1novels #410 - The high-end market overseas expansion started with helicopters
#410 - The high-end market overseas expansion started with helicopters
Ren Zhong hadn't expected the demand for helicopters to be so strong, with so many potential users in China alone.
Returning to the research center, after spending half an hour understanding the situation, he decisively increased the original plan of one Zhi-5 production line to three Zhi-5 production lines!
One each would be established in Fengjing, Jincheng, and Yuzhang, plus an experimental production line at the research center in Yanjing, which would equal four production lines operating in a pulsed production manner.
This would more than double the original production capacity, with the planned initial trial production soaring to over 120 units per year.
After entering the mature production phase, the annual output would double again to over 240 units!
After all, all the machine tool equipment used on the production line now can be produced by Dongda itself.
Even if there is some waste, Ren Zhong is now quite optimistic about the helicopter industry.
With such a good market in China alone, the international market might be even better.
Ren Zhong, who had been unable to find an opportunity to launch a high-end international industrial product, suddenly had a bold idea.
Why not start with the Zhi-5 helicopter for the high-end market?
Selling this thing is much more high-end than selling cars.
If this succeeds, it will be much easier for Dongda's large industrial and electromechanical products to go abroad.
Although everyone's perception of Dongda has greatly improved due to weapons and nuclear submarines, the most common civilian products people see are still clothing and food!
Perhaps there are some things in special fields, such as Ro-Ro ships, but these are industry-specific products and still a bit far from truly civilian-grade industrial products.
The helicopter, in terms of its attributes, happens to be in the intermediate stage between industry products and civilian-grade products, which is a truly high-end thing for the average Westerner.
As soon as he thought of it, he did it.
. . .
Helicopter Research Center.
"Professor Zhu, there is an important change in the Zhi-5 helicopter project now," Ren Zhong said to Professor Zhu Jiaren, director of the Helicopter Research Center.
"We are now going to release a civilian version and carry out a large-scale civilian transformation of the current Zhi-5.
First, for the avionics system, we will release a simplified version completely targeting the civilian market.
Second, in terms of cabin layout, we will carry out customized development according to different usage scenarios.
For example, for medical emergency rescue, we will customize a medical layout that can accommodate two stretcher positions and six staff positions.
The luxury version will be transformed into a 4+2+1 layout, with two boss seats, four bodyguard positions, and one VIP master seat.
For the pure passenger transport version, we will release a compact layout with 13 seats and a comfortable layout with 11 seats."
Professor Zhu Jiaren felt a little numb when he heard this.
Mr. Ren's imaginative ideas were really hard to keep up with.
"Mr. Ren, I'll write it down first.
In principle, there is no difficulty with these changes, but we can't even meet the military demand yet.
We haven't even figured out the military avionics and weapon subsystem requirements yet.
Shouldn't these civilian requirements you mentioned be put off a bit?" Professor Zhu Jiaren suggested somewhat cautiously.
In April, June, and September, I want the Zhi-5 helicopter to appear at several important events and open up the civilian market to our direct civilian customers."
Ren Zhong shook his head.
There are several heavyweight conferences this year, the first of which is the Bandung Conference.
Ren Zhong originally had no ideas about this conference where Asian, African, and Latin American countries joined hands, but since opening his mind, he suddenly realized that he might be able to use this opportunity to make a major layout.
After all, Dongda is now the leading country in the Third World.
It is very reasonable for the leader to take his own Yun-6 large airliner as a special plane and bring a helicopter produced by himself for urban travel, right?
Accidentally showing off in front of everyone will also be very helpful to uniting the little brothers in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
If these little brothers are sensible and buy one or two each, selling two or thirty units to these twenty or thirty countries will directly take off, right?
Ren Zhong checked the helicopter prices during this period.
A starting price of 900,000 US dollars for a Zhi-5 like this is a fair price.
This is the price that the rogue eagle sells to its own people.
If such an advanced main helicopter is sold outside, at least it has to be more expensive!
So, rounding it up, isn't it too much for Ren Zhong to sell one million US dollars?
If there are twenty units, the research and development costs can be directly recovered!
You must know that although the materials for this thing are expensive, at this stage, Dongda's domestic supply chain covers all the materials and processing.
According to Dongda's current costs, it cannot exceed 500,000 Dongda local currency.
According to the current exchange rate of 1:3, selling one unit is equivalent to earning a bloody profit of over 2.5 million yuan!
