Factory construction, fund allocation, and finally, the sales system.
That, too, needed to be improved as quickly as possible, before the factory was finished.
Generally speaking, the basic model for getting a car company's products onto the market was to find dealership partners and have them set up traditional 4S stores.
Jiuzhou Automobile had also received a few proposals from dealerships hoping to cooperate, but there hadn't been many. A handful of people from two or three nearby cities had approached them.
Xu Yifan had turned them all down, however, and hadn't agreed to any of their proposals.
Rather than partner with dealerships, it would be better to operate the stores directly. They could send the sales staff they had trained to cities across the province and set up their own branded stores.
With the system, they could bring every store under its management, making them easier to oversee. They could also set lower prices and pass the savings on to consumers. Lower prices would attract more customers.
Although Jiuzhou Automobile Factory had gained a little recognition in nearby cities, it was still unknown beyond the surrounding area, especially at a time when the internet wasn't yet very advanced.
What's more, neither the Jiuzhou Mini nor the upcoming two-wheeled electric vehicles were the kind of products that were easy to sell online, like certain electronic goods.
Most of their target customers were older people who rarely used the internet. Considering after-sales service and other issues, setting up their own branded stores was essential. It would also let them handle things like after-sales support.
Of course, they still didn't have enough sales staff to open stores in all the major cities across the province, so it would take some time.
That was where the group of salespeople they had trained earlier would come in handy.
They could pick out the best salespeople and first open Jiuzhou Stores in several nearby cities.
They could once again have experienced staff train new hires. A few months later, when production of the Jiuzhou Mini had increased significantly, they could open more directly operated stores.
They expected to start producing the Jiuzhou Mini equipped with the new Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Technology in about two months. By then, the newly trained sales staff should be ready as well.
Once this new group of salespeople had been sent out, they could cover the entire province of SC.
After that, they could recruit another group willing to develop business in other provinces. Step by step, they would steadily expand and gradually capture the entire domestic market.
This sales network wouldn't just serve the current Jiuzhou Mini. Their future two-wheeled electric vehicles could use it as well.
Even with future new-energy electric vehicles, they would need to keep their dealerships separate from those selling low-speed electric vehicles and two-wheeled electric vehicles as much as possible. Still, this network would make it easier to establish 4S stores for new-energy vehicles.
It would be a difficult path, but once the network was established, it could operate reliably for years. It would also be relatively easy to manage.
His thoughts raced, and before long, Xu Yifan had filled a sheet of paper with his plans for the work ahead.
After a long while, he put down his pen.
Xu Yifan looked at the notebook, its pages packed with writing.
"For now, that's everything I can think of as a priority for the coming period.
"There may be other urgent matters later. We'll deal with them when they come up.
"And as for construction, some of my ideas are still pretty basic. We may run into all kinds of problems later, but we'll tackle them as they come.
"I'm only setting the strategy. The actual implementation should be left to professionals."
He checked the time. There were still more than ten minutes left in the hour he had set aside.
Carrying his leather-bound notebook, Xu Yifan headed straight for the conference room.
As soon as he entered, everyone turned to look at him.
The company's department managers were already seated in their places, chatting with their colleagues.
Xu Yifan said, a little surprised, "You're all here so early."
Zhou Fengyan, a man in his fifties, chuckled. "I went back to take a look around the production line. There wasn't anything wrong, so I came right over."
He Minghao from the Procurement Department was slightly excited. "Everyone's been talking about how we should handle the work ahead. We've got money for expansion, land, policy support from the Jiangzhou authorities, and our own patented technology coming soon. Everything's moving in a good direction."
Ma Youlong, the Human Resources Department manager and one of the company's founding veterans, sighed. "Compared with that factory that went bankrupt, so much has changed in just a few months—and so quickly, too. Things are only going to get better from here!"
Feng Mingyuan from Logistics said, "I'm thrilled! If everything goes smoothly, our factory could be several times bigger by next year at the latest!"
Doctor Lu Jingping from R&D said, "I wonder what role each of our departments should play in the factory's development from here on..."
Ji Shenghai, the Sales Department manager, said enthusiastically, "The factory's about to grow by leaps and bounds again. I can't wait to see how big it'll be in a few months or a year.
"Going by Director Xu's plans, our sales team is going to need to expand quite a bit!"
Wen Ye, the thirty-two-year-old Finance Department manager, was a little uneasy. "I've dealt with the bank before, but never with this much money. Still, I'll do my best to work with the authorities and secure a lower interest rate for the factory's loan."
The pretty "flower vase," Lin Wanxia, watched Xu Yifan with admiration and respect.
"I've only been at Jiuzhou Automobile Factory for a few months, and we're already going through another major expansion. The boss is incredible!"
Riding his coattails, in a few months she'd be the secretary to the boss of a major factory!
His capable subordinates were all eager to take on more responsibility in the coming expansion.
The management team was relatively young, and Xu Yifan had handpicked every member. Together, they gave the whole factory a sense of drive. Even Zhou Fengyan, who had previously taken a laid-back approach, had been swept up in the enthusiasm and become far more motivated.
