Reborn in Brazil As a Plutocrat

  Chapter 488 Production Authorization

  Lawrence Bell was overjoyed when he heard this, and understood that Fang Lang was trying to fulfill his promise. It seemed that it was a good idea for him to agree to Harvard University's authorization for him.

  As a businessman, of course, the higher the sales volume of his Bell Aircraft Manufacturing Company, the happier he is. At this time, he would not refuse, and directly said to the middle-aged white man who was in charge of arranging the test flight just now:

   "Arthur, how many Bell 47s do we have in stock right now."

Hearing this, the middle-aged white man named Arthur walked forward quickly, opened a folder in his hand, glanced at the two of them, saw that Lawrence Bell had no intention of hiding it, and directly pointed at the two of them. humane:

   "Boss, now our Bell 47 has obtained the airworthiness certificate of the Civil Aviation Administration, but its use needs to be further developed. The factory does not dare to mass-produce it. The entire company only has 20 units in stock."

  Lawrence Bell felt a little regretful when he heard what this guy said. If he had known earlier, he would have asked him to report directly, so why talk so much.

Fang Lang on the side just smiled when he heard the words. Airplanes are no better than cars. Not every individual will buy one back as a means of transportation. There are many aviation clubs in the United States. As a new type of aircraft, helicopters may have a lot of club feeling Interest, buy him back to train drivers, or attract club members, but large-scale purchases are obviously unlikely.

  This is doomed that his output will not be very high. Similarly, rare things are more expensive, Fang Lang can almost predict that the price of this aircraft will definitely not be cheap.

  So, he said directly:

   "If I take all this batch of inventory, I don't know what unit price Mr. Bell is going to sell it to me?"

  Lawrence Bell, who was complaining that his subordinates were talkative, turned his head to look at Fang Lang with a surprised face, and said eagerly:

   "Fang, are you serious?

   Our Bell 47s cost $50,000 each. If you're really interested in getting my entire inventory, I can give you a 20% discount. What do you think? "

Hearing this quotation, Fang Lang couldn't help but gasp. Fifty thousand dollars is not a small amount. In this era when two thousand dollars can buy a car, fifty thousand dollars is estimated to be equivalent to two to three million dollars in later generations. The dollar is not much different!

   This made Fang Lang, who was ready to be brutally slaughtered, couldn't help but click his tongue secretly.

  However, he also knew in his heart that this price should not be deliberately high by the other party, and must be a normal market price. After all, this is the world's first civilian helicopter that has obtained an airworthiness certificate.

  The research and development costs have not yet been recovered, so it is normal to set a high price.

  Actually, according to the information I found, in 1959, American Radio Station purchased a Bell 47 to monitor highway conditions in order to broadcast real-time traffic conditions on American highways. The purchase price at that time was 50,000 US dollars.

  But the fraud of this aircraft can be calculated at a glance. The entire aircraft has a simple structure, and the engine used is also a piston engine. According to Fang Lang's estimation, the production cost will never exceed a car.

   This means that the cost of this aircraft will not exceed two thousand dollars, and the gross profit rate is as high as 960%. No wonder it is said that the aircraft manufacturing industry is a high value-added industry. At this moment, Fang Lang has a deep understanding.

   "Mr. Bell, I have an unfeeling request, I don't know if I should say it?"

   Lawrence Bell understood that Fang Lang wanted to negotiate terms. He thought Fang Lang meant that he wanted to continue bargaining. He didn't think there was any problem in business. Just nodded slightly and said:

   "Fang, please speak up if you have something to say!"

   Fang Lang just hesitated for a moment and said directly:

   "If I purchase fifty at a time, I wonder if I can obtain your company's production authorization?"

   This request was obviously beyond Lawrence Bell's expectations. He frowned slightly and looked at Fang Lang with burning eyes. He was a little confused as to why Fang Lang wanted to obtain the production authorization of Bell 47.

  In fact, although this helicopter has obtained the airworthiness certificate of civil aviation, the aircraft has not been sold, mainly because the practical prospects are not clear, and even they themselves have not figured out what this aircraft can be used for.

  After the U.S. military purchased 28 aircraft for evaluation, there is still no news, although the company is already trying to do public relations.

  But the Bell 47 is not a fighter jet and cannot directly cause direct damage to the enemy. The military has not yet had a clear idea of ​​its use. Therefore, the efficiency of the military's evaluation is very low, and their company's public relations are also progressing slowly.

   "It seems that Mr. Fang is very optimistic about the prospects of Bell 47, right?"

   Of course Fang Lang will not deny this, after all, he still wants the support of the other party in the authorization of Harvard University.

  Therefore, he said without hesitation:

  "Yes, Mr. Bell, I am very optimistic about this product of your company. Since he can obtain the civil aviation airworthiness certificate, it means that he has the opportunity to have a broad prospect in the civilian market.

  My family owns an aircraft manufacturing company in Brazil, which has been engaged in aircraft modification business, and really wants to get the opportunity to enter the civil aviation field. "

  Lawrence Bell didn't expect Fang Lang to come prepared. The family has a factory engaged in aircraft modification business. No wonder he wants to obtain a production authorization from his company.