This gross profit margin can make many capitalists cry.
Of course, the biggest reason is that the investment in research and development costs is too low.
Basically, this model is obtained by copying the data from the main world.
In the Liangjian world, the biggest investment is in the tackling of raw materials and the experimental adjustment of the processing production line!
Another important reason is that the Zhi-5 has Dongda's complete independent intellectual property rights in the Liangjian world!
The rogue eagle is still in the process of establishing the UH-1 project.
Seeing the news and comparing it with its own sketches, it is estimated that it will be shocked to death on the spot!
Although Dongda now has the Yun-6 and Yun-8, two locally produced models of transport aircraft (airliners), Ren Zhong is embarrassed to ship these two things from the rogue eagle as they are!
But the Zhi-5 is different.
Everything, even a screw, is made by Dongda in the Liangjian world, so Ren Zhong can fully promote it all over the world!
Even if it doesn't have airworthiness certificates from the Americas and Europe now, these things can be certified and operated next.
But for Third World countries, it's even simpler.
They don't care about these certifications.
It's good if it's useful and easy to use.
It's of course good to have these certifications in their country, so everyone can rest assured.
It doesn't matter if they don't have them.
"April?!" Professor Zhu Jiaren was stunned.
Is there enough time with such a tight schedule?
"No, Mr. Ren, this time is too tight.
Although the technical difficulty of these requirements is not high, it will take a lot of time.
We can't come up with physical objects in such a tight time."
"Professor Zhu, you misunderstood.
These things I mentioned don't all need to be physical objects.
For example, you can use pictures for the cabin layout, or simulation models made of wood or plastic.
The most important thing is that we have a helicopter that can fly outside to do flight performances and show the real flight performance of our helicopter."
Ren Zhong shook his head and explained to Professor Zhu.
"Didn't we make four prototypes?
Take one out and modify and optimize it according to civilian use, ensuring that it is more comfortable to ride.
Put more effort into the comfort transformation of the paint and cabin, and get close to the first-class level of the airline.
Let people go to the airline to experience this and make the sofas in the cabin more comfortable and beautiful."
Ren Zhong directly offered a suggestion, "For this demonstrator, let's go with a 4+2 layout, focusing on comfort and high-end appeal. Of course, the safety and reliability of the helicopter must be absolutely top-notch. In the next three public appearances, there can't be even the slightest malfunction. Before each demonstration flight, the team must conduct the most rigorous inspection to ensure everything is perfect."
This is the first step towards launching a high-end product. Ren Zhong doesn't want to dig a huge pit for Dongda before it even takes off.
After some communication, Professor Zhu Jiaren finally fully understood Ren Zhong's requirements. Simply put, based on the current ability to fly, on one hand, continuously test and verify safety and reliability. On the other hand, make the aircraft as luxurious and comfortable as possible, but not in a vulgar, gold-plated way.
Following Ren Zhong's suggestion, for the paint scheme, choose a refreshing blue and white combination. In addition, a large-scale modification was made to the portholes and cockpit windshield, making them much larger than before, ensuring excellent panoramic views for passengers on board. Now, Dongda's polymethyl methacrylate production technology is very mature. For military use, putting this on a helicopter would be a vulnerable point to be attacked.
The cabin interior uses a beige tone, coupled with comfortable beige sofas, a soft, understated luxury.
But for civilian models, these are plus points.
To reduce noise, a lot of effort has been put into sealing and air conditioning to ensure that the noise in the cabin is below 80 decibels, ensuring that communication in the cabin does not require shouting. For military models, these are minor details that are not considered at all.
However, civilian users are either rich or noble. They are not buying this thing to suffer.
After Ren Zhong's series of operations, the originally simple and tough Zhi-5 lad was abruptly transformed into a nouveau riche's private customized luxury item!
However, from the blueprint to the actual product, what it will look like after it is made is hard to say for Ren Zhong without seeing the finished product. But in terms of the construction period, Professor Zhu Jiaren is confident that it will not delay the first appearance at the Bandung Conference.
After the work is done, external coordination is beyond the ability of the average person.
Ren Zhong had to come forward himself.
In view of this, Ren Zhong made a special trip to see Staff Officer Ye.
