The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 236 The Ministry Takes Over the Follow-up
"The establishment of the CNC branch plant was an important investment made by the Ministry after deliberation, taking into account the growing demand for CNC machine tools in future industrial development."

Inside the meeting room, Director Ren addressed all the key cadres of the Second Machine Tool Plant and announced...
"After discussion at the Party Committee meeting of the First Ministry of Machine Building, the following Party members of the CNC Branch of the Second Machine Tool Plant are hereby announced."

Comrade Zhou Zhiqiang, the current director of the Second Machine Tool Plant, was appointed to concurrently serve as the Party official of the CNC Branch Plant, overseeing the overall development of the plant.

Comrade Tian Wenguo, currently in the logistics department of the Second Machine Tool Plant, was appointed to the CNC branch plant as its director, responsible for assisting the secretary in developing the branch plant.

Comrade Liu Aihua, currently in the scheduling department of the Second Machine Tool Plant, is hereby appointed as the deputy director of the CNC branch plant, responsible for assisting the Party Secretary and the factory director in overseeing the branch plant's production management and scheduling tasks.

There were also other personnel transfers, which can be considered as the Second Machine Tool Plant's support to the branch plant. Six deputy workshop directors were transferred to the other side to become workshop directors.

In total, nearly forty cadres and clerks were transferred from the Second Machine Tool Plant. With the addition of personnel transferred from other places, the branch plant's structure could be set up in a short period of time.

What surprised others was that Zhou Zhiqiang also served as the secretary, which meant he wielded considerable power.

Moreover, Tian Wenguo, the logistics director, suddenly became the branch factory director without any prior warning.

Zhou Zhiqiang did not reveal any information about the transfer of some cadres. He simply discussed it with Secretary Li and then handed over the list of cadres he thought were suitable to the ministry.

After the department reviewed the applications and found them to be correct, they were generally approved.

As for the vacant cadre positions at the Second Machine Tool Plant, Zhou Zhiqiang had also discussed it with Secretary Li. He didn't interfere much with the selection of candidates, but he did suggest that their plant should also implement some policies of replacing cadres with workers.

Not all management positions should be filled by workers, but positions such as deputy workshop director, which are very close to front-line production, can be filled by workers with good character and rich experience.

This also alleviates the pressure of selecting personnel caused by the excessive number of cadres being transferred at once.

Secretary Li agreed to the proposal without much hesitation, and the great man also talked about the idea of ​​replacing cadres with workers.

Involving workers in management may be more helpful to production, because they are the front-line producers and have considerable say in how production should be carried out.

After announcing the personnel appointments, Director Ren also mentioned the ministry's funding for the factory construction and the timing of the equipment and instruments to be provided. The branch factory is expected to be officially completed and put into production in February next year.

By the end of next year, we will be able to meet 30% of the main plant's production needs.

It doesn't sound like an easy task, considering that the Second Machine Tool Plant's production target for next year will definitely be higher than this year.

However, this task was proposed by Zhou Zhiqiang to Director Ren in private, and Director Ren announced it to the public out of trust in Zhou Zhiqiang.

Keeping up with the production needs of a main factory with several thousand employees and one-third of the total production capacity is no easy task. If it can be accomplished, no one will criticize Zhou Zhiqiang, the factory director and party secretary, anymore.

"Alright, now it's up to Comrade Zhiqiang, Comrade Wenguo, and Comrade Aihua to take care of the establishment of the branch factory."

Vacancies at the Second Machine Tool Plant, specifically those below grade 16, were to be selected and discussed by the plant's Party Committee. After unanimous approval from the Party Committee, the selections were submitted to the personnel bureau of the relevant ministry.

Director Ren concluded by saying that the appointment of personnel at level 16 and above was a matter for the Ministry; the Second Machine Tool Plant only had the right to make suggestions, and the final decision rested with the Ministry.

However, if Zhou Zhiqiang strongly suggests it, the department will most likely listen to him.

However, Zhou Zhiqiang would not get involved in this matter. Firstly, he genuinely didn't know who to choose. If someone could guarantee the smooth completion of production tasks without violating discipline or laws, then anyone would do.

Secondly, Zhou Zhiqiang didn't want to get involved in everything, otherwise those who were always watching the Second Machine Tool Factory would find out and call him out at the year-end conference.

He's just a machine tool factory director, with an administrative position that's at most a deputy director-general level. For him to appear at those kinds of meetings repeatedly, they really think highly of him.

After all the announcements had been made, Director Ren had nothing more to say and decided to hand over the rest of the meeting to Secretary Li.

