Tech startup: I really do make mobile phones!

Chapter 202 "Orange Creation" Technology Key

Orange Technology, Chen Mo's General Manager's Office.

Zeng Baifang, the former head of the Zhicheng centralized procurement team, sat somewhat reservedly on the leather sofa in the reception area, his back ramrod straight.

Chen Mo sat opposite him, skillfully rinsing the tea set, and then poured him a steaming cup of tea.

This gesture flattered Zeng Baifang, who quickly accepted it with both hands.

"Baifang!" Chen Mo said gently, with a hint of reminiscing: "I remember last June, you were one of the first veterans to follow Tiezhu and run the supply chain for Orange 1, right?"

"It's been almost a year already! Tiezhu has always valued you highly, and he always makes sure to give you more exposure when reporting on the marketing department's work, right?"

Zeng Baifang already knew about the four-party talks and the establishment of a unified procurement standards company. Suppressing his excitement, he nodded quickly.

"Yes, Mr. Chen! I am very grateful for Mr. Zhao's guidance and the company's training!"

Before he arrived, Zhao Tiezhu had already given him a heads-up that the Smart Orange Procurement Team would be spun off as the core team to form the "Smart Orange Procurement Standard Company," and he would rise from a team leader to the head of this new company.

At that moment, he felt both excited and apprehensive.

Sure enough, Chen Mo changed the subject and got to the main point.

"We, Orange, Pingguo, Bubu Gao, and Tesla, have decided to jointly establish a 'Smart Orange Centralized Procurement Standard Company,' with your Smart Orange Centralized Procurement team as the core backbone. What do you think?"

Zeng Baifang immediately stated, "President Chen, this is great news for Orange. Our team will definitely go all out and live up to the trust of the company and you!"

Chen Mo tapped his fingertips lightly twice on the smooth coffee table surface, his smile fading slightly, and his tone becoming serious.

“Baifang, you are honest and hardworking, which are good qualities. However, the situation of the new company is special. Although we are the largest shareholder and have Bubu Gao as a staunch ally, the people sent by Pingguo and Tesla ultimately have different stances and intentions than us!”

He looked up, his sharp gaze fixed on Zeng Baifang, offering a clear hint.

"When it comes to business coordination, finalizing technical standards, and negotiating procurement terms, you need to have a clear understanding of what's best for the Orange Group!"

"If you encounter anything you're unsure about, feel free to consult me ​​or Tiezhu anytime. Don't just try to be a nice guy and smooth things over, or you'll end up losing our own foundation and advantages!"

Chen Mo was also reminding him not to be confused, not to forget his roots, or to try to smooth things over.

Orange sent a mature centralized procurement team to the joint venture, wasn't that just to better support its own Orange Group businesses?
Upon hearing this, Zeng Baifang straightened his back even more and spoke with unwavering determination.

"Don't worry, Mr. Chen! I understand what you mean! I am where I am today entirely thanks to Chengzi and the guidance of you and Mr. Zhao."

"When I join the new company, I will definitely put the interests of Orange first, without any hesitation! When it comes to important matters, I will always consult you and General Manager Zhao first, and I will never act on my own initiative, let alone allow anyone to take advantage of me!"

"Okay, I'm relieved to hear that!" Chen Mo nodded, his expression softening. "Let's set up the framework for the new company first. Once we move to the new building in the Yuancheng New Energy Industrial Base, we'll allocate formal office space and start-up capital for you!"

"Go back and get ready!"

Zeng Baifang breathed a sigh of relief and solemnly got up to take his leave.

As soon as Zeng Baifang left, Zhou Yumeng came in to report.

"President Chen, President Gong is here!"

"She said she has found a suitable person to lead Orange Creation Materials. She has already conducted a preliminary interview and felt it was good. The person is currently in meeting room number 2, waiting for you to come and have a personal interview."

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow slightly. Finally, someone has arrived. He had almost forgotten about Orange Creation, a materials company that had little presence in the Orange Group!

He trusted Gong Yun's judgment; anyone she approved of must have exceptional abilities in management and technology.

Since being acquired by Orange Technology, Orange Innovation Materials has been kept "hidden" in the remote factory area of ​​Longhua Guanlan due to the extremely high requirements for technology confidentiality. It has no external business and focuses on providing necessary polymer materials and special self-coating paints for Chongqing Orange Technology.

Chen Mo's ideal requirement for the leader of Orange Creation is not a great ability to innovate and pioneer.

The most important qualities are loyalty, reliability, and the ability to strictly adhere to confidentiality regulations, serving as a qualified "tool" to safeguard the fundamentals of materials science for the entire Orange Department.

After Gong Yun entered, Chen Mo asked directly, "Sister Gong, who is the person you've taken a liking to?"

“Su Yu, the former head of R&D for Ningde’s power battery division!” Gong Yun replied.

Chen Mo was somewhat surprised: "Su Yu? I know him!"

