"According to the technology design process, a furnace of molten iron can only pour three castings, and some molten iron can be enriched, but not enough to pour the fourth one. If we can narrow the riser a little and save the molten iron, it will be just enough to pour the fourth casting. In this way, the utilization efficiency of the electric furnace can be increased by 1/3."

"But the original riser design was used to subsidize the shrinkage defect. If the riser is reduced, the shrinkage defect will be larger and the quality of the casting cannot be guaranteed."

"I have an idea. You see, the process requirements say that the top load of the casting is large, the structure is dense, and there must be no air holes or shrinkage holes, but the load at the bottom is small, so the quality requirements are not so high. If we reverse the sand and shrink the riser, even if some shrinkage holes are generated, it will be at the bottom and will not affect the quality of the top, will it solve the problem?"

"I think it's OK. After turning the sand shape upside down, you can set up a few lower risers underneath to replenish the lower layer, and the quality should be better than the original process."

"Oh, to be honest, this method was proposed by Master Zhang back then. Lao Hou, do you still remember it?"

"Why don't you remember? The old manager took us to discuss it together. Alas, Master Zhang has been away for 10 years, if he is still there..."

"I'm going too far..., I look at the design on the drawings, can the cold iron be bigger..."

"You can add a gate..."

"You should pay attention to the exhaust problem. You should cushion the lower box to facilitate exhaust..."

“…”

Two old foundry workers discussed on the spot with the process engineers sent by the Technology Department, and Guan Zhiming also participated. Several people each took a pencil and wrote and painted on the drawings, and chatted lively. Tang Zifeng stood aside, completely confused, not knowing what these people meant. He only knew that from the expressions on their faces, the discussion should be fruitful. The two retired workers looked quite confident, and the two process engineers occasionally showed an expression of "can this be it", which was obviously because they had received extremely valuable inspiration from Hou Zhensheng and the others.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Chen, are there any problems adjusting the process according to this idea?"

After the discussion came to an end, Guan Zhiming asked the two process engineers.

"It should be fine, but we have to go back and calculate some details." The engineer surnamed Chen replied.

"It's four o'clock in the afternoon and before eight o'clock in the evening, can we design the new technology?" Guan Zhiming asked.

"This..." The two engineers showed some disgrace on their faces.

Guan Zhiming gave Tang Zifeng a look, and Tang Zifeng knew that he should play a role. He stepped forward and said to the two engineers: "Before 8 o'clock in the evening, you must complete the new process design. If there are any difficulties, you can directly solve them with General Engineer Qin and Director Sun. I don't understand any technical difficulties, but I will only say one thing, if it cannot be completed by then, I will report to Director Zhou."

"Uh...well, let's try our best." The two engineers responded helplessly.

"It's not as much as possible, but must!" Tang Zifeng said with a calm face and in an unquestionable tone.

The two engineers ran back to design happily. Guan Zhiming waved to Rao Shutian who was standing not far away. Rao Shutian took two steps, came to them, and asked with a smile: "Old Guan, what's the matter?"

"Where did that small electric stove in the casting workshop go?" Guan Zhiming asked.

Rao Shutian was stunned for a moment and asked, "You mean, the electric furnace of the power frequency? After the last time it was removed, it was sent to the warehouse. It has been seven or eight years now, and I don't know if it is still there. Why, old manager, do you want to use that electric furnace again?"

Guan Zhiming said: "One more electric furnace can speed up a little. I remember it can still be used when the electric furnace is removed. You can immediately go to the warehouse to check it out. If it is still there, just reinstall it. Its efficiency is worse than the current mid-frequency electric furnace, but it is better than nothing?"

"But this is too much trouble..." Rao Shutian complained.

"What's the situation?" Tang Zifeng asked.

Rao Shutian said with a bitter face: "What the old manager said just now is that the original old electric stove in our workshop has been removed for seven or eight years, and I don't know if it is still there. If you want to reinstall it, it will take at least three or four days to make it a little unworthy."

Guan Zhiming sneered and said, "Why is it not worth it? If this electric stove can be used, you can increase the production capacity by at least 1/4. In addition, the process optimization idea I discussed with Lao Hou and others just now, you will definitely get the most out of your goal. For this goal, let a few people struggle for three or four days. What's the problem?"

"Now is so busy..."

