The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 255 The Factory Meeting Launches an Attack
"Then I'll talk to Director Liu about it later."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Chenghui said, "If our future research and development goals align, then we can indeed form a research and development team to work together to achieve a breakthrough in the project."
"But Comrade Zhiqiang, which people do you need?"

"Can I call on anyone?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang immediately smiled and said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I need all the technical staff who joined the project team last time."

"Stop it! I told you to pick a few people, not to take the entire technical department with you. If you do, Comrade Ruiguang will strangle me!"

After chuckling, Zhao Chenghui looked around the technical department and then said, "Engineer Lin, Engineer Wang, and Engineer Li, the three of you come with me, along with Ding Tiantian and Wang Lidong."

Zhao Chenghui only stopped after calling out more than thirty names in one go.

"The comrades I just called out, get ready. After I report to Director Liu, we'll go with Director Zhou to the CNC branch of Kyushu Machine Tool Plant to conduct joint research."

The person in the technical department who had just been called out replied, "Understood, Deputy Factory Director Zhao."

"Understood. I'll set off immediately once the factory issues the order."

"I'll be able to fight alongside Director Zhou again!"

People in the technical department said one after another, and some even mentioned Zhou Zhiqiang. They felt that the last time they worked with Zhou Zhiqiang on a research and development breakthrough, it went really smoothly.

We've formed research teams before, but we always encountered various problems that hindered project progress.

However, after Zhou Zhiqiang joined, their R&D efficiency improved dramatically, and Zhou Zhiqiang often proposed key breakthroughs for Kaker.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and waved to the others in the technical department, then said to Zhao Chenghui, "Thank you, Comrade Chenghui. Shall we go find Director Liu now?"

"Don't rush. I'll definitely talk to Comrade Ruiguang for you today. Take a look at this first."

Zhao Chenghui took out a record document, handed it to Zhou Zhiqiang, and said, "We've discussed it for a long time, and although we've come up with a few directions, we haven't decided where to start yet."

Zhiqiang, your research in semiconductors is also quite impressive. What are your thoughts?

Zhou Zhiqiang took it and saw that it was densely covered with records of corneal thickness measurements and uniformity standard deviations under various parameters such as temperature, rotation speed, and time.
It's clear that many calculation experiments have been conducted, but the experimental values ​​are not ideal and the improvement is not significant.

Moreover, Zhao Chenghui and his team's next step should have been to figure out how to improve the coating equipment or the colloid formula, but they had done a lot of experiments and calculations in this direction without any results.

Even if you succeed in improving only one direction, the improvement won't be particularly significant.

“We can change our approach, Comrade Chenghui. Perhaps you could consider the contact method in photolithography. The original physical contact between the photomask and the photoresist can cause friction damage to the lifespan of the photomask.”

Dust particles can also cause production defects, and the adhesive film can deform under pressure. These are all factors that limit the improvement of precision. Perhaps we could try separating them by a certain distance, but not too close.

Zhou Zhiqiang explained in detail to Zhao Chenghui and the others the direction of the next research and development project, and another photolithography process.

He wanted to say it last time, but time was tight and the task was heavy. It was already quite good that he could manufacture the silicon transistor. After that, there was still integrated circuit research and development to be done, so the photolithography process was not shut down.

However, to manufacture an integrated CNC system for dedicated composite machining CNC machine tools, high-performance integrated circuits are required. Improvements in photolithography technology are also inevitable.

As Zhou Zhiqiang spoke, he pulled over a blackboard and explained the general principles to everyone in the technical department.

"Change the contact method? How can there be exposure without contact? Besides, when the optical fiber passes through the gaps in the photomask, the light will diffract."

Engineer Lin asked, "How do you control this distance? It's probably only between a few micrometers and a dozen micrometers, right, Director Zhou? It's not easy to achieve, is it?"

"It's not easy, but it's not entirely impossible. Moreover, with this photolithography process, even if the precision is only slightly improved, it can greatly enhance production efficiency."

There's no need to pursue precision down to a few micrometers, as that's currently unattainable. As long as the precision is improved compared to before, that's fine.

They can improve step by step, but this photolithography process can achieve semi-automated production with the help of a high-precision mechanical system, which can increase production efficiency by tens of times or even more.

Zhou Zhiqiang also had a personal motive: he wanted to use the newly developed photolithography process in the CNC division as well.

If the CNC branch can develop its own research capabilities and technology reserves in the future, it won't have to keep focusing on Factory 190.

