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Chapter 2661 Additional Terms

In the first month after Tianchao Shangguo Technology Consulting Company was officially established, the front desk phone and email address at the headquarters were flooded with calls.

Not only are small and medium-sized private enterprises in China short of funds coming to them, but many large state-owned factories burdened with heavy debts are also moving in response.

Some of these old state-owned enterprises have been struggling to stay afloat for many years, suffering from outdated equipment and technological gaps...

The market share has been eroded by private and foreign companies, and some of the machine tools in the factory are older than the workers who operate them.

Suning had a consulting firm categorize these old state-owned enterprises by industry and region, prioritizing connections with factories that had basic industrial capabilities, a pool of skilled workers, and were struggling simply because of a lack of technology and equipment.

The consulting firm's technical team began traveling frequently.

The engineers rode in Baize buses produced by Tianchao Automobile, driving along national and provincial highways into the old industrial areas hidden on the outskirts of third- and fourth-tier cities.

They brought not PowerPoint presentations and brochures, but solid technical drawings, equipment parameter tables, and production line modification plans.

A state-owned factory in Northeast China, which has been manufacturing bearings for decades, was among the first group of companies to contact Tianchao Consulting.

The factory director's surname is Guo. He will retire in two years, but he has a very deep affection for the factory.

Director Guo personally led the engineers from Tianchao Consulting on a tour of the workshop, introducing the equipment as they walked: "This is our precision grinding workshop. These grinding machines were brought into the factory in 1972, five years before I joined."

Factory Director Guo patted the bed of one of the machine tools. The green paint on the surface of the machine tool had been worn away, revealing the iron gray underneath. "The old masters are now relying entirely on their skills. The tolerance of a bearing ring is standard at ±0.01 millimeters, and our factory's old masters can manage to get it down to 0.005 millimeters using this old machine tool. But that's not enough! The customers don't want one or two pieces to be perfect; they want a batch of ten thousand pieces to be perfectly perfect. If you grind by hand, the tolerance distribution will be different from one batch to the next. If the consistency isn't good, big customers won't dare to give us orders."

Engineer Liu from Tianchao Consulting squatted down to examine the machine tool's nameplate. The words on it were already blurred and illegible; only the manufacturing date could be barely discerned.

Then, Engineer Liu stood up and looked at Factory Director Guo, saying, "Factory Director Guo, your workers' skills are fine; the problem lies in the precision and automation of the equipment. Manual grinding relies on feel. No matter how good the master craftsman's feel is, grinding a hundred pieces a day is ten times less efficient than a machine grinding a thousand pieces a day, and the consistency is also significantly worse."

“I know,” Factory Director Guo sighed, “but we can’t afford the cost of a fully automated production line. As for bank loans, our balance sheet doesn’t look good, so they’re unwilling to lend to us.”

"We'll collect data for a few days first, and then we'll come up with a solution for you."

"Thank you! Thank you so much."

"Director Guo, there is another matter that needs to be clarified first. Because the technology provided by our Celestial Empire is all advanced, your factory may not export it to foreign markets without the approval of the Celestial Empire Consulting Company."

"Why...why is this? Since our factory bought the technology and production line, don't we have any say in its operation?"

"Can your factory buy advanced technology from abroad?"

"This……"

"Our Tianchao Group wants to cooperate with domestic enterprises for mutual benefit, but that doesn't mean we're clueless fools."

"..." Engineer Liu's expression immediately became complicated. Although the additional terms from Tianchao Consulting Company were very domineering, the situation was beyond their control, and they had no choice but to agree. "Fine! Let's take a look at your technical solution first."

……

Next, the engineers from Tianchao Consulting stayed on-site for three days, measuring the precision decay curve of each machine tool, compiling statistics on the scrap rate and bottleneck processes of each production line, and recording the manual operation parameters of the experienced workers one by one.

After returning, they developed a complete upgrade plan for the precision bearing production line.

We replaced those old, hand-cranked machine tools with a fully automatic CNC grinding machine, and equipped it with an online inspection system that automatically measures the tolerance and provides feedback compensation for each bearing ring being ground.

The technology upgrade plan was quickly delivered to Director Guo, who immediately flipped through it page by page. He stopped when he reached the budget figures on the last page and remained silent for a while.

Because Director Guo was truly shocked by the advanced technology and massive production capacity of this system, he finally understood why the Chinese consulting firm had asked them to sign the additional clauses.

Engineer Liu said, "Director Guo, the equipment purchase can be done through Tianchao Capital's installment payment plan, so you don't have to pay so much money upfront. The interest rate is very low, and the repayment period can be arranged according to your cash flow."

Director Guo's expression was extremely complicated as he struggled to suppress his excitement.

