OBS Chapter 655 I hope you can give me a reply as soon as possible.
Chapter 655 I hope you can give me a reply as soon as possible.
“There’s a problem here,” Li Xiangyang pointed to a clause in the contract, “is there a penalty for early repayment?”
"Yes, according to bank regulations, a penalty of 2% of the remaining principal must be paid for early repayment," Chen Ming explained.
Li Xiangyang frowned: "Can this clause be removed? If our business is doing well and we want to repay the loan early, why should we be penalized?"
Chen Ming hesitated, "This is a unified regulation from head office..."
"How about this then," Li Xiangyang thought for a moment, "the penalty for breach of contract is reduced to 1%, that should be your bottom line, right?"
Chen Ming considered it for a moment, then picked up the phone to report to head office. A few minutes later, he nodded: "Head office has agreed; the penalty for breach of contract will be 1%."
After the contract was revised, Li Xiangyang signed his name on it.
The five million yuan arrived quickly. With the funding secured, construction of the new base commenced immediately.
Tian Guoqiang was in charge of site selection and infrastructure construction, Wang Ergou was in charge of equipment procurement, and Li Xiangyang personally took charge of production management to ensure the timely delivery of existing orders.
A month later, the first batch of goods from Hualian Supermarket was successfully delivered, and Lin Yajing came all the way from Guangzhou to inspect them.
"Mr. Li, the product quality is excellent, fully meeting Hualian's standards," Lin Yajing said with satisfaction. "Sales in East China are also very good; the second batch of orders may be placed ahead of schedule."
This news brought Li Xiangyang both joy and worry. He was happy that the product had gained market recognition, but worried that existing production capacity might not be able to meet the demand.
"Mr. Lin, when is the second batch of orders expected?"
"The original plan was for next month, but now it might have to be moved up to the end of this month," Lin Yajing said. "And the quantity might increase by 30%."
Li Xiangyang quickly calculated in his mind. An increase of 30% in orders meant that the existing production capacity was completely insufficient.
“Alright,” he decided, “we’ll immediately start overtime production and accelerate the construction of the new base.”
After the meeting, Li Xiangyang immediately summoned the production supervisor.
"Starting tomorrow, we will operate on a three-shift system, with production running 24 hours a day," he announced at the production meeting. "All workers who work overtime will be paid 1.5 times their usual wage."
The decision was met with enthusiastic support from the workers. For most workers from rural areas, earning more money is always a good thing.
However, after a week of high-intensity production, problems began to emerge.
"Factory manager, the motor on production line number three has burned out!" The workshop director rushed into Li Xiangyang's office.
"What?" Li Xiangyang immediately put down his work. "What happened?"
"After running continuously for a week, the motor was overloaded and couldn't dissipate heat properly, so it burned out," the workshop director explained.
Li Xiangyang followed the workshop director to the production line and felt a sinking feeling when he saw the motor emitting black smoke.
How long will it take to fix?
"It will take at least three days, and the parts will have to be transported from the provincial capital."
A three-day production stoppage means a loss of at least tens of thousands of yuan in output value. But there's no other way; broken equipment must be repaired.
"Contact the suppliers in the provincial capital immediately and have them expedite the delivery of the parts," Li Xiangyang ordered. "Also, check the other production lines to ensure similar problems don't occur again."
This incident served as a wake-up call for Li Xiangyang. Aging equipment had become a bottleneck restricting the factory's development, and the construction of the new base had to be accelerated.
The next day, Tian Guoqiang brought the latest progress on the new base.
"Xiangyang, great news!" Tian Guoqiang exclaimed excitedly, "The main structure of the new factory building is complete, and the equipment will be ready for installation next week."
"Really?" Li Xiangyang was somewhat surprised. "It's much faster than expected."
"I hired the best construction team in the county, working in three shifts, so the progress was relatively fast," Tian Guoqiang said proudly. "However, the costs also increased accordingly."
"How much has increased?"
"Around two hundred thousand."
Two hundred thousand isn't a lot for the whole project, but Li Xiangyang still frowned.
"Guoqiang, if there are any extra expenses in the future, you need to discuss them with me first."
"Okay, I'll pay attention next time." Tian Guoqiang nodded. "By the way, the equipment manufacturer said that if we pay in full upfront, we can get an additional discount of 100,000 yuan."
Li Xiangyang considered it for a moment: "Let's pay in full, and save money where we can."
A week later, the equipment at the new base was installed and trial production began.
When the first product came off the fully automated production line, everyone present applauded excitedly.
"This is so advanced!" Wang Ergou exclaimed, looking at the production line before him. "It's more than twice as efficient as our old equipment."
Li Xiangyang was also very satisfied. The new production line was not only more efficient, but also produced more stable product quality.
"Starting tomorrow, the new base will officially begin production," he announced. "The old factory will handle regular orders, while the new base will specialize in producing for Hualian's orders."
On the third day after the new base officially went into production, an unexpected guest came to the factory.
"Is Mr. Li here? I'm Zhang Jianguo, the manager of Tianhua Trading Company in the provincial capital," a middle-aged man in a suit said in the reception room.
Upon hearing the name "Tianhua Trading," Li Xiangyang's alarm bells went off. The previous incident involving South China Investment had made him wary of any trading company that suddenly showed up at his door.
"Manager Zhang, please have a seat." Li Xiangyang was outwardly polite. "May I ask what brings you here today?"
“It’s like this,” Zhang Jianguo said, taking a document from his briefcase, “our company wants to establish a long-term cooperative relationship with your factory, specifically, to acquire all of your products.”
Li Xiangyang took the document and quickly glanced through it. The contract stated that Tianhua Trading was willing to acquire all of their factory's products at a price 20% higher than the market price, for a period of three years.
"Manager Zhang," Li Xiangyang closed the file, "this price is indeed very attractive, but I'd like to know, where are your company's sales channels?"
Zhang Jianguo was clearly well-prepared: "We have sales networks in more than a dozen provinces across the country, especially in East and South China, where we have a very strong sales capability."
"East China?" Li Xiangyang's heart skipped a beat. "Which cities specifically are included?"
"Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou... we basically cover all the major cities in East China."
Li Xiangyang nodded outwardly, but inwardly he was calculating. East China happened to be Hualian Supermarket's main market, and if Tianhua Trading really had a strong sales network there, then there might be competition.
"Manager Zhang, could you give me some time to consider this? This is such a large collaboration; I need to discuss it with my partners."
“Of course,” Zhang Jianguo stood up to leave, “but Mr. Li, our quote is only valid for one week, so I hope you can give me a reply as soon as possible.”