Reborn in 1982: I Became the Richest Man by Repairing Cars

Chapter 163: Can supplying gears to Beiyi Machine Tool Company be successful?

Liu Wenfei's concerns are not unfounded.

As the reforms progressed, each factory gradually faced performance pressure.

In recent years, various factories have responded to the call from higher authorities and carried out some reforms.

Some factories have even adopted a production contracting system.

A certain percentage of profits is agreed upon with superiors to be handed over, and the excess can be used for various purposes such as building welfare housing, issuing bonuses, and building factories.

As a result, the factories' initiative to make money has naturally increased significantly.

This has led some factories to begin making changes to their supply chains.

After all, the most direct way to increase profits is to reduce costs.

When it comes to reducing costs, the first thing that comes to mind is to start with the supply chain.

If the price of purchased components is reduced, profits will naturally increase.

As the largest machine tool factory in the capital region, Beiyi Machine Tool Factory is a typical example.

As one of the "Eighteen Arhats" of the domestic machine tool industry, Bei Yi Machine Tool Factory holds a very high position in the industry.

In terms of personnel size, Beiyi Machine Tool Factory has nearly 9000 employees, of which engineering and technical personnel account for about 10%, and has a strong talent pool.

It far surpasses most machine tool manufacturers in the same period, providing solid human resource support for production and R&D, and is one of the enterprises with the largest number of employees and the most concentrated technical talents in the domestic machine tool industry.

In terms of output value, Beiyi Machine Tool Factory stands out, with an output value exceeding 100 million yuan last year.

Its overall output value ranks among the top in the industry, and its profit and tax level is excellent. It is a major contributor to the profit and tax of the domestic machine tool industry, and its production efficiency has become an industry benchmark.

In terms of machine tool types, Bei Yi Machine Tool Factory has a wide product range and leading technology, covering small, medium and large, heavy and super heavy machine tools.

Their research and development of an ultra-heavy-duty CNC machine tool with a worktable width of 5 meters filled a gap in the domestic field.

Furthermore, they offer a wide variety of products, including over 450 types of machine tools such as lifting milling machines, gantry milling machines, and CNC boring, milling, and drilling machines.

It can meet the needs of ordinary industries as well as adapt to high-end fields such as military industry and heavy manufacturing. It is one of the few domestic enterprises that can produce ultra-heavy CNC machine tools.

Jiang Hui was absolutely surprised that such a great customer would take the initiative to call the Wudaoying Parts Factory.

The key point is that they didn't make a single phone call to ask Jiang Hui and his team to come and report. Instead, they directly arranged a time and came to the Wudaoying Parts Factory for a visit.

"Director Lin, we now have three dedicated gear production lines."

"Not only can we repair gears for all kinds of gearboxes, but we are also a gearbox gear supplier for Beijing Tractor Group and Shanghai gearbox manufacturers."

"In particular, the gears from the Shanghai gearbox factory are the most advanced 5MT automatic transmissions in China. Currently, no other gear factory can produce them, which is why we have the opportunity to get orders."

Jiang Hui naturally wanted to show his sincerity in response to the proactive attitude of Lin Guotao, the head of the purchasing department at Beiyi Machine Tool Factory.

He did not let Li Shigui be in charge of receiving guests, but instead personally led them on a tour of the factory production line.

"Your production site management is more advanced than any other supporting factory I've seen."

"This alone shows that it's quite extraordinary."

Lin Guotao is also an experienced purchasing agent; he can spot many problems just by walking around the site.

While some things require data to support their claims, others can be perceived simply by looking at them.

The management of the Wudaoying Parts Factory is definitely twenty years more advanced than that of other factories of the same period.

No wonder everyone felt much more confident after the tour.

"Thank you for the compliment, Director Lin. I believe that quality comes from the process. Only by doing a good job in process management can we achieve good quality."

"Process management actually involves many aspects, and on-site management is a key part of it."

"Whether it's on-site hygiene management, standardized operation management of each process, or management of various spare parts and auxiliary materials, all of these will ultimately affect the quality."

If he encounters someone who knows their stuff, Jiang Hui naturally doesn't mind having a good chat with them.

Regardless of whether the North No. 1 Machine Tool Factory will be powerful in the future, it is powerful at least at present.

If a large manufacturer takes the initiative to visit, it's definitely because they want to bring you into their supply chain.

This is absolutely fantastic news!

"I see you have a batch of equipment being installed over there. Are you planning to expand your gear production line?"

Lin Guotao asked with great curiosity.

"That area was reserved for the bearing production line, and the first bearing processing production line is currently being installed."

"Whether it's gears or bearings, they are the most basic standard components in industry."

"I think that if we can do these two parts well, we will have more room for development in the future."

Jiang Hui's words piqued Lin Guotao's interest even more.

Both gears and bearings are parts that Beiyi Machine Tool Factory needs to use in large quantities.

