The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 227 A resounding success! What a lucky general!

With temperatures rising, half a year has passed in the blink of an eye for technical research and development personnel.

After nearly six months of hard work and overcoming difficulties, the final assembly workshop was always brightly lit, with two hundred days of repeated calculations and optimizations, and the workers' arduous production.

Finally, the day for final assembly and testing arrived.

The main bed frame alone is thirteen meters long and five meters wide, making it look like a steel behemoth.

The massive machine bed is fitted with a precision spindle box made of high-strength cast iron, which has been repeatedly calculated and tested twice. Even the layout of some of the fine internal ribs has been changed twice.

This is the key to achieving the current ability to withstand huge cutting forces without deformation, thus ensuring machining accuracy.

"That's it, stay steady, and pay attention to the positioning on the left."

Zhou Zhiqiang was directing the workers and technicians in the final assembly workshop, while Engineer Lin and Team Leader Shen were checking all the parts and drawings on the other side. They had actually checked them twice, but they were still not entirely satisfied, so they went to check them again.

They checked each one against the last one before making a final record; they truly took the word "rigor" to the extreme.

More than two months ago, after Zhou Zhiqiang had successfully developed the integrated circuit CNC system required for heavy machine tools in the CNC group, he returned to the First Heavy Machinery Plant to conduct joint debugging tests.

"how's it going?"

After Team Leader Shen arrived and glanced at the final assembly status, he said, "We've finally reached this last step. It's been a long and difficult journey. Now, my biggest hope is to succeed on the first try. If something goes wrong, there's still time to fix it, but the closer we get to the end of the year, the more tense things become."

They quoted a timeframe of eighteen months, but we've started final assembly in the eleventh month. Once the final assembly is successful, we'll proceed with the final operational testing.

Shen Changlin was also persuaded by Zhou Zhiqiang to reduce many unnecessary experiments. If word got out, the two of them would definitely be labeled as daring representatives.

If this behavior succeeds, they will be heroes who save the country money and effort; if it fails, they will be criminals who waste resources.

In other words, Zhou Zhiqiang had a team of assistants for the deduction and analysis, and Shen Changlin trusted Zhou Zhiqiang too much. If anyone else had been the team leader, they probably would never have agreed to Zhou Zhiqiang's proposal.

"Don't worry, Team Leader Shen. If I could say something superstitious, I would tell you that we have divine protection and we will definitely succeed."

Zhou Zhiqiang spoke his last sentence very softly, so that only he and Shen Changlin could hear it.

It's only because the two have a good relationship that Zhou Zhiqiang would say such a joke; he certainly wouldn't say it to anyone else.

Shen Changlin replied in a low voice, "If we can really succeed on the first try, I'll secretly burn two sticks of incense too."

"Ha ha."

After cracking a couple of jokes to relieve the pressure, Zhou Zhiqiang continued to keep a close eye on the final assembly project, requiring him to be ten times more focused on every step up to now.

"Alright, the transmission box is installed! Ready to connect the hydraulic lines and CNC system cables!"

Zhou Zhiqiang issued the order, his tone somewhat excited. Upon receiving the order, the other workers and technicians immediately continued the assembly as instructed.

The next few days were filled with even more intense system integration testing.

Inside the final assembly workshop, wires are laid out like a spider web, connecting the "brain" of this heavy-duty machine tool.

A heavy-duty special-purpose CNC system that was developed by Zhou Zhiqiang's CNC team in a rush before the Chinese New Year.

The code scrolled on the screen, and the waveforms jumped on the oscilloscope. Zhou Zhiqiang and Zhao Chenghui, who came from Beijing, and other key members of the CNC group gathered in front of the control console. Except for Zhou Zhiqiang, everyone else looked nervous.

Although there was one successful experience, that experience was completely irrelevant to the CNC system of heavy machine tools.

More than 80% of them were redesigned.

Every power-on test made everyone nervous; on another occasion, a small relay had a poor connection, causing the entire beam feed system to vibrate slightly.

Zhou Zhiqiang immediately had two shifts of technicians work through the night to check each of the thousands of connection points, and finally the problem was solved.

"Final status confirmation for each group."

At Zhou Zhiqiang's command, all the technical teams responsible for their respective parts began to investigate one by one.

"The hydraulic system pressure is stable, there's no problem."

"The lubrication system has smooth oil flow and the flow rate is normal."

"The CNC system has passed its self-test, and the zero-point calibration of each axis has been completed."

"Coolant circulation is normal"

"The safety protection devices are also ready, there are no problems."

After all the technical teams had finished their reports, Zhou Zhiqiang turned to look at Shen Changlin, but Team Leader Shen waved his hand, giving Zhou Zhiqiang the opportunity to announce the start-up.

