The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 195 Unfulfilled Foreign Trade Orders
The conference room of the Second Machine Tool Plant.

When Zhou Zhiqiang pushed the door open, he found that Deputy Factory Director Liu, workshop director, technical section chief, and other cadres from production-related departments had all arrived.

In addition to the cadres from the Second Machine Tool Plant and those involved in production, Director Ren also came. This mission is very important, and the Ministry also needs to be involved.

Secretary Li and Deputy Factory Director Sun didn't come. They don't manage production. Even if they did come, they would just be background figures nodding and agreeing. If there's anything that needs their cooperation in production, just tell them and they'll decide.

"Sorry, I'm late."

After Zhou Zhiqiang came in, he apologized and said that he seemed to be the only one who was late to the meeting today, but it happened suddenly and he had taken a car back after being notified.

"It's not late. The notification was a bit sudden, but please take a seat, Zhiqiang."

Director Ren gestured for Zhou Zhiqiang to sit down, and after Zhou Zhiqiang sat down next to him, he continued, "Zhiqiang, do you know what happened?"

"I know a little, but not very well. I haven't had time to read the newspaper lately."

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and then shook his head, saying, "Director Ren, please tell me more. I know the Canton Fair has brought in a lot of foreign trade orders, but our factory's orders are already booked until the middle of next year."

Moreover, wasn't this Canton Fair supposed to showcase our factory's heavy industry research and development capabilities? Why is there suddenly another...?

"The Canton Fair isn't solely decided by the Ministry of Foreign Trade; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has even greater authority. Some countries can bypass the Canton Fair and directly communicate their needs to our higher authorities."
Many of the orders your factory received this time were conditional foreign trade terms attached during diplomatic negotiations.

Director Ren continued, "Your machine tools have performed unexpectedly well, reaching world-class standards, and are priced at only half that of those in other countries."

Many people are interested, which is a source of pride for our country; who would have thought that what they consider a backward agricultural country could produce such excellent machine tools.”

Machine tools are the mother of industry; to produce machine tools, the support of an industrial system is required.

Many countries lack the capacity to produce machine tools and can only purchase them from other countries if they want to develop their industries.

Before 1958, the planers produced by the Second Machine Tool Plant were quite popular in some Southeast Asian countries, and five or six hundred units could be sold a year.

However, it is far inferior to the Second Machine Tool Plant this year.

This year at the Canton Fair in the fall, they secured foreign trade orders for 3,100 machine tools from 11 countries.

Four of these countries were secured through negotiations with their foreign ministries.

It was also thanks to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' long-term vision that, through the information gathered, it was discovered that some countries needed the support of industrial machinery, which is why it specifically ordered the Second Machine Tool Plant to participate in the Canton Fair with its latest machine tools.

Heavy industrial machinery and equipment accounted for 45% of the total at the Canton Fair, almost surpassing light industrial products and agricultural products.

Moreover, the foreign trade order volume at this autumn Canton Fair is very high, almost catching up with the transaction volume of the past two years.

Director Ren and Zhou Zhiqiang discussed the Canton Fair and the orders that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs specifically requested to be added to the order list. These foreign trade orders all need to be delivered on schedule.

Otherwise, if the additional conditions are not met, the agreed diplomatic situation may also be disrupted.

Currently, their country's diplomatic situation has only made some progress in Africa. If they could also make some progress in Southeast Asia and West Asia, that would undoubtedly be a huge step forward.

"Director Ren, even if you say that, the machines in the factory have been running from eight in the morning to eleven at night."

There are two options: two shifts, where people rest but the machines don't, but there's a manpower shortage; or extending overtime, but I don't really support that. Frontline production isn't like sitting in an office; workers don't have the stamina to work sixteen or seventeen hours of overtime.

After a pause, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Why don't we get other machine tool factories to help with production? We can send technicians to provide guidance, or have them come to our factory to learn."

Through worker rotation training and technician assignment training, they should be able to attempt production manufacturing within three months.

Upon hearing this, Director Ren breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Zhiqiang, this time I didn't even have to say a word before you finished speaking; I bet no other factory is as decisive as you."

After saying this, Director Ren looked around and saw that many people in the meeting room seemed to want to say something, but for some reason, they didn't speak.

Even if they don't say anything, Director Ren knows what they're going to say.

Foreign trade orders are an honor for the Second Machine Tool Plant. Distributing them out means distributing the achievements and honors as well. Everyone else in the meeting room wanted to advise Zhou Zhiqiang not to say that.

Moreover, foreign trade orders are related to many other factors, such as the factory's retained earnings and how much welfare workers will receive in the middle of the year.

