After the regular working meeting of the Spark Team, Zhang Guanfeng returned to the Shanghai Jiao Tong Research Institute. At this moment, his mood was completely different from a few days ago.
I’m rich!
The previous R&D + manufacturing budget for the entire project was less than 100 million. Now, the R&D budget allocated for the first phase alone has reached 80 million.
This feeling of getting rich overnight is really great.
Of course, the money is not for him.
But as long as you are engaged in scientific research, who doesn’t have a big dream of “buying whatever you want and testing whatever you want”?
Now, his dream has come true ahead of schedule.
Thinking of his colleagues who were in a dilemma and frugal when buying a new hot isostatic pressing furnace, Zhang Guanfeng's sense of superiority was almost overflowing.
ha? What Tianjin Waterway Bureau? Where did so many poor relatives come from? What Boss Liu?
Xiao Liu!
Of course, this is just a joke. In fact, if this project wants to proceed smoothly, it still needs to rely on the talents and policy support of the Tianjin Waterway Bureau.
Zhang Guanfeng sat in his office with high spirits. At this time, the drawings in front of him had changed.
It was originally a drawing of the Tianshi that was nearly completed, but now, there is only one drawing with a general framework designed, and the details are basically blank.
But it made him more satisfied.
Sky Whale!
Compared with the Tiens, the new design has nearly doubled the size of the hull, with the length reaching 198 meters. The width of the ship has not been enlarged in the same proportion, but has been expanded to 42 meters. Compared with the Tiens, it is "more" "Fat" some.
This design is to install a more powerful reamer shaft system and a more flexible hoisting pipe.
If the Tianshi is a dredging ship that can be used to build islands, the Whale is an island-building ship through and through.
Only at sea can it play its full role.
Zhang Guanfeng took a deep breath, took another piece of white paper, and began to make a rough calculation of the overall budget of the project.
The dense numbers kept falling, but he no longer felt the same anxiety as before.
In the end, the total design and manufacturing cost of the entire ship was approximately 1.7 billion yuan.
This number cannot be said to be large, it can only be said to be an astronomical figure.
After all, when the Netherlands wanted to sell us a sand dredger, its price was only RMB 300 million.
But for Zhang Guanfeng now, it’s just a small amount of money.
It feels so good to be hugged by golden thighs.
Just leak a little broth from other items and it will be enough for you to drink.
Moreover, the Spark Team does not have the ethos of the old-school agencies at all. They don't care about spending money, as long as they complete the project to perfection and achieve the optimal results.
It is very consistent with the perfectionism he pursues.
Therefore, in summary, the current Tianjing Project can be said to be in the right place at the right time and with the right people.
If that's the case, let's just go one step further.
Thinking of this, Zhang Guanfeng picked up the phone and called his assistant Xiao Wang.
"Xiao Wang, please help me contact VOSTALMG in Germany."
"Yes, they have rich experience in building large cutter suction dredgers, and we can consider cooperating with them."
"As for the quotation, let's see what they say first. Of course, if it's too expensive, we won't consider it."
"Yes, we have money now, but we are not taking advantage of us. If we raise the price on the ground, then they will not make any money."
Germany, VOSTALMG headquarters.
Miller looked at the two documents in his hand in a dilemma, his eyes showing a sense of helplessness but also deep relief.
Fortunately, both documents are invitations for cooperation, or inquiry letters, and both come from high-quality customers.
One of them is the China Tianjin Waterway Bureau, which is an official organization with strong financial strength and good reputation.
The other one is from a shipyard of the Vietnamese military.
Needless to say, no matter which field these two customers are in, as long as they extend an olive branch, a large number of companies will rush to do business with them, and now, they have found themselves at the same time.
This fully proves that VOSTALMG’s strength has now been widely recognized and its future development will be much easier.
But at the same time, what made him helpless was that the cooperation target proposed by both parties actually crashed.
They are all large cutter suction dredgers.
It's normal to think about it. Some time ago, they had some conflicts on the sea because of the island issue. Now they are holding back their efforts to regain their face. Reclamation and island building are the best "offensive" without using hot weapons. sexual means”.
So it's not surprising that they also targeted dredgers.
But the problem is, they want to create something, but VOSTALMG may not be able to satisfy it at the same time!
Although VOSTALMG is a professional dredging solution provider, in fact, its company is not large in scale and its project parallelism capabilities are not strong.
In addition, the company has received many orders from Europe and South America in the past two years, and its design and manufacturing capabilities are close to saturation. It is not easy to solve the problems of both China and Vietnam at the same time. .
No, it should be said that it is not difficult, but basically impossible.
Because both projects have put forward time limit requirements, China requires within 18 months, while Vietnam requires within 12 months.
In this case, even if VOSTALMG wanted to accept the order, it was forced to choose one of the two.
Thinking of this, Miller let out a long sigh.
This is such a sweet trouble.
He raised his head, looked at the commercial director sitting opposite and asked:
"August, you know the situation, and I want to ask your opinion."
"From your perspective, is there any better way for us to protect two customers at the same time?"
Hearing his question, August shook his head and replied:
"I don't think so."
"Actually, this is not a question of design capabilities or production capacity. It is a question of taking sides."
"We all know these conflicts, and we all know the reason why both sides put forward the request to build dredgers at the same time. In this case, if we still only use purely commercial logic to look at the problem, it is actually undesirable. .”
"Of course, you won't see the exclusivity requirement on the inquiry letter because they don't put that requirement on paper."
"But believe me, if we took an order from any one of them, the other one would immediately give up working with us."
"So, there's no room for us to be opportunistic."
"All we can do is comprehensively evaluate the benefits of cooperation with both parties and make choices that maximize benefits."