"Comrade Younian, you will chair the next meeting. We need to fill the vacant cadre positions in the Second Machine Tool Plant as soon as possible, so as not to affect production tasks."

Director Ren began, "I have something to say to Comrade Zhiqiang. You all continue with the meeting. If there's anything that needs to be communicated to Comrade Zhiqiang, then put it aside or write it down."

After hearing this, Secretary Li nodded and said, "I understand, Director Ren."

Then, Director Ren patted Zhou Zhiqiang on the shoulder, indicating that he would go outside the conference room with him to talk.

After they came out, Director Ren said, "Comrade Zhiqiang, you're going to have a lot of work to do for a while now. There's not much time left until next February. If you need any help, come to the ministry and find me."

If it's a small factory with a few hundred employees, it can definitely be set up and put into production in a short time.

But this is a branch factory with 2,000 employees, which would be considered a large factory in other cities.

Moreover, there aren't many experienced technicians available to support the project; most of them need to be trained into experienced technicians by the CNC division itself, which is quite challenging.

Zhou Zhiqiang also had to keep an eye on the machine tool factory, which added another tedious and important task to his responsibilities.

"Don't worry, Director Ren. Since I've made a promise, I can definitely do it. I never say anything I'm not sure about."

Zhou Zhiqiang said, "Once the CNC branch factory is officially put into production, the second machine tool factory can also start researching new CNC machine tools."

Their CNC machining plant is essentially their own semiconductor R&D center, capable of independently designing, developing, and manufacturing even more sophisticated integrated circuits.

Zhou Zhiqiang strongly requested the establishment of a CNC branch factory, also with this idea in mind: to build a research and manufacturing center for his own company, otherwise, if things went wrong in the future, he would not even be able to participate in research and manufacturing.

With the branch factory under his control, Zhou Zhiqiang had a lot of say. He could develop whatever he wanted, and develop in whichever direction he wanted, without even having to submit a report.

"But there's one more thing. You should be a little more tactful in the future and not be so stubborn."

Director Ren paused for a moment, then continued, "You know which matter I'm talking about, right?"

"which one?"

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't react for a moment, then he remembered the things that had happened to him recently, which seemed to be related to the matter of dealing with the transport team driver.

So Zhou Zhiqiang asked, "Is it related to the transport drivers? The inquiry letter from the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions? Wasn't it already resolved?"

The municipal trade union sent people to their factory to investigate, and the factory's trade union also truthfully reported the book title.

It was indeed Niu Datian and his gang who first violated factory rules and regulations, and then illegally occupied eight employee dormitories by taking advantage of personal relationships.

Afterwards, they disobeyed the factory's punishment and even conspired against the organization. It can be said that Zhou Zhiqiang's punishment of that group of drivers was entirely justified.

Apart from a few who realized their mistakes, apologized, and accepted punishment, the rest were all relegated by Zhou Zhi to work as boiler operators.

Some time ago, they even skipped work and caused trouble at the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions. Zhou Zhiqiang didn't hold back and assigned all of them who skipped work without asking for leave to the cleaning team.

His attitude was extremely tough; he would deal with anyone who caused trouble, and he would not compromise in any way. After the municipal trade union came to investigate, they thoroughly examined every aspect of the operation, from top to bottom, and even questioned other drivers in the transport team.

After learning the full details of the incident, the people from the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions were speechless about Niu Datian and his associates.

I initially thought it was a case of the factory manager bullying the workers, but it turned out that the greedy workers were dissatisfied after being punished and organized a disturbance.

Afterwards, the people from the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions also went back, but they only wrote one sentence in their reply, hoping that the factory would punish the workers appropriately and take into account their families.

The implication is that these people do deserve punishment, but we shouldn't condemn them outright; we must consider the working-class families.

"It's been resolved, but your factory is already in the eye of the storm. If this kind of thing happens too often, people will always come looking for trouble for you."

Director Ren said, "And just as the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions said, don't generalize. Remember to consider the workers' families, otherwise they will feel they can't make a living and will definitely cause trouble at all costs."

At that point, even if you're right, you'll become wrong.

"I'll have them transferred away and bring you some new drivers. These troublemakers will disperse to other factories and won't be able to cause any more trouble."

Director Ren said, "They are all veterans. After they go to the new factory, they will be demoted and start from scratch. They will not be allowed to be assessed for three years."

This will both make them feel bad and teach them a lesson.

It's much better than being transferred directly to the cleaning team. Otherwise, after a few months, they wouldn't be able to work as drivers, their wages would be low, and Director Ren wouldn't even dare to imagine what they might do out of resentment.