Zhou Zhiqiang always believed that what he controlled was the best, otherwise he wouldn't have built such a large CNC branch factory, and the technical department alone planned to have forty people over the next three years.

Zhou Zhiqiang then spent a considerable amount of time explaining the principles of the new photolithography process. This was mainly because although engineers Lin and Li from the technical department understood it, they felt it was unlikely to be feasible under current conditions.

Even if it is achieved, the room for improvement in precision is limited by the precision of the mechanical system, making it difficult to reach the ideal photolithography state.

Perhaps we should try to break through from other directions; that way, we might still be able to achieve our goals.

But before Zhou Zhiqiang could speak, Zhao Chenghui rejected the suggestion.

Over the course of nearly a year, they did try other approaches, but despite numerous experiments and collaborations with other research institutes, they still failed to achieve effective results.

In that case, we might as well try our hand at the research and development direction proposed by Zhou Zhiqiang.

After leaving the technical department, Zhao Chenghui and Zhou Zhiqiang went to Liu Ruiguang's office together.

When Liu Ruiguang saw the two of them arrive at the same time, he immediately had a bad feeling.

After hearing what Zhao Chenghui had to say, Factory Director Liu immediately clicked his tongue and said, "Factory Director Zhou, I knew it, I knew it! Your arrival definitely wouldn't bring me any good. I was still feeling a little lucky just now."

"Director Liu, this is truly a collaborative research and development effort. Besides, even if I wanted to temporarily transfer Deputy Director Zhao, your leadership wouldn't allow it."

Zhou Zhiqiang could tell that Director Liu wasn't taking it seriously, so he smiled and explained, "If there are any research and development results, it will benefit both of our factories."

Moreover, the benefits will definitely be greater than those of the previous silicon transistor breakthrough, and it will also boost the development of computer technology upgrades in China.”

Moreover, the impact extends beyond this. The development of photolithography and integrated circuits affects the entire electronics industry, as well as national defense, aerospace, and electronic warfare decades from now.

Zhao Chenghui also chimed in, "Yes, Comrade Ruiguang, this is a win-win situation, so don't be too hasty."

"I know, I was just saying that; but if Director Zhou comes a few more times, it'll really scare me."

After finishing his sentence, Director Liu asked Zhao Chenghui, "Deputy Director Zhao, will the factory's production schedule be affected after you take the technical staff away?"

"No, the main task of the technical department now is to achieve a breakthrough in overlay precision. However, after a long period of research, there has been no effect. That's why I decided to work with Comrade Zhiqiang's factory on joint research and development."

It's supposed to be a CNC branch factory with Zhou Zhiqiang, but the CNC branch factory doesn't have any technical R&D personnel at all. The first batch of technicians won't arrive until June next year.

Right now, there's only Zhou Zhiqiang.

However, in Zhao Chenghui's view, Zhou Zhiqiang alone is worth thirty or forty people in their technical department.

Sometimes, a research expert who can play a crucial role at critical moments and provide research ideas can be of great help to the entire research project.

“Alright then, Comrade Chenghui.” Director Liu said, “Give me the list, and I’ll submit it to the ministry later.”

"Okay, I'll give it to you tomorrow."

After Zhao Chenghui finished speaking, he turned to Zhou Zhiqiang and said, "Comrade Zhiqiang, let's go back and talk. What you just said about starting from the direction of optical optimization is good, but could you elaborate a bit more?"

"Alright then, Comrade Chenghui, but I need to go back to the factory tonight. Let me make it clear beforehand, I have to go back as soon as work ends."

Zhou Zhiqiang was caught in the middle and couldn't get away, so he had no choice but to agree to Zhao Chenghui's request.

Having just brought Zhao Chenghui to their CNC branch to join the R&D team, Zhou Zhiqiang didn't want to just drag him away and turn around, so he had no choice but to follow Zhao Chenghui to the technical department for another 'chat'.

------

A few days later, Deputy Leader Wu also sent a message to Zhou Zhiqiang.

The Computer Research Institute will also send three technicians to provide long-term support for the CNC division's R&D projects.

This good news made Zhou Zhiqiang smile during the Chinese New Year.

The framework is in place. Now we need to take next year's R&D projects as our task, compile and organize them into a report, and submit one to the ministry and the State Planning Commission.

There isn't much time left until the Lunar New Year holiday; in about a month, it will be Lunar New Year's Eve.

Production in the workshop is nearing completion, and most workers are putting in their best effort to finish the last shift so they can finally have a proper New Year celebration.

