novelnext Chapter 179 Equipment Innovation, Industry Leadership
Chapter 179 Equipment Innovation, Industry Leadership
In the sweltering summer of 1984, the sun had barely climbed over the top of Dongshan Mountain when the asphalt road became soft. Inside the forging workshop of Chenqing Hardware Manufacturing Joint Venture, a wave of heat mixed with the smell of iron filings hit the face. Seven old-fashioned machine tools were emitting a dull hum, with two workers surrounding each machine tool. One operated the handle, while the other used an iron hook to adjust the position of the workpiece. Sweat dripped from their foreheads onto the red-hot steel, instantly evaporating into fine white mist.
Lin Chen stood at the observation table in the corner of the workshop, clutching a well-worn notebook filled with nearly a month's worth of production data. His brow furrowed, his gaze fixed on machine tool number three—two workers were laboriously unloading forged bearing blanks. They'd barely caught their breath before rushing to load new materials; the loading and unloading process alone took up a third of the time. Even more worrying was the three unfinished products piled on the workbench, all due to excessive precision deviations caused by the machine tool's vibrations.
"Director Lin, you've been standing here all morning." Liu Guangtian walked over, wiping the sweat from his face. The back of his work clothes was already soaked with sweat. "I just finished the statistics. The scrap rate for this batch of precision bearings is still 8%, which is much higher than the 5% required for the export order. Moreover, when the three machine tools are running at the same time, the voltage is unstable and the circuit breaker trips. Yesterday, it delayed production for two hours." He handed over a glass of cold water, and the water droplets on the glass quickly slid down the hot glass.
Lin Chen took the water glass but didn't drink it. Pointing to the running machine tool, he said, "Look, these old-fashioned machine tools are all manually fed. They rely entirely on the worker's experience to control the force. If they're even slightly distracted, they'll make mistakes. And loading and unloading workpieces is all done manually, which is not only inefficient but also prone to damage from bumps and knocks. At this rate, we won't be able to complete the big order from the Shanghai machine tool factory next month." He opened his notebook, inside which was a yellowed drawing, a schematic diagram of a foreign semi-automatic machine tool that he had previously salvaged from a junkyard. The key structures were circled in red.
At this moment, Su Qing walked into the workshop under the scorching sun, holding a document stamped with a red seal in her hand, her face beaming with undisguised excitement: "Lin Chen, good news! Our application for a special loan for technological upgrading has been approved, a full 200,000 yuan!" She quickly walked to the observation table, saw the blueprints in Lin Chen's hand, and instantly understood his thoughts, "You want to upgrade the machine tools? But our factory's technicians can only operate them, no one understands design."
"If no one understands, we'll figure it out ourselves." Lin Chen's gaze was unusually firm. "Last time I went to Shanghai, I specifically visited a machine tool factory to investigate their semi-automated equipment. The core components are the feeding mechanism and the loading/unloading device. We have a system to help analyze the structure, and combined with our forging experience, we might be able to make it ourselves." He pulled the two of them to his office, spread out the blueprints, and began to plan. "Guangtian, you're in charge of dismantling two scrapped old machine tools and classifying and counting the usable parts; Suqing, you contact the Provincial Machinery Research Institute and try to borrow a set of precision measuring tools; I'll be responsible for designing the modification plan, focusing on overcoming the two core challenges of automatic feeding and hydraulic loading/unloading."
When the renovation plan was announced at the factory-wide meeting, it sparked considerable controversy. Veteran technician Uncle Wang was the first to object: "Director Lin, we've used these old-fashioned machine tools for over ten years. We can operate them with our eyes closed. If we mess them up with these modifications and delay orders, who will be responsible?" Many veteran employees echoed his sentiments. They were accustomed to traditional forging methods and were resistant to such novelties as "automation." Some workers even gossiped privately, saying that Lin Chen was just trying to make a quick buck and was now messing around with things.
Lin Chen didn't rush to refute. Instead, he led everyone to the workshop, pointing to the mountain of semi-finished products, and said, "Look, last month, we used seven machine tools and fourteen workers to produce this batch of bearings, with a scrap rate of 8%. If the transformation is successful, one automated machine tool can produce the output of three old-fashioned machine tools, reducing the scrap rate to below 2%, and everyone's piece-rate wages can increase by at least 30%." He paused, picked up a scrapped workpiece, and continued, "Moreover, how much physical strain does manual operation cause? How many colleagues have suffered wrist deformities from gripping handles for years, or back injuries from lifting heavy objects? Automation can not only improve efficiency but also reduce everyone's labor intensity."
