50: Choosing suppliers is like raising fish

Liu Xiaolin took the data and read it carefully. All the technical parameters were slightly higher than normal values, which indicated that the reworked engines had no issues.

He let out a long sigh of relief; the unexpected situation today had finally been handled smoothly.

"Well, these technical parameters are good. Please perform deep tests on the other reworked engines. Quality Inspection Department, you've worked hard," Liu Xiaolin said.

"Understood, it's not hard work, it's what we should do," Li Wei said. "This accident happened because our Quality Inspection Department wasn't careful enough during the spot check in the second-to-last process."

Li Wei sounded a little guilty when she spoke.

"A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit. Now you'll know how to do better in the future." Seeing that Li Wei had taken the initiative to admit her mistake, Liu Xiaolin felt it was awkward to criticize her further.

"Yes, we will definitely learn from this experience and strive to do better," Li Wei promised.

"Alright, you guys get back to work," Liu Xiaolin said, turning and leaving.

He didn't return to his office but went to Yang Xiaoxia's office.

"Minister Yang, please quickly order another batch of the parts from this morning. Otherwise, if the order isn't completed and we run out of parts, everyone will just have to wait," Liu Xiaolin said.

"I already contacted the supplier just now. They will ship tomorrow and the parts will arrive at the factory the day after tomorrow," Yang Xiaoxia said with a smile.

"You actually thought ahead of me!" Liu Xiaolin was surprised.

"Our procurement department is supposed to be the department at the forefront, so of course, we have to think the earliest," Yang Xiaoxia said with a hint of pride.

"As long as it's arranged, it's time for lunch. Let's go to the cafeteria. We'll be busy again this afternoon after eating," Liu Xiaolin said.

"Okay, let's go together," Yang Xiaoxia readily agreed.

When they arrived at the cafeteria, they found that most of the people eating were workers; none of the management staff had come over.

"Minister Yang, you eat first. I'll go to the workshop and call those ministers over to eat. People are made of iron, and rice is steel; how can we not eat?" Liu Xiaolin said.

"General Manager Liu, you eat first. I'll go call them," Yang Xiaoxia said, turning and running off, afraid Liu Xiaolin would ask her to stay.

Before long, Yang Xiaoxia dragged several ministers over, even bringing Wang Shengjun along.

"It's a good thing I went to call them. If you had gone yourself, you probably wouldn't have been able to drag even half a person back," Yang Xiaoxia said, panting. "These guys are all staring at the reworked engines, not moving, as if staring at the engines will fill their stomachs."

"No matter how busy you are, you have to eat lunch. Hurry up and sit down to eat." Liu Xiaolin was already halfway through his meal when he saw them arrive and quickly motioned for them to sit down.

After getting their food, the few of them finished it in a few hurried bites, even faster than Liu Xiaolin. They wiped their mouths and left in a hurry.

Liu Xiaolin watched in astonishment as these people devoured their lunch like a storm sweeping away clouds and then left decisively. He didn't know what to say.

Yang Xiaoxia had just taken a few bites: "Good heavens, are these people eating or just pouring the food directly into their stomachs!"

"With such proactive employees, our Jiangnan Machinery Factory will surely take off," Liu Xiaolin said with a smile.

"Oh, right, did you find the Cylinder block supplier I asked you to contact last time?"

"Yes, I found a few. They can all supply in four months. I've organized the information and will give you a copy in a bit. You can see which one is more suitable to sign a supply contract with," Yang Xiaoxia said.

"Okay, send it over to me this afternoon." Liu Xiaolin had finished lunch and planned to go back to his office to rest for a while.

At 2:30 PM, Yang Xiaoxia came over with the materials: "General Manager Liu, take a look. There are a total of four suppliers. The preferential terms offered by each are similar, but one company's price is significantly lower than the others. I think this one can be given priority consideration."

Liu Xiaolin took the materials and glanced at them: "You're talking about the quote from 'Meilian Machinery Factory'? It's one-third lower than the market price?"

He looked at the quotes from the other three companies, and their prices were all similar.

"Why is Meilian's quote so low?" Liu Xiaolin was very puzzled.

"They probably want to seize the market! Once they occupy the market share, they'll dominate and have the right to speak in the future," Yang Xiaoxia understood the reasoning behind it.

"We can't cooperate with this kind of company. Only when the downstream makes money can they have good supply interactions with us. If they deliberately lower prices just for market dominance, the quality of their supplied goods won't be good, and to reduce losses, they will definitely find ways to cut costs. In such a situation, the quality of their products is definitely not guaranteed," Liu Xiaolin said after thinking for a while.

"General Manager Liu's consideration is correct. I didn't think about it from this perspective; I always put price first," Yang Xiaoxia said.

"When we choose suppliers, we can't just look at the low quote. If the supplier can't make a profit, their company definitely cannot develop healthily. A company that cannot develop healthily will eventually end up in a mess. When we choose a supplier, it's like choosing fish in a pond. If there's no water in the pond, how can the fish survive? How can dead fish supply us?" Liu Xiaolin continued.

Yang Xiaoxia couldn't believe Liu Xiaolin was so farsighted, able to see through the pros and cons of procurement at a glance.

The two of them were talking deeply, completely unaware of what was happening at the factory gate at that moment.