After hearing August's words, Miller nodded with deep understanding.
He has also considered this issue, but before August said it, he still held some unrealistic illusions in his heart, hoping that through his own mediation, both parties could spend money here. .
Isn’t that what the United States does?
Arms are sold all over the world, including fighter jets to the attackers and anti-aircraft missiles to the defenders.
Well, VOSTALMG is not the United States, and indeed it does not have this ability.
Thinking of this, he said:
"I see."
"Now, our problem is clear."
"Should we choose Vietnam or China?"
Seeing August want to speak, he raised his hand to interrupt him, and then continued:
"Let me tell you what I think first."
"First of all, I personally prefer to cooperate with Huaxia. The reason is very simple. Their reputation is better and the market is broader."
"We don't have to worry about repayment, and if we can open up the market with this project, we are likely to get a steady stream of orders in the future."
"You know, China's territorial waters are much larger than Vietnam's, and their island-building needs are also much larger."
"Taking a step back, even if we don't consider the issue of 'island building', in terms of river dredging, the vast inland area and rich water system will bring unlimited possibilities to our business."
"Vietnam... they're much smaller."
"On the other hand, their official institutions are highly corrupt, and repayment is likely to become a big problem."
After saying that, he looked at August quietly, waiting for his answer.
August was silent for a few seconds before speaking:
"I don't agree with that."
"I think China's so-called 'broad market' is actually just an illusion."
"Yes, they do have market potential, but such potential is not left to us."
"The reason is simple. They will pursue complete autonomy in all fields."
"This can be seen from their huge breakthroughs in the aviation field in the past two years - not only do they have ideas, but their execution and R&D capabilities are also frightening."
"In this case, our first cooperation with them may very well be our last cooperation."
"Making money will definitely make money, but if they learn our technology in the process, then we will have a strong competitor."
"Even after this time, they will gradually start to enter a larger market and gradually eliminate us."
"Looking at Vietnam - I don't need to say it, right? We all know what they are like."
"When you cooperate with them, you don't have to worry about any long-term risks. Even if it is difficult to get the money back, you can still get it back."
Miller's brows frowned slightly, and he knew that what August said was indeed the truth.
From a strategic perspective, cooperation with China will indeed cause long-term uncontrollable competitive risks. Overall, the losses from technology outflow are greater than the short-term gains.
But the problem is
If we reject China and choose Vietnam, do we really not have to consider the potential "negative impacts"?
You must know that maritime disputes are actually disputes over national destiny.
If you are forced to get involved in such a dispute, even a small move may be recorded in the notebook.
And once you're on the list
Miller looked at August and said:
"But we don't seem to have a lot of options."
"No matter how you look at it, Vietnam cannot compete with China in the short term. If we want to reject them, we must have a strong reason."
"It's not that complicated."
August said bluntly.
"When dealing with such a big customer, as long as you stick to one principle, you can protect yourself."
"That is, talking about business."
"What we have to do is eliminate all off-site factors and retain only one judgment criterion: the one with the highest price wins."
"Under this standard, we will not leave any excuses and will not offend any party."
"Instead, the focus of the conflict will return to the two of them."
Miller's eyes lit up. He patted August's shoulder with appreciation and said:
"Okay, let's do it!"
Two days later, Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Zhang Guanfeng received a reply from VOSTALMG, but the content far exceeded his expectations.
The quoted price is as high as 120 million yuan!
And this is still a first-phase quotation. If you take into account the subsequent design improvements and the manufacturing costs of some key modules, the price charged by VOSTALMG will reach an astonishing 200 million.
Isn't this how a lion opens its mouth?
If they sell the whole ship, it will only cost 300 million.
You are not responsible for the main production and manufacturing, how dare you ask for 200 million?
What a joke!
Zhang Guanfeng angrily threw the reply letter aside and said to Chen Guo in front of him:
"VOSTALMG is really a bit too bullying. With such a price, do we really think we can't do it ourselves?"
"I just took a fancy to their experience and wanted to bring them in to bring us some inspiration on processes and standardization. I didn't expect them to be so shameless."
"I will never consider cooperating with this company in the future. I didn't think carefully this time."
However, what he didn't expect was that instead of being angry, Chen Guo opposite him had a smile on his face.
Compared with Zhang Guanfeng, he has more information at hand, and he has already known the news that Vietnam is in contact with VOSTALMG.
Therefore, he knows very well what VOSTALMG wants to do.
It's just that I lack the ability to complete the time-limited project requirements of two customers at the same time, so I use this method to show my "unbiased" attitude.
Raise the price, or you accept the offer, then we will work hard to do your business.
Or if you don't accept it, then naturally, we will do business in Vietnam.
If you are unwilling to pay, no matter from which angle you look at it, you cannot accuse a company that pursues commercial interests.
This is indeed a good calculation, but they missed one point:
If China wants to build dredgers, they really don’t have to do it.
Thinking of this, Chen Guo said:
"Don't be so angry. There's nothing wrong with what they did."
"And such an offer is not all bad for us."
"Since they have given us such an offer, they will definitely treat Vietnam equally."
“There’s actually a lot we can do to take advantage of this.”
"For example, we don't need them anyway, so why not just go with the flow and raise the price a little more."
"Listen to me and start a round of negotiations with them."
"The collaboration doesn't have to happen, and we don't have to spend money."
"But we have to find a way to make our neighbor spend more money."
So, a few days later, Nguyen Hua Kai in Hanoi received the latest news from VOSTALMG.
Facing the representative of VOSTALMG, he said seriously:
"I don't care how many rounds of negotiations you have had with China, or what price they paid, but the seat for this cooperation must be reserved for us!"
"Didn't they pay 240 million? We paid 2.5!"
