Continue from [Wang Yi’s Consulting Short Stories] Part 3: From Disinfection Tablets to **Confidentiality

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The third company I consulted was highly technology-driven; it was a firm that developed and produced effervescent disinfection tablets. When disinfecting a home water dispenser, these disinfection tablets are mainly used; they are placed in the water tank to dissolve, allowing the disinfectant solution to soak the interior of the dispenser for a while. After that, the disinfectant solution is drained, and the dispenser is rinsed several times with clean water. The principle behind its disinfecting effect is that the tablets contain chlorine, which has a significant bactericidal effect on most bacteria. However, when chlorine evaporates in the air, its harmful effects on the human body are also very severe. During World War II, the Nazis used chlorine gas on a large scale to attack **Jews**. How can a substance with such strong toxicity be used to disinfect water dispensers and drinking water? That’s where the technological aspect comes in. When I first arrived at the company for a research visit, I was immediately stunned by the room full of chemical instruments, glassware, and computer equipment. The company staff, dressed in white coats, hats, and masks, gave detailed explanations in both Chinese and English, but I couldn’t understand a single word of it. I tried hard to recall my chemistry knowledge from high school, but I couldn’t even remember a single molecular formula. I resisted the urge to look around, focusing my attention on the device in front of me whose purpose I wasn’t sure about. I nodded along as they explained things, pointing with my finger and asking various questions; in fact, I wanted to understand their main production process. After a whole day of confused research, I still didn’t understand the chemical principles and characteristics of the company’s products; however, I was able to grasp the main processes involved in their research and development, production, storage, and sales. I also identified the key areas where management is weak. But it’s not clear whether addressing these weaknesses will lead to a significant improvement in economic performance. The next day, the key leaders of the client company took the time out of their busy schedules to meet with us in person. He is a university professor, doctoral supervisor, and young entrepreneur; he holds several invention patents and is proficient in multiple languages. The first thing we’re faced with is: where should we start? I really didn’t know where to start at the time, so I began with the process. I asked my supervisor: Are disinfection tablets made by compressing powder? Before compressing them into tablets, the powders of various ingredients should be mixed and stirred evenly according to the recipe, and then fed into the tablet-pressing equipment, right? Are all the powders before tablet compression weighed by weight? After it’s pressed into sheets, is it measured by the number of sheets? After it’s put into bottles, is it measured by the number of bottles? So, how many kilograms of mixed powder are needed to produce a certain number of tablets or bottles of the finished product? Who can tell me the exact figures? The company’s leader stared at me straight in the eyes, failing to speak for a long time. He immediately called and brought in one key employee after another, but none of them could give a clear answer. I watched impassively; some of them truly hadn’t thought about it, while others deliberately remained vague and unwilling to be clear. The company’s leadership also realized this, and they politely asked me to leave the company first. To my surprise, when I arrived at the company the next day, I learned that the company’s management member had been admitted to the hospital the previous day due to an acute heart attack. I had a vague feeling it was related to my conversation yesterday, so I asked the people in the office what exactly had happened. She hesitantly told me that after you asked that question yesterday, our supervisor ordered us to open a bottle of tablets on the spot, weigh them on a scale, count the number of tablets, and calculate the amount of raw material powder needed. As a result, it was found that there was a huge difference between the amount of raw material used by the factory over the years and the amount of tablets produced. The economic loss is estimated to be over tens of millions of yuan. Whose pockets do these losses end up in? It’s probably enough to warrant a death sentence. I quickly said, “Then go and check it right away; follow the production process step by step, and you’ll definitely be able to find it.” ”She said, “There’s no need to look anymore; they’ve all run away.” Yesterday, as the leader was hospitalized, it became impossible to get in touch with all the key people at night, and this morning not a single one of them showed up. ”“No way! ”“There were actually early signs: the sales manager, just one month after joining the company, bought himself a Jetta. “This has nothing to do with you, right? ”“Don’t worry, it’s nothing to do with me. I am a secretary and don’t have access to the products. ”My supervisor from my company and I rushed to the hospital to visit the client’s supervisor. My supervisor asked anxiously, \"Given the current situation of the company, should we continue with our consulting project?