Chapter 261 Three Major Issues
Song Yuanchao was a good listener, and he listened quietly to Lin Yuhang speaking out all he wanted to say.
It can be heard that Lin Yuhang is a person who wants to do things and dares to do things. He was able to raise the morale within Factory 8 in such a short period of time and change the original lax atmosphere in the factory. This shows how capable Lin Yuhang is.
To be honest, Song Yuanchao was a leader in his previous life, so he naturally understood how difficult it was. If it were Song Yuanchao, he would definitely not be able to achieve Lin Yuhang's results in such a short time. After all, the present is different from the future. In the future, firing people is commonplace. As long as it complies with the labor law, leaders can transfer or even fire employees at any time if they are not satisfied with them.
Nowadays, enterprises offer iron rice bowls, so how can it be so easy to punish an employee? Some old hands or some young employees who do not listen to the work arrangements of their leaders and are usually restless are very difficult to deal with. This is also one of the reasons why the state-owned enterprise system has become rigid and lost its competitiveness.
Only a military cadre like Lin Yuhang could have such a bold move. You know, Lin Yuhang had been to the battlefield and experienced life and death. He was not even afraid of the Japanese devils in the south. How could he be afraid of these? This made Song Yuanchao admire him very much.
But managing people is one thing, and managing a business is another.
The key to the survival of an enterprise lies in its efficiency. Without efficiency, it is not a long-term solution to just make big promises. Lin Yuhang is very aware of his shortcomings, which is what bothers him. In addition, now there is a planned market economy system. The original planned economy has been giving way to the market economy, which has led to the original production and marketing system of the Eighth Factory facing difficulties under market changes. This is also a problem that Lin Yuhang urgently needs to solve.
"Second brother, I understand everything you said. Based on what you said, I think there are three most important problems in your Eighth Factory right now. Can I categorize them for you?" Song Yuanchao said, and Lin Yuhang lit a cigarette and listened carefully.
"The first point is the original rigid system and production and sales issues. According to the previous operating model of the Eighth Factory, it was planned procurement, planned production and planned sales."
"Yes, that's right." Lin Yuhang nodded.
"This model has been in operation for the past few decades and can be said to be the inherent model of most companies. The advantage of this model is that it plans and allocates production and sales of various industries from a high level, concentrates efforts on major tasks, and thus meets the production and sales needs of industries and regions."
Song Yuanchao said so, and Lin Yuhang thought about it seriously and nodded slightly. Although he did not quite understand the difference between market economy and planned economy, Song Yuanchao explained it in a simple and clear way, and combined with the actual situation, Lin Yuhang was still able to understand it.
"This model has its conveniences, but it also has its inherent shortcomings. Planned production and marketing have advantages in resource allocation, market structure and other aspects, but when faced with a free and open market, this model has problems. Second brother, since the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, our country has determined the path of reform and opening up. Since we want to reform and open up, we will inevitably break the original inherent model."
"Since the year before last, the government has gradually strengthened its market development, and the original planned production and sales model has been gradually replaced by an open market. Although limited planned production and sales still exist, except for some enterprises related to people's livelihood or important industrial and mining enterprises, ordinary enterprises are already facing the impact of the new market model on the original planned production and sales."
"Now, the first problem that Factory 8 faces is this. To put it bluntly, Factory 8 did not realize this when the market began to change, and still clung to the original model to deal with it. It's like a child who has obviously grown up and has always lived under the wings of his parents. When his parents let him become independent one day, he still wants to rely on his parents and doesn't know how to face society and survive independently. How can this work?"
"You're right. I had vaguely felt this before, but feelings are just feelings, not as clear as you said. You are worthy of being a college student. Your level is different from that of a soldier like me. Come on, Song Yuanchao, I'll toast you a glass." Lin Yuhang said admiringly. Song Yuanchao's words made his thoughts clearer. Although he hasn't pointed out a solution to the problem yet, these words are enough for him to thank Song Yuanchao.
"Second brother, what are you talking about? Aren't you treating me as an outsider? Besides, what's so great about being a college student? Compared to a combat hero like you, you are more worthy of my admiration!" Song Yuanchao did not take the wine, but instead seriously refuted Lin Yuhang's words.
Lin Yuhang burst out laughing and nodded immediately: "Yes, that's right, second brother was wrong, I apologize to you, but no matter what, you have to drink this wine, come on! Let's toast!"
After saying that, Lin Yuhang clinked his glass with Song Yuanchao's, then raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.
"Brother, drink less. You still have classes in the afternoon." Lin Yan, who was standing by, was afraid that Lin Yuhang had drunk too much, so she reminded him softly.
