Back to the 80s Machinery Factory

Chapter 407 How did Director Lu and his team fix the car?!
Recently, Chen Luyang has become obsessed with eating small fruit.

My gut is practically in a mess from all that eating.

Every night when he goes to sleep, he farts on the bunk above him.

It stank so bad...!!!
Zhang Dongliang was driven to desperation and tried several times to reopen the door gap that had been repaired.

This way, a little breeze can blow in through the crack in the door and dissipate the smell of farts.

As the group was chatting, Gao Xiaolin said, "Look at that person up there, doesn't he look just like Wen Wei?"

Ok? ? ?
Everyone looked at the stage: "Which one?"

Gao Xiaolin pointed at the person on the stage who was bending over and adjusting the buckles: "Isn't that the person next to the artificial hill, from our Cultural Committee?!"

Pan Yu's heart skipped a beat.

Holy crap... no way?

He glanced at the stage!
Be nice!

I told you to sneak backstage, but I didn't expect you to blend in perfectly and do it secretly!

At this moment on the stage,

The two boys worked perfectly with Chen Luyang; the two boys were responsible for removing the props, while Chen Luyang was responsible for inserting the backdrop into the slot track.

Although his movements weren't very skilled, on a stage where every second counts, every bit of time counts.

This is already a huge help to the stage props team.

After several shows, Chen Luyang had a general understanding of the stage props system.

Although Pan Yu said it was a modular assembly system

However, in Chen Luyang's view, this is a typical "standard component combination structure".

As long as the same bayonet, bracket, and connector are used, unified application and variation can be achieved in different scenarios.

Thinking of this, Chen Luyang frowned slightly.

In that instant, something suddenly occurred to him...

It seems like I've been overlooking something all along.

But what is it?

Chen Luyang began to feel uneasy.

He quickly reviewed and verified the things that made him uneasy in his mind, sorting them out one by one from the beginning.

If stage components can be made universally compatible with card slots, what about vehicle parts?
moment!

A layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on Chen Luyang's back.

He finally realized what was making him uneasy!
At this point, the models and dimensions of the parts for each car are not interchangeable.

Even among cars produced by the same provincial machinery factory, the first and second versions had different parts.

So when you arrive in Pian'er City, you'll be faced with cars of all brands, types, and parts.

How did Director Lu and his team fix the car?!
……

For the past two weeks, although he hasn't returned to the repair and maintenance center, he has been frequently contacted by phone to follow up.

Each time the call is connected,
Director Lu and Jiang Xiaohua both said that the repair center was very busy, with cars being brought in for repairs every few days.

The parts aren't interchangeable, how did they repair it?
Cultivated through willpower?
This question persisted until the end of the entire show!
Adhering to the principle of seeing things through to the end, Chen Luyang helped the two boys tidy up the props and equipment on stage. Then, standing next to a pile of dismantled supports, she curiously looked at the interface of an aluminum alloy card slot.

Unlike other stage prop clips that require "manual calibration and alignment of the connectors" before they can be joined,
The front of this card slot has a recessed guide groove, which allows the interface to slide in automatically and be precisely positioned, eliminating the need for repeated adjustments.

In other words, this saves a lot of time-consuming steps in manual assembly, such as "alignment → trial insertion → adjustment", which is a very ingenious design.

"Hey, male student, you're not from the stage design team, are you?"

As Chen Luyang was looking down, he heard a deep, steady voice coming from behind him.

Turning around, he saw a male teacher in his fifties standing behind him, his sharp eyes scrutinizing him.

"Hello, teacher. I am a freshman in the Department of Economics at Peking University. My name is Chen Luyang, and this is my student ID."

Chen Luyang didn't want to hide her identity, so she openly took out her student ID and handed it to the teacher with both hands.

The male teacher took the student ID and carefully compared it with Chen Luyang's appearance.

"If it weren't for the fact that you're quite capable at your work, I would have fired you long ago!"

Chen Luyang: ? ? ?

"Teacher, so you figured I'd noticed you early on?"

The male teacher looked at Chen Luyang as if she were a little sparrow, not bothering to say another word.

Every year when the dance academy has a performance, there are always a few daring people who run backstage to peek.

These teachers have long since developed a keen eye for protecting their students.
He noticed it the moment Chen Luyang walked in.

At first, he thought Chen Luyang was there to steal props or to act like a hooligan.

However, they later discovered that Chen Luyang had been diligently helping the students move props and was even busy with other tasks, so they spared his life and decided to come back to him after the show ended.

Chen Luyang asked curiously, "Teacher, which department are you in?"