At this point, Zhou Zhiqiang no longer hesitated and announced directly, "Start it."

Upon hearing this, a technician immediately pressed the button to start the heavy machine tool.

hum!
A deep, resonant roar emanated from the heavy-duty machine tool, and then everyone saw the machine tool's spindle begin to rotate slowly, moving along the preset no-load trajectory of the three axes under the control of the pre-set CNC program.

Running under no-load conditions is the first step in verifying the stability and accuracy of the machine tool's basic structure, transmission system, and drive system.

"X-axis positioning accuracy measured: 0.7 microns!"

"Y-axis repeatability accuracy: 0.5 microns!"

"Smooth Z-axis lifting and lowering, no creeping!"

"The spindle temperature rise is normal! The vibration amplitude is far below the design threshold!"

Technicians kept sending back data, which was then recorded. Zhou Zhiqiang, who was standing a little further away, saw the heavy machine tool running smoothly and knew that it was almost stable.

The detected positioning accuracy is more like a reassuring pill.

After running unloaded for nearly four hours, the heavy machine tool finally came to a slow stop.

At this moment, the technician responsible for recording the precision data ran excitedly to Shen Changlin and Zhou Zhiqiang, reporting in a trembling voice...

"Team Leader Shen, Deputy Team Leader Zhou, and Deputy Team Leader Lin have run the system without load for three hours, and all indicators have met the standards!"

"good very good!"

Shen Changlin said excitedly, "Well done, very well done. We're basically only missing the final rough processing and long-term processing inspection to succeed."
Everyone, please stop the machine tools and take a break. I'll go and report to my superiors to request permission!

After Shen Changlin finished announcing to the others, he turned to Zhou Zhiqiang and Engineer Lin and said, "I'll call Deputy Director Liu and ask him to contact Liaoyang Shipyard as soon as possible to send over the blanks for the thruster blades."

"By the way, Comrade Zhiqiang, please tell Director Ren and Deputy Leader Wu about the successful completion of the final assembly and no-load operation."

"Engineer Lin, you summarize the data report here. We'll do a couple more tests later." Zhou Zhiqiang immediately replied, "Okay, I have no objections!"

Now all he wants is to quickly complete the test and then end the heavy machine tool research and development and manufacturing project.

The no-load operation was successful, and the positioning accuracy was within expectations. Zhou Zhiqiang did not think the subsequent physical processing operation would fail.

Seeing that neither of them objected, Shen Changlin said, "Alright, it's settled then."

Zhou Zhiqiang and Shen Changlin then made phone calls. The Liaoyang No. 1 Heavy Machinery Factory only had so many phone numbers. There was one in the factory office that could be used, but it was a noisy place with many people talking, and it would be bad if the news got out.

Moreover, the news of the successful assembly and successful no-load operation also needed to be told to Director Zhong, so Zhou Zhiqiang went directly to Director Zhong's office.

Factory Director Zhong's assistant wanted to ask Zhou Zhiqiang what was going on, but Zhou Zhiqiang waved him off, so he didn't go any further.

dong dong.

After knocking, Zhou Zhiqiang heard the voices inside and then pushed the door open and went in.

Factory Director Zhong was processing documents when he heard someone enter. Thinking it was his assistant, he asked without looking up, "Wen Tian, ​​what is it?"

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Director Zhong, I have some good news to tell you."

"Oh, it's Factory Director Zhou."

Upon hearing Zhou Zhiqiang's voice, Factory Director Zhong immediately stood up and asked, "Is something the matter? Has the heavy machine tool been successfully completed?"

He knew that the heavy machine tool was undergoing final assembly these past two days, and now that Zhou Zhiqiang had come in with good news, he could only guess that this was the result.

"We're halfway there. There are no problems with the final assembly and no-load operation. Team Leader Shen has already applied for raw materials and is preparing for actual processing. Deputy Factory Director Ma is still in the final assembly workshop inspecting with Engineer Lin."

Zhou Zhiqiang pointed to the phone and said with a smile, "I came to tell you this good news, Director Zhong, and also to borrow the phone to tell the leaders in the department."

"It really worked!? That's wonderful!"

Upon hearing this, Director Zhong quickly tidied up the documents on the table, then made room for Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "You use this, Director Zhou, you use it. I'll go check on the final assembly workshop."
"Oh dear, you've all worked so hard, Director Zhou. Your project team has been busy day and night, truly a great help to our factory."

"How about this, I'll have the third canteen prepare a small dinner tonight to properly reward everyone in your project team."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Then we're in for a treat tonight! But Director Zhong, could we add some people from the final assembly workshop? They've been working very hard these past few days."

