2003: Starting with Foreign Trade

Chapter 186 When one attains enlightenment, even his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven.

Mingcan Moulding Injection Molding Workshop.

Standing next to an injection molding machine undergoing trial molding, Zhang Mingcan complained helplessly, "It seems like we mold makers are always rushing to meet deadlines. Ugh, it's so annoying."

Tan Jincheng smiled and ignored his complaints. Isn't that what happens when you're not assertive enough as the service provider?

You wouldn't say that when you're collecting advance payments.

The mold industry in Beicang District is very developed. Tan Jincheng had some knowledge of this in his previous life. When he had tea and chatted with some mold bosses, they all missed the early 2000s because making molds was really profitable during that period.

Labor costs are low, and the technical threshold is relatively high in this era. If you encounter someone who doesn't know much about it, you can make a gross profit of 100% or even more. Under normal circumstances, it is relatively easy to make a gross profit of more than 40%, which is no less than making money in the import and export business.

After the new sample mold was completed, Tan Jincheng took one out of the sample box and asked while observing it, "The trial molding should be finished this week, right?"

Sun Yuming was originally in charge of parts procurement, but he has been extremely busy lately, so Tan Jincheng has not let him handle things like sample production of exterior parts.

This time, we tested samples from the Fengchi series. The exterior parts are all the same. After the sample test is successful, we will proceed with the paint color treatment.

Liu Yifei's promotional activities are almost over. You can't keep promoting an endorsement ad forever. Fortunately, the popularity of her new drama is still there as filming is about to wrap up. By doing this together with Fengchi, she can at least benefit from some of the buzz.

The rest of the promotion depends on FlashTech, so the sample car needs to be completed as soon as possible so we can shoot the advertising video.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely get you a sample ready within this week. I know the rules."

"Yes, just like last time, even if it doesn't meet the mass production requirements, you still have to repair dozens of usable samples by hand. I'm waiting to use them."

"Is this for a commercial shoot? By the way, do you have an autographed photo of that celebrity you signed for a high price? Get one for me, my daughter wants it, she's a fan of hers."

"I'll get you one when we shoot the commercial. I don't follow celebrities, why would I need an autographed photo?"

"Can I take my daughter to see him/her?"

Tan Jincheng paused for a moment, then looked at Zhang Mingcan and said, "I didn't expect Brother Zhang to be such a doting father. We'll see when the time comes. If it's nearby, you can bring your daughter along."

Tan Jincheng has already written the advertising plan, and we will still be working with the same advertising company as before. As for the specific shooting location, it has not been decided yet because the popular star's schedule is too tight, and the year-end activities are basically full.

The advertisement shoot was inserted later, so it needed to be coordinated with her schedule. It couldn't be like last time when Brother Chun called people over to shoot.

There's a high probability they'll still be shooting commercials in Hengdian; it's not impossible to go and see for myself.

"She's our only daughter, what can we do? It's a pity she's too young, otherwise we could have you as my son-in-law."

"Forget it, I'm the client now. Do you think I can get that kind of treatment as your son-in-law? I won't do it!"

I've met Zhang Mingcan's daughter, Tan Jincheng. She's a chubby little girl who's still in junior high school. Her grades don't seem to be very good, but she'll most likely go abroad to study in the future.

Most of the rich kids in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang area follow a certain path. Even if their academic performance isn't great, they'll still go abroad to get a degree. It doesn't matter if it's a diploma mill or a low-ranking university. These days, people think it's impressive to study abroad.

Children from wealthy families are generally well-educated, and someone like Mr. Guo with only a junior high school diploma is probably one of a kind; a junior high school diploma among those born after 95 is also unusual, and even in rural areas that are not impoverished, it would be considered quite remarkable.

"You can't say that. Your brother here has some family wealth, after all. Although you might not look up to him now, think about how much it would be to have a father-in-law like this in the early stages of starting a business?"

Tan Jincheng pursed his lips and ignored him; the more he talked, the more absurd it became. "I also have a wealthy father-in-law, but I haven't met him yet, and I haven't gotten any benefits from him for the time being."

"Let's talk about it when your daughter grows up; it's nonsense to talk about this now. Wang Chao, you take care of the rest of the work. I have other things to do, so I'll head back now."

"Okay, boss, I'll make the arrangements. I'll try to get the sample car out this weekend."

"You're leaving already? Aren't you going to stay and have a meal with us?" Zhang Mingcan asked, somewhat surprised.

Tan Jincheng shook his head and said, "I have to go on a business trip again. Just arrange lunch for Wang Chao, the same as last time. You two will take over afterwards."

"Alright then, being a big boss like you isn't easy either, you often have to travel for work." Zhang Mingcan said with a smile.

When he first started his business, he also had to travel frequently for work. After his business stabilized, he no longer needed to travel much. However, in the last two years, due to the ban on motorcycles, his previously stable motorcycle parts business has encountered some problems, and he has to start traveling around again to discuss business.