Although Deputy Factory Director Liu Wenzhou did not speak, his expression was similar to that of the others.

Although he has only been there for a short time, less than a year, Deputy Director Liu already considers the Second Machine Tool Plant as an achievement he wants to develop.

He was honored for his good grades, especially since he was the deputy factory director in charge of production.

"There's no way around it unless the ministry invests, but it's too late to invest in building a factory now; it involves a diplomatic mission, which must be completed, and the Second Machine Tool Factory can't just throw a tantrum like that."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "But Director Ren, we have no objection to teaching the machine tools to our sister factory, but can you guarantee that we will give priority to producing machine tools for export orders?"

"You mean"

Zhou Zhiqiang continued, "Let the First Machine Tool Plant handle the domestic task machine tools. We can't produce enough machine tools for export orders, so we'll allocate some to them, but we must ensure that our production is given priority."
Once our factory's production schedule is full, we will assign the remaining production tasks to other machine tool factories.

The factory has financial retention rights; their second machine tool plant can retain about 18% of its profits for various purposes, such as improving worker welfare and investment.

Moreover, since foreign trade orders are more profitable, the pricing is significantly higher than that for other domestic factories.

"Okay, I can agree to that right now."

Director Ren said with a smile, "It is indeed something you came up with, but other factories can't really say anything, after all, it was your factory that developed the machine tool."

He is the director of the Machine Tool Administration Bureau and has the best understanding of the situation of all machine tool factories in the country.

Of all domestic machine tool manufacturers, only the top four can maintain production growth, while other machine tool manufacturers have begun to reduce production.

The aftereffects of last year haven't subsided yet; with overproduction, there's a fear of overcapacity again next year.

At this time, the Second Machine Tool Plant relinquished some of its production tasks and provided technical guidance, thus helping other machine tool plants.

If they still pick and choose, then this bureau chief will definitely call the picky factory manager into his office and give him a good scolding.

His good attitude towards Zhou Zhiqiang was because Zhou Zhiqiang was capable and constantly surprised him, but it didn't mean he had no temper at all.

Director Ren then took out a document, handed it to Zhou Zhiqiang, and said, "Take a look and then rearrange next year's production tasks."

There are also issues regarding technical guidance and worker rotation. Let's come up with a plan today, and I'll finalize it when I get back and arrange it as soon as possible.

"Row."

After Zhou Zhiqiang agreed, he took the document given to him by Director Ren and began to read it.

This is a summary of foreign trade orders compiled by the Ministry of Foreign Trade, listing the number of machine tools needed by eleven countries and regions.

The total number of machines was 3,100, generating over 100 million in foreign exchange. Machine tools with the same performance and precision are at least twice as expensive internationally, so many countries couldn't resist purchasing them when they suddenly saw such inexpensive machines.

After purchasing these two types of machine tools, and combining them with other machine tools, several machinery factories could be established in China, which could be considered a way to revitalize industrial development.

Less than twenty years have passed since World War II, and many regions still need development.

After reviewing the schedule, Zhou Zhiqiang took the planned production schedule for next year from Deputy Factory Director Liu.

After comparison, it becomes clear that it cannot be completed.

They had no machines for half a year, and could only add at most two thousand machine tools. The remaining one thousand one hundred machine tools were definitely not going to be produced.

The Second Machine Tool Plant also has machine tools that the Russians need, so it has a considerable task on its shoulders.

The discussion and arrangement of production tasks took some time; afterwards, Zhou Zhiqiang also ordered the technical department to send someone to negotiate with the machine tool factory for production technical guidance.

It took quite a while to discuss this matter.

While Deputy Factory Director Liu was discussing with other workshop directors and the head of the scheduling department, Zhou Zhiqiang asked Director Ren, "Director Ren, our factory has achieved such good results this year, are there any year-end bonuses?"

"What reward do you want?"

Director Ren paused for a moment before continuing, "Your factory has a considerable amount of retained funds this year, and as for supplies, we are already prioritizing your needs."

"Let's wait until next year. Things will be much better next year. My friend at the Ministry of Agriculture revealed that things will probably recover next year, and supplies might gradually resume."

Next year? A year earlier than he remembers!
However, Zhou Zhiqiang quickly realized that the natural disaster seemed to last for two years, with the last year being due to other reasons.

Moreover, he made many changes; less steel was wasted, and he helped pay off a significant portion of Russia's heavy industry debt. In addition, the continuous production of machine tools also generated foreign exchange.
Although it doesn't cover all the foreign debt, it has alleviated the burden considerably and is enough to ease some of the pressure on rural areas.

