Zhong Wei Technology in Shambles

"What?"

In the Zhong Wei Technology team, Project Director Feng Zhongfa and Business Director Li Bo were both stunned when they heard the bidding results, somewhat unable to believe what they had heard.

Just as they feared, Zhong Wei Technology, ranked second among Oupai's DM manufacturers, had always regarded Hua Long Technology as its biggest competitor, competing everywhere.

A moment ago, they were still discussing how they were sure to win the bid, and now they had been slapped in the face. Hua Long Technology had actually won the bid?

Li Bo was quite annoyed, "Director Feng, didn't you say we would definitely win the bid?"

Feng Zhongfa was extremely embarrassed and replied with a wry smile, "Later, I'll privately ask Director Xiang, the procurement manager of the Oupai client, to see what's going on."

"Hmph!"

Li Bo snorted coldly, then flicked his sleeves and left.

At this time, other companies that had failed the bid also left one after another, leaving only Hua Long Technology's team, as they still needed to interface with the Oupai client team for project initiation and some preliminary matters.

Feng Zhongfa took a deep breath, arranged for his subordinates to return to the company with Li Bo first, while he himself found an opportunity to quietly chat with Xiang Jinbo, the head of procurement at Oupai.

"Director Feng, this was an accident. I also didn't expect Hua Long Technology's quote to be 5 percentage points lower than yours, and they still have profit margin."

Xiang Jinbo said with some apology.

Communicating with Feng Zhongfa and giving this project to Zhong Wei Technology was Xiang Jinbo's private action, but it wasn't just his idea; it was the consensus of various departments within the company. Among all Oupai DM manufacturers, besides Hua Long Technology, it was Zhong Wei Technology. They wouldn't feel comfortable choosing any other company, even though this was just a low-to-mid-range project.

As a low-to-mid-range project, price was the top priority. Hua Long Technology was a large company with extensive operations, so naturally, they couldn't compare with Zhong Wei Technology in terms of cost review. Therefore, before the project bidding, they all predicted that Zhong Wei Technology would get it.

As a result, during the on-site bidding, the price given by Hua Long Technology was actually 5 percentage points lower than Zhong Wei Technology's. This meant they could only choose Hua Long Technology.

There was no other reason. Hua Long Technology was the industry leader, and their price had an advantage. Not choosing them would simply be unreasonable.

Feng Zhongfa felt speechless and couldn't help but ask, "How is that possible? How did they calculate their costs? We tried our best to choose domestic materials."

Xiang Jinbo hesitated for a moment and said, "I looked at Hua Long Technology's materials. Most of them are the same as yours, but the optical-related materials they used are generally much lower-end than the materials your company uses. I estimate the price difference should be in this."

Feng Zhongfa was even more puzzled, "Generally lower-end than our company? Could it be that the optical film they used is a foreign top-tier material? That doesn't make sense. Foreign top-tier materials are extremely expensive, and the cost shouldn't be calculable at all."

Feng Zhongfa had been immersed in this industry for many years and knew a thing or two about every material.

He immediately realized that the other party had likely used a foreign top-tier optical material, which allowed them to use lower-end materials for other components. Otherwise, there was no reason.

However, Xiang Jinbo shook his head and said, "It's not foreign. It's a domestic one. I haven't seen it either. It's called FY-01. I don't know which company produced it."

"FY-01?"

Feng Zhongfa muttered the name a couple of times, having no clue, and could only return dejectedly.

Not only were they curious, but the R&D personnel in Oupai's project team were also quite curious about this brand new "FY-01" material. They were well-informed and basically familiar with the optical materials on the market. Moreover, every material manufacturer would inform them in advance whenever they released new products, without exception.

But now, this brand new version of optical material, "FY-01," was unprecedented.

"Director Wu, you've dropped a depth charge on us."

Someone joked to Wu Feng, the project director of Hua Long Technology.

"Director Wu, which company produced this new material? I haven't heard of it. How is its reliability?"

Someone asked with a smile.

"This is a brand new product with powerful performance that our company has developed. It's currently in the confidential stage, so I can't reveal too much. I can only say that this is a product that is no less inferior to the leading materials from abroad."

Many people at Oupai were amazed, their curiosity fully piqued. But since Wu Feng said this material was confidential, they didn't press for more details.

A weak supplier, facing a powerful client, has no way to refuse a request for information unless their product is irreplaceable.

Only a strong supplier can simply say "confidential," and even the biggest client can do nothing about it.

So, the saying "the customer is God" is just something to hear and forget, just like "the wind can enter, the rain can enter, but the king cannot enter" or "private property is sacred and inviolable." Anyone who takes these seriously is a fool.

Meanwhile, Feng Zhongfa, looking utterly dejected, rushed back to Zhong Wei Technology. While still on the road, he sent a message to one of his project managers, asking him to investigate the "FY-01" material.

Today's bidding was truly terrible.

As soon as he arrived at the company, he called his subordinate over. "How's the investigation going?"

The project manager reported with a bitter face, "Boss, this material isn't on the market yet. I've asked around among industry peers, and no one has heard of this material. I've also inquired with material manufacturers outside, and they all say they haven't heard of it."

"MD!"

Feng Zhongfa couldn't help but curse, but he was also helpless. He said dejectedly, "Could it be a new material that Hua Long Technology developed themselves? But that doesn't make sense, I haven't heard of Hua Long Technology investing in optical materials."

At this moment, the project manager cautiously mentioned something. "Mr. Feng, there's something I heard, I don't know if it's true. I heard from Xiao Liu in R&D that a few days ago, when Procurement Manager Peng was soliciting bids for optical materials, someone came to recommend this FY-01 material. However, at the time, everyone thought that person was just bragging, so they didn't take it seriously. In the end, they chose He Jia from the two material suppliers, He Jia and Di Guang."

Feng Zhongfa was startled. "What the hell?"

He never expected to hear such explosive news.

He had been going in circles, thinking this new material had appeared out of thin air. It turned out someone had brought it to their doorstep, but they hadn't taken it seriously at all. So, this material had made a round within Zhong Wei Technology and then left.

Thinking further, could it be that after the other party left Zhong Wei Technology, they went to Hua Long Technology, and that's why Hua Long Technology had this material and came to compete with them in front of Oupai?

The more Feng Zhongfa thought about it, the angrier he got. The angrier he got, the more furious he became. He "whooshed" up from his chair, rushed out of the office, and ran to find the Sales Director, Li Bo.

When Li Bo saw him, he initially didn't have a good expression, but when Feng Zhongfa recounted the news in detail, his face turned even uglier.

"Mr. Liao, you and your procurement manager named Peng Fan come to my office."

Li Bo immediately called the head of procurement, Liao Yongqing.

"What's going on? Why is he so angry!"

Liao Yongqing couldn't help but complain after hanging up the phone. Li Bo had completely confused him.

However, as the Sales Director, Li Bo had always held significant weight at Zhong Wei Technology and had a very strong personality. It wouldn't do to not go when he was so angry.

So, Liao Yongqing quickly found Peng Fan and went over together.

On the way, he asked Peng Fan, "Did you do something wrong and offend Director Li Bo?"

Peng Fan was already bewildered, and hearing this made him feel even more wronged. "I don't know, how would I dare offend Director Li Bo?"

It wasn't until they entered Li Bo's office that Director Li Bo said, "The dual punch-hole screen project for the Oupai client is gone. Hua Long Technology won the bid with this new material, FY-01. Mr. Liao, Manager Peng, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

While Liao Yongqing was still somewhat confused, Peng Fan was instantly stunned, his eyes nearly bulging out.