"Old Chief, I have something I need to trouble you with," Ren Zhong said straight to the point. "It's like this, our newly developed helicopter has been test-flown, and unexpectedly, the response has been good. Many non-military departments have put forward requirements. I'm thinking that since there is such a large demand in the civilian field, we might as well expand production capacity and vigorously develop the civilian version of this helicopter, customizing it for medical, rescue, short-range passenger transport, and exclusive use by the wealthy. Take this opportunity to launch Dongda's high-end industrial products in the form of a helicopter and establish Dongda's image as a manufacturer of high-end industrial products."
"We have assessed that the world market, especially the Western wealthy helicopter market, has relatively large space, so we plan to use the Bandung Conference, the Romantic Capital Air Show, and the Misty Capital Air Show to promote it. Strive to sell our helicopter."
"Especially the Bandung Conference, I hope that the Chief can personally take a ride and demonstrate it to the leaders of various countries."
Ren Zhong finished speaking in one breath, looking at Staff Officer Ye. Participating in air shows is probably not a problem, but letting the Chief take a ride is a bit difficult.
"Brother Ren, your request is quite sudden. I remember a few days ago you said that production capacity was insufficient, and Old Chen had to wait in line. How come you are changing your approach in a few days and want to sell it abroad?" Staff Officer Ye said with a smile, "But this is a great thing, I absolutely support it. We will send someone to work with your comrades to handle all the procedures. Brother Ren drew me a pie about exporting cars before, but the cars haven't been seen yet, it's not bad if the plane can go out first, we must promote it on the front page more."
"As for letting my old comrade-in-arms demonstrate, can the safety and reliability be guaranteed?"
Staff Officer Ye said somewhat seriously at the end, this is no small matter.
"From now on, this helicopter will undergo a rigorous flight test for three months. At the same time, we will mobilize the strongest operation and maintenance team to conduct on-site close-fitting testing and support. If everything can be ensured without error during the three-month test period, then it will be foolproof in terms of safety," Ren Zhong replied.
Of course, he knew that this was the top priority, so in his work arrangement with Professor Zhu Jiaren, safety testing was also the most important task. This task did not conflict with other tasks, so it was relatively easy to implement.
In addition, in terms of parts, now in accordance with the full set of process and size requirements, at least two sets of vulnerable parts must be prepared to go over for protection.
Now that the Zhi-5 production line has been successfully test-flown, the production of parts has begun to shift to a trial production mode, that is, small-batch production. On the one hand, the efficiency and quality of the production line are being debugged, and on the other hand, equipment is being added and optimized to improve various weak links to ensure that the future commercial production line has stable and efficient production capacity and reliable quality.
These are still the hardware aspects. In terms of software, the allocation of engineers and personnel in key positions on each production line, the training of testing personnel, and the research on testing and verification processes must be carried out simultaneously on this production line. One position may need to be equipped with four or five matching and backup personnel. After this trial production line is mature, it will ensure that every new production line has skilled engineers in key positions.
This is the model that Ren Zhong has explored after years of leading research and development.
The production line of a new product must start cultivating key talents in the early stage of design and trial production, so that the production line will quickly form a mature production capacity after it is delivered.
"It's okay as long as safety can be guaranteed. I'm still very relieved about your work. Okay, I'll personally coordinate with my old comrade-in-arms on this matter. I have to get your advertisement out!" Staff Officer Ye said with a smile. After working with people in economic and technological work for a long time, Ren Zhong understood a lot as soon as he said it.
"Thank you, Old Chief. We will definitely do everything possible to make a name for this high-end product of helicopters and strive for both fame and fortune," Ren Zhong said, patting his chest. Now, what he can do is to give the leaders absolute confidence.
However, judging from the performance of the UH-1 in the main world timeline, there is really not much to worry about. This is a popular model with a production volume of more than 16,000 units. Even if most of them are purchased by the rogue Eagle military, don't even think about getting involved in this market. However, relying on domestic market demand and the promotion of civilian products in the international market, Ren Zhong feels that rounding up, selling 3,000 units should be no problem, right?
Now, 40 main divisions and 32 combined brigades, each equipped with 24 aircraft, that's more than 1,700 aircraft. Each small aircraft carrier in the navy is equipped with 48 aircraft, and at least 4 small aircraft carriers will be needed in the future, plus the demand for carrier-based helicopters for various destroyers, 400 aircraft or more is a must. The rest will depend on the development of the civilian and overseas markets.