The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 199 Heavy Machine Tools for Submarines

“We have a processing requirement now. You can take a look and then consider what kind of machine tool can process the parts that meet this requirement.”

After speaking, Leader Sheng took out several documents and handed them to Director Wang and Zhou Zhiqiang, saying, "Take a look at these first, and then share them with the others."

The contents of this requirements document are strictly confidential and cannot be disclosed to any third party.

"Yes, leader."

After Zhou Zhiqiang and the others took the documents, they began to read them. Anyone who could be a factory director would have some understanding of the factory's production technology and other technical aspects.

I certainly don't expect them to know everything, but they must know what the factory can process and manufacture, otherwise they wouldn't even be able to assign production tasks.

Zhou Zhiqiang, on the other hand, was the most knowledgeable about technology among everyone in the room.

So after seeing the objects that needed to be processed in the document, I quickly guessed what they were.

'The maximum machining diameter requirement is 1.8 meters, and it also requires such high precision and complex curved surfaces. Is it a ship gear or a submarine propeller blade?'

Zhou Zhiqiang then recalled that in the middle of the year, the Russians withdrew all their engineers and technical experts, and that included all the technical experts from all projects.

The two countries have completely severed technical assistance and are beginning to pay off their debts. The parts they now need to process are estimated to be for large ships or submarines.

The sudden withdrawal of technical experts from Russia has brought many domestic projects to a standstill, as imported parts are unavailable and the country has to produce them domestically.

Zhou Zhiqiang could think of it, but other factory directors might not. However, he didn't make any wild guesses. After handing the document to another factory director, he began to ponder.

This involves developing and manufacturing heavy-duty machine tools, but to be honest, there is currently no experience in this area in China.

It seems the Russian technical experts only taught half of it; previously, large machine tools in China could only process mechanical parts that were about one meter long.

This time the requirement almost doubled the machining diameter, but the good news is that they now have their own 10,000-ton hydraulic press, so they have no shortage of large forgings.

We have the necessary conditions and technology to manufacture heavy machine tools; what we lack now is the technical process.

Moreover, the required precision in the processing is not low, so the customer must be a submarine.

After all the factory managers had finished reading, Leader Sheng said, "Now that you've finished reading, what are your thoughts?"

The meeting room was quiet for a while before Factory Director Wang spoke first: "Sir, although I understand a little about the factory's technology and processes, I still only have a superficial understanding of the specific manufacturing difficulties of machine tools."

This demand likely pertains to large machine tools. Our factory has no prior experience in producing large machine tools. If you're asking about manufacturing, I'll need to go back and discuss it with the technical department.

"Yes, sir, me too. These large machine tools, I think they're produced by the large machine tool factory that Russia invested in in Tianjin, right? Does Director Li know about them?"

"Director Zhou, please don't bring up things that are hard to swallow. Our factory is only halfway through construction."

Director Li of Tianjin's No. 1 Large Machine Tool Factory was referring to another Director Zhou, but Zhou Zhiqiang still turned his head to take a look.

Zhou Zhiqiang, from Tianjin's No. 1 large machine tool factory, had also heard about the aid project that the country had worked hard to secure a few years ago, and that they had paid a price for it.

However, after only a few years of construction and half of the technical assistance had been provided, the Soviet Union withdrew its personnel in the middle of this year, and the technical and process construction came to a complete halt.

It seems that Tianjin's No. 1 large machine tool factory is going to develop and produce its own products, but the Russian technical experts didn't even leave behind any blueprints or data. They are essentially developing the products from scratch, which is quite difficult.

"Okay, stop arguing."

Director Ren interrupted the argument among the factory directors, then turned to Zhou Zhiqiang and asked, "Director Zhou, Comrade Zhiqiang, what are your thoughts?"

"This kind of machining requirement can be considered heavy-duty machine tool. We do have the conditions to independently produce large forgings in China, so we have the foundation for production and research."

After hearing Director Ren call his name, Zhou Zhiqiang began to explain his understanding of the production difficulties: "However, we need to solve several technical and process difficulties, such as material handling. This depends on the Ministry of Metallurgy."

There's also the issue of testing technology. The parts are too large; current domestic testing technology doesn't seem capable of inspecting such large mechanical parts.

"The surface roughness requirements for parts are also very high. Manual grinding by workers cannot guarantee the roughness, so multi-axis linkage of grinding machines is required."

After explaining a series of technical processes that needed attention, Zhou Zhiqiang thought about it carefully before continuing, "If you pay attention to these issues when developing machine tools, you can manufacture heavy-duty machine tools that meet the requirements in the documents."

"Good, Comrade Zhiqiang, you are right."

Upon hearing this, Leader Sheng couldn't help but praise him, saying that his thoughts were clear and that he had also pointed out the areas that needed to be addressed.

"Comrade Zhiqiang, do you think China can develop this kind of machine tool now?"

"can!"

Zhou Zhiqiang said decisively, but then added, "But if we want to perfectly solve the problem of surface roughness, we must use a CNC system to achieve multi-axis linkage machining; otherwise, we can only rely on manual grinding."

"Boss, this corrosion resistance requirement is for underwater applications; a surface that's too rough will cause considerable noise."

For radar, this noise is easily detected, making it a sitting duck; even if it goes underwater, it won't be of much use.

It also affects the speed; there are many problems with manual polishing.

