Chapter 99 Safety Issues and New Home Purchases

Chapter 99 Safety Issues and New Home Purchases

Chapter 99 Safety Issues and New Home Purchases
Wei Zetao said: "Don't worry, Mr. Yang. Now Mr. Zhou is not only focusing on production, but also recruiting extra people. The extra people can work and learn on weekdays. This way, when the equipment arrives, they will be able to get started quickly."

"Okay." Yang Wendong took another look at the production data in his hand and asked, "How is the new equipment newly developed by Dongsheng?"

Earlier, Yang Wendong felt that the previous equipment was too slow, mainly because the principle of the sticky note equipment came from the binding end of the book production line.

In book printing, the most time-consuming part is not the binding at the end, but the other steps at the beginning. Therefore, the book printing industry has not spent any effort to improve the binding speed at the end.

Now that post-it notes only require one step, they naturally need to be redesigned to increase the speed. If the equipment efficiency is improved, it will be worth it even if it is a little more expensive.

When purchasing equipment, the factory would rather have a small number of units with high efficiency per unit, so that it can easily control quality, cost and other issues, and also save manpower and space.

However, land prices and labor costs in Hong Kong are not expensive nowadays. Yang Wendong’s main consideration is production efficiency and quality assurance, not that he is conscientious about labor costs.

Wei Zetao replied, "A few days ago, Lao Zhou and I went to Dongsheng to have a look. The first device has been manufactured. The speed is about 2.5 times that of our existing equipment, and the space is also larger. If we use it here, the space occupied is about 1.5 times that of the previous equipment.

We think this is very cost-effective. The biggest problem with the equipment is the aisles between each machine. With fewer machines, the indirect cost savings can be a lot.

However, there are still some details that need to be improved on the device itself.”

"2.5 times? That's not bad." Yang Wendong nodded.

In his previous life, he didn't know much about mechanical equipment, but he also knew that the control core of the equipment in his previous life was generally modern control systems such as PLC and single-chip microcomputers.

The electrical control of this era is the simplest kind of relays, and almost all automated equipment is subject to great restrictions.

Even for Coca-Cola, the production of beverages has to be slow, which is one of the reasons why the proportion of cola in the cost of living is much higher in this era than in the past.

Wei Zetao said with a smile: "Next week, the equipment will be here. We will need to observe it for a while. After all, it is designed in Hong Kong, so we are always a little worried, even if it is made according to the template of Japanese equipment."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded. He also knew that in this era, European, American and Japanese equipment was more popular.

He is also not very confident about the equipment in Hong Kong. This is normal. He will not gamble on trust with the quality of his own products.

Then he said: "The current equipment is not enough for the US market. After that, there will be the European and American markets, and the demand for equipment is still very large."

"I understand. Don't worry, Mr. Yang." Wei Zetao said with a smile.

Yang Wendong took another look at the income during this period and asked, "We still have a lot of loans from Liao Chongxing Bank, which is enough for us to fill this large workshop with equipment.

According to Lao Zhou's estimate, there is still room for 80 more machines. A new one costs about 5000 yuan. If we add other uses and keep some funds for backup, the existing funds are enough to fill up the workshop."

Paying rent, security deposits, factory infrastructure changes, purchasing equipment, and large amounts of raw materials all require money, but there is another big expense.

That is, manufacturing shipments are very capital-intensive, because there is a period of payment collection, and the factory needs to advance the money during this period.

The more shipments there were, the more money had to be put in. Most of the early US$3 and part of the bank loan from Liao Chongxing were used for this. Although the funds could be eventually recovered, the funds during the blank period were sunk.

"Yes." Wei Zetao nodded and said, "But I have also communicated with Liao Chongxing Bank. After seeing our data, they also recognized that our risk is relatively low.

Later, as long as we wait for a large amount of foreign capital to flow back and have obvious profits, it will be much better, unless we have to build a new factory for expansion. "

"Of course we need it." Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "Our current production capacity is definitely not enough. But in addition to funds, what limits our rapid expansion is people. Without enough skilled workers, I would not dare to expand too quickly even if I had money."