Some of the parts were produced by Beiyi Machine Tool Factory itself, but most of the parts were purchased from outside.

If the Wudaoying parts factory can produce qualified bearings by then, he wouldn't mind considering it.

"There are quite a few bearing manufacturers in China, but high-end bearings all need to be imported."

"Whether it's the bearings in the Cherokee from BAIC Jeep or the various bearings in the Santana from Volkswagen in Shanghai, they are almost all imported."

"Will the bearings you produce be any different from those of other bearing manufacturers in China?"

Since Lin Guotao was so interested in learning more, Jiang Hui certainly wouldn't miss such a good opportunity to introduce him.

"Director Lin, since our first research focused on gearbox bearings, I'll use them as an example to illustrate the current gap between the domestic gearbox bearing industry and advanced international manufacturers."

To showcase the superior quality of bearings produced in your factory, you definitely need to provide comparisons.

We need to let Lin Guotao understand the industry situation so that we can better demonstrate our advantages.

"I'm all ears!"

Lin Guotao gestured for Jiang Hui to continue, showing great interest.

"As a core transmission component, automotive gearbox bearings are mainly produced in China by leading enterprises such as Lanzhou Bearing Factory, Wafangdian Bearing Factory, and Harbin Bearing Factory."

"Although it can meet the basic needs of ordinary trucks and low-end passenger cars, there are significant gaps in materials, processing precision, production technology and overall performance compared with international giants such as SKF."

"The difference is even more pronounced, especially in the high-precision gearbox bearings that are adapted for the Santana."

"The quality of materials is the most fundamental difference, directly determining the service life and load-bearing capacity of the bearing."

"Internationally, SKF's automotive transmission bearings use high-purity alloy bearing steel, which undergoes rigorous component screening and purification processes, resulting in extremely low impurity content."

"After special heat treatment, the Rockwell hardness can reach up to 65HRC, which has excellent strength, wear resistance and fatigue resistance, and can adapt to the complex working conditions of high speed, high load and large temperature fluctuation in the gearbox."

"Domestic bearing manufacturers mainly use ordinary carbon steel or low-purity bearing steel. Due to limitations in steelmaking technology, the steel has a high content of impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus, and poor composition uniformity."

"Even after heat treatment, the hardness can only reach HRC55-58, which is insufficient in toughness and fatigue resistance."

"In automotive transmission bearings, domestically produced products are prone to problems such as tooth surface wear, raceway spalling, and bearing breakage during long-term high-speed operation."

"For example, the domestic needle roller bearings that are adapted to the Santana 5MT transmission have an average service life of only 1/3 of that of similar products from SKF, and often fail prematurely."

Jiang Hui spoke while observing Lin Guotao's reaction.

He only continued his introduction after sensing that the other party was genuinely interested in learning more.

"In terms of machining precision, the difference between the two is even more obvious, which directly affects the transmission efficiency and operational stability of the gearbox."

"For example, SKF, with its mature precision machining technology, has extremely strict control over the dimensional tolerances and geometric tolerances of its bearings, with raceway roundness and cylindricity errors not exceeding 0.001mm."

"The rollers have extremely high dimensional consistency, and the surface roughness can reach below Ra0.2μm."

"After assembly, the fit between the gear and the gearbox gear is precise, resulting in low vibration and low noise during operation. It can perfectly meet the transmission requirements of high-precision gearboxes and ensure smooth shifting."

"Although our domestic bearing factories have begun to introduce some precision testing equipment, such as the English Taylor roundness tester and the Japanese bearing vibration measuring instrument introduced by Lanzhou Bearing Factory."

"However, the processing equipment is still mainly old machine tools with low automation and difficulty in controlling processing accuracy. The bearing size error is generally between 0.005 and 0.01 mm."

"The surface roughness can only reach Ra1.6μm or above, the roller dimensional deviation is large, and the form and position tolerances often exceed the standard."

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"Taking the deep groove ball bearings used in the Santana 5MT transmission as an example, domestically produced bearings are prone to eccentricity and jamming during operation due to insufficient raceway precision, which not only increases the noise of the transmission."

"It will also exacerbate gear wear and affect the overall transmission efficiency of the gearbox, while SKF bearings of the same type can maintain stable operation for a long time, and their noise control and transmission accuracy are far superior to domestic products."

Clearly, Jiang Hui was aiming for the bearings of the 5MT manual transmissions from the Shanghai gearbox factory.

If we can secure this order, we'll have made a name for ourselves in the domestic automotive industry.

Although Lin Guotao is not in the automotive industry, Beiyi Machine Tool Factory is a supplier of machine tool equipment for automobile factories.

In addition, since there are a large number of bearings on machine tools, he is quite familiar with the domestic bearing industry.

"You're right, the difference in accuracy is indeed significant."