“Last year when I went to Ningbo to seek gaseous lithium foundry capacity, I had a few words with him. He has a deep understanding of the technology, but didn’t General Manager Zheng always value him highly? Why did he leave?”

Gong Yun smiled and explained.

According to Su Yu himself, BTD's all-out bet on the nitride solid-state battery route caused Ningde to be uneasy and all-out bet on the sodium-ion solid-state battery route.

They even invited Academician Jiang's team to join them, and established CATL with them as the core, with Academician Jiang serving as the chief technology officer.

Resources for the ternary lithium semi-solid-state battery R&D line led by Su Yu were significantly diverted.
Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix.

Mr. Chen, as you know, Engineer Su is in his early thirties, a time when he is in his prime and eager to produce results. He probably doesn't want to be just an appendage to Academician Jiang's technology!

After listening, Chen Mo frowned: "But our Orange Creation Materials is currently positioned as an internal confidential materials factory. I'm afraid there isn't a platform where he can fully display his talents and make achievements, right?"

"If his ambitions don't lie here, he probably won't stay long."

Gong Yun expressed her understanding, but added, "President Chen! Nobody's perfect!"

"The fingers that grow from one hand can be of different lengths."

Such versatile talents are rare; they need to have solid technical skills, be good at management, and be able to stay in a confidential factory without standing out.

Su Yu's technical background and management experience can at least ensure the stable and efficient operation of Orange Creation Materials at this stage, and also provide the capability to handle any new material R&D tasks you may propose in the future.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and nodded: "Okay, then I'll go see him and we'll talk about it later!"

Meeting Room 2

Chen Mo met Su Yu.

Compared to his high spirits in Ningde last year, he now has a more dejected and frustrated look in his eyes.

Upon seeing Chen Mo, Su Yu immediately stood up to greet him, adopting a very humble posture.

Life is unpredictable. Last year, Chen Mo was a "small boss" who needed to go to Ningbo to seek OEM resources. Now he is an industry upstart that Chen Mo can only look up to.

Chen Mo had a good impression of this talent who had previously exchanged technical ideas with him, and politely addressed him as "Engineer Su," gesturing for him to sit down and chat.

After a seemingly casual exchange of pleasantries, Chen Mo asked, "Engineer Su was doing very well in Ningbo, and was General Manager Zheng's right-hand man. Why the sudden change of heart?"

Su Yu gave a wry smile. The situation was basically the same as what Gong Yun had said: resources were being tilted towards Academician Jiang's team, making it difficult for his project to continue.

He also vaguely mentioned: "Last year, because you were at Ningbo, I privately expressed some of my views on gaseous lithium technology to General Manager Zheng, thinking that it was worth paying attention to, which may have made General Manager Zheng a little unhappy."

Su Yu wasn't trying to play the victim; it was just that the straightforwardness of a tech person made him feel he should be honest. "Oh?" Chen Mo smiled, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "So, it seems I've dragged Engineer Su into this?"

Technicians like Su Yu are easily embarrassed and wouldn't take advantage of someone's kindness. He quickly waved his hand, "No, no, no, Mr. Chen, please don't misunderstand. That was just my personal professional judgment and has nothing to do with you. It's just... sigh, maybe I was too blunt!"

Chen Mo understood.

Su Yu is indeed very straightforward, and she probably offended President Zheng during the communication.

However, as long as they are not arrogant or unrealistic, he can completely tolerate this kind of "stubbornness" of technical people.

So Chen Mo told him the truth.

"Mr. Su, I need to tell you the details about Orange Creation Materials."

Currently, it is a supporting factory that provides confidential technical materials to the Orange Group. It has no external business and its working environment is in the relatively remote Takihawa Guanlan.

Becoming its head means having almost no chance to stand out; it's mostly about quietly upholding its responsibilities and maintaining secrecy!
Are you really sure about this?

Su Yu's eyes were firm: "President Chen, I understand!"

"After all these experiences, I yearn even more for a place where I can focus on my technical work and put my ideas into practice!"

Showing off isn't my goal, but I do want to have sufficient autonomy in R&D projects and the right to lead my technical team!

Chen Mo laughed: "That's not a problem!"

"Orange respects technology and is willing to invest in it. As long as you come, the R&D budget and technical team configuration will meet your requirements. In fact, the company can help you solve the housing problem in Takihawa and your child's school enrollment problem, so you have no worries!"

You should know that Chengzi only used one of the enrollment slots for the Foreign Languages ​​Institute that District Chief Zhang of Longhua gave her!

Upon hearing this, Su Yu's face lit up with excitement: "Thank you, President Chen! I will definitely take care of things at home as soon as possible and report for duty!"

"Great!" Chen Mo stood up and shook hands with him. "Looking forward to your joining us!"

"In addition, I happen to have a material project on vitrified nano-oxides that needs to be started as soon as possible. Once Engineer Su arrives, I'm afraid I'll need you to take the lead in getting it done immediately!"

"No problem! I will do my best!" Su Yu agreed without hesitation.

