Chapter 8

By the fourth day, the five young machinists had already been able to write simple machining programs using the universal function codes.

The first attempt to use the CNC lathe to make such complex parts made these young machinists realize the powerful functions of the CNC machine more deeply.

Before Yun Fei joined Qingfeng Machinery, they had almost no knowledge of CNC, and the only thing they knew was that CNC machines did not require workers to operate them. After learning, they realized how far off they were. Although the most basic machine operation actions were replaced by programs, the machines could not automatically load or unload workpieces (they did not know that at this time, CNC powerhouses abroad already had automatic feeding devices, and those CNC machines could be seen as low-end intelligent robots).

For CNC machining, the most critical part is the compilation of the NC code program. Without the program, even the most advanced CNC machine would just be a pile of scrap iron.

The program, which was over three hundred lines long, excited the workers who had once been skilled workers and were now apprentices again. They had no idea about the prospects of the CNC industry.

Perhaps even Yun Fei himself did not know that the CNC operation training they were receiving was among the first in China's private sector.

Especially when they saw that the CNC lathe could automatically change tools and produce beautiful and smooth arcs, it further stimulated these young workers, making their learning speed even faster. Seeing the process of CNC lathe machining made them no longer want to return to the original workshop to laboriously operate the lathe by hand.

At the beginning of the training, Yun Fei, with an old-fashioned air, said to them: "Young men, remember today, it will be a turning point in your lives!"

Similarly, Yun Fei also said that if anyone could not learn to program and operate the machine independently after a month, they would have to go back to operating a conventional lathe.

Yun Fei did not tell them about the industry's prospects. If the entire factory knew about the future prospects of the CNC industry, the efficiency of Qingfeng Machinery would not be as high as it is now.

This was all due to a lack of resources! If Qingfeng Machinery had enough CNC equipment, they wouldn't even dare to talk about the prospects of the unfamiliar industry to the workers in the factory!

The sample parts were quickly delivered to Kamart International Trading Company. Yun Fei knew that after the samples were sent out, it would take at least a month or two before formal production could begin. However, this period was a good time for training.

In less than half a month, all three CNC machines were up and running. Although the work done by these young people who had just started using CNC machines was not satisfactory, with a pass rate of just over 90%, it was still a relief compared to the factory's overall pass rate of less than 70%.

Carefully analyzing the reasons for the low pass rate in the factory, most were due to worker errors. Seeing that the workers in the factory worked overtime until after 9 PM every day and had only one or two days off a month, he recalled that in the industry he had previously been involved in, no matter how busy the factory was, each worker would be scheduled to rest one day a week.

Another issue was that many factories along the coast implemented a piece-rate wage system. Many defective products were due to workers trying to meet deadlines by forcibly increasing the ratio of the three cutting elements. This made the work faster, but due to tool wear and reduced self-inspection frequency during production, many defective products flowed into the next process.

This not only failed to ensure product quality but also increased the factory's costs due to tool wear, which shocked Yun Fei. Every month, Qingfeng Machinery spent tens of thousands on tool wear alone!

The machinery industry was not like other electronic factories where technical workers' attention was highly concentrated every day. Without adequate rest time, it was easy to produce defective products and even cause safety accidents.

Within twenty days of Yun Fei joining Qingfeng Machinery, there were two safety accidents: one was a female fitter whose hair was caught in a drill press because she did not wear a hat as required. If the power had not been cut off in time by someone nearby, her scalp would have been torn off. The other was a worker who injured his foot while moving a workpiece.

Not only did Wang Qingfeng not care, but none of the workers in the factory cared either. After all, such workplace accidents happened several times a year. If this had happened in the era Yun Fei came from, it would have been a major event, and how could they be so calm! Finally, he realized that it was still the early 1990s!

This was an era where money was more important than human life. There was no concept of humanization or putting people first in this era.

Yun Fei, who was never the type to stand idly by, felt that this could not continue and wanted to find an opportunity to discuss the factory's work schedule with Wang Qingfeng.

As a result, this search led to a lot of work for himself.

