After leaving the county magistrate's office, Qin Chuan drove to Xinhua Electronics Factory.
For a long time to come, this would be his true base of operations, as the success or failure of the electronic locker project directly concerned the layout of Qin Chuan's future business empire.
Therefore, he had to invest most of his energy here, allowing no room for error.
"Xiao Chuan, you're back!"
On the second floor of the electronics factory's office building, as Qin Chuan was heading up, he ran into Ye Meiyun, who was just coming down.
The moment she saw Qin Chuan, Ye Meiyun's mature and alluring face lit up with unconcealable excitement and joy.
"Yes, I'm back!"
Qin Chuan looked up at the elegant sister before him, a bright smile mirroring hers.
"Let's go to my office and sit for a while."
"Okay, I have a lot of things to report to you..."
Ye Meiyun quickly followed.
"Boss, when did you get back?"
As the two walked towards Qin Chuan's chairman's office, they encountered Ge Lan, the head of the marketing department, and Miao Nan from the administrative department.
Seeing their young and handsome boss return, both women's faces radiated deep joy.
"Yesterday afternoon. I had some matters to attend to after returning, so I'm only getting here now."
The group entered Qin Chuan's chairman's office together.
Even though Qin Chuan had been away for several days, the office was still tidy and clean, clearly well-maintained by someone.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable! Don't be too formal!"
After everyone was seated, Qin Chuan asked, "Has everything been going well at the electronics factory recently?"
"It's going great, boss, exceptionally well!"
Ge Lan spoke first, her tone excited, "The electronics factory today is like heaven and earth compared to what it was before!"
"Since our electronic locker project officially entered production, the workers' morale has reached an unprecedented high. Everyone is full of vigor, and the laziness and idleness of the past are gone!"
Qin Chuan smiled and nodded. "That's good!"
"How many more workers have been hired in the past couple of days?"
"Twelve!"
This time, Miao Nan answered. She was in charge of administration.
Qin Chuan nodded. This number was decent. The total number of workers at the electronics factory had now surpassed triple digits.
However, it was still far from his goal.
"Keep hiring. Without enough manpower, where will the productivity come from?" Qin Chuan said.
"Understood, boss!"
Miao Nan quietly took out her notebook and jotted down this important piece of information.
"By the way, why don't I see Vice Factory Manager Xu and Supervisor Li? Where are they?"
"At this time... they should be in the production workshop." Ye Meiyun said.
"The production workshop? I haven't been there yet. Let's all go take a look!"
Qin Chuan stood up, and everyone headed towards the production workshop together.
Along the way, they encountered many mid to high-level managers of the electronics factory. Upon learning that Qin Chuan was going to inspect the production workshop, they all followed.
The group, a formidable procession, thus arrived at the production workshop.
What met their eyes were rows of machines in operation, the entire workshop a scene of bustling activity. Beside each line of machines, two to three highly skilled technical personnel were closely monitoring them.
Here, they indeed found Li Chunsheng and Xu Ronghua. Upon seeing Qin Chuan's return, both were overjoyed.
"Uncle Li, thank you for your hard work!"
Qin Chuan patted Li Chunsheng on the shoulder, expressing his gratitude.
If Li Chunsheng hadn't repaired the machines and improved the product qualification rate, they wouldn't have been able to start production by now.
This achievement was immense.
"Boss, you're too kind. This is my duty, nothing worth praising."
Li Chunsheng lived up to his reputation as a true researcher. Many, after achieving even a small success, would be eager to promote themselves constantly to increase their value and gain benefits.
However, Li Chunsheng showed no such vanity. All he possessed was the simple diligence and seriousness of a top-tier researcher, a quality Qin Chuan greatly admired.
Led by Li Chunsheng, the group toured the entire production workshop.
Currently, Xinhua Electronics Factory was primarily responsible for producing the integrated circuit boards for the electronic lockers – essentially the true core CPUs of the electronic lockers – and the final assembly.
The casings for the electronic lockers were produced in cooperation with a factory in the neighboring Ning County. Once manufactured there, they were transported to Xinhua Electronics Factory, where workers would assemble the chips and then write the control programs.
Of course, for some of the materials required for the core circuit boards, Xinhua Electronics Factory also collaborated with other electronic manufacturers.
After all, it was difficult for a single factory to complete the entire process of creating a perfect chip.
Even in the future, more than twenty years from now, many giant electronic technology companies still maintained this collaborative approach.
After the tour, Qin Chuan was satisfied but also pointed out areas of improvement.
"The biggest deficiency in our electronics factory right now is the slow production capacity!"
"One hundred finished electronic lockers shipped daily is far from my target!"
One hundred finished products per day meant how many in a month? Only three thousand units, which was too few.
"Boss, one hundred finished products shipped daily is indeed a bit low, but our current machinery can only maintain this speed!"
Li Chunsheng explained, "To increase production capacity, we need to introduce new machinery, build another production line, and increase investment!"
"This will require a considerable amount of money!"
"How much money?" Qin Chuan asked.
Li Chunsheng hesitated, then looked at Ge Lan beside him. "This would require consulting with Supervisor Ge from the marketing department. I haven't paid much attention to the prices of equipment in the marketing department recently."
"Boss!" Ge Lan quickly replied, "If we want to add another production line, the minimum investment is likely to be two million. If you need detailed equipment specifications, I can have someone prepare a table immediately."
"Then please prepare one quickly, I need to see it!" Qin Chuan's tone was firm. Two million might indeed be a lot, but the money that needed to be spent, must be spent. This was essential.
As the saying goes, "A craftsman must first sharpen his tools if he wants to do his work well."
If you want a horse to run fast, you must feed it enough good fodder. Otherwise, where in this world are there such good things as making money without investing?
Shortly after returning to the office, Ge Lan delivered a very detailed table in less than half an hour.
It listed various machinery options along with their latest quotations.
Qin Chuan carefully scanned the prices of the machinery, his teeth grinding and his expression growing increasingly displeased.
The "two million" Ge Lan mentioned was likely the most conservative estimate.
The prices of advanced machinery during this era were truly outrageous, even more so than in later decades. Two million was probably only enough to buy the most basic, entry-level equipment. For better quality machinery, the price would likely be closer to four million, doubling.
"Damn it, four million!" Qin Chuan slumped onto the sofa, full of dejection.
If these four million were spent, his bank account would be nearly depleted, returning him to the ranks of the poor. This was a truly disheartening reality.