Actually, Yu Zhenfang's first excavator was a product of a certain Korean brand. In 2009, feeling that the working efficiency of loaders could no longer meet the production requirements of the quarry, he decided to add an excavator and, without much investigation, bought that Korean-brand excavator. To this day, he sighs with some regret: this was, so to speak, a detour of no small size.

 

　　A Youth's First Foray into Business: Interwoven with Blood, Sweat and Tears

 

　　Whenever 50-year-old Yu Zhenfang recalls his early 1980s venture into business, he cannot help but be filled with emotion. After graduating from high school, ambitious and unwilling to be an ordinary worker, he "idled" at home for a few years before buying a "Jiefang" truck produced in the 1970s and transporting sand and gravel among the various sand and stone quarries around Changchun. When he was young, once Yu Zhenfang started working he could not stop; at that time he could earn only 20 yuan per load of sand and gravel, yet he worked day and night, devoting all his energy to driving. After several years of effort, although he earned a substantial income, he also paid an irreparable price—in 1986 and 1989, he coughed up blood twice from overwork, and doctors warned him that he could no longer engage in heavy physical labor, which gave rise to the idea of changing careers.

 

　　In 2003, one of Yu Zhenfang's clients, due to poor management, could not pay the long-overdue project payment and wanted to transfer a quarry under his name to offset the debt. Yu Zhenfang's consideration at the time was: if he operated the quarry and produced building materials, the supplier and buyer would be on equal footing, with cash settlement or advance payment; moreover, when he ran transport in his early years he had often dealt with quarries and was familiar with the business; and most importantly, China was in the midst of large-scale construction, materials were in short supply, and the market prospects were optimistic. So he took over the quarry and formally changed careers.

 

　　Achieving Mechanization: Cat Takes the Lead

 

　　After taking over the quarry, the first thing Yu Zhenfang had to do was add mechanical equipment. Before that, the quarry had relied almost entirely on manual production, with high costs, low efficiency, and constant safety hazards, so workers' safety could not be guaranteed. Yu Zhenfang first bought a loader for raking and loading materials, which greatly improved safety, but the working efficiency was still not satisfactory; the clumsy loader could not travel on the mountain where there were no roads, which prompted Yu Zhenfang to use an excavator for production.

 

　　In 2009, Yu Zhenfang bought his first excavator. At the time he was eager to improve production efficiency and ignored the excavator's brand, choosing a Korean-brand excavator without careful investigation. But during use, he gradually discovered many problems with this excavator: poor quality stability, with frequent breakdowns causing work stoppages and production halts; wear-resistant materials not sturdy enough, with the bucket, teeth and tracks wearing quickly, greatly increasing operating costs; insufficient power, making it impossible to effectively remove larger rocks during hazard clearance...

　

　　Later, through exchanges with peers and friends, Yu Zhenfang learned about Cat excavators. He heard that Cat excavators had strong power and good quality, so he was tempted and planned to replace his equipment.

 

　　In 2011, Yu Zhenfang brought a Cat 336D excavator into his quarry. More than two years have passed, and this excavator's zero failure rate has made him regard Cat excavators with new respect.

 

　　It is understood that the Cat 336D excavator is mainly responsible for raking and loading at Yu Zhenfang's quarry. Raking means digging out the loosened stone after blasting, loading it into trucks, and then having the trucks transport it to the crusher for crushing. In the quarry's operations, the Cat 336D excavator is truly in its element: first, thanks to its extraordinary stability, the Cat equipment has never had any failure in two years, ensuring uninterrupted production at the entire quarry; second, the Cat 336D excavator has strong power and can easily push rocks weighing more than 10 tons down the slope, avoiding secondary crushing and saving time; third, the bucket, teeth and tracks are made of excellent materials and do not need replacement for a long time, saving considerable costs.

 

　　In addition, this Cat 336D excavator also serves as the "advance force" for hazard clearance. Once a loose boulder appears on the mountain, the Cat 336D excavator, with its powerful performance and flexible walking ability, takes the lead. It can easily handle boulders that other excavators cannot move and smoothly complete hazard clearance work; when rocks slide, it can also dodge flexibly, and its reliable quality gives Yu Zhenfang and the operator great peace of mind.

 

　　In 2011, the State Administration of Work Safety issued Order No. 39, requiring small-scale quarries to merge and reorganize. Taking this opportunity, Yu Zhenfang acquired another quarry. In addition, in recent years, several expressways in Changchun—the "three vertical and two horizontal" routes, Changchun–Siping, Changchun–Zhengjiatun and others—are about to start construction, and building materials such as sand and gravel are in short supply. So in 2013, Yu Zhenfang bought another Cat 320D excavator. This excavator's task is loading materials at the quarry; it has been used for nearly 4,000 hours without any failure, and Yu Zhenfang feels he really chose the right excavator!

 

　　Safety in One Hand, Management in the Other

 

　　Yu Zhenfang's two quarries now have an annual output of nearly 600,000 cubic meters. Facing the various projects about to start, he also plans to continue adding production lines, striving to rank among the top three in Changchun's quarry industry in terms of comprehensive strength.

 

　　Ten years of operation have led Yu Zhenfang to grasp many principles of management. In his view, the most critical factor in operating a quarry is ensuring safety. He always puts safety first, strictly follows relevant national production standards, and often organizes safety meetings with the various mine managers to eliminate hidden dangers. At the same time, he also devotes much energy to management. Internally, he treats employees well and practices people-oriented management, believing that only in this way can he retain the best employees; externally, he holds fast to integrity, guaranteeing product quality and quantity and never "shortchanging" customers. His philosophy is "Integrity wins the world; only by giving up can one gain."

 

　　Speaking of the future, Yu Zhenfang said that after expanding the production lines, in order to meet production needs he will continue to add mechanical equipment, including at least two more excavators. This time, he will not take detours again and will certainly buy Cat equipment.