When will I have a long tassel?

“The Chinese are really crazy!”

At the "First China Aviation Manufacturing Equipment Exhibition" held in Pujiang, looking at the various aircraft-specific machine tools exhibited by Chinese manufacturers, Thales, vice president of the Weir Group, felt like he was about to faint.

Only one year has passed since PAFCO issued an ultimatum to the Weill Consortium, claiming that it would independently develop machine tools for large aircraft. The Chinese have already completed the development of hundreds of machine tools dedicated to large aircraft. From the ultra-large gantry equipment that processes the overall frame of the aircraft to the micron-level five-axis precision turning and milling compound machine tool that cuts the engine injector, all have finished products, and they are placed one by one in the exhibition hall, glowing with baked blue. of dim light.

Thales can certainly see that some of the large aircraft machine tools launched by Chinese machine tool manufacturers are not mature enough and have obvious disadvantages in performance and quality compared with the products of Western companies. Aircraft manufacturing has very high requirements for equipment. Aircraft manufacturing companies would rather spend more money to purchase more mature equipment. In this sense, Chinese companies are still unable to completely replace Western companies, and it is too early for PFI to break away from the Weill Consortium.

But Thales was not relaxed at all. The products of Western companies are mature because their products have been manufactured for decades and have been fully adapted, while Chinese companies only started research and development of this type of machine tools a year ago. How could Thales dare to look down upon them if they were able to produce products of this level in just one year? If these Chinese machine tool companies are given another year or two or more, Thales cannot imagine where they will go.

What frightens Thales the most is the Chinese’s disregard for costs in machine tool research and development. He saw that there are many important machine tools that are produced by at least three companies, and each company has launched its own products. These products have different designs and represent different technical routes. Some designs contain very genius ideas that even Western manufacturers have never thought of.

Zhang Lingwei, who was responsible for accompanying Thales to visit the exhibition, told Thales that Chinese companies have adopted a method called "saturated R\u0026D" to ensure that each important task node has sufficient backup. Even if one company encounters obstacles in its research and development, there will be other companies that can achieve breakthroughs.

"Why are you doing this? Don't you think it's a waste?"

Thales asked in confusion.

"Maybe it's because we're afraid of being stuck." Zhang Lingwei said, "It's nothing to waste a little investment. But once someone gets stuck, it's a fatal thing."

"I think you may be too worried." Thales said angrily.

Zhang Lingwei said: "This is a bloody lesson. We dare not trust anyone's promises."

"Do you hope to use this method to force Weir to bow his head?" Thales asked.

Zhang Lingwei shook his head and said: "Mr. Taylor, you misunderstood. We never force anyone to bow their heads, and we don't pay attention to who bows their heads. Our goal is just to do better ourselves. Once we can do it Even better, no one can force us to bow our heads."

"So, is Pu Fei still willing to cooperate with Weir?"

"Of course, we rely heavily on Weill's technology and have always hoped to establish a long-term and stable cooperative relationship with Weill."

"If Pufei and Weill cooperate, what will these Chinese companies do?"

"Our cooperation with Weir does not exclude these Chinese companies. We will use both Weir's equipment and equipment manufactured in China. Moreover, we also hope that Weir can establish cooperative relationships with Chinese machine tool companies and jointly develop Making the most important large aircraft machine tools.”

“What if we don’t accept this approach?”

"Don't you accept it?" Zhang Lingwei smiled, pointed in front of him and said, "Mr. Taylor, you should know those people in front of you, right? Yes, they were sent by Boeing headquarters. Guests from Airbus are also here today. We should be able to meet them in the showroom soon.

"The world has been suffering for a long time. Friends from Boeing and Airbus have expressed to us the hope that we can build better machine tools for large aircraft, so that they will have more choices when purchasing equipment in the future. Market You need to have a choice, what do you think, Mr. Thales?"

"I think..." Thales was silent for a while, then nodded and said: "It is indeed a very good idea to cooperate with Chinese colleagues. I admire the ability and talent of Chinese colleagues very much, and the franchise companies of our consortium should also do the same. They have the same idea, and I think they are willing to cooperate with their Chinese counterparts.

"In addition, we also strongly support China to launch its own brand of large aircraft as soon as possible and obtain airworthiness certificates from the United States and Europe. In fact, our skies have been occupied by Boeing and Airbus for too long. The market needs to have choices Yes, Mr. Zhang said it very well."

"So, can I tell Mr. Thales that we have a happy cooperation now?" Zhang Lingwei stretched out a hand and asked with a smile.

"It's a pleasure to cooperate." Thales held Zhang Lingwei's hand firmly and said meaningfully.

