Master Craftsmen: Rising Since 1959

Chapter 9 Breaking Through the Bottleneck Problem

This is a very important task entrusted to him!

Chen Weiguo replied earnestly, "Yes, Factory Director, I guarantee I will complete the task."

Looking at Chen Weiguo's military bearing, Zhao Dehai became more and more pleased: "I'll hold a celebration for you when this batch of military equipment is delivered."

The factory manager had spoken personally, and the senior technicians around him looked at Chen Weiguo with envy.

Some of them have been working for over a decade and still haven't become team leaders.

Chen Weiguo has only been here a few days, yet he's already become the deputy team leader.

This made many veteran employees unhappy.

……

Chen Weiguo and Guo Dajiang discussed the members of the knife-making task force.

In addition to the two group leaders and deputy group leaders, several senior skilled workers from the workshop were also selected.

The next morning, a morning meeting was held for the knife-making task force.

Chen Weiguo plans to first understand the current state of the cutting tools in the factory before making targeted improvements.

I cannot let the factory director down.

These days, everyone is used to smoking during meetings, and the meeting room is filled with smoke.

Chen Weiguo looked at the carbide knife in his hand; there were several large nicks on the blade.

Old Liu, the craftsman standing nearby, explained, "These knives we use have to be replaced after making an average of three parts. Damn it, these aren't knives, they're like tofu!"

Another foreman chimed in, "Imported cutting tools can replace fifteen to twenty parts, while domestic ones break after only three or five. Changing a tool requires a twenty-minute downtime for readjustment, and our factory wastes more than two hours a shift just on tool changes. The efficiency is too low."

"Yes, the scrap rate remains high. If this continues, the delivery time for military orders will definitely be delayed."

At this point, Guo Dajiang finally spoke up: "Actually, the situation is more serious than you think. I've looked at the inventory ledgers, and there are less than two hundred imported cutting tools left in stock."

"What?" Old Liu exclaimed incredulously, "Only two hundred tablets left? We use almost three hundred a month, and they're almost empty?"

Guo Dajiang sighed: "The purchasing department received a notice that foreign suppliers have reduced their exports of high-end cutting tools to our country, citing technology controls as the reason. In the future, if we want to buy them, they won't sell to us anymore."

These words caused an uproar in the meeting room.

"Technology controls? Isn't that holding us by the throat?"

"Damn it, we've been relying on these imported knives for our military industrial trials. Domestically made knives simply can't handle tough materials like nickel-based alloys."

"Oh no, what do we do now?"

Old Liu sighed: "It's not just our factory that's facing difficulties now. Every factory in the country that uses these imported cutting tools is facing the same problem. Relying on imports means they can cut you off at any time. We still have to find our own solutions. The factory manager personally ordered us to set up a cutting tool research team to specifically study this stuff. But the problem is... it involves materials, heat treatment, and coatings, which isn't something we fitters can handle."

The other foremen also deflated: "Yeah, we're not in the materials business. Shouldn't this be something the university graduates in the technical department should be researching?"

Everyone had little hope for this meeting.

This is not a problem that a fitter can easily solve.

This is a difficult problem in materials science. Many experts and professors across the country have not been able to solve it. What can a bunch of ordinary workers do?

Listening to everyone's complaints, Guo Dajiang exhaled a puff of smoke: "The factory director set up this task force not to develop some advanced cutting tools, but to find a temporary alternative. Even a clumsy method is fine, as long as it can fill the gap and complete the military orders. The technical department simply can't spare any manpower; they have more important tasks. That's why the factory director asked us to give it a try. Perhaps we frontline workers can come up with some clever way to replace imported cutting tools."

He then looked at Chen Weiguo: "Young Chen, the factory manager has high hopes for you. What are your thoughts?"

Everyone looked at Chen Weiguo.

Chen Weiguo hadn't spoken until now; he was searching the system's database.

The system contains a large number of mature cutting tool technologies from later generations, as well as various coatings and vacuum coatings, all of which have been verified countless times.

Upon hearing Guo Dajiang's question, Chen Weiguo snapped out of his reverie: "Master Guo, fellow masters, I have an idea."

Guo Dajiang's eyes lit up: "Tell me quickly. This kid always manages to create miracles."

Chen Weiguo began hand-drawing blueprints: "My core idea is actually very simple. We'll apply a special coating to our existing domestically produced cemented carbide cutting tools. The coating material should be extremely hard, significantly improving the tool's wear resistance and high-temperature resistance. The material I'm thinking of is titanium nitride. If this plan succeeds, I estimate that the lifespan of domestically produced cutting tools can be increased by three to five times, and even surpassing imported tools wouldn't be a problem."

"What?" Old Liu's eyes widened. "Three to five times? Little Chen, you can't just say things like that."

Another technician shook his head: "The coating is only a few micrometers thick. It'll wear off in just a few cuts during machining. It won't hold up, will it?"

"Yes, we're cutting nickel-based alloys, and the cutting temperature can reach thousands of degrees Celsius. What coating can withstand that?"

"Xiao Chen, what kind of material is this titanium nitride you're talking about?"

Chen Weiguo explained, "Titanium nitride is more than twice as hard as cemented carbide, and its coefficient of friction is only about 0.3, which is much lower than that of cemented carbide. In other words, the cutting tool will be more wear-resistant and generate less heat during cutting, which can significantly extend the tool's service life."

Old Liu still didn't believe it: "No matter how eloquently you describe it, the key point is that nobody in the whole country has ever made this before. I've never heard of any factory using coated cutting tools. If it were really feasible, wouldn't other factories have been using it already?"

Chen Weiguo was confident: "There is indeed no precedent in China. But this technology has already been applied in Europe, and it is entirely feasible in principle. I think it's worth a try."

After pondering for a long time, Guo Dajiang asked, "Xiao Chen, are you sure the principle behind this plan is sound?"

"Confirmed. In principle, it's definitely fine. But we need one crucial piece of equipment… a vacuum coating machine. Do you have one?"

Guo Dajiang thought for a moment: "I think there is one, but it's managed by the technical department and is used specifically for coating decorative layers. It's never been used on cutting tools."

Chen Weiguo said, "The equipment is the same, only the parameters and processes need to be adjusted. Of course, just talking is useless; we need to do experiments to verify it."

Just then, Zhao Dehai walked into the conference room: "How's your discussion going? Any difficulties?"

Guo Dajiang said, "Factory Director, the path of importing cutting tools is truly closed."

Zhao Dehai sighed, "The foreigners won't sell, and we can't buy them even if we want to. That's why I'm pinning my hopes on our factory being self-reliant and overcoming the knife-making difficulties as soon as possible. That way, we won't have to be held back by others anymore."

"We are discussing Chen Weiguo's proposal, which I think is quite feasible."

Zhao Dehai became interested and looked at Chen Weiguo: "Oh? Tell me quickly."

Chen Weiguo explained his thought process.

Zhao Dehai looked at the blueprints and realized there were some parts he didn't understand.

But he trusted Guo Dajiang... The level eight fitter said it was okay, so he gave it a try.

Zhao Dehai asked, "Xiao Chen, what do you need to do this experiment?"

Chen Weiguo thought for a moment: "We need the factory's vacuum coating equipment, a batch of domestically produced cutting tools for experiments, and the cooperation of the technical department."

Zhao Dehai laughed: "Are you trying to steal work from the technical department? But as long as it can be done, I'll support you. It doesn't matter if it's a black cat or a white cat, as long as it catches mice. What resources do you need? I'll give you the approval, and you can coordinate them."

"Yes, factory manager. I guarantee the mission will be accomplished."