\" ”The client’s leader said, “If we don’t do it, we’re definitely dead; if we do it, we might survive.” ”So, under tremendous pressure, I continued to provide counseling. Together with the employees who stayed, I carefully examined every detail of the company’s research and development, production, and sales processes. I identified the key points and control factors for each step, and developed procedure documents and work instructions for each process. These documents specified in detail who from which department receives what information, based on what standards what needs to be checked, and then according to what procedures what actions should be taken, resulting in what outcomes. They also outlined who is responsible for verifying those outcomes, within what time frame, and through what channels or methods the information should be transmitted to whom. ”We took the completed documents to the company’s management who was staying in the hospital for review, and he told us with satisfaction that his stay in the hospital hadn’t been in vain; not only had he recovered from his illness, but he had also discovered new business opportunities. With these system documents in place, it’s perfect for achieving a new leap forward. Seeing the gleam in his eyes, I felt that I had chosen the right direction for my consultation. As soon as the company’s leader was discharged from the hospital, he plunged into the laboratory and worked day and night on the development of new products. It was a sensitive period, and no one dared to ask questions – the new products had to remain confidential. We distribute the system documents to the relevant personnel, and then conduct discussions, make revisions, provide training, and carry out trial operations. By the time the newly developed product is launched, everyone is already in position, with each person thoroughly familiar with \"what to do, who will do it, when, where, how to do it, and what the outcome will be.\" The entire production process is interconnected, with clear handovers between each step, so there are no more mistakes related to incorrect units of measurement. The sales of the new product have been surprisingly smooth, thanks to its new function of chlorine reduction. As mentioned earlier, chlorine is effective for disinfection, but it causes adverse irritation to humans. To solve this problem, on my way back from a meal, I talked to the company’s management about my limited knowledge of chemistry, mentioning something like acid-base neutralization. At that time, the company’s management immediately stopped me from saying any more. I thought I was showing off in front of those more skilled than me and acting very timid. Later, the company’s management told me that it was my words that reminded them of the idea of using a double-layer compression method, so that the outer layer of the tablets would contain chlorine, which would dissolve in water and thus serve a disinfecting purpose ； Thereafter, the neutralizing agent in the inner layer of the tablet dissolves, eliminating the irritating effects of chlorine. First, use chlorine to kill bacteria, and then use a neutralizing agent to eliminate the chlorine; by creating a time gap, it is possible to avoid the pungent smell of chlorine while still achieving disinfection and sterilization. This is the technological content mentioned earlier. Of course, to realize this vision, extensive and repeated trials are necessary, which is the round-the-clock development process carried out by the company’s leadership. The system documents we developed through consultation serve as a support framework for the research, development, production, and sales of this new product. The first trial customer for the new product was the hospital where the company’s leader was hospitalized when he fell ill. It turns out that while the leader was hospitalized, he realized that disinfection was necessary and essential for the cleaning services in the hospital, but patients were afraid of the smell of disinfectants. He consulted with the hospital’s management to carry out cleaning and disinfection in the hospital, and developed a odorless disinfection tablet specifically for this purpose. One tablet is dissolved in a bucket of water; during the first few minutes it acts as a disinfectant and can be used for wiping surfaces to disinfect them ； In a few minutes, it turns into neutralized water; wiping it again will eliminate the chlorine smell. Later, with the input and suggestions of users, the technological level of the new product was further improved, enabling a dual action based on molecular structure; the tablets were no longer double-layered (**which accelerated the production speed”), but each tablet contained chlorine and a neutralizing agent, which would be released at predetermined times after dissolving in water. There is no need to wipe twice during cleaning and disinfection; one wipe is sufficient to achieve both disinfection and neutralization effects. It also has a slow-release function, allowing the surface that has been wiped to remain free of bacteria for several hours, as the disinfection molecules and neutralization molecules are continuously released over an extended period of time, thereby maintaining the disinfecting effect. Even before system certification was obtained, the **Academy of Medical Sciences and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention took notice of this product, classifying its formula and production process as **confidential. More than 20 million yuan was allocated to this company to fund the reconstruction of factories and warehouses in another location, so that a certain quantity of disinfection tablets can be stored there on an annual basis as emergency supplies for wartime preparedness and disaster relief. By then, I was no longer allowed to stay at the company, and I regretted not being able to see it obtain the certification (it managed to get it despite moving). As a consolation, the company’s management recommended me to the hospital that was the first to try out the new product, thus initiating another new consultation process for me. Source: Internet