Tech giants start by disassembling systems

Chapter 99 The Factory

Late February. Hongyuan's new factory in Dongguan was located in a prime location in Songshan Lake.

The new factory has a clear positioning—specializing in the production of Hongyuan's industrial-grade and future commercial-grade products, with an annual production capacity of 90,000 units (including 300,000 flight control modules per year). It covers a total area of ​​150 acres.

The Longhua headquarters will continue to focus on the final assembly and core R&D of the consumer-grade F4/F5.

Such a division of labor is necessary. Industrial-grade products have much more complex structures than consumer-grade products, and require higher flexibility in assembly lines and higher precision in quality control. Putting them all in one factory would cause mutual interference.

Ground construction at the new factory began in mid-February. Zhou Ming personally oversaw the final review of the design drawings. Construction is expected to be completed by August. Equipment will be delivered in October, with commissioning scheduled for the end of the year. Small-scale trial production will begin in January of next year. This parallel progress will not affect operations at the Longhua headquarters.

Meanwhile, another thing started happening at the Longhua headquarters—more and more people were coming to visit and learn from the outside world.

There are delegations from state-owned enterprises. There are inspection groups from universities. There are visiting groups organized by industry associations. There are also industry investors. Occasionally, there are also research groups from government departments. The pace starts five times a week.

Su Chen has always been open to such visits since the company was first established. As long as it doesn't affect production lines and R&D, he doesn't refuse them. In recent years, as Hongyuan's name has become more prominent in the industry, more and more people have signed up to visit.

Two weeks ago, the administration department had to start queuing. They receive ten to fifteen people daily. There's a priority system—companies with industry cooperation intentions are prioritized. Otherwise, they are processed according to the order in which official letters are received.

At 9:00 AM on February 12th, the visiting group gathered in the headquarters lobby. There were six people in total. One was a representative from Liuzhou Xinyang Machinery Factory in Guangxi Province, surnamed Jian, named Jian Dehua. Another was a technical researcher from a military enterprise in Hunan Province. A third was the deputy chief engineer from a research and development company under Sinopec, surnamed Zhu. A fourth was a professor of automation from a university. A fifth was a representative from a state-owned enterprise in Anhui Province supplying downstream UAVs. Finally, a sixth was a technical observer from AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China).

Jian Dehua was the most low-key person in the queue. This was the fourth time he had submitted an application to visit his machinery factory. The first three times, he was put on the waiting list three months later because his priority was not high enough. This time, he was able to get in because he stated in his application that "the factory is experiencing operational difficulties, and the state-owned enterprise where it is located may be able to be restructured." Considering this a special case, he was given priority.

Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu was the most high-profile in the queue. He works for a research and development company under Sinopec. Last year, his company began researching the potential application of drones in Sinopec's own pipeline inspection business. Lai Hongyuan was part of the inspection team.

Hongyuan's reception manager, surnamed Guan, arrived in the lobby at exactly nine o'clock. After introducing himself, he began explaining the tour rules.

"When you reach the higher cleanliness levels of our production line, please do not use notes. Take notes by sight and observation. You can add notes after leaving these areas. Please do not take photos in areas marked 'No Photography Allowed.' I will clearly inform you of any areas where photography is permitted."

Everyone nodded. Among them, Zhu, the deputy chief engineer of Sinopec, snorted.

"Fancy and overly complicated."

The sound wasn't loud, but everyone around heard it.

Jian Dehua turned his head directly.

"Engineer Zhu, we're here to learn. You haven't made any progress, so why are you spouting fancy nonsense?"

These words carried more weight than Jian Dehua had anticipated. His factory had been putting up with this for a long time. He had seen Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu's "objectively putting on airs" many times during exchanges with other people in the industry.

Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu gave a soft "hmm." Her eyes held a hint of sharpness.

"Xiao Jian. I've worked in the oil industry for thirty years. I've visited the factories of Samsung and Nokia. I've even been to the original assembly plant of Phuket in Denmark. None of these factories have so many rules. A drone assembly plant—restricted shooting areas, no photography allowed, and a level three cleanliness standard. What is this if not a bunch of fancy stuff?"

Manager Guan's face turned cold.

