Chapter Forty-Five: Baiting

  Like Li Ruo Xiang, technical otakus are never in short supply within the factory.

  The system of state-owned enterprises' drought and flood insurance guarantees the survival of technical houses, while the way of title evaluation makes the life of technical houses better and better.

  Among workers, few like tech enthusiasts, but many envy them.

  Inside the Victory Oilfield Machinery Factory, apart from Li Diansheng, there were at least a dozen high-level technical experts and dozens to hundreds of technical enthusiasts. As soon as he let out a loud shout, several heads immediately popped out around him.

  "You're the double mule-headed Director Su." Those working in the factory's administrative building are relatively reserved, just circling around Suzhou.

  After a while, more and more people gathered, and their languages also became peculiar.

  "True to his reputation as a double-headed mule!"

  "This is indeed the double mule-headed Director Su..."

  Su Cheng's face turned red with sweat, and he hastily stopped them, saying: "Everyone who wants to watch, please go to my office, don't block the hallway and affect other colleagues' commute."

  Everyone rushed into Su City's new office with a loud noise, almost filling up the space inside, and all kinds of buzzing sounds were endless.

  Suddenly, someone asked: "Director Su, our machinery factory has an annual production capacity of only 2,500 oil extraction machines. How can we complete this year's order of 5,000 units?"

  As soon as this sentence came out, people around looked at Su Cheng. Compared with design drawings, this is a real problem.

  Su Cheng smiled and asked: "What's your idea?"

  "If we update one more production line, there is still hope for three shifts." Li Rengan replied first.

  The person who just asked the question also said: "At least recruit a few hundred more workers, 20,000 units of business in 4 years, too much to do."

  Everyone burst out laughing, clearly in a very good mood.

  Su Cheng smiled and said, "I think it's better to disassemble the parts and let other families do them, and then we'll assemble them together. The efficiency will be higher that way. Let alone 5,000 units, we can even finish 20,000 units."

  "That's just giving money to other factories to make a profit." Even among tech enthusiasts, there are those who care about profits.

  This was a question that Su Cheng had been considering since he heard about the order. He smiled faintly and said, "You can go back and think about it, which parts have high profits, leave them for ourselves, and which parts have low profits, can be split or purchased. Moreover, if you have a way to improve workshop efficiency, then we will dismantle fewer parts."

  Under the halo of the twin donkeys' heads, everyone nodded in agreement.

  With something to do, the tech house guys started talking about sex, and Su Cheng took the opportunity to sneak out of the door.

  Yang Ming followed closely behind, and once they were out of the office, he smiled obsequiously and said, "Director Su, shall I take you to visit each workshop?"

  "Whatever."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Li Jianxiang ran over again with his natural curls, grinning and saying: "Director Su, I'll follow you around."

  Su Cheng would not stop them. So, the three of them went together, following the nearest mold workshop and casting workshop to take a look.

  Because it was still early, the people in charge of each workshop were all present. Xiao Yang introduced the people in charge of each workshop and the skilled workers without stopping to ask for their names. He had a good memory and could recall everyone's name without anyone reminding him, sometimes even remembering their work experience.

  Su Cheng nodded politely and just said a few pleasantries before passing by. However, the directors of each workshop were quite enthusiastic towards him.

  This is not only because of the 20,000 oil pump orders, but also due to the identity and prestige of the commanding department. Unlike local state-owned enterprises, Shengli Oilfield Machinery Factory, although a deputy ministerial-level factory, has less autonomy than county-level factories, with personnel and financial powers controlled, and even operational autonomy cannot be guaranteed. After all, the machinery produced by the machinery factory is mainly purchased by Shengli Oilfield, while other oilfields such as Daqing, Changqing, and Yumen also have their own machinery factories, which will not place orders unless absolutely necessary.

  As for what is called "the last resort", in the case of the Victory Oil Field Machinery Factory, it has only happened once in the past three years, and that was the double donkey head oil pump brought by Su City.

  So, with this kind of good thing that brings both fame and fortune, all workers are full of enthusiasm.

  Su Cheng walked out of the last packaging workshop, and only then did he slightly furrow his brow in thought.

  Li Xiangmin's sensitive reaction was like a flu, his first response was: "Director Su, what are you dissatisfied with?"

  Xiao Yang's ears also perked up.

  Su Cheng first shook his head and then nodded, saying: "Our equipment is quite good, but there are too many varieties, which makes the craftsmanship design a bit difficult."

  In line with the characteristics of this era, the equipment of the Victory Oilfield Machinery Factory has been accumulated over the years. In other words, they buy cutting machines when they are cheap, buy grinding machines when they are cheap, and replace welding machines when they are cheap. As long as things can be used, they have no requirements for the manufacturing companies of the equipment. The best foreign ones, domestic ones are also okay.

  Just took a casual look around the workshop and saw machines from Japan, Germany, the Soviet Union, and the United States, plus domestic machines of different brands. The nameplates alone could fill an exhibition cabinet.

  From the perspective of thriftiness, it's natural to buy whatever is cheaper. However, from a production standpoint, overly elaborate equipment can easily cause trouble when paired together. On the other hand, with large differences in age and wear and tear, more adjustments are needed, which requires experienced workers, not to mention wasting manpower, and also affects product stability.

  The design of the Double Donkey Head Oil Extractor is simple by the standards of the late 1990s, but relatively complex by the craftsmanship of the late 1980s.

  Su Cheng had never worked in a factory, but he was very familiar with the production process. He did some mental calculations and smiled at Li Ruo Xiang: "You say that adding another production line can complete 5,000 units? In my opinion, if we were to produce everything ourselves, it would be difficult to even reach 4,000 units."

  "Everyone works overtime and stuff, there's always a chance." Li Rongxiang also had to speak up for the factory at this time.

  Su Cheng still shook his head and said loudly, "There are 5,000 units in the order, but it's not worth making that little extra money. It seems like this, finding a few more supporting factories is inevitable."

  Next to him was the director of the large pump engine room, who bent over like a pipe, not blinking his eyes, listening to Su Cheng's words.

  Yang Ming was lost in thought, thinking to himself: This is the second time that Su Changzhang, who just arrived, has said something similar within a day. 5,000 oil extraction machines, Tian Shi General Factory did 1,500 sets of matching, and the remaining three or four thousand sets of matching business were all in Su City's hands. If he wanted to leave some for the machinery factory, then no one would have anything to say. If he was willing to let go of some, wouldn't that be like throwing a piece of delicious meat into a fish pond?

  ……