From knock-off old-man's electric vehicles to industrial giant

Chapter 101 Distributing Mooncakes

Compared to R&D and marketing, there are just as many things to do on the production side.

Moreover, it is very cumbersome.

With Zheng Tie as the capable production director, and the hard work of the factory director and several deputy factory directors who were originally transferred here, the project was successful.

After several months, we have managed to get the major aspects of production capacity, quality, welfare and security, management and resettlement, and production line optimization in a good order.

"At the beginning, we encountered difficulties in recruiting. Later, through mentorship programs and good compensation, we gradually built a reputation, took in laid-off workers from nearby steel structure factories that had closed down, and also connected with technical schools to recruit. We slowly started to cultivate our own skilled workers."

Zheng Tie smiled and said.

Operations such as stamping, assembly, and welding all require skilled workers, including robot operators. It's not something you can do right away; you need experience, training, and certified skilled workers.

They put in a lot of effort at the beginning in order to quickly bring production capacity to market.

As word spread about the benefits offered by Xingchen Automobile Factory, they gradually became more readily available, eventually evolving into a system where employees must be introduced and assessed through internal referrals.

At the beginning, they offered significantly higher salaries than other factories in the area, which was enough to attract some people.

Later on, with the improvement of social insurance and housing fund, as well as the improvement of food and accommodation conditions, it has become a hot commodity for local employment.

Most of the first batch of workers and technicians who entered the factory were promoted to team leaders and line leaders, and their salaries and benefits were improved.

By contrast.

Many factories in the area don't even offer the five social insurances and one housing fund, let alone the five social insurances and one housing fund; their basic welfare benefits are zero.

Other conditions and salary levels, needless to say.

Eight-person and ten-person rooms are also common.

Although their six-person room wasn't exactly a "luxury suite," it was still quite decent after the renovation and addition of appliances.

For core technical jobs, there are dedicated four-person rooms.

Therefore, since production stabilized, the turnover rate at Xingchen Automotive Factory has been very low; once someone joins the company, very few leave.

This is something they are happy to see, because the expectation of subsequent orders is very good, and the turnover of skilled workers may also affect the efficiency of production line operation.

……

After discussing factory management, the finance department's report arrived.

"Mr. Xu, based on the employment level we've created, the subsidies we applied for from the local government have all arrived in our account."

As a pilot city for new energy, we have applied for a total of three local subsidies.

New energy vehicle production capacity subsidy (1000 yuan subsidy for each Star Mini produced)

New energy R&D subsidy (totaling two million)
Local employment incentive (1500 yuan for each additional worker employed).
……

Furthermore, the widening of roads near the factory area, commuter shuttle buses, upgrades to water and electricity networks, and an increase in the number of public charging stations... all of these have been fully implemented and are now underway.

Liang Shou-zhuo added.

The funds for upgrading equipment and renovating the factory during this period all came from subsidies from the local and national governments.

The once unremarkable industrial zone has been transformed by the arrival of Xingchen Motors, with its roads, public facilities, and supporting infrastructure all getting a fresh new look.

Xu Yi nodded upon hearing this.

This is the advantage of being a first mover. Although the domestic new energy vehicle industry chain is not yet complete, and research and development and market competition are extremely difficult, one wrong move could burn through the cash flow and lead to a sudden collapse.

But the national and local governments are also throwing money at subsidies and support!

It receives far more preferential treatment than other industries.

In a few years, once the entire new energy industry chain has truly developed, government subsidies and support will gradually be tightened.

Therefore, we can see that at present, there are still some people who have taken billions of yuan in financing to start a new energy vehicle manufacturing business.

Twenty years from now, without tens of billions of dollars and powerful internet resources, you can forget about entering the market.

……

"Our car factory doesn't offer many days off, but the benefits are definitely substantial."

Including performance-based pay for light overtime, a skilled worker can generally earn around 6500-7000 yuan, plus social insurance and housing fund benefits.

For skilled workers, a salary of nearly 10,000 yuan is basically guaranteed.

