Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 743: The public is shouting, the invisible champion is crying

At the end of September 2012, China held a symposium on the steel and coal industries.

At the meeting, relevant departments and units made a profound reflection: China's steel market has overcapacity, but we still import a large amount of special steel.

There are three main categories of imported products.

First, the general types of steel imported due to market prices do not have high technical content. This is definitely not what everyone cares about.

The second is imports resulting from cooperation agreements between Chinese and foreign enterprises. For example, many joint venture automobile factories specify the use of foreign automobile panels. This part of the problem is not that big.

The third is the types of steel products that China relies on imports, which mainly include: high-end special steel, deep-drawn tinplate, tool steel, some high-end steel for rigging wire ropes, some steel for automobiles and home appliances, etc.

Obviously, the third part is the real problem.

The special steel used in ballpoint pen tips was brought up as a typical case at the symposium and explained to everyone as a negative case.

This was all right, and relevant cases immediately appeared on the Chinese Internet.

"In the past, things like aircraft carrier steel plates were not suitable for excessive publicity."

So it doesn’t mean that China cannot produce this kind of steel.

Especially under the leadership of some public intellectuals, the direction of public opinion is even more wrong.

“If we can’t even make ballpoint pen tips, how far is China from being a world manufacturing power?”

In their view, saying that China is not good is the greatest meaning of their existence.

……

"Beside the small steel ball, there are five grooves to guide the ink, and the processing accuracy must reach one thousandth of a millimeter."

"Mr. Cao, I think pen tip steel is a thing. It is a good opportunity to start a new Nanshan Special Steel."

Some public intellectuals seemed to have found a new propaganda hot spot and began to focus on this topic, saying how China's science and technology was so bad and how foreign countries were so good.

However, there are actually a group of people on the Internet who believe this statement.

Even as an expert in related fields, he even stood up and explained.

However, few ordinary netizens are willing to believe Xie Lingyun's statement.

It happened that during this period, Nanshan Special Steel acquired Shaogang and had its own crude steel production line.

"In short, the small steel ball on the ballpoint pen refill is a very powerful-looking thing, and the processing precision is very high."

This is Baosteel's attitude.

But this so-called technical barrier is not worth mentioning for large companies. It is not an impenetrable technical barrier that can be developed if you want to.

In order to prove that there is no problem with China's steel technology and to break the ignorant remarks of the public, Xie Lingyun felt that Nanshan Special Steel must produce pen tip steel.

“There are only two countries in the world that produce ballpoint pen balls, one is Switzerland and the other is Japan.”

When their founders first entered this field, the competitive pressure was very small. After half a century of development, they continued to use profits to gradually develop new technologies, thus establishing certain technical barriers that made it impossible for ordinary small businesses to enter. Come.

Then combined with Nanshan Special Steel's process technology and a few adjustments, pen tip steel can be produced.

Pen tip steel is a very small market, and only a few small companies around the world are engaged in it. They are the hidden champions in this field.

"And we really can't make such a thing. Domestic steel cannot make such balls."

"Although it looks like just a steel ball, the surface roughness requirement is 0.4 microns. At the top of the pen tip, the thickness is only 0.3 to 0.4 millimeters."

It’s just that just a dozen tons of this kind of steel can produce hundreds of millions of ballpoint pens. The sales channels are not good, the profit is low, and the quality is special. No steel factory is willing to produce it.

“If the accuracy is not good enough, then the gap between the ball and the nib will be either too big or too small.”

"But pen tip steel is different. It is a completely civilian product, and it is now highly hyped. It has even reached the point where it involves national honor."

"The opening thickness of the pen tip is less than 0.1 mm. Any small deviation will affect the smoothness and service life of the pen tip. The writing angle and pressure must also be taken into consideration."

Pen tip steel is a very small market, and only a few small companies around the world are engaged in it. They are the hidden champions in this field.

But for large companies, the market size of this small field is too small to be noticed, so there is no need to pay attention.

"China has always claimed that it is an industrial power, but it can't even make a ballpoint pen ball as small as possible."

They also advocate that this is their craftsmanship spirit and that they are the hidden champions of the industry.

China is fully capable of producing it.

This makes people feel as if only Swiss and Japanese manufacturers in the world can produce it.

Xie Lingyun has naturally seen all the buzzing news on the Internet.

But for large companies, the market size of this small field is too small to be noticed, so there is no need to pay attention.

This matter was originally not a big deal.