"My name is Liu Wancheng, and I teach stage structure," the male teacher said. "You seemed quite interested in this set of card slots earlier?"

"Hmm." Chen Luyang nodded. "I've never seen this before. Did you design it yourselves?"

"I made the improvements." Teacher Liu picked up a connecting plate and twirled it twice in her hand.

"Don't underestimate this aluminum alloy card slot. We used it to build radar frames back in the day."

Chen Luyang was taken aback: "You're a retired soldier?"

"A battlefield communications soldier, I served in the mountainous region of Southwest China for five years."

When Liu Wancheng mentions his past experiences, he immediately changes!

"Back then, when the troops entered the mountains, they had to set up radar, power generation, cover, and signal systems within minutes. If they were slow, they would lose their lives."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and made a gesture: "One lift, one buckle, one twist and it's in place. If there's no signal within ten minutes, you'll be punished."

"Later, when I went to the school to work on stage design, I found that everyone was still using hand saws, steel nails, and ropes to tie the backdrops—it would take half a day to dismantle one. So I brought this approach with me: standardized clips, standard specifications, and quick assembly and disassembly."

"The stage may not be a battleground, but time is still precious. Changing the scene every five minutes during a show ensures that the audience is comfortable and that there are no mishaps on stage."

As he spoke, Liu Wancheng deftly and neatly inserted the slot into the truss interface next to him with a "click".

Chen Luyang stared at Liu Wancheng in shock.

"Teacher, you've brought a tactical system into art!"

Liu Wancheng raised an eyebrow, seemingly quite pleased with the description.

"You're an economics major from Peking University, what are you researching these things for?" Chen Luyang replied honestly, "Professor, I'm not only a student at Peking University, but also the head of the automobile maintenance and repair center of the provincial machinery factory in Pian'er City. Our car repair involves the issue of interchangeable parts for different car models, and I thought I'd come here to find some inspiration."

Liu Wancheng looked Chen Luyang up and down again: "That repair shop at the West Railway Station?"

Chen Luyang was stunned!
"You know?"

Liu Wancheng laughed: "How could I not know? A few days ago, a few of my old comrades and I were having dinner together, and one of them was talking about getting his car repaired at the West Railway Station repair shop. Your repair center does a pretty good job!"

Chen Luyang was caught off guard and heard news about her own factory from someone else, which made her a little excited:
"The main reason is that our masters are highly skilled; they are all elites."

Seeing that the two were getting more and more enthusiastic as they chatted,

Chen Luyang said simply, "Teacher, I came with my classmates, and they are still waiting for me outside."

"Would it be convenient for me to leave my contact information? I'd like to ask you for advice more often in the future."

Liu Wancheng was amused.

"You, a Peking University economics major, want to ask me, a Beijing Dance Academy stage structure teacher, for advice? The interface models don't even match!"

Chen Luyang laughed: "It matches perfectly! It matches perfectly!"

As he spoke, Chen Luyang took out his small notebook and wrote down Liu Wancheng's contact information without saying a word.

After saying goodbye, Chen Luyang turned and ran out of the backstage area, rushing out of the auditorium.

Outside the auditorium,

Tao Runze and a few others were standing at the door waiting for him. When they saw Chen Luyang run out, Pan Yuzhen was truly impressed and said:

"Xiao Chen, I'm truly impressed by you."

"I thought you were going backstage to check out the backgrounds, but I didn't expect you to go straight on stage!"

Gao Xiaolin said, "Yes, Wenwei, we didn't dare to recognize you at first, but we were sure it was you later."

Zhang Dongliang asked curiously, "What good stuff did you see backstage? Tell us!"

As Chen Luyang walked, he started bragging: "I saw so many young girls, they were really pretty."

Luo Jianmin, Han Zhihui, Sun Legen, and a few other bachelors were happy to listen to this, and while listening, they kept tugging at Chen Luyang's sleeve and asking all sorts of questions.

In the end, he felt incredibly regretful.

He lamented that he lacked the courage and wisdom to impersonate a student and go in to do hard labor while watching pretty young girls.

After he finished bragging, Chen Luyang got back to business.

"Brother Pan, you know what, no wonder they change props so quickly. The teacher in charge of the stage structure is a retired military officer, and even an aluminum alloy bracket was brought back from the war zone. A whole backdrop, a few students lift it up, 'click,' and it's in place in ten seconds. The modules are uniform, the interfaces are standard, and the horizontal and vertical supports are all compatible."

A group of people walked briskly towards the school.

Chen Luyang and Pan Yu walked behind, chatting as they went.

