Material Empire

"Do you understand this plan? The proposals in this plan are all new products that fill the gap in our country's agricultural machinery. There is no similarity!" Huang Wan'an was anxious. In his opinion, this young man in his early 20s is simply arrogant to the extreme, and he really doesn't regard himself as a beast as an authority.

"Professor Huang, don't get excited, let Xiao Qin finish. Young people are sometimes impulsive when speaking, but what we advocate is to speak freely, so let Xiao Qin finish first, and discuss what everyone thinks is inappropriate." Cui Hongchun He spoke, on the surface it seemed to be persuading a fight, but anyone could tell that the minister was obviously favoring this young man.

Qin Hai's words seemed very abrupt in such a meeting, but it made Cui Hongchun's eyes shine. Regarding the plan submitted by Wang Changsong, while Cui Hongchun was satisfied, he also faintly felt some indescribable deficiencies. He had carefully read the plan several times before the meeting, trying to find some existing problems, but after looking around, he couldn't find any obvious flaws. The plan was written very comprehensively. Everything that Cui Hongchun could think of had been covered in the plan. Even if some places were still worth discussing, they were just some minor flaws, not major flaws.

Qin Hai's speech awakened Cui Hongchun all of a sudden. He quickly reviewed the whole plan in his mind, only to realize that the lack he felt before was actually precisely because the plan was too perfect, so perfect that there was nothing new. , there is no essential difference from previous plans for similar actions.

To use an analogy, this plan is like a study plan written by a child: this semester I will study Chinese well, this semester I will study mathematics well, this semester I will study English well...every aspect has been written , it looks perfect, but after careful consideration, I found that I didn't say anything, it was just nonsense.

Qin Hai is right, if such a plan can make China's agricultural machinery catch up with the world's advanced level, then this goal should have been achieved 10 years ago.

The authorities are fascinated, Cui Hongchun thought in his heart, with this in mind, he prevented Huang Wanan from blaming Qin Hai, and signaled Qin Hai to continue talking.

Qin Hai smiled and nodded to everyone, as if to express his apology, and then continued: "Professor Huang said just now that the products proposed in this plan are all new products that fill the gap in agricultural machinery in our country. From the surface From the looks of it, this is indeed the case. For example, my country currently only has four-row suspension cultivators, and this plan proposes the development of six-row cultivators, which fills the gap in this aspect in our country.

But, let's think about it, is the gap between my country's agricultural machinery and the international advanced level really reflected in the four and six elements? I saw a statistic in a document that in terms of farming machinery, we have been able to manufacture 80% of the models owned by foreign countries, and at worst we can imitate them. However, what do you think is the gap between my country's farming machinery and foreign countries? Is it just the difference between 80% and 100%? "

"This...it's really not." Zhu Deqin replied in a naive manner, "Take our factory's imitation of the American disc weeder as an example. Our disc diameter, entry angle, advance angle, width of the seedling protection belt, etc. , are similar to products made in the United States, but... the quality is completely incomparable."

"Why?" Cui Hongchun interjected, he has already heard the problem, but Zhu Deqin still needs to say it himself.

"Minister Cui, you know that our counterfeit disc weeder is completely similar to the American product in appearance, but the average service life of others is 6 years, and we can't even reach 3 years. The quality of the disc blades does not matter. For example, our quality of universal joints and hinges is not comparable to that of American products, that is to say, the price can be a little cheaper, otherwise we won’t be able to sell them at all.” Zhu Detai said without hesitation.

"Yeah, our machinery is mainly because the service life is not as good as others, and the others are fine."

"Don't blow it up, what about fuel consumption? Compared with others, our tractor's fuel consumption is at least 50% higher."

"Is the noise also counted? We have tried the French equipment, it is quiet, and you can listen to music in the cab."

"..."

With Zhu Detai's start, others also spoke one after another, and began to enumerate the defects of domestic equipment. Everyone is engaged in agricultural machinery, and everyone has a better understanding of what is wrong with domestic agricultural machinery than Qin Hai. Speaking of sadness, everyone sighed one by one, saying that the gap with foreign countries is really desperate.

"What everyone said is very good." Qin Hai raised his voice and suppressed everyone's discussion, then smiled slightly and asked: "Everyone has just said that we can imitate imported equipment, but the imitated products don't matter. The appearance is similar to imported equipment, but the quality is not the same. That is to say, the gap between us and foreign countries is not reflected in the specific models, but in the quality of each kind of machinery.

However, in the action plan we see now, there is no mention of how to improve the quality of agricultural machinery. Let me ask, if we use this low-quality imitation method to fill in the so-called gaps, will the gap between us and foreign countries be shortened even if it is filled? "

Everyone in the audience was dumb.