All of these are provided with room and board.

And that doesn't even include extra bonuses. If orders and production capacity really surge, the factory's performance-based bonuses will be significantly higher than usual. Later on, many people actively applied for jobs, wanting to squeeze in, but Xingchen wasn't that short-staffed, so they had to raise their selection criteria.

"Mid-Autumn Festival is approaching, have you prepared the mooncakes?" Xu Yi asked again.

Zheng Tie replied, "They've all been purchased and are in the warehouse."

"Alright, go inspect the factory and distribute mooncakes to the workers!"

……

noon.

Xu Yi, accompanied by several executives and his personal assistant, arrived at the Star Mini assembly plant.

Zhou Qiang, the assistant, was hired previously and is mainly responsible for scheduling his time, communicating his decisions to the company, and handling documents such as contracts and reports.

Arrive inside the factory.

Xu Yi briefly inspected the area.

After optimization and adjustments, the internal factory environment has been completely transformed. Although it is not as high-tech and unmanned as a digital factory, it is still full of cleanliness and automation. The layout is reasonable and the space is utilized to a very efficient level. Large stamping machines and welding workshop machines are operating in an orderly manner.

Assembly lines work together to assemble the car body parts in a specialized manner.

Xu Yi walked through the painting workshop, where the Starry Mini white bodies that had already been welded were undergoing electrophoresis and painting. The purpose of the electrophoresis layer was to prevent rust, while the painting was exactly what it sounded like.

can be seen.

After electrophoresis, the white body enters the process of applying topcoat and clear coat.

Zheng Tie: "Mr. Xu, as per your requirements, after our machine applies the topcoat, the clear coat thickness is about 25% greater than that of vehicles of the same class, and the texture of the paint and its scratch resistance are also significantly improved."

The purpose of the topcoat is to add color.

The gloss and scratch resistance of car paint are mainly determined by this transparent clear coat layer.

A typical clear coat is about 30μm thick.

Xu Yi requested the factory to thicken the clear coat to 40μm.

After the vehicle rolled off the production line, the actual measured thickness of the paint was 104 micrometers, which is thicker than the original paint of many Japanese cars.

The advantage of doing this is that the new Star Mini will appear brighter than its competitors from any angle.

Moreover, it is slightly more wear-resistant when encountering actual scratches.

Due to cost considerations, it's difficult to improve the quality of paint at this price point.

Therefore, Xu Yi made some minor optimizations here.

—If the quality isn't good enough, make up for it with thickness!

We use a small amount of cost to improve the quality of the new car.

Because the Star Mini targets young consumers, the current microcars on the market are still stuck in the traditional manufacturing mindset of "cutting corners".

In terms of the overall direction, they haven't figured out where to cut corners and where to go all out.

In the final assembly workshop, a brand-new Star Mini, after having its powertrain and interior assembled, rolled off the production line.

Xu Yi examined it briefly and then showed a satisfied expression.

Their quality control and manufacturing processes are much better.

Excluding the additional bonuses from buffs.

Part of it comes from the factory's optimization and progress, and part of it stems from the optimization of rules and regulations, and the control of quality and production processes.

Workers enjoy high salaries and benefits, and the manufacturing and quality processes are more rigorous. The system extends to the control of every manufacturing detail, with reasonable rewards and punishments. Otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve this level of success by relying solely on the self-discipline of employees with high welfare benefits.

Many cars have excellent technology development and exterior design.

As a result, various problems arose as soon as the cars rolled off the production line: poor assembly process control led to abnormal noises in new cars, substandard quality, frequent minor malfunctions, and even some electrical faults.

As a result, despite investing heavily in research and development and design upfront, the product's reputation suffered as soon as it was launched and delivered.

All the previous efforts were wasted, and the company was bombarded with complaints and insults from consumers on the car quality website.

While they at Xingchen cannot guarantee that such problems will not occur 100%, they will minimize the probability of problems arising in the production process.

……

(End of this chapter)