Now that supplies have been restored, Liaoyang No. 1 Heavy Machinery Plant, as a very important unit in Liaoyang, must have a considerable supply of materials.

Moreover, this is a black soil region, making it easier for the heavy machinery factory to obtain supplies than for their Second Machine Tool Factory.

After working so hard for so long, success is just around the corner. Once the physical blanks are processed, we can announce the success of the heavy machine tool project. Holding a small banquet is not an excessive thing to do.

"Of course we should add it, Director Zhou, just you wait and see tonight."

After Director Zhong finished speaking, he made room for Zhou Zhiqiang, pointed to the phone, and said, "Director Zhou, you're busy. I'll go check on the workshop."

After Director Zhong left, Zhou Zhiqiang dialed a number to find Director Ren of the Ministry of Machine Building.

However, it was Director Ren's assistant who answered the phone in the end, saying that Director Ren had gone out and it was unknown when he would return.

Zhou Zhiqiang had no choice but to hang up and call again. This time, someone answered the phone when he called Deputy Leader Wu.

"Is this Deputy Leader Wu? This is Zhou Zhiqiang. I have some good news to report to you, but you probably already know, sir."

After Zhou Zhiqiang finished speaking, Deputy Leader Wu on the other end of the phone immediately laughed and said, "I definitely know all the news from Beijing. If there's anything I don't know, it's only the heavy machine tool project in Liaoyang."
"You've already successfully developed and manufactured it over there? Right?"

Deputy Leader Wu knew exactly what projects Zhou Zhiqiang was currently working on—they were all CNC machine tools or heavy-duty machine tools. It was no different from telling him outright.

"Yes, we've achieved more than half the success. The final assembly is complete and it has passed the no-load operation monitoring. Team Leader Shen has already communicated with Liaoyang Shipyard and the Eleventh Research Institute to apply for billet processing."

After reporting on the current progress, Zhou Zhiqiang confidently said to Deputy Leader Wu, "In short, we can now basically confirm that it's a success, and there will be absolutely no problem with the actual processing of the raw materials."

"Good! Well done!"

On the other end of the phone, Deputy Leader Wu said with some excitement, "You guys did a really good job, Zhiqiang. I knew sending you would be no problem."

How long has it been? Probably not even a year.

"It's been almost thirteen months. Once the final physical blanks are processed, it will definitely be completed within fourteen months."

Zhou Zhiqiang remembered the time very clearly. He had originally expected to complete it within twelve months, but unexpectedly, something went wrong and it was delayed for a while.

However, it was much earlier than the expected sixteen months.

"That took very little time. You did a great job and are all heroes of the country."

Deputy Leader Wu said with a smile, "Comrade Licheng went to a meeting at the Industry Bureau this afternoon. I guess you didn't get in touch with him. You don't need to call him again. I'll tell him the news when he gets back."

Comrade Zhiqiang, don't be surprised if things continue like this; try to finish as soon as possible. When you return to Beijing, I'll throw you a banquet!

Deputy Leader Wu knew all too well how much this heavy-duty CNC milling machine could help the country if it were successfully developed.

Zhou Zhiqiang and his group are truly heroes. As long as you appoint someone to your team, you'll definitely get a satisfactory result in the end.

After chatting for a while, Deputy Leader Wu hung up the phone.

Originally excited, Wu wanted to report the news to his deputy leader and leader Sheng, but considering that they hadn't started processing the actual raw materials yet, he suppressed his excitement.

It's not too late to report after the project is completely completed.

"What a lucky charm! This kid is truly our Ministry of Machine Building's lucky star."

Deputy Leader Wu remarked with admiration that Zhou Zhiqiang's improved and developed machine tools have helped many major domestic engineering projects, and even the CNC machine tools have enabled the domestic military industry to enter a state of rapid production.

Moreover, they earned a considerable amount of foreign exchange.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Trade's investigation and forecast, in the next five years, they may win foreign trade orders for CNC machine tools alone, amounting to 700 million to 1 billion US dollars.

Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Trade was even more anxious than the Ministry of Machine Building, and sent this research and investigation report to the Ministry of Machine Building as an official document, hoping that the Ministry of Machine Building would pay attention to CNC machine tools.

Without the Ministry of Foreign Trade needing to say anything, the Ministry of Machine Building naturally attached great importance to this.

Last year, we helped the Second Machine Tool Plant invest in expanding its precision workshop, and in the first half of this year, we helped the First Machine Tool Plant invest in expanding its precision workshop.

In the field of CNC machine tools, they wish several production lines would fall from the sky and be produced day and night.

(End of this chapter)