"If we announce to the outside world that we want to produce pen tip steel at this time, it will definitely have a very good publicity effect."

But this so-called technical barrier is not worth mentioning for large companies. It is not an impenetrable technical barrier that can be developed if you want to.

When their founders first entered this field, the competitive pressure was very small. After half a century of development, they continued to use profits to gradually develop new technologies, thus establishing certain technical barriers that made it impossible for ordinary small businesses to enter. Come.

“The performance of pen tip steel requires that when processing with such precision, it must be easy to cut and must not crack during processing.”

"If the gap is too small, the ink will not flow out smoothly; if the gap is too large, it will cause ink leakage."

Compared with large-scale steel, which is often described in units of millions of tons, Nanshan Special Steel, a "small business" in the steel field, has an advantage in producing this kind of pen tip steel.

They do not need to build a large-scale production line. It is enough to flexibly adjust the process parameters based on the existing pilot production line.

After all, a furnace of molten iron is easily dozens of tons, and China's annual demand for pen tip steel is equivalent to dozens of furnaces of molten iron.

If a large company like Baosteel were to do this, it would probably end up selling it at a loss to make it cheaper than imported pen tip steel.

Because you include various R&D costs and production line modification costs, the price is not cheap at all.

But for Nanshan Special Steel, the pressure in this area is much smaller.

Even in order to keep this pen tip steel production line in use, we can reduce the amount of molten iron that comes out of the furnace each time, and make the time for the molten iron to come out of the furnace appropriately longer.

Then, we will seize this market all over the world so that this experimental production line can continue to operate.

After thinking about these issues clearly, Xie Lingyun took the initiative to come to Cao Yang.

"If we want to develop pen nib steel, how long will it take us?"

Cao Yang can generally understand the story behind this matter.

However, he also has to consider whether Nanshan Special Steel’s R&D investment is worth it.

After all, there are many types of special steel worthy of attention.

Even within the various companies in the Nanshan Group, they are conducting further in-depth investigations in conjunction with the local industrial survey to see which parts have steel that China itself cannot handle.

After all, sometimes you don’t investigate deeply enough and think that if a certain part is purchased domestically, it is domestically produced.

But if you investigate further, it may be that the materials for this domestically produced part are purchased from abroad.

Or when you investigate, you find that the materials for domestic parts are purchased from other domestic material manufacturers, but the base material of this material is actually imported, and the domestic material manufacturers only do some post-process processing.

If you don’t spend enough time on this information and do it many times, there is actually no way to finally and accurately grasp it.

Every time we investigate, something new will come out.

"One week is enough!"

"Ok?"

Cao Yang looked at Xie Lingyun in surprise.

One week is enough?

Isn't this too exaggerated?

"Mr. Cao, the pen tip steel is really not that difficult. We actually have a lot of technical accumulation in making it ourselves. All we need to do is take out a material with similar composition and make appropriate adjustments."

"It's just that the market is too small. The annual sales in China are only one or two billion."

"At that time, our price will definitely be lower than that of imported pen tip steel, which means that our annual sales may be less than 100 million."

"Even if we consider the foreign market, it will only double at most."

"So the large domestic steel manufacturers are too lazy to pay attention to it."

“If it weren’t for the commotion on the Internet right now, I wouldn’t want to work on this product.”

After Xie Lingyun explained this, Cao Yang probably understood.

However, he couldn't help but ask a question, "Don't companies like Baosteel generally rush to the front when it comes to matters involving honor?"

"Yes, normally this is true. It is said that relevant ministries and commissions also approached Baosteel, but it seems that they found an excuse to shirk it."

Xie Lingyun added a little more explanation.

Thinking that this was Nanshan Special Steel's first move after acquiring Shaogang, it didn't matter whether it made money or not. What was important was to completely establish its reputation and let Nanshan Special Steel move from behind the scenes to the front. Cao Yang agreed to Xie Lingyun's proposal. .

With Cao Yang's nod, Xie Lingyun immediately announced on Nanshan Special Steel's official WeChat account that the company would start producing pen tip steel, and it was expected that official products would be available within a month.

At the same time, Nanshan Special Steel has also arranged personnel to proactively contact various large-scale ballpoint pen manufacturers to completely replace imported pen tip steel with domestically produced pen tip steel.

Let those public intellectuals shut their mouths!

……

"Jin Tai, didn't you say that pen nib steel is very difficult and there is no significance in research and development?"

"Why does Nanshan Special Steel say it can produce this kind of steel in a month at most?"

