2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 180 Preparations must be done well

"Make sure everyone wears their factory uniforms neatly. Also, no one is allowed to take leave before the inspection ends on Friday. If you need to, you can switch shifts with others."

"Prepare all relevant documents and materials to avoid omissions."

"The meeting room also needs to be set up properly, and the electronic display screen mustn't malfunction these next few days."

"As for the cafeteria, we've been offering a wider variety of dishes these past few days, but we don't need to go overboard. We've also spoken to the frontline staff to make sure they don't spread rumors."

"Most importantly, we must pay attention to hygiene, and also, the staff dormitories need to be tidied up."

"Zhang Xuhui, remember to coordinate with the leader's secretary. If you're unsure about anything, notify me immediately."

"That's all I can think of for now. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to add them. This inspection is very important for the company, and I hope everyone can contribute their ideas."

Tan Jincheng had never experienced an inspection of this level before. Besides copying news reports, all he could do was search on Baidu. Fortunately, internet users these days are incredibly resourceful and can say anything.

Since there was no real-name registration system, I posted a thread on Tianya Forum using an alternate account, and it actually attracted quite a few replies. Although most of the replies were jokes, you have to admit, there was some useful information.

In the early 2000s, Tianya Forum was extremely popular. Although Tan Jincheng's most familiar story, "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty," had not yet been serialized, there were still many popular posts this year.

The phrase "Everything is fleeting" originated from a popular post on Tianya this year and became a trending internet buzzword in 2005.

Another post, which praised the government's economic situation and used GDP figures to belittle the country, made the audacious statement, "We have never been able to compete with the government's economic situation, so everyone should just give up." This statement was astonishing, and if it happened more than 10 years later, it wouldn't have been as simple as just closing the post.

This post immediately sparked heated discussions and also attracted a famous rebuttal post. Another account used various data analyses to show that our GDP will definitely catch up with our daily lives by 2030.

Actually, it doesn't take that much time. I remember that our GDP surpassed Japan's in 2010, ranking second in the world. I wonder how this Japan enthusiast feels when he looks back at his post five years later.

Regardless of the economic situation later on, the rapid development at the beginning of the century is undeniable. However, there's no way around it; the tendency to admire foreign things and fawn over foreigners is still quite serious these days, and there are all sorts of people who are considered "shrewd."

This is one of the reasons why Tan Jincheng chose to break into the electric scooter industry. The electric scooter brand can be said to be a pure land in China that has not been impacted by foreign brands. Everyone is a domestic product, and at most they will import some foreign equipment to boast about. The competitive environment is relatively harmonious.

Actually, making mobile phones during this period is also a good option. In the early stages of 3G rollout, counterfeit phones are a very profitable industry. You can accumulate capital and then establish a new brand, becoming a legitimate player, operating like Xiaomi.

However, consumers will likely still favor foreign brands for at least the next seven to eight years. The mobile phone industry will not only have to compete with domestic counterparts, but also with foreign brands at all times, leading to frequent verbal battles, which is quite annoying.

With Tan Jincheng's small frame, he probably won't be able to withstand the pressure. It would probably take tens or even hundreds of billions of yuan to build the mobile phone factory.

With that kind of money, you could start preparing to build a car factory.

Therefore, the electric scooter industry is still the best. It brings in money quickly, and you can also accumulate battery technology through iteration. In fact, not only new energy vehicles have very high requirements for battery technology, but electric scooters are also subject to the same requirements.

Two-wheeled electric vehicles have been developing for many years, but in addition to policy reasons, another major reason why they have not been able to develop is the unstable battery and poor range.

Early two-wheeled electric vehicles had very short one-way travel distances and short battery lifespans. It took nearly ten years to overcome the four major technical problems of two-wheeled electric vehicles, including batteries. Only after the breakthrough in the key technology of lead-acid batteries did they finally enter the consumer's field of vision.
-
November 4th, Friday, sunny.

It was just past seven o'clock in the morning, and the night shift workers had not yet left. The factory area was relatively quiet. Zhang Xuhui, who usually arrived at the company at eight o'clock, had already arrived at the company gate on his electric scooter.

After parking his electric scooter, Zhang Xuhui tightened his coat, as the scooter was still a bit cold early in the morning.

The average temperature in Ningbo in November is around 16 degrees Celsius, with the lowest temperature sometimes reaching around 2 degrees Celsius. The climate is also very unstable; today's high temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius, but tomorrow it could be as high as 25 or 26 degrees Celsius.

This made it very difficult for the first-time visitor from out of town to adapt. After having breakfast in the cafeteria, Zhang Xuhui felt much warmer.