The deputy factory directors next to them were almost equally excited. Once this technology is successfully implemented, their factory will definitely be reborn.

"I've worked at this factory for over thirty years." Director Guo's voice was a little hoarse at this point. "I thought I'd be stuck with these few old machine tools until I retired. I never expected to see new equipment coming into the workshop before I die. Engineer Liu, I'll sign this plan and the additional terms."

"Then I wish us a pleasant cooperation."

"Pleasant to work with."

On the day the contract was signed, people from Tianchao Capital came to the factory to discuss shareholding cooperation, installment payments for equipment purchases, and personnel arrangements for technical training.

The lawyers from the legal department sat down side by side and went through the contract clause by clause.

Factory Director Guo held the pen and carefully wrote his name on the signature page.

After putting down his pen, Director Guo stood up, grasped Engineer Liu's hand, and said excitedly, "Engineer Liu, your Tianchao Group is not here to do business, but to save lives."

Engineer Liu patted Factory Director Guo's hand. "Factory Director Guo, I'll bring the installation and commissioning team over once the equipment arrives. Your experienced masters are invaluable. After the new equipment goes live, have them mentor apprentices and pass on their decades of accumulated skills to the younger generation. With the experience of hand grinding combined with the precision of CNC, your factory can produce the best bearings in China."

"Thank you!"

"In addition, we hope you will treat the supplementary clause signed by both parties with care, as we do not want to have any litigation with you over it."

"Uh? Don't worry, Mr. Liu! Our factory will also arrange for technical personnel to sign confidentiality agreements."

……

A state-owned enterprise in Southwest China that manufactures hydraulic components also approached them.

This factory is in a similar situation to the bearing factory in Northeast China. It has a technical foundation and skilled workers, but its product line is outdated and its technical standards cannot keep up with market demands.

Tianchao Consulting sent an engineering team directly to the factory to thoroughly review its situation from beginning to end.

From raw material procurement to heat treatment processes to assembly procedures, from hydraulic pumps to hydraulic valves to hydraulic cylinders...

It meets all the technical standards of top international brands while retaining its price advantage.

The engineer leading the team was surnamed Zhou. He had worked in the powertrain department of China's automotive industry for several years, and hydraulics was his specialty.

Engineer Zhou stayed on-site for a full month, working with the factory's technical department to redraw all the drawings, and rechecking every tolerance mark and every material grade. Engineer Zhou paid particular attention to the heat treatment process, because the lifespan of hydraulic components largely depends on the heat treatment process parameters.

At the entrance of the heat treatment workshop, Section Chief Zhao of the factory's technical department was discussing with Engineer Zhou, "Engineer Zhou, we've always used 520 degrees Celsius for tempering. You're saying we should adjust it to 540 degrees Celsius? Will a difference of 20 degrees make such a big difference?"

“The difference is huge.” Engineer Zhou squatted down again, took a piece of chalk and drew a curve on the ground. “At a tempering temperature of 520, the hardness is increased, but the toughness is insufficient. When the hydraulic valve is working, the pressure fluctuates greatly, and hard and brittle materials are prone to cracking. Adjusting it to 540 reduces the hardness slightly, but increases the toughness significantly, extending the service life by 30%. I looked at your after-sales maintenance records for the whole year yesterday, and the most common failure mode returned was valve core cracking. Increasing the tempering temperature will basically solve this problem.”

Section Chief Zhao stared at the curve on the ground and remained silent for a while. "We've considered adjusting the tempering temperature before, but we didn't dare to do it without supporting data. You know, if there are any batch problems with this batch of products, the factory will be finished."

"I've given you the data now." Engineer Zhou stood up again, threw the chalk stubs back into the chalk box, and said, "Work with confidence, I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

"We are so grateful to your Tianchao Group! Otherwise, we would have had to sell everything we own to import the technology."

"Our CEO, Mr. Su, often says that a single flower does not make a spring, but a hundred flowers blooming together make a garden full of spring! I hope we can work together to improve our overall industrial strength."

……

After the modification was completed, the first batch of hydraulic pump prototypes were sent to Tianchao Auto's supply chain testing center for durability testing.

The state-owned enterprise engineer in charge of testing the hydraulic components was surnamed Qin. He was known for his square head, and he would send the report back for retesting if the data was even one percentage point off.

This time, Engineer Qin installed the hydraulic pump on the test bench and ran it for a whole month of high-pressure pulse testing. When he looked at the test report, all the performance indicators met the standards, and some even exceeded those of the same specifications of international top brands.

Qin thought he had misread the data, so he ran the data again.

The result was the same.

Qin checked the report three times before picking up the phone to call Zhou, "Zhou, the test results for the batch of hydraulic pump samples you sent are in."

"How about it?"