Once upon a time, from the competent government departments to the production enterprises, they were all keen to hype the concept of "filling in the blank". Seeing that foreigners can make such-and-such equipment, so I bought one back, disassembled it, surveyed and copied it part by part, and then assembled the same equipment and showed it to the superior department: this is ourselves. The production of such-and-such equipment, the history that our country cannot manufacture such-and-such equipment, is gone forever.

However, everyone knows that such counterfeit products cannot reach the quality of the original products at all. Whether it is energy consumption, noise, precision, or service life, they are far behind imported equipment. The reason is nothing more than the difference in craftsmanship and materials, which cannot be made up by counterfeit methods.

The so-called layman watches the excitement, and the insider watches the way. The public and superior leaders do not understand these complex performance indicators. What they can see is only the appearance of the product. You can imitate the product, start it up and turn it a few times, and the leader will be delighted. As for the shaft in the machine after these few turns has worn out, the accuracy can no longer be guaranteed. How can the leader have so much time to care about it?

Such a cultural atmosphere directly leads to the tendency of focusing on products and ignoring materials and craftsmanship from top to bottom, and also makes the gap between China and foreign countries in terms of craftsmanship and materials wider and wider.

As a material scientist, Qin Hai has a deep understanding of this problem. He discovered this fatal flaw in the plan drawn up by Wang Changsong and others, so he exposed it to everyone.

"Xiao Qin, in your opinion, what should be the focus of this plan?" Cui Hongchun first broke the silence, and began to humbly ask Qin Hai for advice.

Qin Hai replied without hesitation: "It's very simple, just six words: new materials, new techniques."

"New materials, new techniques..." Everyone in the audience silently recited the six words Qin Hai said. For Qin Hai, they no longer had any intention of being contemptuous, but rather had a hint of awe.

"I think that during the period of the Seventh Five-Year Plan and the Eighth Five-Year Plan, the most important task of the agricultural machinery system is not to launch many new models of agricultural machinery products. This kind of low-level imitation is not enough to comprehensively improve the level of agricultural machinery technology in our country. We should put the main Focus on the research and development of new materials and new processes, and strive to significantly improve the quality of our existing agricultural machinery, and the quality of some agricultural machinery can reach the world's advanced level." Qin Hai explained.

"Qin Gong, can you give an example?" Zhu Detai asked.

Qin Haidao: "Yes, let me tell you about the rotary tillage blades produced by Qingfeng Agricultural Machinery Factory in Anhe Province. You must have heard that the service life of our rotary tillage blades has reached the average level of similar products in Japan, thus It entered the Japanese market, and last year the export volume reached 1 million pieces, earning 400 million yen in foreign exchange for the country.

So, why can our rotary tillage blades achieve such quality? In fact, it is very simple, that is, we have used a new high-frequency surfacing process in production, and at the same time improved the quality of the blade steel. A new material, combined with a new process, makes our blades stand out. "

"Can this kind of craft...can be taught to us?" Zhu Detai couldn't wait to send out an offer. The product they produced was a disc weeder, and the disc cutter head was one of the consumable parts. The wear principle of the disc blade is exactly the same as that of the rotary tiller blade, and the technology used on the rotary tiller blade can also be transplanted to the disc cutter head for use.

Qin Hai laughed and said, "It's absolutely fine...as long as you can afford the fee."

"That's very embarrassing... Hey, you still charge fees?" Before Zhu Detai finished speaking, Qin Hai had already said about the fees, which made Zhu Detai take a breath.

"Of course there is a fee." Qin Hai said confidently, "Technology is the primary productive force, and of course there is a fee for productivity. Otherwise, who would be interested in developing new technologies?"

"Everyone is an enterprise of the state..." Zhu Detai argued unhappily.

"Director Zhu, Xiao Qin, the matter between you will be discussed after the meeting." Cui Hongchun hurriedly interrupted. The two of them didn't care about the occasion. It's really humiliating to talk about the price in such a meeting place. Sven. After stopping Zhu and Qin, Cui Hongchun began to say to everyone seriously:

"Comrades, the opinions that Comrade Qin Hai gave us just now are very pertinent, very valuable, and very timely. Over the years, we only focused on the development of new products, but seriously neglected the research of new materials and new processes, which made our The products look exactly the same as those of foreign countries, but the quality is very different. Professor Chen was right just now, this is the real technological gap between us and foreign countries, and this is what we should give priority to in our action plan The key work of status.

Please keep in mind that during the Seventh Five-Year Plan and the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, the key work of our agricultural machinery system is these six words: new materials, new techniques! "