The production of post-it notes relies on equipment, but the incoming materials, process, final inspection, batch management, etc. in quality control still need to rely on people. In addition, people's proficiency in equipment will also affect production capacity and quality.

"Personnel training is already underway," Wei Zetao said, "but it will take some time. The main goal is to train a group of middle-level managers who have good academic qualifications and can read and write.

Not to mention the training time, it will take some time to recruit enough people, and our location is not that good."

"That's a problem." Yang Wendong also understood that in the early days, he rented this remote and large old warehouse for cost control reasons.

But this makes it difficult to recruit people. People who are somewhat literary are a bit picky about the jobs they do.

Wei Zetao said: "We can only give you a little more salary, but we also need to give the HR some time."

"Okay, let's do this for now." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "First, we need to train a sufficient number of high-quality employees and make sure that Dongsheng's new equipment is OK. Once we are fully prepared, we can proceed with the second expansion."

Even for the simplest post-it notes, production capacity expansion has to be done step by step. Even 3M in the past experienced the problem of insufficient production capacity of early post-it notes.

"Okay." Wei Zetao agreed.

"As soon as possible." Yang Wendong said, and after saying a few more words, Yang Wendong took Su Yiyi away.

The next day, Yang Wendong was working as usual when Zhou Xianlong suddenly walked in and said, "Mr. Yang, your home phone rang just now. There was a thief in the house."

"A thief broke in?" Yang Wendong's face changed and he asked, "Is anyone safe?"

Zhou Xianlong replied: "He said on the phone that everything was fine, but the old man was shocked."

"That's good." Yang Wendong said immediately: "I have to go back and call Su Yiyi to inform Liming and Haoyu."

Because he was in the early stages of starting a business and had limited funds, he had always rented a house. He never expected that a thief would break into his house.

It's no big deal if a thief breaks in and steals things. The most valuable thing in the place I rent is a TV, which only costs a few hundred dollars. But if someone gets hurt, it will be troublesome.

Soon, Yang and Su returned home and comforted Aunt Guo who was frightened.

Yang Wendong asked, "Aunt Guo, did anyone see it?"

“Three.” Aunt Guo said, “They were all men. I was startled, but they ran away when they saw me.”

"It's good that he's okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, fortunately the man was just asking for money, so he said, "Aunt Guo, you should have a good rest, and you can take care of Yiyi."

Su Yiyi agreed: "Okay."

After going out, Yang Wendong met Zhou Xianlong who accompanied him.

Zhou Xianlong said: "Mr. Yang, to be honest, given your current situation, it is really unsafe for you to live in a small building like this, especially since although your fame has not spread to other parts of Hong Kong Island, some people nearby still know about it.

Some gangs may not mess with factory owners like you, but it’s hard to say for many small thugs.”

"That's right." Yang Wendong nodded. If he suddenly met a few young thugs, he might not be able to defeat them, especially if the other party had intentions against him and had prepared weapons, even Li Xiaolong might get hurt.

Zhou Xianlong said: "Either you rent a normal luxury property again, or buy some houses. With our relationship with Liao Chongxing Bank, it is not a big problem for you to buy a house.

Liao Chong Hing Bank itself has relatively loose control in this regard. With our cooperation experience and with mortgage, even if you buy a house, it will not cost you much. You can repay the loan slowly when the production of sticky notes returns to normal.

Safety is still the most important thing.”

"You're right, nothing is more important than safety." Yang Wendong nodded and said, even career is not as important as safety, not to mention, even if it has some impact on career, it is only a small impact.

After a while, Yang Wendong personally called Ning Wenjue of Liao Chong Hing Bank and told him his idea. Ning Wenjue immediately agreed to serve Yang Wendong with the lowest mortgage ratio.

Yang Wendong then told Su Yiyi and the others about this. Su Yiyi was overjoyed and asked, "Are we going to Hong Kong Island to buy it?"

