Rebirth in 1985

Chapter 413: Car Problems

Seeing that it was getting late, Lu Shaohua planned to leave. He had already been to Shenzhen anyway, and there was no rush to inspect the base. He could come the next day as well. However, things did not go as he wished. Chu Lei refused to let him leave. When he stood up and was about to walk out the door, Chu Lei stopped him.

"Yes, there is something I need to tell you, and you have to make the decision." Chu Lei's expression was more serious than ever before, and one could tell at a glance that it was definitely not a trivial matter.

Lu Shaohua understood from Chu Lei's expression that something was wrong, so he was not in a hurry to leave. He returned to his chair and sat down, then said, "What's the matter? Just tell me."

"It's like this. The headquarters in Luohu District has been renovated. Should we move the headquarters there?" Moving the headquarters is indeed a big deal. Although Chu Lei is the executive president, Lu Shaohua must make the decision on such matters.

Lu Shaohua did not rush to answer, but fell into deep thought. It has been a long time since the construction of the headquarters in Shenzhen started. Some time ago, Lin Qiquan mentioned to him that the building had been built and only the decoration was needed. Lu Shaohua did not take it seriously at the time. He did not expect that it was already equipped and it was time to put it on the agenda.

"The headquarters must be moved, but moving the headquarters is not a trivial matter after all, we have to consider it carefully." After a pause, Lu Shaohua continued. "What's more, the base is in a critical period now. The distance between the headquarters and the base is too far, and you can't run back and forth for a long time."

Lu Shaohua's words went straight to the crux of the problem. There were no problems with other places. It was just a matter of moving the office location. The most important thing was Chu Lei himself. The base needed him to manage it, but the headquarters building also needed him to manage it.

"Yes, if this problem cannot be solved, it will be troublesome." Chu Lei agreed. He was also aware of the existence of this problem.

The situation in Shenzhen cannot be compared with that in Hong Kong. If Hong Kong has a complete system, then Shenzhen is relatively loose. It can be said that everyone is fighting on their own and taking care of their own business. They only sit together to discuss some major plans.

Just like Lin Qiquan manages Phoenix Real Estate, Lu Jiacheng manages Phoenix supermarket chain, and Chen Guobang manages Phoenix Security. Each person is responsible for a certain area and has his own management rights, without interference from Chu Lei, the executive president.

A long time ago, Lu Shaohua had thought about integrating power, but he never took action. The reason was very simple: the person in charge, Lu Shaohua, had not been found yet. Well, it cannot be said that he had not been found, but that he was being cultivated.

Lu Xiaoxian is Lu Shaohua's biological sister. Lu Shaohua intends to train her to take charge of the power in Shenzhen. However, Lu Xiaoxian has only been in Hong Kong for a short time. It is probably not possible for her to take charge of a huge Phoenix Group all of a sudden.

As for letting Chu Lei go to the headquarters to take charge, Lu Shaohua had thought about it, but the base was the top priority. Lu Shaohua could not lose the big picture for the sake of the small and transfer Chu Lei there, as that would be a loss.

This is not possible, and that is not possible. The headquarters must be moved, which really gives Lu Shaohua a headache.

"How about this, let Phoenix Real Estate, Phoenix Supermarket Chain and Phoenix Security move their offices in first, and make their own decisions as before." After thinking for a long time, Lu Shaohua still couldn't think of a way to have the best of both worlds. He could only maintain the status quo temporarily and wait for Lu Xiaoxian to return from her studies before making further arrangements.

"Well, that's fine." Chu Lei still agreed with Lu Shaohua's approach.

"Yeah." Lu Shaohua also responded, and then said, "However, some places need to be changed, especially the problem of chain supermarkets. My fourth uncle has been busy with supermarket issues. Now they are on a large scale. We can't go on like before. We need to have a systematic model as soon as possible."

"What do you mean?" Chu Lei asked.

"Establish a new department, oh, a sales subsidiary." Lu Shaohua proposed the idea, and then added, "Now Phoenix cars are promoted through Phoenix Sales in Hong Kong, which is not acceptable. The domestic market can only order through the base, which is very troublesome. Establishing a sales subsidiary can not only merge the chain together, but also officially promote the car."

The domestic economy was still very weak in 1992, but that did not mean that no one could afford a car. On the contrary, there were still many people who could afford a car. It was just that those who wanted to buy a Phoenix car had no way to do so, and those without certain connections could not find a base to place an order, which also resulted in the domestic market not being opened up.

"Yes! Our Phoenix Group's cars now have a place in the international market, but it is very difficult for people in China to buy Phoenix cars. Some people get them through connections in Hong Kong, or they have certain relationships and buy them directly through the base. This is very inconvenient." Chu Lei's tone was quite helpless. He also knew that this problem existed, but what else could he do?