…

"This large-scale aircraft machine tool research is an exercise and a test for our machine tool industry. In the face of our achievements, the Weir Consortium finally bowed its head and promised that the machine tools it will provide to Pufei in the future will fully meet our requirements. standards. At the same time, it will also enable franchised companies to carry out in-depth cooperation with Chinese machine tool companies in several of the most important aircraft machine tools to achieve technology sharing.

"In this research, various machine tool companies have established more than 20 specialized research centers. According to incomplete statistics, the total value of various experimental equipment purchased by each company exceeds 5 billion yuan, and the investment in technological transformation of workshops has also been Above this number. During the entire research period, various companies, universities and research institutes obtained more than 10,000 technical patents, and also trained a large number of technical talents, which greatly improved the overall technical level of my country's machine tool industry."

In an office of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Duan Rufei and Yu Xiaohui were reporting to Tang Zifeng.

"You have done a good job." Tang Zifeng said in a loving tone like an old father. "This time, in addition to undertaking part of the research and development tasks for large aircraft machine tools, Business Opportunity Group was also responsible for organizing and coordinating the entire research activity. Your work reflects your responsibility as a leading company in the machine tool industry. You did a good job and did not embarrass us old people."

"This is a good foundation laid by Mr. Tang for us, as well as a good style of work."

Duan Rufei, who has taken over Tang Zifeng's position, said modestly.

"I heard that this time's research on large aircraft machine tools has also had a great impact on society. This year's college entrance examination, many high-scoring candidates chose the mechanical major, but it was the finance, economics, etc. that were the most popular. The profession is a bit cold." Yu Xiaohui said with a smile.

Tang Zifeng said: "It's not surprising. The foundation of a country is still in manufacturing, and the foundation of manufacturing is rooted in our machine tool industry. After experiencing the collision of various ideological trends, in the end everyone finally recognized what is For the country’s most important industry, it is inevitable that the mechanical major will heat up.”

"Yes, when I was in school, I also thought that the machinery industry and the machine tool industry were sunset industries and were no longer popular. It was only after I came to the opportunity and followed Mr. Tang that I gradually realized the position of machine tools in the national economy and people's livelihood. With this round of Regarding the blockade and sanctions imposed on us by foreign countries, without the solid foundation of the machine tool industry left to us by Mr. Tang and other seniors, we would not have been able to remain invincible." Duan Rufei said with emotion.

Tang Zifeng smiled and said: "Who am I as a senior? Mr. Xu, Mr. Xie, Mr. Zhou, those are the real seniors in the machine tool industry. In the 1950s, they were the ones who created China's machine tool industry system in the midst of desolation. Later, we developed and improved this system while suffering from a total foreign blockade. Later, when we opened the door and faced the impact of foreign machine tools, they held their ground and made China's machine tool industry not like the former Soviet Union. That's a total collapse.

"By the time I took over, the living environment of China's machine tool industry had greatly improved. Like you, I am a generation enjoying dividends."

"We don't want to sleep on the dividends created by our predecessors." Yu Xiaohui said seriously. She handed over a piece of information and said:

"Director Tang, in accordance with your request, we have conducted thorough discussions with the technical departments and decision-making departments of other large domestic machine tool companies and formulated the "China Machine Tool 2035 Action Plan" for Director Tang's review."

"You took it out so quickly?" Tang Zifeng took the information and said excitedly while flipping through it, "Yes, yes, developing network collaborative manufacturing technology, smart factories based on the Internet of Things, integrated management and control of manufacturing resources, and full life Cycle manufacturing services, these concepts are very good. Robots, intelligent sensing, intelligent control, micro-nano manufacturing, complex manufacturing, as well as the research and development of common technologies such as reliability technology, manufacturing processes, key basic parts, industrial sensors, etc., these points are all grasped It is very accurate and indeed an ambitious plan of action.”

"Our goal is to aim at the international frontier and strive to keep pace with foreign machine tool giants by 2035, and then use 10 to 15 years to completely leave them behind," Duan Rufei said.

"Based on my observation, it probably won't take that long." Tang Zifeng said with a smile.

"I think so too." Duan Rufei also said with a smile, "By the way, Director Tang, when we were discussing this action plan, everyone felt that the term 'China Machine Tool 2035' was not strong enough. I would like to ask Director Tang to give us a name. A louder name.”

"A louder name?"

Tang Zifeng pondered for a moment, raised his head and said:

"Machine tools are the mother of industry. To develop the manufacturing industry, machine tools are indispensable. The great man once said that if you have a tassel in your hand today, when will you tie the blue dragon? This is exactly what it means. We must step on the dragon of the times and realize the development of the nation. Taking off cannot be achieved without this long tassel.

"Therefore, our plan is called Changying 2035."

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