Plans for the Next Product

Soon, Zhang Yi spent several thousand yuan buying some imported high-performance bearings, but this incident left a very deep impression on him. Although it was just a bearing, he knew that bearings could be said to be the foundation of all machinery. From toys children play with to airplanes and tanks, none of them could function without this small bearing.

So, on the way back, Zhang Yi immediately searched online for information about bearings. He found that the performance of domestically produced bearings was simply incomparable to imported products. Furthermore, generally speaking, the bearings that could enter Hua Country were only second-rate products abroad. Even so, domestically produced high-performance bearings were still inferior to these foreign second-rate bearings.

It could be said that whether it was in terms of precision, lifespan, vibration, quietness, reliability, or high-speed performance, domestic products were far inferior to foreign products.

The results of his search greatly shocked Zhang Yi. Before, he had thought that this was just a bearing. Now, the Great Hua Empire could even manufacture spacecraft, stealth aircraft, aircraft carriers, etc., so a small bearing would certainly be no problem. However, the reality was not like that.

So, while driving, he thought about whether his next product should venture into this area. He also believed that if he wanted to enter the bearing manufacturing industry, the scholars in the Scholar Hiring System would definitely not disappoint him. Thinking of this, he immediately asked Xiao Hua, who was sitting beside him, "Xiao Hua! What do you think about our factory entering the bearing manufacturing industry?"

"Brother! I strongly support you entering the bearing manufacturing industry. After all, bearings are very important things. Current machinery, whether it's large like cars, airplanes, and ships, or bicycles, electric vehicles, and other machinery, cannot function without bearings.

So, entering the bearing manufacturing industry is very beneficial for your future development, Brother, and can even be said to be indispensable. Even if you don't enter this industry now, you will definitely have to enter it in the future.

It's better to start now. After all, although bearing production is simple, manufacturing high-performance bearings is not something that can be accomplished overnight. Even with our existence, we still need long-term research and development.

However, Brother, if you want to enter the bearing manufacturing industry, you also need to hire some metallurgy scholars." Xiao Hua naturally strongly agreed with Zhang Yi's plan. After all, bearings could be said to be the foundation of all modern machinery.

Regarding whether to hire metallurgy scholars, Zhang Yi was very clear about this without Xiao Hua needing to say it. To manufacture high-performance bearings, there must first be high-performance steel. Therefore, before manufacturing bearings, he must first develop high-performance steel for bearings.

Steel for bearings must possess at least five excellent properties. That is, it must have contact fatigue strength. Under long-term cyclic load, the contact surface of the bearing is very prone to fatigue damage, such as cracking and spalling. This is a major form of bearing failure. If the performance of bearing steel in this regard is too poor, the quality of the bearing will definitely not be good. Therefore, bearing steel must have very high contact fatigue strength.

Secondly, high wear resistance. When the bearing is operating under high intensity, not only does rolling friction occur between the races, balls, and cage, but also sliding friction occurs, causing the bearing parts to continuously wear.

To increase the wear resistance of bearing parts, maintain the stability of bearing precision, and extend the service life, bearing steel should have good wear resistance.

Thirdly, hardness. Hardness is one of the important qualities of bearing quality and has a direct impact on contact fatigue strength, wear resistance, and elastic limit. Therefore, even ordinary bearing steel must have a hardness of at least 65.

At the same time, bearing steel must also have good internal corrosion resistance and processing performance.

Of course, these five properties are just the necessary five properties for bearing steel. In addition, there are many other conditions. After all, the operating environment in different conditions has different requirements for bearing performance.

Although Zhang Yi wanted to enter the bearing manufacturing industry, this was not something that could be rushed. After all, manufacturing bearings was not a simple matter. What needed to be done now was to replace all the bearings on the production line with high-performance bearings. Only when the production line was running well and the Aerodynamic Bicycle was selling well and making money could he think about other things.

By the time Zhang Yi and the others returned to the factory, it was already afternoon. So, after returning to the factory, Zhang Yi and the others immediately replaced the bearings on this production line.

After all the bearings were replaced and the production line was started again, the production line indeed performed excellently. Even the quality of the assembled bicycles was much better than before. However, Zhang Yi and the others did not let their guard down and continued to let the production line run to see if the same problem as last time would occur. After all, last time the problem only appeared after running for an hour or so. If the same problem occurred this time, then it would not be a bearing problem, but a problem with the production line design itself.

However, after the production line started running, he did not stay on site. Although he knew a little about mechanical processing, his actual level was still very low. Even being next to the production line was of no use. He couldn't possibly get on the production line himself!

So, he returned to his office. However, just as he was about to reach his office, he heard the phone in the office ringing. So, he quickly walked to the office and checked the phone number. He found that the number displayed on the phone was not from someone he knew. It was an unfamiliar number, but he still answered the phone.

"Hello! This is Seven Color Stone Mechanical Manufacturing Co., Ltd. May I ask who is calling?" Zhang Yi said into the phone after picking it up.

"Hello! I am the Deputy General Manager of Jiangnan Province Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group. I hope our group and your company can cooperate, so I hope we can talk!" A young man's voice came from the phone.

"No need! I don't think there's anything for us to talk about. After all, the products we produce are different." After hearing this, Zhang Yi refused without even thinking. After all, he already knew the purpose of Jiangnan Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group, so he naturally didn't want to talk to them.

"Director Zhang! Please don't refuse so quickly. I will be arriving at your company soon. I hope we can have a pleasant conversation then." After saying this, the man hung up the phone without waiting for Zhang Yi to respond.

As expected, less than ten minutes after Zhang Yi hung up the phone, his personal mobile phone rang. It was the factory gatekeeper calling.

"Director Zhang! Someone claiming to be the manager of Jiangnan Province Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group wants to see you, and he said he already made an appointment with you." The gatekeeper said to Zhang Yi on the phone.

Although Zhang Yi's Seven Color Stone Mechanical Factory's new plant had only been open for a short time, it was considered a large factory in Xian County. So, Zhang Yi's father had hired a gatekeeper for him some time ago. His name was Zhang Qiang, an old man from his village. Of course, although this gatekeeper was already quite old, nearly sixty, and one of his legs was a bit inconvenient.

According to his father, this old man was also a figure in the village when he was young, and when he was a soldier in his youth, he had fought in the south and belonged to the reconnaissance troops. However, he was injured in that war and had to retire. It is said that both of his sons work in the military. Zhang Yi was not very clear about the specifics.

"Let him in!" Zhang Yi said after thinking for a moment.

Although Zhang Yi knew what the so-called manager of Jiangnan Province Electric Vehicle Manufacturing Group wanted to do by coming to their factory, Zhang Yi still agreed to let him in. After all, the person had already arrived at the factory, so it was good to meet.

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