Fortunately, the sudden emergence of FlashTech alleviated his business travel pressure this year. In the second half of the year, FlashTech secured orders for molds and plastic parts, and the factory's profitability improved significantly. Tan Jincheng, who was about to leave, pointed outside the workshop, and Zhang Mingcan, understanding, followed him into the workshop.

"What's wrong? Is there anything else? Would you like to come to my office?" Zhang Mingcan had a vague feeling that something was wrong.

If it were a simple test, given that there was a business trip planned, Tan Jincheng wouldn't need to come in person. He could have just sent Wang Chaochao to keep an eye on it. Would he dare not do his best?

Tan Jincheng didn't plan to go to the office either. He was going on a business trip soon, this time to Huzhou. The expected production capacity next year is 50 vehicles, and the demand for batteries will increase significantly. Tan Jincheng had to go there to discuss new prices and strive to increase production capacity while reducing costs and increasing efficiency.

Batteries are definitely something we need to develop, but it's wishful thinking to develop a usable battery within a year that can meet our own production capacity needs, unless we acquire a complete lead-acid battery company.

This is unnecessary. Not to mention that the development of the electric vehicle industry will lead to an increase in the valuation of lead-acid battery companies, making the acquisition somewhat disadvantageous, Tan Jincheng himself did not intend to get into lead-acid batteries; if he were to get into them, he would get into lithium batteries!

Lithium battery technology is not only the future direction of batteries for new energy vehicles, but it can also be applied to electric scooters. In later generations, there were quite a few electric scooters using lithium batteries.

"As you know, I'm developing an industrial base. It's officially in the planning stage, but it won't be completed anytime soon."

"What, are you trying to invite me to join your industrial base cluster?"

The high-ranking leader's inspection even made the Ningbo News, and the local media in Beicang District also reported on it extensively. They also reached a cooperation agreement with the city investment company. It's impossible for Zhang Mingcan not know about the district's electric vehicle industrial park plan.

This is a large project expected to exceed 10 billion yuan. The Flash Technology Industrial Park is only one part of it. There are also supporting industrial parks covering the entire industrial chain. Companies with a certain scale and strength can settle in the industrial parks.

Factory buildings can be built on land granted by the government or leased, and there are also a series of tax incentives available.

"If you want to go in, it's not impossible. You can move the factory there after that area is built, or you can apply for land approval to build your own factory now."

"Let me think about it. I don't have enough funds right now to build a factory, it would be too much of a burden."

No one in the manufacturing industry doesn't want to own their own factory. However, if they were to relocate, it certainly wouldn't be the same size as it is now. First of all, they would need at least four or five acres of land. Land isn't worth much, but building a factory requires money.

After it's built, we'll need to invest in new equipment and hire more staff. All of these things will cost money. It's not that we can't afford it, but once the money's in our pockets, we're always a little reluctant to take it out again.

In addition, Zhang Mingcan was not really willing to expand his loan portfolio. At his age, earning a few million a year was already very comfortable. Why should he work so hard when he only has one child?

Simply put, Zhang Xucan no longer has the entrepreneurial passion he had when he was young.

"That's not what we're talking about today. The industrial park is an industrial park, and my new factory is about to start production, as you know. Let me give you a sneak peek: next year our annual production capacity will reach 50 electric vehicles, and at the very least, it should be 20."

Zhang Mingcan's eyes twitched involuntarily. Tan Jincheng had seen this expression on Zhang Haiping before, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Excluding molds, the plastic exterior parts for the Flash Series electric vehicles were contracted to Zhang Mingcan's Mingcan Moulding at a price of 68 yuan per set. The minimum purchase price for 20 sets was 1340 million yuan, and the maximum annual purchase price could reach 3400 million yuan.

With such a large number of participants and a solid foundation of trust already in place, even someone who just wants to relax would find it hard to resist the temptation.

But the problem remains the same as with Zhang Haiping: he can't handle such a large order at his current scale.

There's a saying in business: if you don't move forward, you fall behind. This is merely transitional production capacity before the completion of the Flash Motors industrial base. Once the industrial base is built and put into operation, the purchase orders for plastic exterior parts will inevitably increase further.

This part is not included in Tan Jincheng's project plan.

In business, the principle is that everyone should make money. You need to develop core technologies to avoid being held hostage by others. But if you develop non-core technologies and don't leave room for downstream suppliers to survive, then you're just hogging the profits, and you can forget about doing business with them.

During the transitional production period, Tan Jincheng will give Mingcan Moulding an order that they can handle, out of consideration for past relationships and face, to ensure their profit margin for the whole year. However, once the industrial base is officially put into production, the supplier system will definitely be optimized.

At that point, if you don't have the strength to compete with other major suppliers, Tan Jincheng probably won't have a better reason to allocate a portion of the orders to himself at a higher price, right? After all, FlashTech now has a city investment company as a shareholder.

After thinking it over, Zhang Mingcan quickly understood.

Looking at the smiling young man in front of me, whose still somewhat immature face seemed to have transformed into the God of Wealth at this moment.

Am I going to follow in Lao Zhang's footsteps and expand production?

Is this what they call "when one person attains enlightenment, even their chickens and dogs ascend to heaven"?

(End of this chapter)