Lin Yuhang nodded to show that he understood, put down his glass and continued to ask: "Yuan Chao, you just mentioned three points, this is the first point, what are the other two points?"
"The second point is the burden on enterprises." Song Yuanchao put down his glass and said, "As time goes by, the current enterprises, or all enterprises, are burdened with heavy burdens. Let's not talk about others for now, let's talk about your Eighth Factory. Just now you said that there are 133 employees in the Eighth Factory, including nearly 50 office and management staff, and only more than 80 front-line workers in the workshop."
"In addition to these people, there are more than 500 retired employees. That means the output and profits created by 80 people have to support more than 630 people. In other words, one person has to support eight people, including himself. How can such a company not be burdened?"
"Yes, these days, the pressure on my shoulders is as heavy as a mountain. The monthly salary expenditure for employees and retired workers is nearly 30,000 yuan, and there are also medical expenses to be reimbursed, etc., which add up to more than 40,000 yuan. Do you know how much money is on the factory's books now? 86,158.44 yuan! This money also includes the loan I took out a few days ago. If I hadn't forced the Supply and Marketing Department to recover some of the accounts receivable these days, I'm afraid even half of this would be gone."
Lin Yuhang shook his head and sighed, "You don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you become a householder. Only when you become a householder do you realize that it is not easy to be a householder." Apart from the production costs of the entire Eighth Factory, the salary expenses of employees and retired employees alone are an astonishing figure. In addition, there are other expenses such as medical expenses. If the situation cannot be reversed, then if it continues until all the money in the bank is spent, let alone turning losses into profits, even wages will not be paid.
"There's nothing we can do about it. In fact, compared to Factory 8, some large enterprises have a heavier burden. Think about it, when were these enterprises established? In the 1950s, right? The later ones were in the early 1960s. For example, Factory 8 was built in 1952 and officially listed that year. How many years have passed since 1952? The young men who first entered the factory have all retired. In addition, in the past 30 years, many employees have entered and retired. It's natural for them to carry such a burden."
"And as time goes by, this burden will become heavier. Compared to the light load when the factory was built, the current factory is no longer the same as before. Even if the benefits are the same, with this burden, how much output value and profit can be left for the factory?"
Song Yuanchao's words left Lin Yuhang speechless for a moment. This account was easy to calculate, even an elementary school student could figure it out, so how could Lin Yuhang not understand it? This was indeed another problem that troubled him, and Song Yuanchao could be said to have pointed it out incisively.
"So what about the third one?" Since we are talking about this, Lin Yuhang simply asked Song Yuanchao what the third question was. It was all troublesome anyway, so he might as well say it all at once.
Passing a cigarette to Lin Yuhang, Song Yuanchao lit it himself, took a puff and said, "The third point is very simple, it's the product issue. Factory 8 is a traditional Chinese medicine factory. What kind of products do traditional Chinese medicine factories produce? They are nothing more than medicines and the like. These products have limited sales channels, basically in hospitals and pharmacies. But as the use of Western medicines gradually increases, people are more accepting of Western medicines, and the sales of traditional Chinese medicine products are naturally not as good as before."
"Second brother, let me ask you a question. How long has it been since you last took Chinese medicine?" When Song Yuanchao asked this question, Lin Yuhang smiled bitterly and shook his head.
Even when he was recovering in the Chuncheng Military Region Hospital, he used only Western medicine and never used Chinese medicine. In his memory, the only Chinese medicine he had was probably cough syrup. Apart from this, he really couldn't remember what Chinese medicine he had taken over the years.
"Western medicine is fast-acting and easy to use. From a medical perspective, Western medicine has immediate effects on many diseases. In addition, Western medicine is much more advantageous than traditional Chinese medicine in the training of medical staff. It takes a Western doctor five or six years from school to graduation to independent practice, and two or three years at the shortest. If you are a barefoot doctor, the requirements are even lower. You can become a doctor after training in a training class for a period of time."
"But what about Chinese medicine? Chinese medicine is different. What is the first impression we get when we think of Chinese medicine? An old doctor with gray hair? Or even a big beard? Is that right?"
"That's right, old Chinese medicine practitioners, isn't that what Chinese medicine is all about?" Lin Yan interrupted.
"That's right!" Song Yuanchao nodded. "In people's fixed mindset, the older the Chinese medicine, the better. The older the Chinese medicine, the more reliable it is. In reality, this is also true. Without many years of experience, it is much more difficult to cultivate Chinese medicine than Western medicine. It takes several times or even more time for a good Chinese medicine practitioner to grow up than Western medicine. It is for this reason that the West is advancing while China is retreating, resulting in Chinese medicine being far less used and in less demand than Western medicine."