Sabotage is the least of it; it's unlikely that Zhou Zhiqiang would be injured, but even if he were injured, the consequences would be quite severe.

Director Ren had read some of Zhou Zhiqiang's files and knew that Zhou Zhiqiang was a very capable fighter, able to kill or injure several armed robbers.

But with so many such incidents, Director Ren worried that someone higher up might take advantage of the situation to have designs on Zhou Zhiqiang; there had already been signs of this before.

Therefore, after the department learned of the reply from the Municipal Federation of Trade Unions, it asked Director Ren to come and help handle the matter.

Give these drivers who conspired to cause trouble a lesson that is neither too severe nor too mild, but one that will make them feel bad for a long time.

They shouldn't have caused trouble in the first place. If they hadn't, they would have at most received a major demerit, but wouldn't have been fired. The fact that things have escalated to this point means that these truck drivers bear at least 99% of the responsibility.

"Thank you, Director Ren."

Upon hearing Director Ren's instructions, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "If I'm still handling this, I will definitely follow the rules."

It's good that the ministry is willing to take it on; it saves him a lot of trouble.

He has a lot to do next, and he doesn't have time to waste energy on this kind of thing with Niu Datian and his gang.

Some time ago, Zhou Zhiqiang was thinking that if Niu Datian caused trouble again, he would just slap them to death.

The truck driver has a tough temper? Well, they've just met someone with an even tougher temper!
"Don't be so serious and impulsive; by the way, that car repair manual and driving guide you compiled a while ago, they're pretty good."

Director Ren suddenly remembered this matter and said to Zhou Zhiqiang, "The ministry plans to print more copies and distribute them to more factories, so that the training of drivers can be completed more quickly."

The Jichun vehicle factory also found out and even got their hands on a copy. They said you know their trucks too well, and they plan to make this manual a must-have for every shipment from now on.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang asked curiously, "Where did they get them? I remember giving them to the First Machine Tool Plant, Dafeng Plant, and the Second Steel Rolling Mill."

This was because we were grateful to the three factories for their transportation assistance, so we sent some to each of them.

"I guess these three factories have connections with Jichun Automobile Factory, so they mentioned it."

Director Ren said, "I never expected you to know how to repair cars. I wouldn't be surprised if you told me you could build cars in the future."

With such a capable subordinate who can solve many problems and difficulties for his superiors, they would naturally take care of Zhou Zhiqiang.

If we don't take care of Zhou Zhiqiang, are we supposed to take care of those truck drivers who take advantage of the factory? That's a joke!
"If you understand one method, you understand all methods; they are all related to mechanics, so you'll learn them after studying them a bit."

Zhou Zhiqiang casually remarked, "I might actually want to build cars someday, once our country's industry has developed well."

Director Ren smiled and patted Zhou Zhiqiang on the shoulder, saying, "Alright, that's all I wanted to say. Now you're busy. The branch factory definitely has a lot of things waiting for you to handle, so I won't bother you any longer."

After saying that, Director Ren told Zhou Zhiqiang to go back to the conference room and that there was no need to see him off.

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't stand on ceremony with Director Ren. They had known each other for several years, so there was no need to keep being polite over such trivial matters. He turned around and walked towards the conference room.

When he returned, Secretary Li had just arranged for replacement cadres, many of whom were veteran clerks in the factory and had performed well in their daily work.

Now that there are vacancies, they've been promoted.

After glancing at the list, Zhou Zhiqiang had no objections.

He'll object if they don't do a good job, but let them try for now.

------

The CNC branch plant was quickly put into construction. Before the ministry allocated funds, the Second Machine Tool Plant had already begun contacting the local government to carry out relocation and reconstruction.

There weren't many people living there, basically only a few households, and most of them were unregistered.

It was originally an abandoned place, and the neighborhood office did not register it with anyone, but someone thought it was a place and occupied it.

The Second Machine Tool Factory and the district government moved them together and even helped them settle in properly, so there were no problems.

When the ministry allocated funds, the area around the branch factory had already been leveled and the waste materials removed in preparation for building a new factory.

Tian Wenguo was the first to enter the factory director's mindset; the sooner the CNC branch factory was completed, the sooner he would become the factory director.

Otherwise, what kind of factory manager are they if they don't even have a factory?

Zhou Zhiqiang also handed over the authority to use the funds to Tian Wenguo, the factory director, but he would review the report every now and then to prevent any mistakes.

This is also the power of factory party officials.

(End of this chapter)