However, after speaking, Zhou Zhiqiang was a little worried that his supervisor would directly assign this matter to him, so he added a reminder: "Supervisor, the project our factory is currently handling is a bit..."

It's not that I'm making excuses, it's that I genuinely can't find the time.

While submarine propulsion systems and large marine gears are certainly important, the CNC machine tools he's currently developing are equally crucial; he can't simply abandon this project to pursue other initiatives. Director Ren, the deputy leader of the CNC machine tool project team, is well aware of its importance and progress.

He then whispered a few words in Leader Sheng's ear, and Leader Sheng listened and nodded.

After Director Ren finished speaking, Leader Sheng said to all the factory directors present, "Take this requirement document back and discuss it with your factory's technical staff later."

After reaching a conclusion, report it to the department, attaching your factory's production process documentation. It is crucial to maintain confidentiality.

At the end, Leader Sheng paused for a moment and emphasized solemnly, "If there is any leak, the Security Bureau will be asked to investigate."

"I understand, leader."

The factory managers in the conference room spoke in unison.

Then, Leader Sheng announced the adjournment of the meeting and prepared to leave, but he also called Zhou Zhiqiang along with him.

The First Ministry of Machine Building was determined to develop and manufacture such heavy-duty machine tools for parts for large ships and submarines, but the domestic manufacturing process was a challenge.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang's confident statement that he could develop and manufacture it gave Sheng and his team a little confidence.

Director Ren, in particular, had great confidence in Zhou Zhiqiang and believed almost everything Zhou Zhiqiang said.

After returning to his office with Director Ren, Deputy Director Liu, and Zhou Zhiqiang, Leader Sheng had his assistant go and ask Deputy Leader Wu when Wu Jianhong's meeting would end.

This kind of thing needs to be discussed and decided by the two leaders, the head and the deputy head. Since they are both in the ministry, there's no need to repeat it twice.

"Wait a moment, Comrade Jianhong. Zhiqiang, please sit down as well."

After Leader Sheng sat down, he pointed to the kettle and said, "If you want to drink water, please help yourselves."

"Let me do it."

After Deputy Director Liu finished speaking, he got up to get the thermos and pour water.

Then, Leader Sheng asked, "Comrade Zhiqiang, how much longer will it take for the CNC machine tool?"

"If all goes well, it should be around May after the New Year."

After thinking for a moment, Zhou Zhiqiang said to Leader Sheng, "Based on the current progress, we can guarantee that the first prototype will be manufactured by May next year. Once it passes the test, we will consider it a successful manufacturing project."

"We'll be able to start mass production then, but if we really want to start mass production, we'll have to wait until the year after next. The factory's production schedule is already full next year."

Some of the factory's production tasks may need to be outsourced to the First Machine Tool Plant or other machine tool plants.

Although the Second Machine Tool Plant currently only has orders related to foreign trade and foreign exchange earnings, these production tasks can be outsourced compared to CNC machine tools.

"Next May. If we calculate it this way, you only used thirteen months for the CNC machine tool project, and fourteen months at most."

Director Ren looked surprised, then smiled and said, "It seems that Deputy Leader Wu won't be able to keep his fifteen-month share of cigarettes and tea. He should really regret it back then."

"what happened?"

Upon hearing this, Leader Sheng asked with interest, "How does this relate to Comrade Jianhong's share of tobacco and tea?"

Director Ren explained with a smile, "Deputy Leader Wu and Comrade Zhiqiang had a little discussion about it, including a small bet."

"If Comrade Zhiqiang can develop and manufacture the CNC machine tool within fifteen months, then Deputy Leader Wu will give Comrade Zhiqiang his share of cigarettes and tea for the next fifteen months."

"Judging from the current progress of CNC machine tool development, Vice Leader Wu's fifteen-month share of tobacco and tea is not going to be secured."

The clerk couldn't say "gambling," so Director Ren immediately changed his words.

"I've suffered a loss because of Comrade Zhiqiang, and now Deputy Leader Wu is in the same boat as me. I just don't know who will be next."

After Director Ren finished speaking, Deputy Director Liu laughed and replied, "I would absolutely never do that. You two have already set a precedent, haha."

Upon hearing this, Leader Sheng smiled and said, "It seems that Comrade Zhiqiang has also outmaneuvered Comrade Jianhong. That's quite something."

Fifteen months' worth of cigarettes and tea—Comrade Jianhong will probably feel the pinch for a long time.

Zhou Zhiqiang waved his hand and said, "This is really unexpected. The reason why the CNC machine tool project went so smoothly is because all the members of the project team worked hard to get it done."

"Over the past year, we've barely had a day off, working late into the night every day. Without such long development hours, the project wouldn't have progressed so quickly."

Leader Sheng laughed and said, "So, Comrade Jianhong lost to your whole group? That's not unfair. After all, Comrade Jianhong is just one person, while your whole group has over a hundred people."

If we hadn't been working so late, we really wouldn't have been able to finish in fifteen months.

"That's it."

Before Zhou Zhiqiang could finish speaking, Deputy Leader Wu pushed open the door and walked in, asking as he entered, "What? I lost to over a hundred people?"

When he arrived at the door, he heard someone inside talking about him, but he couldn't quite make out what it was about.

However, as soon as he entered, he noticed that everyone in the room was looking at him and laughing, which was quite strange.

(End of this chapter)