Yang Wendong asked back: "Do you want to buy it in Hong Kong Island?"

"I don't mind." Su Yiyi said as she walked, "But don't the rich people in Hong Kong like to live in Hong Kong Island or even near Central?"

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "For now, let's stay in this area. Our business is all here. If we live in Central, it will be too troublesome to take the ferry every day."

Su Yiyi asked curiously, "Brother Dong, are you planning to continue to develop in Kowloon Peninsula? I see that many people who have successful careers in Kowloon have gone to Hong Kong Island?"

“It’s hard to say what will happen in the future, but not now.” Yang Wendong smiled and said, “Our factory does not rely on the local supply chain in Hong Kong, so it will be fine in a place with good transportation.

The industrial development in Hong Kong Island has been booming recently. If we go there, we will have to compete with them for new factories, so it is better for us to stay in Kowloon Peninsula in peace."

"Oh, then what kind of house should we buy?" Su Yiyi asked with a smile.

Yang Wendong said: "I'm not sure about that, but we should buy at least 4 units so that Liming and Haoyu can move in as well."

Although Zhao Liming and Lin Haoyu are somewhat behind in their career development, there is nothing they can do. Even if they study hard, they can never become professional managers who have studied in school for more than ten years and spent even longer in society.

What I can do is to hand over the sticky mouse boards and rat extermination business to them for management. First, this is my own business and there is no need to waste it. Second, it can create jobs and increase my influence while helping many people who used to live in "squatters".

But work is work, life is life. Even if everyone doesn’t live in the same house, it’s still good to live nearby. After all, they have a good relationship and are the earliest veterans who started their own business. It’s not a big deal to let them live in their own house. Sometimes they can even help each other.
"Really? That's great." Su Yiyi smiled happily.

Yang Wendong said: "There are some real estate projects near the sea in Kowloon. Let's go and have a look tomorrow."

Su Yiyi nodded: "Okay, then I will tell Liming and Haoyu later."

The next day, the four gathered again and went to several residential areas in the south of Kowloon Peninsula, close to Victoria Harbour.

After the sticky notes started to grow, the four of them had their own division of labor and rarely worked together during the day.

"Brother Dong, can I learn how to drive?" Lin Haoyu, who was sitting in the back seat, asked Yang Wendong, who was driving skillfully in the front.

"You want to drive?" Experienced driver Yang Wendong held the steering wheel with one hand and the manual gear lever with the other. After hearing the question, he smiled and said, "Sure, you can all learn. When the company has better funds in the future, we can each have a car."

A week ago, he followed Zhou Xianlong's advice and bought a car in the second-hand market. It was really expensive, a broken Ford cost 2500 Hong Kong dollars.

But there is no way. The price of a new car is tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars, which can buy a medium-sized house in a medium location in Hong Kong.

The less industry there is in a place, the more expensive the industrial products are. In addition, in this era, ocean transportation is extremely expensive for large items such as cars. Only the rich or the noble can afford cars in Hong Kong.

After getting it, he was naturally the first to try it out. He had driven a manual transmission in his previous life. Although the structure was slightly different from the current one, the principles were similar and he would be able to use it once he got familiar with it.

"Really?" Both Su Yiyi and Zhao Liming were very surprised. Who doesn't like cars?
Yang Wendong added: "But you have to take a test. Although you can buy this thing, for your safety, if you want to drive, you have to honestly rely on your own skills to pass the test. I am very strict in this regard."

He also took the test to get his license, but he got some benefits in exchange for the license quickly. After all, he can drive, although he is not used to the left or right drive.

But you cannot do this to people around you, safety is the most important thing.

"Oh, OK." The three people in the car didn't think much about it. They all thought that they needed to get a driver's license to drive.
The cars of that era were not very fast and the roads were not very good. Yang Wendong did not dare to drive fast, after all, there were not even three-point seat belts.

In fact, he discovered this problem when he bought the car, and then went to see lawyer Zhang Weida and asked him to check whether Volvo had registered this patent. In his previous life, he loved cars very much, and he also learned from browsing the Car Emperor that the three-point seat belt was invented by Volvo.

