Rebirth 2004: I can make money by writing.

Two days later, provincial government leader Liu Haiyang and a group of more than ten people visited Future Technology Group for an inspection.

Hao Qiang and two senior leaders welcomed and accompanied him throughout the trip.

The first stop of the visit is the group’s future automobile manufacturing plant.

As soon as you enter the automobile factory, the spacious and clean production workshop gives you an extremely modern and technological impression.

Every piece of production equipment in the workshop operates in tacit coordination, completing each process link accurately and efficiently.

"Mr. Luo, what is your current monthly production capacity?" Liu Haiyang asked Luo Hao, the general manager of Future Auto, who was walking next to him and introducing him.

Luo Hao said: "Leader, keep it between 3.3 and 3.5 vehicles, the production capacity is almost saturated.

Of course, if we work overtime frequently, it would not be a problem to reach a monthly production capacity of 4 vehicles, but we did not do that.

If we cannot reach production capacity, we will expand rather than achieve it through overtime.

By the middle of next year, the third phase of the automobile factory will be operational.”

The total annual production capacity of the first and second phases of the future automobile industry will be approximately 40 vehicles, and currently only a small portion of it is exported.

As the price of automotive lithium batteries drops and their range increases, the increasing number of supercharging stations brings more convenient charging, and national income continues to increase, sales of new energy vehicles are experiencing a huge explosion.

The production capacity of future automobile factories will not be able to meet market demand.

Correspondingly, sales of fuel vehicles from brands such as BBA have plummeted.

“Well, how many employees are there at the car factory now?”

"Including front-line sales and after-sales staff, there are about 12,000 people, and more than 5,000 production staff."

"Everyone says that Future Technology Group's employees are paid well, but how much does an average worker at Future Automotive earn in a month?"

"The annual comprehensive salary is about 7 to 9 yuan, which is still far less than that of R&D personnel. We automatically increase employees' salaries every year instead of asking them to apply for them." What Luo Hao didn't say is that ordinary employees have to work more overtime. Ordinary workers have odd and even days off, while R&D personnel have two days off a week.

In terms of working hours, Future Technology Group has no advantages compared with some large overseas companies or domestic public institutions.

For example, being a civil servant in a certain unit means working six and a half hours a day, with two days off, and very flexible working hours. You can take leave whenever you want, and your salary won’t be deducted, and you don’t have to worry about being laid off.

For front-line workers, especially those with families, they would rather work overtime and get more pay than get less pay and work less overtime.

As for young people, they would rather earn less money than work overtime.

"It's very good for ordinary employees to earn more than 70,000 yuan, after all, your company has good benefits. Nowadays, ordinary workers in many factories can't even make 3,000 yuan a month, and their food and accommodation are not good."

"In terms of welfare, the group implements equal treatment for everyone." Luo Hao said cautiously.

Of course, it is impossible to be completely fair and just. The senior executives can get villas, but ordinary employees have to buy houses with their own money.

Everyone talked as they walked, with Luo Hao mainly introducing the leaders.

At the warehouse center, the leaders saw the latest digital warehousing system. The ground was laid out with pre-paths for automatic handling robots (AGVs, automated guided vehicles). Both sides of the pre-paths were marked with easy-to-identify navigation labels such as magnetic strips and QR codes. AGVs use lidar or vision for identification, and can accurately locate their position in the factory or warehouse. They can also plan the optimal path to avoid obstacles and other AGV robots.

"Mr. Luo, how do these transport robots work?" asked a government leader.

Luo Hao explained: "In practical applications, AGVs are usually managed by a central control system or scheduling software. When an item needs to be moved, the system assigns tasks to the AGV based on real-time task requirements, determining the item's transportation route and schedule."

"Oh, I see there are no wires on this car. It uses a lithium battery, right?"

"Yes. In practical applications, AGVs are usually managed by a central control system or scheduling software. When an item needs to be moved, the system assigns tasks to the AGV based on real-time task requirements and determines the item's transportation route and schedule."

"This is very advanced. It's the first time I've seen it. It can be regarded as the first intelligent warehousing system used in China, right?" a government leader exclaimed.

Hao Qiang smiled and nodded in response, "You could say that although we are the first domestic application, in fact, there are also some companies using similar technology. For example, the storage system of Jingdong Mall was installed by our company."

He went on to explain: “In fact, the automated warehousing system itself is not a special technology. The key lies in the investment cost and the complexity of management.

As the cost of vision technology, chips and lithium batteries gradually decreases, many companies will apply similar technologies.

However, to achieve full automation, each item needs to be affixed with a QR code, which brings a lot of workload.

Furthermore, some items that are not suitable for QR codes can only be transported by whole box or pallet. Although this improves efficiency, it still has certain limitations.”

Hearing this, several leaders nodded in understanding.

Luo Hao added: "This intelligent warehousing system was actually proposed by our chairman, and he solved the core technical problems.

Although he believes this is not a technical problem, it is indeed a huge challenge for other R&D personnel."

"Haha, what Mr. Hao considers advanced isn't considered advanced, but it's already considered cutting-edge technology internationally," Liu Haiyang said with a smile. "If he says it's advanced, then the technology is definitely two or three generations ahead of its international peers, just like your lithography machines."

These words made the people around them smile knowingly.