Thinking of this, Zhou Zhiqiang felt a little relieved. As long as there was change, that was good. He hadn't had much rest in the past few years because the situation in China wasn't good.

So, through our efforts to build up and change the domestic situation, we have achieved some results.

"I don't need subsidies for meat and grain, but Director Ren, you have to give me special approval for some industrial products, otherwise our factory won't be able to get too many."

Zhou Zhiqiang counted on his fingers, "Bicycles, sewing machines, kettles, basins and such. The factory workers have worked so hard this year, I, as the factory manager, have to find something for them."

"Alright, if you put it that way, I really can't refute anything, Director Zhou."

Director Ren couldn't help but smile, then asked, "But your factory can't buy these?"

"The quantity is large, so I can't buy too many; forty bicycles and forty sewing machines each, and three hundred water bottles."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute!"

Upon hearing the first two numbers, Director Ren couldn't help but interrupt, saying, "Zhiqiang, are you going to give bonuses to everyone in the factory?"
There are only eighty bicycles and sewing machines. Do you know how many supply and marketing cooperatives there are in Beijing? Where am I supposed to get them for you?

Now, light industry is giving way to heavy industry. The production of civilian industrial products such as bicycles has been greatly reduced, and steel is being used for military and defense industries.

This caused bicycle prices to skyrocket, even doubling, simply because of the limited supply.

"Director Ren, think of a solution. Just think how hard our factory workers work, from 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., sometimes until midnight, they hardly get any rest."

Director Ren turned his face away and took out a cigarette to smoke.

Last year they wanted to take his New Year's goods, but this year they've given him another problem; he'd have to empty the three supply and marketing cooperatives in Beijing to raise the amount he needs.

Seeing that Zhou Zhiqiang was about to speak again, Director Ren quickly waved his hand to stop him, saying, "Don't even think about that number. I can't do it. I can only try my best to gather a batch for you."

"Director, don't set the amount too low, otherwise I won't dare announce this good news about foreign exchange earnings."

"understood."

After Director Ren finished speaking, he sighed inwardly, realizing he had brought trouble upon himself again. He would have to coordinate with colleagues from other departments when he got back.

------

After seeing Director Ren off, Zhou Zhiqiang held a small meeting at the factory with Secretary Li, Deputy Factory Director Sun, and others.

This is to tell them the good news.

Their factory is now up and running; next year they just need to complete their production tasks step by step.

If all goes well, their annual output value could exceed 80 million yuan, which is probably better than even the Liaoyang No. 1 Machine Tool Factory.

Moreover, their factory will be able to produce CNC machine tools next year and the year after, and CNC machine tools will be the future development direction of machine tools.

"Deputy Factory Director Sun, how about we celebrate at the factory tomorrow after the factory announces this good news?"

During the meeting, Zhou Zhiqiang turned to Deputy Factory Director Sun and asked, "Isn't there still quite a few rabbits in the factory? We should be able to have a proper meal soon, right?"

Deputy Factory Director Sun reported, "There are about 600 more rabbits left, and it will be time for them to be released soon, but we need to keep some for breeding next year."

It would be best if it were released next month, but given the factory's excellent performance, it wouldn't hurt to release it a month early to celebrate.

"We're not keeping any more. Except for the ones that haven't grown up yet, we'll use the rest for this meal."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "We'll plant mushrooms in the empty spaces first. Next year, even mushrooms will be phased out. Once the supply of materials is fully restored, our factory will still have to rely on machine tools to make a difference."

Agricultural and sideline products are a product of a special period of time.

"Okay."

Deputy Factory Director Sun originally wanted to say that it would be a pity to kill them all, but when he heard that supplies had been restored, he knew that Zhou Zhiqiang might have received some news.

Let it be cancelled. It was originally a production workshop, and the agricultural and sideline products workshop that lasted for two years created considerable value for the factory.

In total, the number of mushrooms grown alone exceeded 30,000 to 40,000, far surpassing the initial investment. Most importantly, it ensured that all the workers on the front lines of production were well-fed.

"Deal with the rabbit skins as soon as possible. We've achieved such great results this year. If we can't even raise enough money for the workers' year-end bonuses, I, as the factory manager, will have no face to face them."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, he weighed the options in his mind: nearly a thousand rabbit fur scarves and gloves, various industrial and household items, and dozens of large items.
It's alright. It's acceptable when the year-end bonuses are distributed. At least it can ensure that more than a thousand people in the factory receive bonuses.

The factory's profits are all spent on the factory itself. Zhou Zhiqiang plans to set aside the surplus profits for next year's development and construction, and use the rest to provide welfare for the workers.

The factory's profits are shared among all employees; that's true socialism.

(End of this chapter)