Su Qing then produced the loan documents and renovation budget: "This loan is a special government fund supporting technological innovation, and the interest rate is half that of ordinary loans. We've calculated that the cost of renovating two machine tools can be recouped in six months by improving efficiency and reducing wear and tear. Moreover, I've already made arrangements; Engineer Li from the Provincial Machinery Research Institute will provide guidance throughout the renovation process, so normal production won't be delayed."
After all concerns were addressed, the renovation work commenced swiftly. A temporary research and development area was partitioned off in a corner of the workshop, and Lin Chen moved his bedding to his office, spending almost all his time there except for eating and sleeping. He first used the system to scan the structural diagrams of foreign machine tools, extracting key data, and then optimized the design by combining it with the existing machine tool parts in the factory. The most challenging part was the automatic feed mechanism; foreign manufacturers used precision gear transmission, but the factory lacked the equipment to process such gears.
"If all else fails, we can use a worm gear drive instead." Lin Chen stared at the blueprints for three sleepless nights and finally came up with an alternative. "Although the precision is slightly inferior, we can optimize the tooth profile through the system and control the error to within 0.01 millimeters, which fully meets the requirements." He immediately drew up the blueprints and had Liu Guangtian lead the technicians to process the parts, while he focused on the design of the hydraulic loading and unloading device.
Two weeks later, late one night, a loud bang suddenly came from the research and development area. The hydraulic device being tested had suddenly burst, spraying hydraulic oil all over Lin Chen. He didn't bother cleaning himself; he quickly turned off the power and, after checking, discovered that the hydraulic pump pressure had exceeded the cylinder's tolerance limit. Su Qing, who was sitting next to him recording data, handed him a towel, saying with concern, "It's already two in the morning, get some rest, we can do it tomorrow."
Lin Chen shook his head and wiped the oil off his face with a towel. "This is a crucial moment. If we stop, our train of thought will be cut off." He squatted down and carefully examined the shattered cylinder. Suddenly, his eyes lit up. "I know the problem! We used ordinary steel for the cylinder, which can't withstand high pressure. Tomorrow, we'll recast the cylinder using the alloy material we used to develop the wear-resistant parts. That will definitely solve the problem." Su Qing couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she made him a strong cup of tea and handed it to him, staying with him to modify the design parameters.
After the alloy cylinder block was cast, a new problem arose—the hydraulic system's sealing performance was substandard, causing oil leaks even at slightly higher pressures. Lin Chen and his technical team conducted repeated experiments, trying various sealing materials such as asbestos gaskets and rubber rings, but none of them solved the problem. Just when everyone was at a loss, Liu Guangtian remembered the imported sealant they had used when handling foreign trade orders: "Factory Manager Lin, the imported sealant used for the parts shipped to Southeast Asia last time, for moisture protection, is resistant to high temperatures and high pressures. How about we try using it to seal the parts?"
This suggestion caught Lin Chen's eye. He immediately found the batch of sealant, mixed it according to the specified ratio, applied it to the sealing surface, and then conducted a pressure test. When the pressure reached 1.2 times the design standard, there was indeed no oil leakage at the seal. The technicians present cheered excitedly, but Lin Chen calmly said, "Let's run it continuously for another eight hours to ensure stability." After a night of testing, the hydraulic device operated smoothly without any malfunctions.
Two months later, the first "fully automatic forging machine tool" was finally debugged. The machine tool was painted silver-gray all over, and a control panel was installed on the side of the machine body, with various parameter buttons clearly marked on it; the hydraulic loading and unloading arm at the front of the machine tool was flexible and could accurately grab the workpiece and place it in the designated position; the feeding mechanism was driven by a motor, and the feeding speed and force were automatically controlled by the system's preset parameters.
On the day of trial production, all the factory workers gathered around. Following Lin Chen's instructions, Liu Guangtian entered the dimensional parameters of the bearing blank on the control panel and pressed the start button. The hydraulic loading and unloading arm automatically grabbed a piece of steel from the rack and precisely fed it into the forging mold; the forging hammer repeatedly pressed the workpiece according to the preset force, sparks flying but without any disorder; after forging, the loading and unloading arm sent the workpiece to the cooling area. The whole process was completed in one go, requiring only one worker to monitor it.
