Chapter 112

After greeting Cao Te, the three stepped out of the bar door, and the afternoon sun was somewhat dazzling.

"President Wang, I'm here!" a crisp and capable female voice sounded at the right moment.

Wang Chuan turned, nodded to Lou Yihan who was walking over quickly; she had changed into a skirt suit today, not the straight-leg trousers from last time.

"President Qi, this is my company's Secretary Lou Yihan; she just finished her business and rushed over. She will go to the factory with me to familiarize herself with the situation; is that okay?"

Qi Bin's gaze swept quickly over Lou Yihan: a gray suit skirt, a striped shirt underneath, holding a document bag in her hand—she looked like someone who got things done.

He nodded slightly: "No problem; I trust President Wang's people."

Wang Chuan opened the front passenger door, didn't sit in immediately, but gestured to Lou Yihan: "You and Little Xiao President should sit in the back."

"Okay, President Wang," Lou Yihan replied, wearing a proper smile on her face, turned toward Xiao Rongyue, and bowed slightly: "President Xiao, thank you for your trouble."

The moment Xiao Rongyue saw Lou Yihan, his eyes lit up, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

He quickly shifted aside to make room at the car door: "Oh... oh, no trouble, no trouble, please come in."

Lou Yihan nodded slightly in thanks, then turned sideways and bent down.

Xiao Rongyue's gaze was instantly welded shut.

That well-tailored gray suit skirt, under Lou Yihan's bending motion.

The fabric naturally tightened, clearly outlining the full, rounded curve of her buttocks extending sharply downward from her slender waist.

The skirt hem rose slightly with the movement, revealing the mid-thigh wrapped in light-skin transparent stockings.

Xiao Rongyue's heart skipped a beat; Lou Yihan had already sat in the back row of the BMW.

This few-second action seemed stretched out in Xiao Rongyue's eyes.

'Tsk... Brother Chuan's secretary, her figure is absolutely top-tier?' Xiao Rongyue silently praised in his heart, his Adam's apple unconsciously rolling as he bent down and sat into the car.

The BMW's inline engine roared, breaking Xiao Rongyue's train of thought.

"President Wang, your BMW is really great!" Qi Bin's address for Wang Chuan had now naturally changed to President Wang.

Under Qi Bin's driving, the BMW sped rapidly through the bustling city.

When the traffic light at the city-exit intersection turned green, Qi Bin pressed the accelerator, glanced at Wang Chuan, and slowly said:

"President Wang, our parent company, Xiao's Group, is in Jiangcheng and is also a powerful private enterprise.

The group strongly supports the Air Conditioning company; our workers all came from the old Mingzhou Valve Factory, and we are no worse than Tang's HVAC."

Wang Chuan naturally knew Xiao's Group's strength; in his previous life at the Investment Bank, he had conducted due diligence on Xiao's Group, which could roughly be split into four or five companies capable of going public.

Due to excessive related-party transactions, to list as soon as possible and obtain financing channels, they ultimately prioritized selecting core assets for listing on the domestic main board.

Other assets could be listed domestically or in Hong Kong later, or be injected into the listed company through issuing shares to purchase assets.

Xiao Yuchu had once told him that her father-in-law, Xiao Zanyan, after Xiao Yuchu's mother passed away, devoted himself entirely to Xiao's Group, paying no attention at all to his daughter or son; with his uncles and nephews, he made Xiao's Group bigger and bigger.

"Xiao's Group, I've heard of it; its strength is very good," Wang Chuan said in a flat tone, his gaze directed at the roadside trees flashing by outside the window.

"The key is that the quality of your products must be recognized by customers. You are competing with Tang's."

Xiao Rongyue, sitting in the back row, couldn't help but interject: "Brother Wang, rest assured; our products are absolutely better than Tang's! And the price is lower than theirs!"

"Xiao Rongyue, export sales are not the same as domestic ones; you and Tang's fighting a price war. Besides gaining customer recognition, your Valve products must pass the EU PED certification."

Wang Chuan glanced at the text message content Lin Weiwei had just sent.

PED certification is a mandatory safety regulation for pressure equipment in the EU; any pressure fluid equipment such as valves, safety valves, and piping circulating in the EU must comply with this standard.

Qi Bin was very confident: "If Tang's products obtained certification, then Xiao's products will definitely pass as well."

Wang Chuan just lightly hummed an "mm."