"Mr. Zhu," her voice was low but her tone remained firm, "if you feel there's nothing worth learning here, you don't have to go in. There's a startup from Zhejiang on the waiting list for tomorrow. I can seamlessly replace them immediately."

"You—" Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu subconsciously took a step forward.

Another technical observer from AVIC waved his hand at this moment. "Engineer Zhu, let's stop fooling around. Since you're here, take a serious look."

Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu was taken aback by the involvement of AVIC Group. He did not admit his mistake in person, but he also remained silent.

Manager Guan's expression softened somewhat. She added softly, "So please come in. We don't talk about what we see in big factories—it's unimaginable. But as long as you look carefully, you're sure to gain something."

Su Chen heard about this about an hour after the tour group left the Longhua headquarters.

Manager Guan went into his office to report on today's visit. He mentioned Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu's matter.

"President Su, was I too harsh back then? After they came out, they thought our reporters were just mimicking others."

"Not at all." Su Chen's tone was calm. "Zhu's flamboyant remarks before entering the factory had dampened the atmosphere of the visiting group. If they hadn't responded, the other four would have been affected by that atmosphere. What you said broke that dampened the atmosphere. Zhu fell silent, and the other four were no longer in that mood. They could now focus on their work."

Manager Guan didn't say anything more.

"During the visit, there was Jian Dehua from Liuzhou Xinyang Machinery Factory in Guangxi Province—you gave me his business card. He seemed to be the only person there who took notes seriously."

"good."

Manager Guan walked out of the office. Su Chen took the photo on the table to the window. It was taken the day before at the construction site in Dongguan. In the remote mountain village of Guancun, the land was still covered with tree pillows with horizontal stripes. The entire area was filled with osmanthus trees.

This construction site will become Hongyuan's third factory. The leaky little workshop he inherited three and a half years ago when he was reborn is still in Longhua, but it's nothing special now. The second factory is a standardized production base in Zhangjiang Town, Pishan Lake. The third factory will be this new square in Songshan Lake.

He thought of Dehua.

A representative from a state-owned machinery factory in Liuzhou, Guangxi Province, applied four times. This time, he squeezed in using "factory operational difficulties" as his primary reason. When Deputy Chief Engineer Zhu made a rather elaborate remark, he proactively added a sentence to maintain the serious atmosphere of the visiting group.

A person who can maintain respect for the scene even in the most difficult times.

This type of person would likely be a mid-level manager in a state-owned enterprise. They might not have much room for advancement within the state-owned enterprise environment. However, in a private company like Hongyuan—someone like them might have different opportunities.

Su Chen didn't make a decision immediately. He just wanted to get to know this person first.

Half an hour later, Manager Guan handed over Jian Dehua's business card. The card read: "Representative of Young Technical Personnel, Liuzhou Xinyang Machinery Manufacturing Plant. Jian Dehua. Telephone. Email." Next to it was a handwritten note: "Hopefully, you can take what you've learned at Hongyuan back with you. If you can't—our factory will probably officially close down."

Su Chen stared at that line of text for ten seconds.

He didn't record it on his phone. He hadn't decided how to use it yet. But he placed the business card in a folder on the table. The folder was labeled: People worth further observation.

It was already dark outside. There was also the H-Link project that Ni had just discussed with Xu Lang on the phone. Xu Lang would send over the list of the RF team from AVIC Research tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, he and Fang Xu would begin drafting the H-Link project proposal.

He picked up the phone and called Wu Zheng.

"Mr. Wu, let's have a meeting tomorrow morning. Preliminary technical considerations for the H-Link project."

"H-Link?"

"A dedicated low-altitude communication module. I thought about it all night. I need you and Liu Yu to start considering the technical framework."

"Okay." There was no doubt in Wu Zheng's voice. This was loyalty. Since he joined Hongyuan, every time Su Chen proposed a new project, Wu Zheng was always the first to answer the phone without question.

Su Chen hung up the phone. He pulled back the curtain.

The new year has begun. The third factory. The fourth strategic line. The H-Link project. The acquisition of a high-end integrator. Testing of the F5. The official onboarding of Xu Lang and Wu Zheng.

Everything is progressing.

He turned off the office lights.