Yes, this problem cannot be solved for the time being. It’s not that it cannot be solved, but that it cannot be solved because the production of Phoenix Automobile is not enough to supply the market. Even the car dealerships in Hong Kong have allocated shares, which shows how serious the shortage of automobiles is.

Lu Shaohua is not a fool. When there was a corruption scandal within the Hong Kong Phoenix Group, he knew that the production at the base could not meet the market demand. This time he rushed to Shenzhen not only to find out about the problem with the computer hardware, but also to solve the problem of automobile production.

After thinking deeply for a long time, Lu Shaohua finally made a decision and said, "Let's expand the scale of production and increase the quantity."

The Hong Kong market cannot even be satisfied, not to mention the domestic market. In addition, now we are entering the European and American markets. There is only a sign that the production cannot meet the demand. Lu Shaohua can fully predict that in the near future, this sign will expand and become a huge gap, and increasing production is the only solution.

However, production needs to be increased, but this does not mean we should just pursue production blindly. Quality is equally important. The scene of the quality problems of Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan in 2010 is still fresh in our memory. As a reborn person, Lu Shaohua will never let the same thing happen to Toyota Motor Corporation in his own company.

"We need to increase production, but we also need to ensure quality. Each link must be carefully tested before it can leave the factory. In a word, quality must be guaranteed, and there cannot be any mistakes." Lu Shaohua said in a deep voice. His expression was extremely serious, telling Chu Lei in disguise that he was not joking.

"I understand." Chu Lei responded seriously. He also understood a truth. How far a company can go depends not only on its advantages but also on its quality. If the quality is not well controlled, then the company is not far from extinction. However, the current problem is still very serious. It cannot meet the market demand, and expanding the scale will not increase production in a day or two. "Now the signs of production have appeared. It is a bit difficult to solve this problem."

"Oh!" Lu Shaohua frowned, thinking that the situation was more troublesome than he had imagined. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "How long do workers work in a day now?"

"Ten hours." After a pause, Chu Lei answered. "The normal working hours used to be eight hours, but since they started to expand into the European and American markets, I increased it to ten hours, and the additional two hours are considered overtime pay."

"Ten hours." Lu Shaohua frowned. Ten hours of work was not considered long in this era, so Lu Shaohua made a plan on the working hours and said, "How about this, the working hours will be increased to twelve hours, and four hours will be considered as overtime pay."

At the end, Lu Shaohua paused and continued, "It's up to people to increase the number of hours by 12. Those who are willing to work overtime can do so, and those who don't want to can do so as well."

It's true that Lu Shaohua wanted to increase production, but he also had to give people options when it came to overtime. After all, there were only twenty-four hours in a day, and twelve hours took up half of that time. If you deduct the time for eating and other things, there wasn't much time left for sleep.

However, Lu Shaohua is not worried at all that no one is willing to work overtime, because in this era who doesn't want to earn more money? If you work overtime, you can get more overtime pay every month. No one can resist money. Besides, this situation will not last long. Once the scale is expanded and more people are recruited, it can be restored to its original state.

"I'll have people start executing it tomorrow," Chu Lei replied.

"Well, the same goes for those technical talents from the Soviet Union. Try to let them work overtime." Lu Shaohua did not forget to remind him.

Although the technical talents from the Soviet Union signed a contract with Lu Shaohua that was similar to a contract of selling their indentures, and Lu Shaohua did not interfere much with their working hours and freedom, it did not mean that Lu Shaohua would not interfere. Now is a critical period, and Lu Shaohua feels it is necessary to let him work a few more hours.

"I'll arrange it." Those technical talents from the Soviet Union are directly under Chu Lei's management. Only Chu Lei can command them. Other senior executives have no power to manage them.

"Also, we should try our best to cultivate our own talents. We can't always be controlled by others." Lu Shaohua said this at the end.

After all, the Soviets are foreigners, and Lu Shaohua will not completely trust them. Although he is bound by the contract, he has to be on guard. It is necessary to cultivate domestic technical talents. Only by cultivating them can Lu Shaohua sit firmly on the throne and not be threatened.

Chu Lei smiled faintly. He had realized this problem a long time ago and had been cultivating it for a long time, so he smiled and said with great pride. "There are now more than a dozen talents graduating from domestic universities who are qualified for the position of engineers. If nothing unexpected happens, in another year or two, they can completely replace those talents from the Soviet Union."

"Keep working hard." Lu Shaohua also smiled happily, then stood up and said, "I'm going back first, and we'll talk about other things tomorrow."

After saying that, Lu Shaohua left and returned to the manor villa.