Frustrating things in the rainy weather
Today's rain is sticky, and even the air - conditioner in the office has a musty smell. The originally smooth equipment calibration has been messed up by the boss, which makes me extremely angry.
That indispensable "quality gatekeeper"
The company has a set of test equipment, a "material judge" built with real money. The tensile strength of all polymer materials on the production line and the salt spray corrosion resistance of hardware accessories all depend on the accurate data it measures to determine their pass or fail. According to the requirements of the "Metrology Law", this kind of compulsory verification equipment used for product quality judgment must be calibrated once a year. The cost is 1,600 yuan, and this year's budget was included in the "Quality Assurance Fee" at the beginning of the year without a single cent off.
More importantly, only the original manufacturer can calibrate this equipment. Firstly, it is a patented design of the manufacturer, and the calibration program is hidden in the technical closed - loop of the equipment system. Third - party institutions don't even have the boot password. Secondly, the manufacturer has the calibration qualification issued by the National Institute of Metrology, and other institutions simply can't obtain the corresponding measurement standards. We signed an annual calibration contract with the manufacturer last year. Originally, we only needed to make a phone call to confirm the time this month to get the matter done.
The boss suddenly "set his eyes on" 1,600 yuan
Last week, when the boss was going through the budget sheet, he suddenly stared at the line "Equipment calibration fee" and frowned. "1,600 yuan per time? Why is it so expensive? Can we ask the manufacturer for a discount?"
I quickly rummaged through the contract and handed it over. "This price was set when we signed the contract last year. The manufacturer said it's a standardized service across the entire industry. Companies like Peer A and Peer B charge the same fee." The boss wouldn't budge and insisted that I "negotiate" with the manufacturer again. As a result, the manufacturer gave a very straightforward reply: "Calibration follows the metrological regulations. The costs of manpower, equipment, and qualifications are all here. We can't make any concessions."
A series of follow - up questions: From "how many times to use" to "how much impact it has"
Failing to get the discount, the boss then turned his attention to the necessity. He called me into his office, flipped through the equipment usage register and asked, This equipment was only used 4 times last month. Can we lower the calibration frequency? I took out the Measures for the Management of Measuring Instruments and showed it to him, saying, Regardless of how many times it's used, the equipment subject to compulsory verification must be calibrated once a year. Otherwise, if it's found out by the Quality Supervision Bureau, we'll be fined 20,000 yuan. If there are quality problems with the products, the recall cost will be hundreds of times that of 1,600 yuan
He wasn't willing to give up and pulled the manager of the quality control department to get to the bottom of it: "Are the data of this equipment used to judge whether the products are qualified? If it's only for the R & D department to conduct tests, can we put it off for a while?" The quality control manager shook his head firmly: "The data is required for signing off on the material indicators of all products leaving the factory. If it's not calibrated and the data error exceeds 0.5%, the material strength won't meet the standard. It would be a minor issue if the customers return the products, but it would be a major problem if our brand reputation is damaged."
The week-long "war of attrition" has finally ended
This kind of back - and - forth discussion went on for seven days. One day, I was asked to find the "original text of the regulations on mandatory verification". The next day, the factory was required to send the "certificate of calibration qualification". And the day after that, the production director was pulled in to discuss "the loss caused by the equipment being out of service for one day". It wasn't until this afternoon that the boss rubbed his temples and sighed, "Forget it. Contact the factory and have the equipment calibrated as soon as possible."
Getting caught up in trivial matters will lead to the failure of important ones
But just in this one week, all the new customers I was supposed to follow up with and the production processes I was supposed to optimize have been delayed. I really can't figure it out: For a company with an annual revenue of tens of millions, 1,600 yuan is just the cost of a meal. Why does the boss spend so much time dwelling on it?
It's clearly a matter that follows the rules and the contract. Why does he always feel that others are "cheating him out of his money"? If a boss focuses all his energy on such "minor" expenses, how can he take care of the company's major directions, such as expanding customers, optimizing processes, and upgrading R & D?
It's like a captain not looking at the route but instead staring at a screw on the deck. Can this kind of "focusing on trivial matters" mindset really lead the company far?
It's still raining. I'm looking at the overcast clouds outside the window, and all I can feel is that my heart is even more oppressed.