine tools" but he finally came to his senses and held it back. However, in his opinion, those machine tools were indeed not very good.

It has low value. Even if it is used domestically, it will not last for more than ten years, and will definitely be treated as scrap metal by then.

This situation is a waste. The country is already very poor, and good steel must be used where it is needed most.

Gao Zhiyuan pretended to think about it. In his heart, he supported Zhou Fengnian, but he had to pretend to be independent in his thinking.

After thinking for almost a minute, Gao Zhiyuan said, "I think it's okay. The leaders of the ministry have always valued this five-axis heavy-duty machine tool, so it's reasonable to adjust the production plan."

If it were a few years ago, neither Gao Zhiyuan nor other deputy factory directors would have dared to say a word.

We will only produce as many units as specified above, and no extra parts can be produced.

But after 1961, the ministries gradually relaxed their controls and allowed the factories under them to produce more unplanned tasks, and then use these to adjust materials to meet the development of their own factories.

Otherwise, there would be a lot of hungry mouths crying out, and the ministries would not have enough manpower to adjust them one by one.

Hong Bowen nodded and said, "I have no objection."

"I don't have any objection either."

Ma Sisheng also said that the factory director in charge of production and the deputy factory director in charge of technology had agreed, so he, who was in charge of logistics, would not get involved.

All four factory managers agreed, and the matter was decided.

Next, we can adjust our focus, concentrate the factory’s human and material resources, and focus on the production of five-axis heavy-duty machine tools.

Once the CNC workshop promised by the ministry is built, the Huaxia Machine Tool Factory will be able to completely self-produce.

Afterwards, Zhou Fengnian also told Ma Sisheng about rewarding the technical department, but Ma Sisheng immediately patted his chest and promised that he would use his connections to get one or two pigs for the factory.

Two pigs may seem like a lot, but if they were distributed among everyone in the factory, each person would only get one or two ounces of meat. However, this was the limit of what Ma Sisheng could do.

After thinking about it, Zhou Fengnian said that he could go back and ask the commune near their home whether there were any unplanned pigs, but there was no guarantee that there would be any.

Sanshui Commune owed a favor to Hongjia Village. Even Hongjia Village secretly bought chickens and pigs outside the plan, so it was impossible for Sanshui Commune to not have any.

If there is any, no one will buy it, so it’s better to sell it to the machine tool manufacturer.

Huaxia Machine Tool Factory has now achieved very important results. If the five-axis linkage heavy-duty machine tools are sold to other countries, one machine tool may cost millions.

But no one would do that. Bald Eagle developed the five-axis machine tool, but did not sell it to other countries for money.

If there is really a plan to export the products, Zhou Fengnian will take a step back and manufacture three-coordinate machine tools or wait until a seven-axis five-link machine tool is developed before exporting it.

Anyway, he doesn't recommend selling the most advanced technology.

After discussing with several other factory directors and deputy directors, Zhou Fengnian returned to his office. The next step was to convert the five-axis heavy machine tool from a horizontal structure to a vertical structure.

But he can do all this by himself. At most, he can call a few more people to help him. He doesn't need so many people anymore.

Next, the technical department will be responsible for technical guidance and production manufacturing.

------

A busy day.

Zhou Fengnian got off work on time today. Before the five-axis heavy machine tool was built, he had to work overtime until after nine o'clock. Now he can relax for a while.

"Yan Yan, I'm back!"

After Zhou Fengnian parked his bicycle in the front yard, he announced loudly as soon as he arrived in the backyard.

Zhou Yan then walked out of the main house holding the child and said unhappily, "Why are you yelling as soon as you come back? You scared our son to tears."

"You used to care about me the most, but now you put your son first. Sigh."

Zhou Yan burst into laughter at Zhou Fengnian's words. She stepped forward and pinched him, saying, "You are jealous of a child. You are not a good person."

"Let Chunhua look after the kids tonight, and we can take a rest."

After hearing Zhou Fengnian's words, Zhou Yan blushed, but quickly recovered and nodded in a low voice in agreement.

They are considered an old couple, and Zhou Yan also reminisces about the memories of being filled with love in the past.

Zhou Yan suddenly thought of something, and then said to Zhou Fengnian: "Oh, Dad is coming tomorrow, let's go cut some meat in the morning."

"Tomorrow. Oh, it's about this time. I just happen to have something to ask him."

Zhou Fengnian thought about it. He was just considering whether to send someone back to the village to spread the news, but the day came when Zhou's father came to the city.

"I'll get up earlier tomorrow, so you don't have to worry."

"What do you want from dad?"

"The factory is planning to buy pigs to celebrate. I'll ask the commune if they have any pigs that are not part of the plan. If they do, I'll ask them to sell them to the factory."

Zhou Fengnian briefly spoke, then reached out to hug his son: "Let me hug the child. He hasn't seen his father for a day, he must miss him very much."

"Forget it. I finally managed to coax her into obedience, but she started crying again when you hugged her."

"It's normal for boys to cry."

After Zhou Fengnian finished speaking, he picked up his son. Within a few minutes, the child burst into tears. Then he smiled and handed the child to Zhou Yan and left him alone.

(End of this chapter)