Due to heavy production tasks, in order to reduce employees' time to slack off, the FlashTech canteen, which originally only served lunch and dinner, started serving breakfast after the National Day holiday, and it was sold at a much lower price than outside.

Employees on the day shift can have breakfast at the company before their shift ends at 8:00 AM, so they can quickly get into work mode when it's time to change shifts. This is much better than those who bring breakfast to the company and slack off.

Since its implementation a month ago, in accordance with the workshop's rule against eating, employees on shifts have generally gotten used to arriving at the factory half an hour early for breakfast, which has indeed improved work efficiency. The subsidy is definitely worthwhile. Zhang Xuhui lives in the apartment he previously rented to Gu Qingqing. As a recent college graduate, saying he cooks for himself is a joke; therefore, the company provides all three of his meals.

The cafeteria staff all knew he was the boss's assistant, so his meals were definitely much better than the average person's, and he wasn't worried about not getting enough nutrition.

After finishing breakfast, Zhang Xuhui did not rush to leave the cafeteria. Instead, he carefully checked the hygiene and instructed the cafeteria staff to be alert and ready for the inspection.

Zhang Xuhui had been quite nervous for the past week. No one in the company, including the boss, had ever met such a high-ranking leader before, and the boss had entrusted him with the task of liaising with the other party's secretary.

This is the first time I've received such a heavy task, and I'm quite nervous.

After inspecting the hygiene of the cafeteria, Zhang Xuhui walked out of the cafeteria. He still had many places to check. His task was very heavy today.

"Let's hope nothing goes wrong today."

FlashTech's two factories together cover an area of ​​just over 4000 square meters, so today's itinerary is not too complicated. The leaders will first go to the new factory to see the production line that has been installed, and then transfer some workers there to assemble a few cars.

I took some photos with the accompanying reporters, and then we went back to the old factory area for a tour, focusing on the production workshop. After that, there was nothing else for anyone else to do, but the boss still had to hold a meeting with the other party, so I needed to take the meeting minutes myself.

We'll also have lunch in the cafeteria and do some promotional work.

The group of employees who were transferred to the new factory area have already gone there with the assistance of Wang Guoxin, the production department supervisor, and Sun Yuming. The boss will also go directly to the new factory area to welcome the leaders and their entourage in a little while.

On the other hand, I need to keep an eye on things myself; if anything goes wrong, it would be really embarrassing.

On the other hand, Tan Jincheng, who usually sleeps until after eight o'clock, got up very early today, at seven o'clock in the morning. He carefully tidied himself up and checked everything again before leaving the house, feeling that everything was fine.

In his previous life, Tan Jincheng read some novels online where the protagonist appeared on important occasions or stages dressed casually in shorts and slippers, thinking that this was down-to-earth. Tan Jincheng always felt that people who thought this way were a bit idiotic.

You call this "down-to-earth"? Even if you don't respect others, you should at least respect yourself.

It's not about dressing too formally, but you should at least tidy yourself up, be clean and neat.

Tan Jincheng's attire today was quite formal: a simple pullover hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. Apart from a watch, he wore no other accessories. The watch was still his Longines, not an expensive one, so it wouldn't matter if he was photographed.

Her overall attire leaned towards a younger style, concealing her aura. It was slightly different from her usual company attire. There was a reason for this: as long as she made sure to inform the reporters not to give her close-up shots, no one would pay attention to her.

Even if he appears on camera with his superiors, without any special introduction, ordinary people would just assume he's a regular employee of Flashpoint Technology, responsible for providing commentary.

The company can be high-profile, but the entrepreneur himself should be as low-profile as possible, especially in such occasions, where showing off is not necessarily a good thing.

At 8:30, Tan Jincheng arrived at the new factory to wait. The formal inspection started at 9:00 in the morning. After staying there for about half an hour, the group went straight to the old factory area. After the key inspection, there was a closed-door meeting.

Tan Jincheng doesn't know the content of the closed-door meeting yet, but he can guess that it's related to the approval of 150 mu of land. If they can hold a meeting to discuss it directly, there must be a chance. Otherwise, they could just refuse directly and there would be no need to go through all this trouble.

At nine o'clock, the group arrived on time at the new factory of Flash Technology in the export processing zone. Tan Jincheng and some of the company staff were at the factory gate to welcome them.

I've seen it in the news. After the car came to a stop, he strode over. This high-ranking official is two years younger than his father and two years older than his mother.

Damn it, look at them, then look at your own father, he's so useless!

Quickly putting aside this nonsensical idea, Tan Jincheng led the company staff forward to greet them.

"Welcome, leaders, to our company for your visit amidst your busy schedules!"

(End of this chapter)