"Old Rao, just do as the old manager wants." Tang Zifeng patted Rao Shutian on the shoulder and said, "You won't be in vain. After completing this batch of business, I guess there will be a group of people. Maybe there are 50 or even 100 units. If you improve your production capacity, there will be no mistakes."

"Okay, I'll arrange someone to do it right away." Rao Shutian also surrendered. He could not care about Guan Zhiming's request, but he did not dare to compete with Tang Zifeng. Zhou Heng sent Tang Zifeng to follow Guan Zhiming, not to let him act as a decoration. Tang Zifeng's words were equivalent to Zhou Heng's words, and Rao Shutian did not have the courage to go against Zhou Heng.

Guan Zhiming explained several other things, Rao Shutian wrote them down one by one, and agreed to implement them immediately. Guan Zhiming then turned to Tang Zifeng and said, "The matter in the casting workshop is almost done. When the Crafts Department sends a new craft design to the evening, let's take a look. Now let's go to the turning workshop first."

"Listen to you." Tang Zifeng replied with a smile.

On the way to the finishing workshop, Tang Zifeng asked Guan Zhiming: "Old Guan, I just heard you discuss the craftsmanship, but I didn't understand a single word. Why, have you worked as a foundry before? How come you are so familiar with casting?"

Guan Zhiming said: "When I was a worker, I worked as a turning, milling worker and fitter, but I never did casting. However, later, I became the director of the production department and then later as the deputy director of the production factory, all these types of jobs must be in contact. If I don't understand the situation of each type of job, how can I manage it well?"

"But, I think you seem to be very professional." Tang Zifeng said.

Guan Zhiming smiled and said, "Where do I seem professional? Let's just talk about casting technology. The core ideas are proposed by Lao Hou, Master Qi, Gong Li, Gong Chen and others. I just started to make fun of it. In fact, industrial technology is not difficult. As long as you really calm down and learn, you can learn these things. Look at Lao Hou, he has only been in elementary school for a few years and hasn't even been to junior high school. What he can understand is, you, a top student who graduated from a prestigious university, can you learn it?"

"It's not that easy, right? When I entered the workshop, I just looked dark and couldn't understand anything." Tang Zifeng hesitated.

"It's up to man, the key is whether you want to learn or not, it's easy to learn." Guan Zhiming said, "In the past, there were many college students assigned by the first-machine machine. There were also some cadres with high education in the ministry and province, but they often couldn't even figure out what casting was. After all, they looked down on industrial production from the bottom of their hearts and thought it was not worth their brains.

"There are also some people who are from engineering and have good technical skills, but if you want them to squat with old workers like Lao Hou to discuss craftsmanship, they will not be happy. They think that the workers are too rustic and do not deserve to sit with them, such as their intellectuals.

"But you have also seen that the craft ideas proposed by Lao Hou and the others are more clever than engineers in the crafts department. This is called real knowledge when practicing. Just say that a furnace of molten iron can be poured into several castings. The calculation on paper is one thing, and actual operation is another. Others can only pour three castings in a furnace, and if Lao Hou is replaced, four can be poured into four. Isn't this efficiency improved?"

"I've been taught." Tang Zifeng bowed to Guan Zhiming. I won't talk about this person's character for the time being, but I don't mention his ability. Few people who have been working as deputy director of production for so many years are mediocre people.

When he came to the turning workshop, Guan Zhiming still had that kind of working method. He found some experienced old workers, took the process documents compiled by the Crafts Department, and discussed them one by one to determine the idea of ​​process optimization. The Technical Department had sent two other process engineers here. They were obviously familiar with Guan Zhiming's working style, and they also participated in it and discussed it warmly with everyone.

There are many process solutions for processing a part, such as whether the inner hole or the outer circle of the car is first, how to choose the angle and speed of the cutting head when turning, what kind of fixtures to use for the workpiece, and each combination can form a process solution. The determination of the process solution not only takes into account the processing requirements of the parts, but also considers what equipment is in the workshop, the technical level of the workers, cost requirements, etc., which is equivalent to solving a planning problem with dozens of constraints.

Neither Guan Zhiming nor the workers have the ability to solve such complex equations. In fact, they do not understand linear planning at all. But they have rich experience and can judge which process choice is the best and which link can save time. By allocating tasks reasonably and tailoring the process plan according to the technical level of each worker, Guan Zhiming saved processing time almost every minute to allow the workshop to complete this impossible task within the specified construction period.
Chapter completed!