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“Hello, I’m Wang Yi from XX Consulting Company. Are you Director X of XX Factory? ”“Yes, it’s me. We understand that you will be coming to our factory tomorrow; you are welcome. We will pick you up at the train station. What is your name? ”“Three horizontal strokes and one vertical stroke: “Wang”; the “Yi” from Yimeng Mountain. ”“I’m really sorry, but I don’t know which character “Yi” is in Yimeng Mountains. ”“It’s the character with three water dots on the left and the character \"jin\" on the right. ”“Gold? Which pyramid? There’s no such character. ”“It’s the same kind of unit of weight. ”“Oh, is that half a jin? Still eight taels? ”“It’s not half a pound, nor eight ounces – it’s three pounds! ”“Ah, I see. Your name is Wang Sanjin, right? ”This was my phone call with the client’s plant manager before the start of the second consulting project. From then on, I began using the name Wang Yi at work. The client for the second consulting project is a family-owned business in Anyang, an ancient capital city, that produces household water heaters. The three brothers, along with their sister and sister-in-law, run a factory that employs nearly a hundred people. Everything is available, including design, procurement, production, sales, transportation, installation, and after-sales service. My second elder brother is a university graduate who works as a factory manager; he majored in electronic temperature control and possesses practical patent technologies in this field. Home water heaters that produce heat through gas, fuel, or electric heating all feature electronic temperature control, allowing the water temperature to be preset or adjusted remotely, thus solving the problem of adjusting the temperature during bathing. It filled the market gap for electronic temperature-controlled domestic water heaters across the country back then, and should therefore possess absolute market competitiveness. Unfortunately, the huge supply of ultra-low-priced water heaters from Guangdong has flooded the market across the country, leaving consumers no chance to make a choice. Most ordinary consumers also don’t mind the temperature control flaws, or even the safety issues, of water heaters. The gas water heater we still use at home does not have electronic temperature control; those who want to take a shower have to shout from the bathroom, saying “It’s cold, it’s too hot, it’s cold again,” while a family member adjusts the temperature manually in the kitchen. The products manufactured by the customer’s factory have excellent performance, but they are expensive, which makes sales difficult. Even online sales were introduced in 2000, yet there was still a severe backlog of unsold products. The loans owed to the bank have been repeatedly deferred; fortunately, with the unwavering support of local **, the company hasn’t gone under. However, it’s still in great danger. Perhaps at the advice of the relevant municipal departments, the factory contacted a consulting firm, hoping that through certification consultation it could find a way out of its difficulties and secure survival and development. I was assigned by the company to carry out this challenging task. Before I left, the company’s management told me that no contract had been signed with the client, and no commitments had been made. Everything has to wait until I go there and conduct on-site investigations to see if I can find ways to help the client get out of this difficult situation. Then discuss the feasibility of implementation with the client, before proceeding to discuss a consulting contract. On the train to Anyang, I found it difficult even to breathe. When I was leaving, I saw the sign to pick me up; my name was written correctly. The person who picked me up said that everyone in the factory is waiting for you to give a lecture. I took it as just polite words and didn’t take it to heart, but when I reached the entrance of the factory, I was shocked – nearly a hundred people were standing in neat rows there. As soon as I stepped inside, they started applauding enthusiastically, which made my face turn red with embarrassment. After all, we’re just ordinary people who’ve never seen such a scene; we quickly bowed to everyone as a gesture of respect, then rushed into the meeting room. To my surprise, the scene in the conference room was even scarier. In front of the first row of seats near the podium, a burly man was lying on a camp bed, tilting his head to wave at me in greeting. The person who accompanied me inside quickly introduced him: This is the factory manager. Due to stress and anxiety over the past period, he developed a large boil on his buttock; he just had surgery in the hospital, and now he can neither stand nor sit – he can only lie face down. But the factory manager had to listen to my lecture, so it was brought in on a camp bed. When everyone had taken their seats, I looked at those pairs of expectant eyes and at the factory manager lying on the bed; I didn’t know how to speak. I suddenly realized that they very likely saw me as their last straw. Facing this situation, can I still proceed as planned and give a detailed explanation of ISO9000? Can I still show off my academic views? Definitely not! I made a quick decision and stopped the projection on the eight management principles, then pointed to the first principle and asked everyone: With the customer as the focus, what should we pay attention to? One should focus on the customers’ needs. So, between electronic temperature control and low cost, which one truly meets the customers’ needs? Judging from the market reaction at the time, it was clearly cheap. Therefore, as long as the price of our products doesn’t go down, no one will appreciate even the best features they have. The factory manager replied, \"We are aware of this. However, the electronic temperature control system is expensive, so it’s not possible to reduce the costs significantly.