At a time when public opinion on the Internet was fermenting, Nanshan Special Steel announced that it was going to produce pen tip steel, and naturally it became a hot search topic.

People in the domestic steel industry are naturally paying attention to this matter.

Lai Liang originally put this matter aside, but he didn't expect that a new situation would arise halfway through.

He could imagine how he would be criticized the next time he went to a ministry meeting.

"Mr. Lai, the technical level of Nanshan Special Steel is second to none in the country. Maybe they happen to have products of similar brands that are not in mass production."

Jin Tai also found that his situation was a bit embarrassing.

Some time ago, he boasted in front of Lai Liang about the high technical content of pen tip steel, and how he said that Baosteel did not need to develop this thing.

Now there's trouble!

The leader seems to be angry with himself.

However, Jin Tai felt that he was also wronged.

He just obtained the relevant information from the ministries and commissions, queried part of the information, then inferred it according to "common sense", processed it appropriately and reported it to Lai Liang. Why did it go wrong this time?

Normally, isn’t this kind of steel that China has always imported have relatively high thresholds?

"We also have a subordinate steel factory in Xijiang Province, and there happens to be a position there that requires the headquarters to arrange talents for assistance."

"You can hand over the job in the next few days, and then go over there and take up the post."

Lai Liang's face darkened, feeling that his direct subordinate had let him down so much this time.

This time Baosteel has completely lost face with the relevant departments.

In particular, there was an industrial survey of the steel industry before, and then there was a symposium on the steel and coal industries. If these two things were put together, it would not matter if it did not trigger a wave of public opinion.

It's different now.

Lai Liang must find someone to take responsibility.

"lead……"

Jinta's face turned pale.

Working as the sales director at the headquarters and going to the subsidiary company in Xijiang Province as the sales manager, not only the level has become lower, but also the working environment is completely different.

I have been exiled and sent away!

However, Lai Liang had no intention of explaining to him this time.

……

Xie Lingyun acted quickly, and the first batch of molten iron from Nanshan Special Steel came out quickly.

After a simple first step of testing, these materials were sent to various ballpoint pen manufacturers for trial use.

Due to the heavy pressure from public opinion, all aspects of the work were worked overtime with the spirit of hard work.

Tests were carried out rapidly one by one, and trial production was carried out one by one.

With the continuous collection of various data, Xie Lingyun is basically certain that the pen tip steel produced by himself has reached or even surpassed the level of imported pen tip steel.

Those ballpoint pen manufacturers were also very smart and immediately used this news to find the original material manufacturers to lower prices.

Pen tip steel costs RMB 12 per ton, while Nanshan Special Steel can be sold for RMB 8 per ton.

Some people even think that it is possible to lower the price to 6 yuan per ton.

As a result, those pen tip steel manufacturers in Switzerland and Japan were immediately in trouble.

It's like sitting at home and disaster comes from heaven.

I didn’t recruit or offend anyone. I just ran a small company from my ancestors and earned some living expenses every year. Why did such a big giant suddenly come and overturn the table?

The public intellectuals of China are messing around with little essays. They are of no benefit, but the ancestral rice bowl is broken.

Although the profit margin of these materials is not low, it is not to the point where it can be cut in half.

After all, there are still two or three manufacturers producing in the world.

If there is really only one manufacturer producing, it will not be 12 yuan per ton, but 120 million yuan per ton.

As a result, those hidden champions will immediately fall into a business crisis.

People no longer want the materials that have been produced in the warehouse.

Will we continue to organize production in the future?

If you make such a product yourself, wouldn't the company go bankrupt if you don't produce it?

The business that had been passed down from ancestors for so many years was not destroyed by his father and grandfather, but it was destroyed by his own hands.

The bosses of those companies are bleeding from their hearts.

This somewhat tragic experience was even reported on a special program by NHK in Japan.

The aftermath of this report was that many Japanese small businesses immediately took countermeasures.

In the future, when cooperating with Huaxia Company, we must always remind you not to promote our company or praise our craftsmanship.

Don’t wear those big hats like craftsmanship on me anymore.

You can even cooperate if you want, but you can't promote it, otherwise our company will refuse to cooperate with you.

There are many small companies in Japan, which are so-called hidden champions in various fields.

They just want to make a little money quietly, and have no interest in getting involved in national honor or becoming the flag-bearer of the country's technological commanding heights.

If China's public officials continue to do this, China will not suffer any actual losses, but they will be in serious trouble.