"All standards are met. Several indicators are even higher than those of Bosch Rexroth's equivalent products." Engineer Qin's voice paused on the phone. "To be honest, in all my years of testing, this is the first time I've seen domestically produced hydraulic components achieve these results. Tell me, how exactly did you manage to do it?"

Mr. Zhou chuckled on the other end of the phone, “It’s nothing, we just went through the process from beginning to end. Your factory’s workers are very skilled, they just lack a systematic technical solution. After we went there, we redrew the drawings, readjusted the heat treatment parameters, and reorganized the assembly process. To put it bluntly, it’s all things you can do yourself, we just helped point out the way.”

After a few seconds of silence, Engineer Qin said, "This isn't a renovation; it's a rebirth."

……

Beyond emergency relief and upgrading, Tianchao Consulting has a broader vision.

Tianchao Consulting has also established a special technical team dedicated to the shipbuilding industry, composed of top engineers drawn from within the group, with core data sourced from Space World.

This team proactively visited several large state-owned shipyards in China, bringing not just empty platitudes, but substantial advanced technical drawings and plans.

From the electromagnetic catapult system of aircraft carriers to the modular construction process of large dry docks, from the silent propeller propulsion technology of top-tier nuclear submarines to the lightweight hull design of supertankers...

Even for the most cutting-edge liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier cargo containment system, a core technology that has been monopolized by a few international giants for many years, complete technical solutions can be found in Tianchao Consulting's technical database.

After the news spread throughout the shipbuilding industry, the chief engineers of several shipyards were stunned for a long time before they realized they hadn't misheard.

It's important to know that only a handful of countries in the world can build LNG ships, and the Invar steel welding process for the LNG cargo tanks is a thorn in the side.

This type of steel is only 0.7 millimeters thick and has an extremely high coefficient of thermal expansion and contraction. If the temperature is not controlled properly during welding, it will deform and become unusable.

Globally, only the French company GTT possesses a complete licensing system for Invar steel welding technology.

Several major domestic shipyards have spent many years trying to crack this nut.

But each time, the problem was always with the Invar steel welding process.

In the end, you can only spend a fortune to buy a license from GTT, and you have to accept whatever price they ask for because they are the only one in the world.

Now, Tianchao Consulting has actually provided a complete set of drawings and technical parameters: from the Invar steel formula and rolling process to the control parameters of the automatic welding equipment to the overall structural design of the liquid cargo tank, everything is included.

Lin, the chief engineer of Jiangnan Shipyard, has participated in the construction of destroyers, nuclear submarines and large container ships in his life, but the Invar steel liquid cargo tank of LNG ships has been a hurdle that has stood in his mind for many years.

Back then, in order to overcome the challenge of welding Invar steel, the factory sent a group of welders abroad for training. After returning, they practiced in the simulator for more than half a year, but the finished products they produced still could not meet the GTT certification standards.

It's not that the welders are bad, but that their process parameters are strictly controlled, leaving no room for trial and error.

Chief Engineer Lin flipped through the thick stack of technical documents page by page.

The alloy element ratio of the special structural steel for aircraft carriers, which used to be impossible to achieve even after countless trials in the laboratory, is now all written down in black and white.

The drawings of the coil windings for the electromagnetic catapult system are clearly marked with dimensions, number of turns, insulation class, and cooling method.

The automatic control parameters for Invar steel welding process include welding current, welding speed, shielding gas flow rate, interpass temperature control range, and post-weld cooling curve, covering the complete process flow from the first pass to the last pass.

When Chief Engineer Lin turned to the last page, he was completely convinced; the power of the Tianchao Group exceeded everyone's imagination.

The meeting room was very quiet at this moment, and everyone else was just as shocked as he was.

A young engineer next to him whispered to his colleague, "Chief Engineer Lin's biggest wish before he retired was to see us build our own LNG ships. Now all these advanced technical blueprints are finally in place."

Upon hearing this, Chief Engineer Lin turned to the young men and said, "The blueprints are in place. Now it's up to you. Back in the day, when we went abroad to beg people to sell us their technology, they asked for hundreds of millions of US dollars for a single license, plus an extra cut for each ship. Now that we have the technology, we don't have to be at the mercy of others anymore. You've come at a good time, so do a good job."

Where did the Tianchao Group get these advanced technologies?

"I don't know about that! I heard that their group has a very powerful research institute with its own research bases all over the world."

"What benefit would it bring to their Celestial Empire Group to disclose technology like this?"

"There are many benefits! It can quickly optimize the industrial chain of Tianchao Group's products, and then their industrial chain will be more complete, production costs will be reduced, which means that their products will be more competitive in the international market."

"I see! It seems to be a mutually beneficial thing indeed."

...(End of this chapter)