All of this year's foreign trade orders were completed by the beginning of November, and the CNC machine tools produced thereafter were distributed to the main factory and the Changping branch factory.

With the extremely high production efficiency of CNC machine tools, the production efficiency of some simple bearings and parts can be increased by not just one or several times, but by tens or even hundreds of times.

dong dong!

Just as Zhou Zhiqiang was compiling the research and development plan report for next year, someone suddenly knocked on the door.

"come in."

Zhou Zhiqiang knew without a doubt that it was Zhang Yaoguo.

After Zhang Yaoguo pushed the door open and came in, Zhou Zhiqiang asked without looking up, "Yaoguo, what is it?"

"Factory Manager, there's a meeting at 10 AM, the year-end summary meeting. Would you like to come over?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Zhiqiang quickly remembered and said, "Luckily you reminded me, otherwise I would have really forgotten about this, Yaoguo. Starting next year, prepare a calendar in my office."

There is no calendar in his office, and sometimes when he gets busy, he easily forgets even the date of each month.

Zhou Zhiqiang glanced at his watch, then stood up and said, "I'm going to the meeting now. You go ahead and do your work, Yaoguo."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yaoguo replied, "Okay, factory manager, I understand."

The year-end summary meeting doesn't involve anything particularly important; it's just about summarizing the achievements of the year and reflecting on what needs improvement.

Most importantly, the factory-wide year-end commendation meeting will be held in three weeks, where outstanding individuals, model workers, and various team honors will be selected.

The end of the year is expected to be another time of joy for workers.

The prizes prepared this time should be similar to those last year, and Zhou Zhiqiang had instructed in advance that the workers who had been allocated houses should not participate in the selection for the prizes with large items this year.

They've already received the most valuable and expensive prizes; let the other workers compete for the remaining prizes.

Workers who previously received large prizes and honors will not be eligible to participate in the selection process for three years, or they may be eligible, but the prizes will be passed on to the next eligible worker.

It's difficult to achieve absolute fairness these days, and Zhou Zhiqiang can only do his best to be fair.

Although some workers can definitely receive honors for two consecutive years if they perform well.

However, if someone wins a large prize for two consecutive years, it will definitely cause dissatisfaction among the other workers.

Even if his performance was good enough to be a model worker, the others were just as good and might have been just a little short of winning the award. But if he missed it twice and the same worker won the big prize, it would definitely cause a public incident.

Come to the conference room.

Zhou Zhiqiang arrived almost right on time, just one or two minutes before the meeting was scheduled to begin.

When Secretary Li saw Zhou Zhiqiang arrive, he breathed a sigh of relief.

After Zhou Zhiqiang took his seat, he spoke up: "Factory Director Zhou is here, so let's begin. Let's start with the production scheduling department's report."

Zhou Zhiqiang nodded and said, "The Production Scheduling Department."

Upon hearing this, the head of the production scheduling department stood up and began to report on the tasks completed over the past year.

Many of them were prepared in advance, so there were no problems with the reporting.

After the production scheduling department, the technical department, workshop, labor union, and other departments reported one by one.

There's no need to go into too much detail. Each deputy factory director and Zhou Zhiqiang have their own detailed reports. This report is for all the key cadres in the factory.

It wasn't until Chang Zhiwei, the director of logistics, stood up that Zhou Zhiqiang realized this was probably the first time he had met this new logistics director.

"Regarding the factory's excess expenses, the three departments under logistics have also implemented detailed management and cost-saving measures. For example, at this year's year-end commendation meeting, we reduced expenses by about 50%."

"Wait a moment!"

Zhou Zhiqiang called out to Chang Zhiwei, the logistics director, and then slowly suppressed his dissatisfaction as he asked, "Who said anything about reducing the year-end commendation meeting's reward expenses? How come I, the factory director, didn't know?"

After speaking, Zhou Zhiqiang turned to look at Sun Yifei and asked, "Deputy Factory Director Sun?"

"Director Chang did make the suggestion, but I suggest he report to you, Director Zhou, first before making a decision."

Deputy Factory Director Sun quickly shook his head and said, "I did not approve this plan."

He didn't agree, and the plan wasn't his idea. Don't blame him if anything goes wrong.

Sun Yifei had noticed this last time: although Director Chang of the Logistics Department seemed to consult and report to him on everything, he always felt that Director Chang did not respect him.

Many things were not discussed with him, the deputy factory director in charge, but were directly addressed and rectified.

(End of this chapter)