\" ； If electronic temperature control is removed, it will lose its distinctiveness and be unable to compete with products from Guangdong. I said: So, we can’t make this product anymore; we must develop other products instead. Use our existing technologies, equipment, and even raw materials to see what new products can be developed. Let’s all contribute our ideas together; there’s no need to worry about perfection first – just share your thoughts. The venue immediately filled with chatter and discussions. Seeing that no conclusions could be reached from such a discussion, the factory director told everyone to disperse for now. Then he lay down and invited me to lunch; only then did I realize that it was already past 2 p.m. While eating, the factory director said: “It seems we have no choice but to switch production. In that case, we must think things through before proceeding; we absolutely can’t leave the project halfway.” I immediately stated that I would report to the company’s management and mobilize all available channels and connections to help find a suitable new product. We established a quality management system around the finalized new product, and no longer pursued system certification for the old products. After leaving Anyang for a while, I always feel empty inside. With a background in the humanities, I simply can’t come up with any new products. Soon, the company’s management obtained valuable information through a **pressure vessel testing center with which they had business relations: currently, there are few manufacturers of non-standard pressure boilers in China and around the world, let alone products that feature electronic temperature control ； Those with production qualifications are all standard pressure boilers. I suddenly thought: The application of electronic temperature control technology in pressure boilers is more valuable than in household water heaters; this product is worth considering. However, it also occurs to me that producing pressure boilers requires large-scale steel rolling, stamping, and welding equipment, as well as radioactive radiographic inspection equipment. For small enterprises, this is simply too difficult to achieve. With mixed feelings, I went to Anyang again. On my way to the client’s company, I kept thinking about how to approach the factory manager. Then, looking up, I suddenly saw that the premises of Anyang Iron and Steel Group were right across from the client’s factory gate. At that time, Anyang Iron and Steel Group had not gone public yet; it operated on a collective system, was still adjusting its product portfolio, faced layoffs among its workers, and was in a semi-stop state of operation. Yet it did have large-scale equipment, skilled workers, and radioactive monitoring facilities, and it continued to produce boilers that met standard pressure requirements. Truly, heaven rewards those who persevere. I ran all the way there, out of breath, and went straight to the factory manager. First, I showed him the materials from the Boiler Inspection Center detailing the new products, and then I explained my idea to him: to rent equipment and skilled workers from Anyang Iron and Steel Group in order to produce and sell electronic temperature-controlled, non-standard pressure boilers. Of course, Ansteel might be unwilling to help us, as the scale of the two companies is simply too different. For this reason, we must establish a complete set of quality management system documents and obtain certification, just as we did in the production of electronically temperature-controlled non-standard pressure boilers. Only in this way can we convince the leaders of Angang that we have the capability and expertise to achieve our goals. The plant manager attached great importance to my suggestions; he immediately assigned technical staff to accompany me to the site for investigations, sent other technicians to discuss the feasibility, and arranged for someone to get in touch with acquaintances at Ansteel to arrange preliminary preparations. It happened to be a once-in-a-century heavy rainstorm in Anyang during that time; the rain flooded the passages under the overpasses, leaving only the rooftops of the buses visible. Everyone went to carry out rescue efforts, but we did not stop our research work. After several days of research and analysis, and by compiling the valuable insights from everyone, we developed a system planning proposal. For electronic temperature-controlled non-standard pressure boilers, we outlined a series of procedural documents covering market research, product promotion and ordering, development and design, raw material procurement, outsourcing/leasing, production and assembly, painting and storage, handling and shipment, installation and commissioning, after-sales service, and payment settlement. After several more months of collaborative effort, the preparation, discussion, revision, and approval of all system documents were completed, and international, **, national, and industry-specific standards related to this field were collected and organized. Meanwhile, after multiple discussions with the leaders of Anyang Iron and Steel Group and the ** Boiler Inspection Center, and with strong support from relevant municipal ** departments, an agreement on multi-party cooperation was finally reached. We promptly submitted the system documents to Angang and the Boiler Inspection Center; at the same time, we released these documents and provided training on their implementation, requiring