"Brother Pan, what if our mechanical system could adopt a system like this? Putting aside everything else, just standardizing the tool change interface would allow dozens of sister factories across the country to directly share molds. It could even double the lifespan of the tool holder, saving a lot of money over a year!"

Pan Yu gently shook her head: "It's a good idea, but it's too difficult..."

“Think about it, the equipment from different manufacturers is all different. The hole spacing of the cutter heads is different, and the depth of the locking grooves is also different. Even if you really come up with a unified standard, if the higher-ups don't issue an official document, who would dare to change it? At that time, the mold workshop would be the first to jump up and curse: ‘You want me to tear up all the drawings that were just approved and start over?’”

Chen Luyang chuckled, not at all annoyed.

“I know this is easier said than done. Everyone in our line of work knows that. But the problem is… Lao Pan, don’t you feel frustrated? We’re always arguing about ‘this company and that company are not consistent.’ Isn’t that like tying the efficiency of the entire system to our own ankles?”

Pan Yu sighed, "How can I not feel frustrated!"

“Take our factory for example! Our three lathes use three different tool head interfaces: one is the Soviet standard, one is the 65 scheme approved by the ministry, and the other is a ‘D-type quick change’ modified by the factory itself. As a result, the tool heads from Workshop 1 cannot be installed in Workshop 3 at all, and the scrap rate has skyrocketed.”

Chen Luyang said this was also a bittersweet story:
“At least yours is a different model than the domestic ones. Our factory cooperates with foreign companies and imported a batch of Italian equipment with a complete set of blueprints, which is quite advanced. But problems arise when it is combined with domestic processes. They use German M7 standard bolts, but domestic molds can only be used for M6 or M8, so they have to grind them on-site to make them compatible.”

The two talked further and further away, and ended up walking further and further away from the students in front of them.

Chen Luyang, preoccupied with the car maintenance and repair center, couldn't help but speak up:

“Brother Pan…you just mentioned the blueprints.” He paused, his tone lowering.

"If someone dares to draw the first new blueprint, wouldn't that be the first step towards unification?"

Pan Yu said helplessly, "It's easy for you to say. Just because you draw it doesn't mean people will accept it. You're in the provincial capital and I'm in a small town. If the cutting tools need to be standardized, you need an intermediary to take the lead, right?"

With an optimistic revolutionary spirit, Chen Luyang said, "Let's pretend we're not two separate factories, but a married couple!"

“Your workshop will provide the blanks, and I'll provide the interfaces. Let's try matching them first. If they match, then we can make a document and send it to the final assembly team.”

"If we can't unify the entire system, we can unify one point; if we can't unify the equipment standards, we can at least unify the dimensions of a workstation."

"It will gradually spread out."

Pan Yu stopped and looked at Chen Luyang for a long time: "Little Chen, I've discovered that you really dare to think things through."

Chen Luyang chuckled, “Brother, don’t let my background as an economics student at Peking University fool you; deep down, I’m still a screwdriver enthusiast.”

Pan Yu laughed: "You're studying economics while thinking about parts standardization; your mind is wider than the road."

Chen Luyang said happily, "The marginal utility we've been learning is just figuring out how many cents a wrench can save, or how many resources a set of molds can save for the system!"

"Isn't this what studying economics is all about?"

Pan Yu clicked his tongue: "If you really want to do it, and really make a standardized structure, I can go back to the workshop and find workers to help you make samples, take measurements, and bring in the equipment. We'll work together."

Chen Luyang's eyes lit up: "It's done!"

……

Although Chen Luyang desperately wanted to rush back to the factory to see how the workshop workers repaired other cars, unfortunately...

The welcome party is about to begin.

In the week leading up to the welcome party, the Arts Department posted flyers on various bulletin boards throughout the school and hung large banners on railings, welcoming all teachers and students to come and watch.

The Arts and Literature Department rehearses almost every day, which exhausts the Economics Department students, who have to perform the clapper talk several times a day.

Everyone else is fine.

Zhang Dongliang put the most effort into positioning and formation.

Even after falling asleep at night, I can't help waving my hands in the air a few times, making a clapper-like motion.

The school's welcome party was scheduled for 7 p.m. on Friday.

The location is the auditorium on the north side of the library.

It was not even 6:30 a.m., and a crowd had already gathered at the entrance.

Some people were wearing clean, new cloth Zhongshan suits, while some girls wore white shirts with lace trim and braids, helping their roommates as they arrived. They gathered in twos and threes in front of the bulletin board to look at the program list.

Behind the curtain at the back of the auditorium, chaos reigned.

(End of this chapter)