After listening to Yun Fei's hour-and-a-half-long speech, analyzing from theory to practice how the lack of good rest for workers would affect the factory and how much money it would cost Wang Qingfeng each month, Wang Qingfeng stared at Yun Fei for ten seconds with his small eyes. Then he smiled and said to Yun Fei, "Little Yun, since you have become our master technician at Qingfeng Machinery, you should take responsibility for these matters for the sake of your boss. Starting today, I will have someone prepare an office for you. You can set up the rules and regulations for the factory as you see fit..."

A master technician was responsible for technical issues but did not manage the workshop. In modern terms, a master technician was like a technical consultant. This position existed mainly in numerous small and medium-sized private enterprises and did not have a fixed role.

Although Yun Fei's technical skills were more than enough to be a master technician, his age made it a bit of a stretch for him to be the master technician at Qingfeng Machinery. If it were ten years later, even if he were the best in the country, a factory with over fifty machines would not let him be a master technician.

The times make the man!

In the 1980s and 1990s, a master technician was responsible for technical issues but only on-site. This position was between a technical engineer and a technician, not only having strong technical skills but also rich experience in on-site production operations.

This was also why Wang Qingfeng's announcement to the entire factory caused such a stir. It was only because Yun Fei had solid technical skills that all the workers had no objections.

After leaving Wang Qingfeng's office, Yun Fei could only laugh bitterly. He did not know that as the factory's scale gradually expanded, Wang Qingfeng had already realized that the factory's development was slowing down or even stagnating. If he did not want the factory to grow larger, he would not have taken the risk of keeping the young Yun Fei in the factory.

However, Wang Qingfeng did not realize that the reason for the factory's lack of development was due to poor management. After all, he had started as an ordinary worker. The factory had no strict management rules, no reasonable organizational structure, and no development team. Most of the factory's business came from subcontracting work from other machinery companies, and although the factory looked busy, the profit it generated was not high. After all, some of the business had been passed through several hands before it reached him.

Wang Qingfeng not only increased Yun Fei's workload but also raised his salary to 1,800 yuan. In an era where the average salary was less than 200 yuan, this was already a high salary.

Although he joked with Yun Fei that he could do anything as long as he did not bankrupt the factory, Yun Fei knew that if he did anything excessive, Wang Qingfeng would be the first to disagree.

For all this, Yun Fei was speechless. He had not even received his first month's salary, and his salary had increased from the 1,000 yuan he requested to 1,500 yuan, and then to 1,800 yuan. If he had such a leader in his original era, he would not have been so depressed and ended up being single at 33!

Since he could not return to his original era, he might as well make the most of this era full of opportunities.

Regarding the adjustment of Yun Fei's work content, most people had no objections, except for some young people who were quite jealous. The master technician had the authority to interfere with most of the affairs in the factory workshop, almost on par with the workshop director (Qingfeng Machinery did not have a workshop director, and the master technician was equivalent to the workshop director, as the management was chaotic and relied on the foremen of various trades to manage all on-site affairs).

Yun Fei's first decision was to reform the factory's work schedule, stipulating that the factory would take one day off every Sunday. For this, the head of the business department, Wang Hua, found Yun Fei several times, asking him to cancel the decision because the factory already had too much business. If they followed Deputy Factory Manager Yun's rule, they would lose four days of production time each month, and the backlog of business would increase even more.

However, after Yun Fei explained to Wang Hua why he made this decision and found that Wang Hua continued to纠缠 (harass) him, he got so angry that he avoided Wang Hua whenever he saw him. Finally, Wang Hua found Wang Qingfeng and asked him to cancel the one-day-off-per-week rule. Wang Qingfeng only smiled and repeated to Wang Hua the long speech Yun Fei had given him about how good rest could ensure higher efficiency. In the end, Wang Hua had to give up due to lack of a good reason.

When Yun Fei started to take over the factory management from Wang Qingfeng, he realized that the chaos in Qingfeng Machinery was far beyond his imagination.

The entire factory management was in complete chaos, with no basic rules and regulations, and even key departments like the technical department and quality inspection department were missing. The human resources department was handled by Wang Qingfeng and his secretary, Zhang Rui. All the management personnel had no clear division of responsibilities, and the factory's management mainly relied on the workers' self-discipline.

Yun Fei could hardly believe that with such management, Wang Qingfeng could still develop the factory to have over fifty machines and more than eighty employees.

At the same time, he could not help but marvel at the opportunities of this era.