A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

"Oh dear, Uncle Wang, we can't talk like this anymore! If my master hears this, he'll beat me to death!"

Jiangxia complained repeatedly.

"Ha, what are you afraid of? Your master can't even fix cars! You're better than him at that!"

"If you can't handle it, just come to our transport team and get your vehicles fixed. Isn't that better than you running around in and out of the workshop?"

Wang Tiezhu waved his hand dismissively.

As the head of the transport team, he certainly had the confidence to say that.

You have to understand that truck drivers are the top figures in the factory; if they're not handled properly, even the workshop foreman won't give them a second thought.

After all, the steel ingots needed for production all have to be brought back from the steel mill by them. If you have a conflict with them, they can just say their car broke down on the way.

This would put the workshop director, who urgently needed to complete production tasks, in a very difficult position.

However, Wang Tiezhu greatly admired Jiang Xia.

Compared to other technicians, Jiangxia is skilled, capable, and doesn't complain.

If a car breaks down, Jiang Xia can fix it pretty well in a few minutes. What about other technicians?

If you don't serve them good cigarettes and tea, they won't even lift their eyelids.

Jiang Xia shook his head after hearing what Wang Tiezhu said and looked towards Uncle Jiang.

Wang Tiezhu knew what he was upset about, and sighed, "I told the brothers to try their best to get closer to the workshop, but there's no way. The workshop door is only so high, and we can't back it in any further..."

Jiang Xia nodded gratefully: "I understand, Uncle Wang."

Wang Tiezhu patted him on the shoulder, "Come help me keep an eye on the car when you have time. I'm never comfortable with someone else doing it!"

"A couple of days ago, a car couldn't brake and plunged off a cliff near the large parts factory!"

"Poor thing, you just had a baby~~"

An experienced worker nearby chimed in, "Hey! Foreman, we should have Xiao Jiang take a look at all our vehicles. You forgot? We have a batch of steel pipes to deliver to the water plant in the east next shift!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Tiezhu frowned. "Oh dear, I really forgot. The water plant is a real headache!"

Jiang Xia asked curiously, "The water plant? Is it very far away?"

Wang Tiezhu shook his head: "It's not far, a day shift is enough to make a round trip."

"Yes, there's a downhill section over there, an 8-kilometer-long downhill!"

"It's backed by a mountain on one side and a cliff on the other!"

An 8-kilometer downhill stretch!

Jiang Xia couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. In modern terms, such a long downhill slope would be a section of road that drivers should be wary of.

Not to mention the trucks we have now.

For example, the transport fleet currently uses the Jiefang CA-10 truck, which has a load capacity of 4 tons. It is equipped with a 5.6-liter 6-cylinder engine, with a maximum power of only 90 horsepower.

With an empty weight of 5 tons, a fully loaded vehicle weighs nearly 10 tons.

In addition, given the current situation in China, none of the trucks arrived with proper loads; they were all overweight and exceeded weight limits.

The driver's motto was: "Carry more and run faster!"

If you only pull a load capacity of a certain tonnage, not only will the factory criticize you, but your colleagues will also laugh their heads off.

Going uphill is no problem; I just step on the gas and floor it. Going downhill, however, is a different story—I can't brake in time!

Currently, the only driver in the entire steel rolling mill who dares to drive this route is Wang Tiezhu, who has twenty years of driving experience.

Wang Tiezhu patted Jiang Xia on the shoulder: "Come and take a look for your uncle in a couple of days. The child is not yet grown up, and we can't afford to let him die!"

Jiang Xia nodded thoughtfully, then unfolded the fault analyzer and scanned the trucks parked nearby.

We just scanned one vehicle and found some minor issues.

At the same time, Jiang Xia also felt a wave of dizziness, so he quickly turned off the scanner and took a breath.

This fault scanner is great in every way, except that it consumes too much energy during scanning!

What is energy?

