In the laboratory of Anhe Institute of Technology, Li Linguang pointed at a strange-looking piece of equipment in front of him and sighed to Qin Hai.
"Both Lao Li and I underestimated the difficulty of this technology. Alas, I am ashamed to say that we built more than a dozen prototypes. The most expensive one cost more than 500,000 yuan. In the end, it proved that we took a detour.
"An old professor standing with Li Linguang also said to Qin Hai apologetically. This person is Professor Yue Kun from the Department of Mechanical Engineering, who is considered a master in mechanical design.
Qin Hai handed over the task of developing the thermal spraying process to Li Linguang, and allocated 200,000 yuan in research funds in the early stage. At that time, Li Linguang thought that the money was too much and completely unnecessary. Unexpectedly, as soon as the research began, Li Linguang discovered that money is really a kind of money.
Things that were not used. The initial 200,000 yuan was spent within a few days. Song Hongxuan urgently allocated 2 million yuan. Not long after, he spent all the money again, which made Li Linguang feel confused and didn't know what to do.
Explain to Qin Hai.
In fact, Qin Hai is fully prepared for the expenses required to research this process. Foreign countries spend tens of millions of dollars to develop the thermal spray process. Qin Hai has the advantage of foresight and can avoid some of the costs.
It's a needless waste, but some necessary steps still have to be taken. Just by walking through them this time, you won't be able to stop without a few million yuan.
Regarding the principles of thermal spraying technology, Qin Hai explained it very clearly to Li Linguang. What Li Linguang has to do is to cooperate with Yue Kun to create a spraying equipment and turn the principles into actual production capacity.
Huge expenses are spent on manufacturing equipment. Thermal spraying uses high temperature and high pressure generated by the combustion of fuel in a closed container to push the spraying material to be sprayed onto the substrate to form a coating. Therefore, the spraying equipment must have high temperature resistance and
The ability to withstand high pressure and the ability to finely control the spray jet. The complexity is self-evident.
Li Linguang and Yue Kun initially tried to use ordinary materials to make spray guns based on the principle of spending less and doing more. However, they found that the spray gun deformed after only a few uses, and even almost caused a burst accident. Later, they began to use
High-end alloy materials are processed with imported precision processing equipment, and the equipment cost rises linearly.
When Li Linguang spent the first 200,000 yuan, he felt very uneasy and explained it to Qin Hai repeatedly on the phone. Qin Hai just laughed and told Li Linguang that this was all expected. The actual cost would probably be higher.
It is 10 times or 20 times higher than this number, so let Li Linguang go ahead and do it.
A year ago, Qin Hai would not have had the confidence to let Li Linguang spend money. In the past year, due to the continuous development of the production of Pingyuan Special Steel Plant and Bei Er Steel, Qin Hai has earned thousands of dollars.
With a profit of 10,000 yuan, he already has the ability to attack certain technical problems. Li Linguang's experiments cost several million yuan. But Qin Hai was not nervous. He knew that the returns from these experiments would be far greater than the initial investment.
Several other enterprises owned by Qin Hai, including Qujiang Cement Factory, Quwu Industrial Ceramics Factory, Dongyao Plastic Factory and Haijie Technology Company, are still in the early stages of development. Although they have some profits, they are only enough for their own use.
The expansion of reproduction cannot yet provide financial support to Qin Hai. However, Qin Hai has enough patience to wait for these companies to grow up slowly. What he has to do in the future is far more complicated than designing a thermal spray equipment and requires
The funding is also a hundred times or even a thousand times the current investment scale.
With Qin Hai's support, Li Linguang became bolder and began to manufacture the second and third equipment. The cost continued to rise, but the progress was also very obvious. The durability of the equipment was improved, and the spraying effect was also continuously improved.
Qin Hai asked Leng Yuming to send a large number of rotary tillage blades from Qingfeng Factory for Li Linguang to conduct experiments.
After experiments, Li Linguang found that after spraying the titanium nitride coating, the wear resistance of the rotary tiller blades was greatly improved, reaching more than three times that of the surfacing process. In other words, if the original process can make the blades more durable
If the service life reaches 1,200 acres, then the spraying process can at least make it reach more than 3,600 acres.
"Xiao Qin, we succeeded!" Li Linguang said excitedly to Qin's poster on the phone.
"How is the uniformity of the coating? Can the stability of the spraying quality be guaranteed? Can the cost of a single piece be reduced to no more than 150% of the surfacing process? How is the durability of the spraying equipment..." Qin Hai was not impressed by Li Linguang's news.
.He put forward a series of new requirements to Li Linguang.
"This..." Li Linguang was a little embarrassed. These questions raised by Qin Hai were all their weaknesses. The quality of the workpieces they processed was not stable. The wear resistance of good quality and poor quality differed several times, almost a little.
It means to rely on heaven for food.