Just after seeing Su Yu off, Zhou Yumeng rushed over.

"Mr. Chen, Director Liu from Yuancheng has something urgent to discuss with you. She came directly to the company and looks very anxious; she hasn't even changed out of her white coat yet!"

Chen Mo was taken aback.

Why is Liu Mingzhen, instead of focusing on her perovskite solar cells in the lab, suddenly coming to find him?
Is the technology facing a major problem?
He immediately told Zhou Yumeng to go and call Xiao Zheng over.

Despite her doubts, Zhou Yumeng did as instructed.

Xiao Zheng arrived soon.

After dismissing Zhou Yumeng, Chen Mo whispered to Xiao Zheng, "I might have to discuss some classified technology with someone later, which concerns the preliminary research project for that 'plan.' Xiao Zheng, please have someone thoroughly check my office and this conference room to ensure absolute security!"

Xiao Zheng's expression sharpened, and he immediately understood: "Understood!"

He quickly led the information security team members, equipped with professional equipment, to conduct a thorough anti-eavesdropping test on Conference Room No. 2. After confirming that it was safe, they turned on the signal jammer.

"Mr. Chen, everything's fine!" Xiao Zheng reported.

Only then did Chen Mo feel relieved enough to let Zhou Yumeng bring Liu Mingzhen over.

Sure enough, Liu Mingzhen came to "ask for help".

She didn't even have time to change out of her white lab coat, which smelled of metal and coolant. Her small frame and large black-rimmed glasses made her look like an anxious "little research potato." As soon as she entered the room, she started talking very quickly.

"Mr. Chen! The silicon carbide nanowires + graphene aerogel matrix, manufactured using a CsPbI/FAPbBr/MAPbCl triple-junction heterojunction design and vacuum flash crystallization method, achieves a shear modulus of 520 GPa and a strength of 550 MPa!"

This intensity is outrageous!
The district helped us find a professional military special steel processing enterprise in Guangming Industrial Park, but their high-shear wet crushing machine and lathe simply couldn't process it!
In the end, we had to use a large ball screw grinder, which took a full three hours to barely produce one kilogram of material!

The processing costs are ridiculously high; mass production is simply impossible!

The excitement her team felt when they successfully synthesized the battery substrate material was completely overshadowed by the inability to process it.

Subsequent damage resistance data obtained in the other party's laboratory was even more astonishing: zero deformation under 12-level wind pressure, efficiency retention rate of over 91% after impact with a 7.62mm bullet, performance is abnormal, but it also means that it is almost impossible to process in a conventional way.

Seeing the excited Liu Mingzhen, Chen Mo couldn't help but smile and raise his hand to comfort her: "Senior, don't rush, don't rush! Sit down and talk slowly, I've thought about this issue!"

He found paper and pen and began to explain to Liu Mingzhen: "I have a contingency plan for the material processing problem!"

"Chengchuang Materials is developing a dedicated nano-oxide."

This oxide can penetrate into the material matrix, causing it to undergo a 'glass transition', significantly reducing its hardness and toughness.

At that time, ordinary industrial crushers will be sufficient for crushing and preliminary processing.

Liu Mingzhen was taken aback, not expecting Chen Mo to have thought of this.

But she immediately realized another problem, her brows furrowing slightly: "But Mr. Chen, after 'vitrification,' the material's strength and shear resistance will definitely decrease significantly. Will it still meet your preset 'deck-level' standard?"

"Good question!" Chen Mo nodded approvingly: "If there is an oxidizing agent, there must be a reducing agent. Orange Creation Materials will also be responsible for developing the corresponding 'reducing agent' in the future."

"After the material has undergone 'vitrification' and been molded into the required structure, a reducing agent can be applied through a specific process to restore most of its original strength properties."

Your Yuancheng team only needs to focus on synthesizing the basic core materials for integrated calcium-titanium power generation and energy storage.

The 'keys' needed for subsequent processing and shaping—oxidizing and reducing agents—will be provided by Orange Creation Materials!

Liu Mingzhen was also a smart man, and immediately understood the deeper meaning behind Chen Mo's decision to separate the core materials and processing aids and entrust them to different teams.

This is both a highly confidentiality measure and a technology control strategy for Far Orange, ensuring that no single team can master the complete set of technologies.

Having found a solution, Liu Mingzhen felt a huge weight lifted from his heart, finally breathed a sigh of relief, and took his leave.

Chen Mo felt much better.

In this way, he rationally breaks down the cutting-edge technologies provided by the system, allowing them to "naturally" emerge from the two seemingly independent R&D systems of Yuancheng and Chengchuang, and then "integrate" them here.

This not only conceals the true origin of the technology, but also conforms to business logic and scientific research principles, and allows us to firmly hold the most crucial "key" in our own hands.

Muddy waters are the best places to fish.

The fog of technology is precisely the best camouflage for Chen Mo's possession of the cutting-edge technology system.

(End of this chapter)