"These things are not perceptible to the naked eye, but the difference is clearly visible during testing."

The high-end machine tools produced at the Beiyi Machine Tool Factory currently also use imported bearings.

Two bearings that look similar can have a price difference of ten to twenty times.

However, the differences in usage are also quite obvious.

"Yes, the key issue is that, in addition to precision, the gap in production processes and quality control among domestic bearing manufacturers further amplifies the performance difference between the two."

"International bearing giants like SKF have established fully automated production lines, from raw material processing and heat treatment to finished product testing."

"It adopts precision induction hardening raceway technology to avoid raceway breakage and extend service life. At the same time, it adjusts the raceway lubrication film through a unique design of the roller end face and flange contact area."

"To prevent temperature peaks during operation, each process has strict quality inspection standards, the product qualification rate is close to 100%, and the performance consistency is excellent, which can meet the usage requirements under different working conditions."

"However, the production technology of domestic bearing factories is still relatively backward, and most of them rely on manual operation and semi-automated production."

"Although some enterprises have rectified and improved their processing technology, such as Lanzhou Bearing Factory's conversion of its thyristor medium-frequency induction heating production line and the adoption of cold extrusion technology for small bearing inner sleeve blanks, the overall process level is still relatively low."

"Insufficient precision in heat treatment processes can easily lead to problems such as bearing deformation and uneven hardness."

"Furthermore, the quality control system is incomplete, only able to detect key processes, and lacks full-process quality traceability, resulting in significant performance differences among bearings in the same batch, with a pass rate of only about 80%."

"Some products even have defects such as pinholes and cracks, making them unsuitable for high-end car transmissions."

"In addition, the lubrication technology of domestic bearings is relatively backward, making it difficult to form a stable lubricating film, which further reduces the service life and operational stability of bearings."

"The bearing production line we are building also fully addresses the problems faced by our domestic counterparts and has made many targeted improvements."

"The performance at that time will not be comparable to SKF, but at least the difference will be very small."

At this point, it's natural to appropriately criticize the bearings that haven't yet entered mass production.

Who knows, Bei Yi Machine Tool Factory might become the first customer for bearings in the future.

It's important to know that every machine tool needs to use bearings.

Beiyi Machine Tool Factory is definitely a major customer in the capital region comparable to Beichi.

"These differences will ultimately be reflected in overall performance."

"The gap between domestic bearings and international bearing giants such as SKF is reflected in many aspects such as service life, load capacity, and adaptability."

"SKF automotive transmission bearings undergo rigorous fatigue testing and operating condition simulation, with an average service life of over 10 kilometers."

"This bearing can withstand the impact load brought by the high-speed operation of the gearbox and is suitable for different displacement and different types of car gearboxes."

"It also possesses excellent sealing and anti-pollution capabilities, can adapt to complex working environments, and can be further optimized through design..."

This design aims to reduce energy consumption and improve the overall operating efficiency of the transmission.

"Today, we have become an original equipment supplier for international automakers such as Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, and Volkswagen."

"Domestically produced automotive transmission bearings have an average service life of only 3 to 5 kilometers and insufficient load-bearing capacity. Under high-speed operation or heavy-load conditions of the transmission, they are prone to premature wear and failure."

"Furthermore, its compatibility is poor, and it can only be used in the transmissions of domestically produced low-end trucks and passenger cars, which cannot meet the high precision and high reliability requirements of the 5MT transmissions in models such as Santana."

"Even if it is barely compatible, frequent malfunctions will occur, affecting the overall driving safety and comfort of the vehicle."

"Our Wudaoying Parts Factory entered the bearing industry in order to change this situation."

"What international bearing giants like SKF, Schaeffler, and NTI can do, we can do in the future too."

"Even if we can't catch up in one or two years, we will definitely be able to catch up in ten or twenty years."

Jiang Hui's words deeply moved Lin Guotao.

According to his understanding, Jiang Hui could actually do many simpler things, which would bring in money even faster.

There's absolutely no need to tackle such a difficult gearbox bearing right from the start.

"The simpler and more standardized a part looks, the harder it is to make it well."

"Director Jiang, I look forward to the moment when you successfully mass-produce advanced bearings."

"As long as it meets the needs of our Beiyi Machine Tool Factory, we will definitely make the purchase."

With Lin Guotao's words, there were naturally no major problems with the cooperation between Wudaoying Parts Factory and Beiyi Machine Tool Factory.

It's hard to say when the bearing business will start.

After all, Jiang Hui's side doesn't have mass production yet.

But gears are different.

Even Shanghai gearbox manufacturers are using it, so naturally, the North First Machine Tool Factory wouldn't hesitate.

Soon, the first order from Bei Yi came in smoothly.

Wudaoying Parts Factory, or more precisely, Wudaoying Bearing Factory, officially became a supplier to Beiyi Machine Tool Factory.