"Xiao Qin, if we want to improve the stability of quality, the spraying equipment needs to be improved and a module for automatically adjusting the workpiece must be added. The cost of the equipment may increase by hundreds of thousands..." Li Linguang reminded timidly.
"I asked Lao Song to allocate another 2 million to you." Qin Hai said loudly.
Qin Hai knows that in the field of material science, the laboratory application of a technology is not complicated. The most difficult part is to transform laboratory results into production technology. The relevant principles of thermal spraying are known to Qin Hai and can be used in
It is not surprising that the wear resistance of blades is increased by 3 times in the laboratory. If their research is limited to this stage, they may be able to produce a few world-leading academic papers, but they will not be able to form a profitable industry. For papers, at least Qin
Hai is not interested, what he wants is the huge business opportunities brought by this craft.
Li Linguang can no longer remember how much money he spent. He only knows that his concept of money has become more and more indifferent. 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, 400,000... The manufacturing cost of equipment has doubled.
But the process requirements proposed by Qin Hai are getting closer and closer. This time, he invited Qin Hai to Hongze to let Qin Hai see the latest equipment they manufactured.
"This equipment is the 22nd version we have designed. It can adapt to the surface spraying of various shapes of workpieces. The coating is firm and uniform. The spraying speed can reach 4 seconds per workpiece, and the service life exceeds 1 million pieces...
"Li Linguang introduced the technical performance of the new thermal spray machine to Qin Hai.
"What's the cost?" Qin Hai asked.
"It's about 600,000, but if mass production can be achieved, the cost can be reduced further." Yue Kun interjected from the side. He is engaged in machinery and knows the cost of equipment best.
"It's too ugly..." Qin Hai stared at the equipment and shook his head. All the equipment used in this kind of laboratory is simple and simple, and there is no pursuit of appearance at all. However, this seems to be appropriate.
There is a saying in later generations: a countryman is not a countryman, but his combat power is five. The cutting-edge equipment produced by Chinese enterprises all have a strong countryman flavor.
"Xiao Qin, the equipment is just for use. What's the point of looking good or not?" Li Linguang disagreed with Qin Hai's point of view. In his opinion, this equipment is full of rugged beauty and has such excellent performance.
Is there anything else you’re not satisfied with?
Qin Hai ignored Li Linguang and directly told Yue Kun: "Professor Yue, please continue to improve this machine. To improve its automation level, the appearance also needs to be redesigned, especially if it is suitable for Europe and the United States."
The needs of the nation’s factories.”
"European and American countries?" Yue Kun was stunned, "Xiao Qin, do you mean to say that you plan to sell this equipment to European and American countries?"
"Why not?" Qin Hai asked with a smile, "Professor Yue, we are already at the forefront of the world in thermal spraying. Once the news gets out, manufacturers from all over the world will have to buy equipment from us. I
You can’t go to someone with a piece of equipment like this and ask for $1 million, right?”
"One million U.S. dollars!" Li Linguang stuck out his tongue, "Xiao Qin, you really dare to make an offer. Just now Lao Yue said that this equipment is only 600,000 yuan, even if we add a cover to it to make it beautiful
You can't sell it for $1 million, right? If you bid $200,000, I think it's a huge profit."
Qin Hai hated the iron and said: "Mr. Li, if you just calculate the cost of the equipment, isn't our patented technology valuable? You know very well how useful thermal spraying is, and you can't even describe it by turning stone into gold.
Is that an exaggeration? As the owner of the patent and the only equipment manufacturer, if we don’t sell it at a high price now, how long will it take?”
"I think it makes sense." Yue Kun came to his senses first. He patted Li Linguang on the shoulder and said, "Old Li, think about it. We buy experimental equipment from abroad. A small analyzer costs a lot."
How many materials can be used for ten thousand dollars? Why, isn’t it just because they have the technology? Now that we also have the technology, if we don’t sell it to them for a hundred or two hundred dollars, wouldn’t we be at a loss?”
Qin Hai clapped his hands and said: "That's right, what Professor Yue said is on point. We have always bought other people's things and let them be slaughtered. Now that we have the technology, it is time to cut off all the meat from others.
Teacher Li, Professor Yue, you two will work hard for a few more days to continue improving the equipment.
After a while, I organized students to draw the drawings, and I was ready to find a company for mass production. When the International Farming Equipment Expo is over, our thermal spraying process will definitely be an instant hit. By then, we will be waiting for foreign manufacturers to rush to buy it.
Our thermal spray machine is ready.”
"Okay!" Li Linguang said excitedly, "Hearing Xiao Qin say this, I felt at ease. I spent so much money in front of it, and I feel a little sad. If our equipment can be sold for 1 million US dollars per unit, it will
With two or three units, all the initial investment has been recouped, and the rest is the net profit, which is so good to make!”
PS: I had a meeting all day and didn’t get home until 10pm... I have another meeting during the day tomorrow.