Unfortunately, this patent has already been invented and registered, and it is estimated that it has not yet become popular in the automotive industry.

However, even if it has not been invented, it is not easy for an ordinary person like him to register such a patent, because you have to make something before you can register a patent;
Especially for such complex structured auto parts, it is not just three straps.
Patented inventions like this have some technical content. Even if you know the direction and the final product, you still have to invest a lot of money and technology to develop it. The most important thing is the relevant talents. Just like the Rubik's Cube, it is still under research and optimization, because the original Rubik's Cube in history also took a while to develop.
……

At around ten o'clock in the morning, Ford arrived in front of a real estate agency's shop. Since he wanted to buy a house that he could move into immediately, it was naturally impossible for him to buy a pre-sale residential property.

Zhao Liming asked: "Brother Dong, are you going to buy a second-hand house?"

"Not really. The houses I want to buy are those hoarded by real estate speculators, which have actually never been lived in." Yang Wendong said with a smile after parking the car.

In this era, pre-sale properties have already appeared, and all real estate companies have adopted this approach, because this model can help real estate companies recover funds early and reduce operating risks, and has been welcomed by the banking and financial sectors as well as the real estate sector.

Even ten years later, real estate began to explode, surpassing industry and shipping, which was also closely related to the business model of pre-sale properties.

After the four people got off the car, a middle-aged man came up to them and said, "Hello, Mr. Yang, it's nice to meet you."

"Hello." Yang Wendong nodded.

"My last name is Tao, Mr. Yang, you can just call me Xiao Tao." The middle-aged Xiao Tao handed over his business card with a smile.

Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Mr. Tao, you are too polite. We just need to do our business. These things don't matter."

"Okay." Xiao Tao smiled and then said, "Lawyer Zhang has contacted me in advance. I have screened them according to your requirements. Please go in and check your options."

"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded, and then several people went in together.

Xiao Tao had obviously prepared the information long ago and had arranged the room types and locations from best to worst. Although he didn't know who the person in front of him was, the person who could make Lawyer Zhang Weida remind him so solemnly must not be an ordinary person.

Yang Wendong looked at the information carefully, then said, "This place is only about 500 meters away from the beach?"

"Yes." Xiao Tao looked at the information Yang Wendong pointed out and introduced: "This Yi Fu Garden is a villa property developed by the Hong Kong Land Group last year. It is very close to the beach. There are a total of 60 properties and a professional security and property team."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "Then let's go and take a look first."

"Okay." Xiao Tao said happily. For such a big business, the commission is not low.

The agent obviously didn't have a car, so they took Yang Wendong's car, and they soon arrived at Yi Fu Garden.

"The environment here is also very good." Xiao Tao said with a smile: "The people who live here are basically factory owners or senior executives of nearby docks."

"What's the price?" Yang Wendong asked directly after looking around inside and outside.

Xiao Tao quickly replied, "Mr. Yang, a villa here is about 2500 square feet and costs 8 Hong Kong dollars. If you want four, I can give you a discount, 4 Hong Kong dollars."

"30 per foot?" Yang Wendong frowned and said, "Isn't this too expensive?"

Houses built in 59 are not that expensive in Central, but may be similar in other places on Hong Kong Island, depending on the location.

The situation on the Kowloon Peninsula is far worse. It is no exaggeration to say that many places here are deserted.

Xiao Tao said with a smile: "Mr. Yang, we all know the value of Kowloon, but this is one of the few villa areas. Even if the commercial facilities nearby cannot compare with Central, they are not much worse than other places in Hong Kong Island.

Besides, this is a villa. We can’t compare the price with ordinary tenement buildings or houses. The price of a villa is usually twice that of an ordinary house. In rare places, the price can be three to five times higher.”

Yang Wendong didn't rush to answer and said, "Okay, that's it for today. I'll contact you if I need you later."

PS: It’s a little late today, please give me a monthly ticket
(End of this chapter)