   It seems that this guy has a lot of ambitions! However, he did not directly reject Fang Lang's request, but after a little thought, he slowly said:

   "It is not impossible to authorize your company to produce, but you have to understand that since the establishment of the Bell 47 project in 1941, it has gone through nearly six years of research and development before finally having the current finished product.

  Our company has devoted a lot of energy and cost to him, and it is impossible for us to easily authorize production to other companies without recovering the cost.

  So, you must be able to show enough sincerity to impress me. "

  Seeing that the other party did not directly reject it immediately, Fang Lang breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he was not directly rejected, it meant that there was still hope for things.

   “Of course, I have always had a great respect for the value of intellectual property, which is why I am contacting Harvard University through you.

  Knowledge is wealth. I can feel the efforts your company put into developing the Bell 47.

  I am also willing to pay for knowledge. I don’t know what kind of sincerity I need to impress Mr. Bell. "

  Lawrence Bell laughed loudly when he heard the words. He felt that Fang Lang spoke very frankly. He liked to communicate with each other very much. He didn't pretend to be around the bush, and said directly:

  "To be honest, we are a little confused about the future prospects of Bell 47. As we said earlier, although he is very suitable for aerial reconnaissance, his protection ability is about zero, making it difficult for him to adapt to the battlefield environment.

   In the civilian field, the short range, low load capacity, and high price make it really unable to compete with fixed-wing aircraft.

  So, until now our Bell 47 sales have been poor.

  I am very curious why you are optimistic about his prospects. I wonder if you can tell me what practical areas you have arranged for him.

  If your proposal can open up a new practical idea for my product, I am willing to authorize the production of this Bell 47 in your factory. "

  From Lawrence Bell's words, Fang Lang could feel the pressure on the other party. Obviously, he invested a lot in the development of this product, but now he has not achieved the success he wanted.

   It made him feel a little irritable.

  This time he just proposed to visit his helicopter factory, and he agreed to the authorization from Harvard University without hesitation, which shows that the sales pressure of Bell 47 is very huge now.

  In fact, the financial situation of Bell Aircraft Company is not ideal. If it weren't for the sudden outbreak of the Peninsula War, which allowed them to obtain a large number of orders, it would be difficult for their company to persist.

  Later, even though the Peninsula War greatly increased their sales and their financial situation improved slightly, they did not persist for long. Finally, in 1960, they were acquired by Textron, which is also a Boston consortium.

  Of course, these Fang Lang didn't know it, but he could feel the pressure on the other party from Lawrence Bell's attitude. Obviously, if the other party cannot immediately expand the sales volume of the product, his company may be unable to make ends meet.

   This is obviously an opportunity for Fang Lang. As for the other party wanting to know his practical aspects, Fang Lang didn't mind telling the other party directly.

   "If Mr. Bell is interested, of course I can tell you!

  Our group has a grain group in Brazil, which is conducting large-scale mechanized agricultural experiments. It was originally planned to modify some fixed-wing aircraft to carry out pesticide spraying operations.

   But you also know that the flying height and flying speed of fixed-wing aircraft will be limited, and the spraying effect on farmland is not particularly ideal.

  After seeing this helicopter today, I thought of modifying it and installing a sprinkler in front of the nose. The 400kg load is also very suitable for loading pesticides and spraying pesticides. "

  Lawrence Bell heard the words, his eyes lit up, the United States is the big head of large-scale agriculture! Since Fang Lang can promote it in Brazil, of course he can also promote it in the United States.

  If this market can really be opened up, there is no need to worry about the sales of their products.

   Moreover, not only farms that grow crops can purchase helicopter operations, large-scale cattle farms can also purchase helicopters for grazing!

   I didn’t expect that the products produced by myself have the potential to become agricultural machinery. Isn’t this idea opened?

  "It is a good direction, if it can be realized, it will definitely open up sales for our products.

That being the case, I agree that you need to obtain a production authorization, but the premise is that your company must purchase at least 30 more Bell 47s from our company, that is, a total of 50, before we can authorize your production license, and your production products cannot be sold within the United States. "

  Fang Lang was overjoyed when he heard the words. This was really an unexpected gain. He didn't expect to discuss the joint school with the other party. He didn't expect to negotiate two authorizations, and the authorization would just copy the school-running method of Harvard University.

   Unexpectedly, he obtained the admission ticket to the helicopter field that he had always wanted to enter. This time is really a worthwhile trip!

   "No problem, but of the 30 newly purchased helicopters, ten of them must be produced by your company's technical personnel to our factory in Brazil to guide us in production."

  For Lawrence Bell, the production authorization has been agreed, and the last ten will be produced in Brazil. Naturally, it is not an excessive requirement. The most is to ship the parts to Brazil, and then assemble them locally.

   You can also save your own labor costs, of course there is nothing wrong with it.

Then the two returned to the office, discussed some details of the authorized production, and signed an agreement of intent on the spot. After the general manager of Fangyuan Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Polman returned to Brazil, he sent a professional negotiating team to Bell Aircraft further negotiated and entered into a formal purchase and licensing agreement.

This kind of authorized production is actually very common. Bell Aircraft Company has historically authorized the Italian Agusta Company to produce Bell 47, and this Italian helicopter production company has finally become the world's largest helicopter manufacturer by assimilating the technology of Bell 47. Well-known helicopter manufacturing company.

   And Fang Lang's choice now is actually not much different from the company's path.

  (end of this chapter)