That's the food Jiangxia ate! The steamed bun he just ate hadn't even been digested yet, and this scanner consumed most of it.

"Okay, I'll go back and draw the circuit diagram for the bending machine right now. The department needs it. I'll come to the transport team tomorrow to take a look!" Jiang Xia shook his head and replied.

Wang Tiezhu was Jiangxia's first benefactor. When he first joined the factory, it was Wang Tiezhu who overruled everyone's objections and allowed Jiangxia to repair a truck for the first time in his life.

It was from this truck that Jiang Xia gradually began to stand out, and eventually gained the favor of his current master, Li Changfu.

Good people shouldn't get into trouble!

Jiang Xia decided not to bother the busy Uncle Jiang any longer. They would just sleep together tonight and figure things out later.

Wang Tiezhu's matter is more urgent; he's leaving in two days... How did later generations solve the problem of overheating brake pads?

Air cooling? Retarder? Exhaust brake?

A retarder is out of the question; not only eddy current retarders, but even hydraulic retarders won't work.

Exhaust braking is only suitable for passenger cars; its braking power is insufficient for trucks.

If it's air-cooled, should I add a few more vents to the brake discs?

It seems feasible, but drilling holes would reduce the overall structural strength. It's a bit of a loss.

Water cooling is feasible, but a circulation channel needs to be established. Besides, there aren't enough small water pumps available now, and the delivery of cooling water is also a problem.

Depend on!

Jiang Xia stopped in his tracks, wanting to slap himself.

Brake water spray system!

Damn it, I've really gone crazy from fixing machines, how come I couldn't think of such a simple method!

Jiangxia stopped and reached into his pocket.

Huh? Where's my laptop?

Oh, Master took it...

Forget it, it's just a water tank, even an apprentice can make it.

Jiang Xia turned back to find Wang Tiezhu, took a twig and drew a simple diagram on the muddy ground, asking him to find someone in the workshop to weld a water tank according to those dimensions.

I made an appointment to help repair the car tomorrow, and then I left in a hurry.

There's no time to lose; haven't you seen Li Changfu already sending people to look for him?

Jiang Xia ran quickly after the person who came, and when he got back to the annex building next to the steel rolling mill office building, he was already a little out of breath.

As a large factory with tens of thousands of employees, the technical department of the steel rolling mill should actually be divided into three departments.

Quality Management Department, Maintenance Department, Research and Development Department.

The most important department at present is the maintenance department, which also has the largest number of people, more than 40, who are mainly responsible for the maintenance and management of all equipment in the factory.

Of course, only 5 or 6 people were qualified to work in the office. The rest were scattered in the maintenance team in the workshop.

The Quality Management Department is responsible for quality management, while the Research and Development Department is responsible for developing new products.

You might not believe it, but why is the most important department in the technical department the maintenance department? Shouldn't it be the research and development department?

At the very least, it should be the quality management department, right?

Haha, classmate. You're unaware of the actual situation, aren't you?

It's important to understand that for a unit like Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill, the stable operation of equipment is the foundation of all production activities. The equipment runs day and night, and this high-intensity work makes it highly susceptible to malfunctions. Once equipment stops, the entire production process halts, resulting in incalculable losses. Therefore, a maintenance department that ensures the equipment's uninterrupted operation is crucial.

The bending machine that Jiangxia repaired is the best example.

Research and development is certainly important, but the development of new products is a long-term process that cannot be accomplished overnight.

Moreover, at this stage, stabilizing existing production and improving production efficiency are the top priorities. While the Quality Management Department controls product quality, how can quality management be effective if equipment malfunctions and production cannot proceed?

So, there were seven or eight people sitting in one large office in the Quality Management Department.

The R&D department was even worse off, with only one lone Level 9 engineer who held the title of deputy section chief. His main job was drawing mechanical blueprints.

Just two days ago, this deputy section chief was transferred by the organization to become a teacher at a vocational school.

The research and development department thus became defunct in name only.