Everyone has different standards. According to Hao Qiang's standards, many domestic technologies are not worth mentioning.

Hao Qiang smiled and said, "Our company uses a highly intelligent production system, big data and AI technology to monitor every link in the production process in real time, ensuring that every step from parts production to vehicle assembly is completed to the highest standards.

We also hope that domestic automotive peers will apply these technologies to help them upgrade their technology.

Currently, BiaDi is referencing our system and it is expected to be put into use in a few months.”

He then explained how to optimize production efficiency through precise control algorithms and how to use advanced robots and artificial intelligence technologies to achieve refined production of each car.

When it comes to algorithms and artificial intelligence, Hao Qiang's explanation is relatively simple, and some leaders with low knowledge levels cannot understand him and feel that he is impressive.

After a while, everyone came to the control system control center. Through real-time monitoring, they could observe that in the workshop, intelligent equipment and automated production lines were operating alternately, forming a precisely coordinated picture.

The precise movements of each automated robotic arm silently speak of Future Technology Group's profound accumulation in the field of intelligent manufacturing.

As the visit progressed, the leaders spoke highly of the degree of modernization of future automobile factories and the technological advantages of intelligent manufacturing.

Then, several leaders visited the most mysterious chip factory of Future Technology Group.

Today, chip factories have achieved automated production, and core equipment is tightly wrapped and highly confidential.

In order to ensure the absolute safety and confidentiality of the production process, non-relevant staff are strictly prohibited from entering the internal area of ​​the equipment.

For this visit, although the government leaders had the opportunity to see the overall operation of the chip factory, not every leader was able to enter every area for a detailed tour.

Even if they were able to gain access, they would not be able to see the specific information of the device, nor would they be able to obtain overly sensitive technical details or internal confidential information.

In this highly confidential environment, the Group always adheres to the principle of minimizing exposure and strives to protect its core technologies and confidential information to the best of its ability.

In fact, for Future Technology Group, even if it is exposed, it will not have any impact on the company.

Industry analysts have speculated that the lithography technology used by the group may be electron beam lithography (EBL) technology, rather than the extreme ultraviolet equipment that is more common in the industry.

Of course, all of this is just speculation, and the top management of Future Technology Group avoided these questions from media reporters.

Competitors cannot see Future Technology Group’s lithography machines, so they are always confused and unable to understand Future Technology Group’s bottom line.

This visit by provincial leaders was reported by local media.

The next day,

未来科技集团发布了车载芯片8134的市场定价——2200美元，而原本定价为2000美元的8124则降至1200美元。

Typically, automotive chips are not sold individually, but are packaged together with other key technology products.

Regardless, the pricing of 8134 is still quite affordable, attracting inquiries and cooperation from peers in the global automotive industry.

Although Future Technology Group has a certain degree of competition with other automakers, the world's most advanced automotive chips now belong to this company.

For automotive peers, this is undoubtedly an extremely embarrassing situation - if they choose not to purchase chips from Future Technology Group, the competitiveness of their own cars will be greatly reduced, which will directly affect their market share.

Many car manufacturers feel helpless, uncomfortable and aggrieved about this.

After Future Technology Group announced the pricing, the market quickly fell into huge fluctuations and controversy.

Immediately afterwards, Gaotong Company issued a stern accusation, directly pointing out that Future Technology Group used its leading edge in the field of technology to manipulate market prices and was suspected of monopolistic behavior.

Gaotong Company clearly stated that this practice has seriously affected fair competition in the market and caused unfair market intervention.

"FU*KtheHAO!" John, CEO of Gaotong Company, cursed in the office.

Apart from scolding his competitors, he had no other good solution.

I guess the accusation won't have much effect. It's not the first time Gao Tong has done this. It will only make him look weak and incompetent.

But we have to admit that Future Technology Group is better than them.

At the same time, automotive chip manufacturers such as Bosch, Interchip, Texas Instruments, and NXP have also come forward to express their protest.

Many people believe that Future Technology Group is no longer just technologically out of reach. Its strong pricing power and control over the industrial chain have also enabled it to gradually gain a market dominance that cannot be ignored.

After all, Future Technology Group's chips are far ahead of its peers.

Although the pricing of 8134 is already the highest in the industry, the price of 8124 dropped too much at once, leaving other mid-range automotive chips with no price advantage at all. The impact was so great that they had to adopt a price reduction strategy to deal with it, which undoubtedly greatly reduced the profit margins of their peers.

Shortly after these international semiconductor peers protested, Future Technology Group stated: "The profit margins for automotive chips are very large. High pricing is not conducive to the healthy development of the automotive industry and is also reaping the benefits of consumers. We recommend that global peers continue to lower prices."

After the news was announced, Future Technology Group quickly won the support of people around the world.

It’s not that Future Technology Group sells cheaply, but that the price is too high.

But no matter what, these semiconductor peers still receive support at the national level. Any products carrying Future Technology Group chips will be subject to additional import tariffs when entering the country.

However, in the mid-to-high-end markets in China and Southeast Asia, automotive chips from companies such as Bosch, Interchip, Texas Instruments, and NXP are completely uncompetitive.

At the same time, Future Motors announced the pricing of a new model of its car. The price of the car equipped with 8124 continued to drop, while the price of the car equipped with 8134 increased slightly.