Xu Yifan smiled. "Since everyone's here, let's get started. The sooner we make the arrangements, the sooner you can prepare."
When Xu Yifan took his seat at the head of the conference table, everyone quieted down and waited for the meeting to begin.
Xu Yifan spoke calmly. "Let's go over everyone's general work assignments for the coming period."
"First, Human Resources. Manager Ma, your department is going to be busy again!"
"Understood! We'll get it done!" Ma Youlong replied. Then he took out his notebook, ready to record his boss's instructions.
Xu Yifan nodded slightly and continued. "With this expansion, the factory will need to build up its talent pool in every area.
"Every department needs more people, and Human Resources will be responsible for recruiting them. Each department should draw up an estimate of the number of people it needs and give it to Manager Ma so he can handle recruitment."
The department managers all nodded.
"Next, we'll need a group of production workers for the two new factory buildings.
"We should recruit experienced workers who can become team leaders and the backbone of production. We can also hire people without experience and train them from scratch.
"In short, I need the new buildings to be ready for use as soon as construction is complete. The Production Department and Human Resources need to keep a close eye on this."
"For now, the Production Department will be responsible for managing this group. Manager Zhou, please oversee them."
"Understood," Zhou Fengyan said, nodding.
"Got it!" Manager Ma said, taking notes without pause.
Xu Yifan smiled. "Don't rush off just yet. I have more work for your department."
"The company is preparing to establish a Construction Department. For now, Logistics will oversee it."
Feng Mingyuan, who was in charge of Logistics, nodded. "Understood, boss!"
Xu Yifan turned back to Manager Ma in Human Resources. "The Construction Department needs to recruit a group of civil engineering staff with project management experience—half college graduates, half seasoned professionals with plenty of experience.
"We'll need around thirty people in total to form a construction management team responsible for the upcoming factory buildings.
"They'll all be construction managers. For the actual construction workers, we can hire a temporary crew when the time comes or work with a local construction company."
Xu Yifan laid out his entire plan for building the factory.
The Construction Department at Jiuzhou would not be short of work over the next few years.
There was the current lithium iron phosphate battery factory, the two-wheeled electric vehicle factory, and the various auto-parts factories they would build in the future.
Further down the road, they would need facilities for new-energy electric vehicles, as well as factories for any other fields Jiuzhou Automobile might enter in the future.
The Construction Department would be responsible for overseeing all of it, monitoring construction progress and quality.
They didn't need to handle every part of the construction themselves. At the very least, they needed to ensure that the outside construction companies they hired met all the requirements and completed Jiuzhou Automobile Factory's construction plans without shortchanging them.
Whenever possible, professional work should be left to professionals. With the system's assistance, Xu Yifan only needed to keep the overall picture under control.
The meeting continued, with Xu Yifan assigning each department its responsibilities one by one.
Human Resources had the most work to do. It could first expand its own staff, then proceed with all the additional recruitment.
Logistics would need to expand as well, to handle the living needs of the company's growing workforce.
As for Security, Lian Ming'an said that a platoon or so—around thirty people—would be enough to ensure nothing went wrong at the factory.
Xu Yifan had other plans for R&D. Once development of the Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Technology was complete, some staff could take the New Year holiday they had missed earlier, while the rest prepared the new battery factory and turned the technology into a product. Then they could switch places and take their leave.
As Xu Yifan had directed, Sales would open new Jiuzhou Stores in three nearby cities. That would take an estimated two weeks to a month. Afterward, the department would need to recruit and train a new group of sales staff.
Finance would handle coordination with the officials in charge and the bank, finalize the loan, and take care of matters such as paying the newly hired employees.
While maintaining production of the Jiuzhou Mini, Production would organize the newly hired technical specialists for the lithium iron phosphate battery factory and the two-wheeled electric vehicle factory. They would learn the production processes and teach them to a group of workers.
The Production Department would also use the list Xu Yifan had provided to talk to some employees who were currently doing well.
Those working on the Jiuzhou Mini production line who were willing to transfer to the two new factories could learn the necessary skills and become team leaders. They would also receive priority training from the factory.
Procurement would handle the purchase of all kinds of construction and production materials.
It would also prepare to purchase raw materials for the two new factories, along with work uniforms and other supplies once the workforce had grown.
As they went through the assignments, the department managers also brought up problems Xu Yifan hadn't thought of. Everyone discussed them together and worked out solutions.
The meeting lasted until five thirty in the afternoon.
Only then did the department managers leave, each carrying a work notebook filled with several pages of notes.
It was time to get off work. Everyone would be busy for a while from here on!
A 3,700-word chapter! Please keep reading and vote!
Without realizing it, the story had reached 110,000 words, and only one product had come out so far. Even Juzi hadn't expected that.
The cheat wasn't all that powerful. To make the factory's growth as realistic and plausible as possible, the author had to consider every step of the process and write it all out.
If Juzi had missed anything or made a mistake, please feel free to point it out, everyone!
Now that most of the arrangements had been made, things would speed up from here!
Their rivals: the domestic car companies still searching for ways to generate revenue, including BYD, which was surviving solely on the F3 for now!
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