The BMW, at a very high speed, headed toward the industrial zone in the northwest of Mingzhou.

Inside the car, Lou Yihan sat quietly beside Xiao Rongyue, striving to adapt to her new role.

Xiao Rongyue was somewhat distracted, his gaze occasionally drifting over the beautiful leg lines beneath the professional attire beside him.

Wang Chuan sat in the front passenger seat, eyes closed to rest, but his mind was running at high speed, sorting through the precautions for evaluating manufacturing enterprises from his previous life's investment bank due diligence.

After an unknown amount of time, "President Wang, we've arrived!" Qi Bin's voice sounded.

Wang Chuan refused to go to the Office first for a cup of tea, directly requesting to go to the workshop to inspect; 'I must make Qi Bin think I am very professional.'

Qi Bin personally led Wang Chuan and Lou Yihan, collected hard hats, and walked into the workshop.

Xiao Rongyue, who had originally disliked the workshop for being too hot and noisy, seeing Lou Yihan also enter the workshop, hesitated for a second, went to get a hard hat and put it on, then followed into the workshop.

The moment Wang Chuan entered the workshop, the machine roar reached his ears, and his eyes took in workers in work clothes busy at their respective stations.

"President Wang, this is the production process flow chart for our core products!" Qi Bin introduced.

At the main entrance of the workshop, there was a whiteboard with printed characters: Valve Body → Machining... Assembly... Cleaning → Painting → Final Assembly Delivery.

"President Qi, today we just have a little time, so let's take a quick look to give my friend and me something to report; you lead the way," Wang Chuan said.

Qi Bin immediately quickened his pace inward; Wang Chuan's steps were not fast, his sharp gaze sweeping over every link.

In the raw material area, Wang Chuan looked at the messy piles of Castings and Forgings and asked directly:

"President Qi, what is the average inventory turnover days for raw materials? How well does the procurement cycle match the production plan? Have you implemented a system for dynamic monitoring?"

Qi Bin was stunned by the question; the Production Supervisor nearby quickly answered: "Turnover... about 40 days, matching... it's okay? System... currently being implemented."

Wang Chuan didn't press further; Lou Yihan timely made a note in her notebook.

"Bring me the BOM table for the product benchmarked against Tang's; point it out to me against the actual objects."

Wang Chuan instructed skillfully.

After completing the round and returning to Qi Bin's Office, Wang Chuan didn't drink tea; he picked up a Wahaha mineral water bottle taken from the freezer and drank it in one go.

Just now in the workshop, Wang Chuan had casually mentioned a few common ailments in the manufacturing industry.

For example, low supply chain efficiency, weak cost-control awareness, rough process monitoring, and a quality system that exists only in name.

Truly perfecting and improving Xiao's Valve Factory would not be something he could accomplish with just a few words.

Wang Chuan coughed lightly, "President Qi, your factory and workers have a good foundation; there is hope to gain recognition from overseas customers.

"That's all for today. I will communicate with my friend to arrange the next steps. You need to prepare the samples benchmarking against Tang's products."

Qi Bin suddenly stood up, patting his chest and guaranteeing: "No problem at all."

Just now in the workshop, he heard Wang Chuan's questions were very professional, unlike those of a medical student.

He felt even more deeply that Wang Chuan, wearing a T-shirt and a Rolex, was unfathomable.

Wang Chuan suggested coming to the factory today just to put on a show, but he wanted Qi Bin to know that he, Wang Chuan, was no outsider to the manufacturing industry.

"Then we'll leave first, President Qi." Wang Chuan saw Xiao Rongyue looking completely baffled and said: "Little Xiao President, goodbye!"

Xiao Rongyue had just heard Wang Chuan's questions in the workshop; they sounded very strange. She knew he was speaking Chinese, but didn't understand the meaning. Wang Chuan was truly her learning role model.

When she herself became a general manager, she would hire a secretary just like Lou Yihan. After thinking this, she glanced again at Lou Yihan.

Qi Bin suggested sending a driver with a BMW to take Wang Chuan and the others back.

Lou Yihan whispered a few words in Wang Chuan's ear. Wang Chuan nodded slightly and said: "Thank you, President Qi. My Secretary can drive, and drives quite well."

Xiao Rongyue was stunned and said: "A female Secretary with excellent driving skills?!"

A black line of exasperation ran through Wang Chuan's heart; fortunately, the meaning of driving and driving skills in 2004 was not the same as it would be twenty years later.