Stories about Chinese and American factories

01

Elon Musk is a man of action.

In a widely circulated article in March this year, a Tesla employee told a story:

"One Friday, a shipload of Tesla Model 3s had just docked at the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, and Musk texted the delivery team leader: You must deliver 300 cars today, or I'll come tomorrow. The team worked very hard that day and only delivered 3 cars.

The next day, Saturday, Musk questioned in the company: There are hundreds of thousands of people in Europe waiting for the delivery of the car, and the car has arrived in Europe, why can't you deliver the goods? In his mind, as long as it is physically possible, what laws, traffic, and the day of the week are all bullshit. "

More than one foreign media outlet has reported something similar: If an executive says "this is impossible" to Musk, the outcome is most likely to be fired on the spot. Musk doesn't believe in "impossible", but after he takes over your job, the impossible will really become possible.

"Musk even peed fast, like a fire hose." Kevin Brogan, a former senior engineer at SpaceX, recalled, "He was really in a hurry." (Source: Business Insider)

Last week, Musk came to China, visited Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory, and had an epic awkward conversation with Jack Ma.

He said the Shanghai Gigafactory was very impressive. "To be honest, I've never seen anything built so fast in my life before, to be totally frank."

“And I’ve seen some crazy things…I really think China is the future.” What’s called crazy by crazy Musk is probably crazy to the second power.

02

Musk has a special liking for traditional Chinese food, and has been photographed by netizens three times:

The first time was in July 2018, when I ate pancakes on the streets of Shanghai with my team; the second time was in January 2019, when I ate Old Beijing Hotpot with my girlfriend on Guijie Street; the third time was a few days ago, when I ate buns at the "Xisi Baozi Shop".

The real purpose is not to drink, these three time points are quite interesting.

In July 2018, Musk came to China to sign a pure electric vehicle project investment agreement between Tesla and Shanghai Lingang. This was a first for both parties: Tesla's first overseas super factory and China's first wholly foreign-owned automobile factory.

Previously, at the 2018 Tesla shareholders meeting, Musk announced that the new Shanghai factory would be named "Dreadnought" and would begin production in 2020.

In October 2018, Tesla acquired 865,000 square meters of industrial land in Lingang, Shanghai for 973 million yuan.

In December 2018, the project had basically completed land leveling, the construction site was connected to temporary electricity, and the first construction permit was obtained.

In January 2019, Tesla Shanghai Super Factory (Phase I) officially laid the foundation stone, and Musk and Shanghai Mayor Ying Yong attended the ceremony together. Amidst the solemnity and order, someone was particularly lively.

In April 2019, the factory pile foundation construction was completed and the construction of the factory steel structure began.

In May 2019, the steel structure of the factory building was basically completed.

In July 2019, Tesla released the first batch of interior photos of the Shanghai Super Factory, where production robots and large stamping machines had begun to be installed.

In August 2019, the project obtained its first comprehensive acceptance certificate.

It usually takes 18-24 months to build a car factory. However, Tesla's Shanghai Super Factory has been under construction for less than 12 months since it acquired the land. The factory has been under construction 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and is ahead of schedule. It will be officially put into production by the end of this year.

At the end of August, Musk came to China, expressed his amazement, and ate the buns.

Some people may ask, since the factory is in Shanghai, why does Musk always go to Beijing to eat?

After the signing of the contract in July 2018, Musk went to Beijing to meet with the Vice President of the State; after the groundbreaking ceremony in January 2019, Musk went to Beijing to meet with the Prime Minister; after attending the meeting in August 2019, Musk went to Beijing to meet with the Minister of Transport and the Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology.

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. You need to understand both food and politics.

On August 30, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 26th batch of "Catalogue of New Energy Vehicles Exempted from Vehicle Purchase Tax". All 11 Tesla models were on the list, making it the first foreign-owned automobile manufacturer - this is Musk's gain.

From China's perspective, this is a gesture of goodwill to foreign companies in the context of trade frictions between China and the United States, and it is also throwing a catfish into the new energy vehicle market.

03

Cao Dewang is a Buddhist.

Since 2014, he has invested in building an automotive glass factory in the United States, which was built on top of an abandoned General Motors plant in Ohio. He thought it was a great success, as it provided jobs for the "Rust Belt" and promoted exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, so he wanted to find a local documentary director to shoot a promotional film.

Since they were unwilling, Cao Dewang simply "let them make a film they wanted to make, no matter how they shot it."

As Tesla’s Chinese factory acceptance results were released, a documentary titled “American Factory” was also circulating on social networks.

In and out of the film, Boss Cao showed great tolerance. He accepted that "American workers are inefficient and have low output, and they cannot be controlled." Chinese employees suggested to him that two paintings be hung at the front desk of the American factory, one representing China, such as the Great Wall, and the other representing the United States. Cao Dewang said: No, just hang an American one, follow the local customs, and don't provoke them.

There is only one thing he cannot tolerate - labor unions. "Because if labor unions are here, it will affect our labor efficiency, directly affect our business benefits, and cause losses. I have a very clear attitude: if labor unions come in, I will close the business."

However, American workers want unions. The core of the documentary is the union. This is a story about "socialist bosses building factories in capitalist countries and then preventing capitalist workers from establishing unions."

Before investing, Cao Dewang did not anticipate that the trade unions would be so powerful.

From the perspective of American workers, they want dignity in their jobs, security guarantees, generous salaries, no overtime, no KPIs, and no arbitrary layoffs - so they support unions.

How can work interfere with lunch?
　　

From the perspective of a Chinese boss, the company suffered a loss of 40 million U.S. dollars from January to October 2017. The factory must be efficient and profitable, and it must survive before anything else can be discussed.

The American workers have the support of the UAW (United Auto Workers), and the Chinese bosses have also hired a consulting firm at a high price. The fate of both parties will be decided by a general vote on whether to establish a union.

The factory successfully defeated the union by 868 votes to 444 through means such as raising wages, lobbying workers, and dismissing workers who supported the union. Fuyao's US factory also achieved profitability in 2018.

But at the end of the film, Cao Dewang was not in a happy mood. He said:

"When I lived in the backward China of the past, I felt very happy. But when I stepped into the modern society today and all kinds of resources came up, I always felt a great sense of loss. It is hard for me to go back to the era of cicadas chirping and frogs croaking, looking at the flowers and grass in the fields. In the past few decades, I worked hard to open factories. Did I destroy other people's environment and peace? I can't figure out whether I am a meritorious person or a guilty person."

It is difficult to distinguish between ruthless means and a kind heart.

04

Perhaps, "Chinese Factory" is a story about efficiency, and "American Factory" is a story about dignity. But when the factories of Musk and Cao Dewang, Tesla and Fuyao appeared in front of me alternately, instead of efficiency and dignity, what kept coming to my mind was Professor Wu's "Innocence and Sentimentality".

"Naive people regard career achievement and wealth growth as the first priority of their existence. In their world, so-called morality and bottom line are all related to transactions and costs. Sentimental people are always wavering and questioning in doubt, and they often reflect on themselves and remind themselves that their actions are limited by the times."

The naive are full of courage, while the sentimental are full of doubt.

A naive Musk came to a naive China that was gradually infected with sentimentality, and the story of the Chinese factory came into being. A sentimental Cao Dewang went to a sentimental America that wanted to return to innocence, and the story of the American factory came into being.

It is hard to say which is better, innocence or sentimentality, just like it is hard to say which is more important, efficiency or dignity. The stories of Chinese factories and American factories are both mirrors. All we can do is to protect the innocence, understand the sentimentality, maintain the efficiency, and pick up the dignity.