all personnel involved in sample production, regardless of which unit they belong to, to strictly adhere to the requirements outlined in the system documents. A few months later, towards the end of the production of three non-standard boiler samples, an internal system audit and a management review were conducted ； After posting the announcement for online subscriptions, a second internal audit was conducted. The company successfully passed the enterprise production qualification assessment and system certification as planned. At that time, in the company, no one cared whether the certification was passed or not. Everyone is eagerly awaiting orders for custom boilers. There isn’t a single order through traditional sales channels. Orders placed online, however, came in like snowflakes. The company can produce only four to six units per year, as Ansteel’s own equipment also needs to be used, and due to the safety requirements related to boilers, it is not possible to prioritize speed over quality. However, there are dozens of orders online, both from within the country and abroad. After deliberation, the factory director decided to give priority to meeting domestic demand. But there are also many orders from domestic clients, and if ordered based on the order date, none of them can be fulfilled – what should be done? The factory manager came to ask me. Since I used to work as a bank accountant, I casually said: I’ll do it for whoever pays first. As soon as the news was released, all customers rushed to make transfers from their banks, claiming to have paid in full. The factory manager is in a difficult position, fearing that he might offend the customers. I can’t think of a good solution either; it’s simply whoever pays the full amount in cash to the factory’s finance department first will have their order processed first. To my surprise, the next day two local clients arrived in their cars, bringing millions in cash and blocking the entrance to the factory. Back then, banknotes worth 100 yuan were not common; most were worth 10 yuan. 10,000 yuan was tied together to form a large bundle, and several million yuan was packed into several bags. The factory manager dares not let them in – who can count them? What to do about fake money? I have to take responsibility for the mess I’ve created. I asked the factory’s accountant to contact the bank; six bank tellers were sent over. Together with me and the factory’s cashier, that’s eight people who spent two days counting the money, yet we still hadn’t finished. Then a few clients from other places arrived, all bringing millions in cash with them. We had no choice but to surrender. We ask all customers to deposit their money in local banks, and the production order will be determined based on the date stated on the bank deposits. As a result, over 8 million yuan was collected in three days; 5 boilers were ordered for production, and all 3 prototypes that had already been manufactured were also purchased. This is the story I later told my clients – the story of counting money until one’s hands ache. Some of those who heard this story truly understood it and created their own versions: counting remittance slips worth tens of millions each, until one’s hands ache! Before the revived company could even celebrate, the Japanese arrived. They learned from the Internet that there was a company in China capable of producing non-standard pressure boilers with electronic temperature control. This meant that such boilers could adjust their pressure in a stepless manner within a certain pressure range, which granted them entirely new applications and usage areas. At that time, it was a product unique in the world, with extremely broad prospects for development. After visiting the factory accompanied by the investment promotion officials in Anyang, the Japanese decided to pursue a partnership for investment. They intend to invest in the Anyang Development Zone to design and build a brand new factory for a joint venture with us. The plant manager was not interested in such a ‘pie falling from the sky,’ because if the Japanese side invested in building a factory, it would surely be on a large scale, including large-scale equipment and facilities such as steel rolling and stamping machines, and the investment amount would definitely be substantial. Our small factory, including the land, factory buildings and equipment, and even when technical patents are taken into account, cannot be valued at much. If it’s a joint venture, we should be the major shareholders, right? But the Japanese side’s investment will definitely be much larger than ours; how can we be the major shareholders then? Anyang’s investment promotion authorities made every effort to facilitate this joint venture, and the Japanese side eventually agreed that, regardless of the actual amount they invested, it would still be counted as 49% of the shares ； Regardless of the amount in Chinese asset valuation, it is considered 51%. The Japanese made concessions to this extent, and the joint venture was eventually established. Within a year after my inquiry, the factory moved to a new site in Anyang Development Zone, where it now produces and sells temperature-controlled custom boilers independently, with its products selling well around the world. The factory director seems to have already been promoted to vice chairman of the Anyang Political Consultative Conference. Later, I happened to dial the factory’s switchboard, and the first thing I heard was a Japanese greeting message, which brought back vivid memories of my inquiries from those days. What impressed me the most, aside from those hardworking and intelligent workers, was the Hu La Tang with a lasting aftertaste. Source: Internet