"My God, this is amazing!" Old technician Uncle Wang exclaimed, his eyes wide. "What used to take three people to do, now one person can do it all!" When the first batch of bearing blanks produced by the fully automated machine tool was sent for testing, everyone held their breath. The inspector repeatedly measured with calipers, finally excitedly announcing, "All parameters meet the requirements, the accuracy error is controlled within 0.005 millimeters, and the scrap rate is zero!"
The news quickly spread throughout Zhangcheng County. Leaders from the County Industry Bureau led a team to inspect the site. Upon seeing the fully automated machine tools operating efficiently, the bureau chief immediately stated, "Chenqing Hardware's technological innovation has not only solved its own production problems but also set an example for the hardware industry in our county! We will help you apply for provincial high-tech enterprise status and strive for some technology award funds."
Just as Lin Chen was preparing to apply for a patent, he received an anonymous letter alleging that Chenqing Hardware's fully automatic forging machine tool had plagiarized the design of the Provincial Machinery Research Institute. This infuriated Lin Chen, and he immediately took all the design drawings, test data, and research records to Engineer Li at the Provincial Machinery Research Institute. After reviewing the materials, Engineer Li issued a certificate on the spot: "Chenqing Hardware's machine tool has independent innovations in its core structure, transmission method, and control system, and is completely different from our design. This is a typical false accusation."
To thoroughly clarify the facts, Lin Chen decided to hold a technical observation meeting, inviting mechanical experts from within the province, representatives from peer companies, and media reporters. At the meeting, Lin Chen explained the machine tool's development process in detail, showcasing everything from the initial sketches to the final design drawings, as well as the recorded data from each experiment. When the experts saw the notebook filled with annotations, they were all full of praise for the research and development spirit of Lin Chen's team.
"This fully automatic forging machine tool has two innovative features: optimized tooth profile of the feeding mechanism and sealing technology for hydraulic loading and unloading, which have reached the leading level in China," said Professor Zhang of the Provincial Mechanical Engineering Society when signing the appraisal report. "What is particularly commendable is that it uses entirely domestically produced parts, and its cost is only one-third of that of imported equipment, making it very suitable for promotion by small and medium-sized hardware enterprises."
After the observation meeting, not only did the controversy surrounding the anonymous whistleblower dissipate, but it also brought unexpected gains. Three hardware factories from a neighboring city immediately expressed their intention to purchase the machine tool modification technology, and the Shanghai Machine Tool Factory even sent a letter of intent to cooperate, hoping to jointly develop forging equipment suitable for large machinery. Shortly afterward, the State Intellectual Property Office officially granted a "utility model patent" to the fully automatic forging machine tool, and Chenqing Hardware was also recognized as a "provincial high-tech enterprise."
On the day of the commendation ceremony, the county head of Zhangcheng County personally presented Lin Chen with the "Outstanding Entrepreneur" certificate. Standing on the podium, Lin Chen looked at Su Qing, Liu Guangtian, and all the employees below the stage, and was filled with emotion: "The success of this machine tool is not my achievement alone, but the result of our entire team's tireless efforts day and night. From a small side room in a courtyard house to today's factory, from hand forging to fully automated production, we have proven with facts that as long as we persist in technological innovation and work diligently, even a small factory can achieve great things!"
At the celebration banquet, veteran technician Uncle Wang approached Lin Chen with a wine glass and respectfully toasted him: "Director Lin, I used to be senile and opposed your machine tool upgrades, but now I'm convinced! These fully automatic machine tools are truly excellent. My son just joined the workshop, learned to operate them in three days, and is more precise than I have been doing this for over ten years!" Liu Guangtian also smiled and said, "Now our production efficiency has increased fourfold. We can complete the large order from the Shanghai Machine Tool Factory half a month ahead of schedule, and next month we can start the upgrade of the second production line!"
Night deepened, and the celebration banquet gradually dispersed. Lin Chen and Su Qing walked side by side on the factory road, moonlight spilling onto the roof of the brand-new machine tool workshop, illuminating its clear outline. "What are our plans for the future?" Su Qing asked softly. Lin Chen gazed at the distant lights, his eyes filled with anticipation: "We're going to build our own R&D center and cultivate more technical talent. This machine tool is just the beginning. In the future, we want to develop more equipment with independent intellectual property rights, making Chenqing's technology truly lead the nation and go global!"
Inside the workshop, the silver, fully automatic forging machine stood quietly, like a silent hero. Its success not only enabled Chenqing Hardware to achieve a qualitative leap, but also wrote a significant chapter in Lin Chen's entrepreneurial journey.