After all, with China's industrial size and industrial population, it has reached the point where it can research and develop everything, but its resources are limited, and research and development has a priority.

Just because people don't do something doesn't mean it can't be done.

……

"Mr. Cao, yesterday the Japanese company that produces pen tip steel came to visit us and said it wanted to cooperate with us."

Early in the morning, Xie Lingyun came to Cao Yang's office with a smile on his face.

Obviously, something good happened to him.

"Looking for us to cooperate?"

"Is there anything we can work with?"

Cao Yang really didn't quite understand what the other party was doing.

Nanshan Special Steel has developed pen tip steel, which is going to destroy their jobs.

They didn't get angry and didn't say anything, but they actually came to look for cooperation.

"This sharp steel was originally only a few dozen percent profit, but now the exchange rate of the Japanese currency against the RMB is very high, causing their yield to become even lower."

"So for them, it is a profitable thing to import pen tip steel from China and then sell it to its old customers in Japan and other places."

When Xie Lingyun said this, Cao Yang immediately felt something.

In 2012, the RMB could only be exchanged for a little more than 12 Japanese dollars. Unlike in 2023, it can be exchanged for 20 Japanese dollars.

In this case, the same material costing 1 yen per ton would have cost about 2012 yen in 800.

However, something with the same price will only cost about 2023 yuan in 500.

There is a 60% exchange rate difference, and for many commodities, the impact is very huge.

Why can Toyota have such a high rate of return in 2023?

One of the big reasons is exchange rate gains.

The most obvious thing is that China's Lexus are all imported from Japan.

When the selling price in China remains unchanged, along with the change in the exchange rate, the import cost is equivalent to a decrease of several dozen percent.

There was already a profit of almost 10% or even 20%.

Then add in the exchange rate gain of dozens of percent, and the profit rate is terrifyingly high!

So even if someone cuts the price significantly, you are not afraid of losing money.

"Do you think this cooperation is possible?"

Cao Yang did not slap himself on the head directly, but looked at Xie Lingyun's views.

After all, for professional matters, sometimes you still need to listen to the opinions of professionals.

"I think we can still cooperate!"

"For the domestic market, we do everything ourselves."

"Overseas companies are cooperating with this Japanese company to ensure that we can make appropriate profits and let them grab all the original customers."

"Many of the customers there are their old customers. If we were to grab customers, the cost would actually be relatively high, and we might not be successful in the end."

“Considering the sales volume of nib steel, I don’t think it’s worth it.”

Xie Lingyun didn't think there would be any harm in exporting it to Japan.

Anyway, being able to make money and sell products abroad is something that is supported by various policies.

Whether it is for Nanshan Special Steel or for China, it is a good thing.

"If you think it's appropriate, then go for it."

"However, we need to sign a long-term contract with them to prevent them from doing anything wrong when the exchange rate changes significantly."

"Then during this cooperation process, we must find a way to get them to completely abandon their production lines."

"Otherwise, they will be prepared and can kick us out at any time."

Although Cao Yang agreed to the plan reported by Xie Lingyun, it did not mean that he had no worries.

With the current exchange rate, the advantages of exporting are obvious.

But after the RMB appreciates in the future, or after the Japanese currency depreciates, the advantage of China's commodity exports will not be so obvious.

This is something that must be prevented.

During this process, if the production lines of Japanese manufacturers are abandoned, the workers will also be laid off.

After a few years, even if they want to regret this cooperation plan, there will be no better choice.

This is the advantage of having a "long-term vision".

"No problem. Labor costs in Japan are already very high now. All kinds of iron ore and coal mines need to be imported. There is no advantage in smelting steel."

"As long as they don't plan to resist our competition, then giving up the production line and honestly cooperating with us is the best way."

Xie Lingyun is very confident about this matter.

He had already talked with the manufacturers in Japan. Although this topic was not mentioned, based on the content of the chat, he could already feel the voices of these former invisible champions crying in their hearts.

Originally, I could earn money comfortably every day, and I never had to worry about order issues.

Now suddenly the pot has been smashed, and life can no longer go on.

This is something they have never thought about before.

Therefore, the initiative lies entirely in the hands of Nanshan Special Steel.

Seeing Xie Lingyun's confident look, Cao Yang stopped worrying.

Just as Cao Yang and Xie Lingyun finished talking, Mi Ying told Cao Yang a rather surprising arrangement.

(End of this chapter)