On the morning of December 22, 1937, on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 InfoJohn appeared in front of a local factory specializing in the production of high-power industrial exhaust fans with Walter, Donald and other FedEx executives. They were joined by representatives of the Westinghouse Electric Company, the New York Central Railroad, and the Pacific Union Railroad, as well as reporters from nearly 100 news media. In anticipation, FedEx trucks slowly drove into the factory, loaded with 3,000 high-power electric motors ordered by the factory from Westinghouse.

Based on past experience, such large orders are generally not in stock. Westinghouse's electric motor manufacturing plant near Pittsburgh needs to schedule production to order before shipping the goods to Los Angeles, which takes at least two months. Today, FedEx's bulk logistics model allows the electric motor plant to produce at full capacity, and the products are stored in two giant storage centers in Detroit and Philadelphia. After receiving the order, FedEx immediately gathered 3,000 electric motors and transported them to Los Angeles by rail overnight, completing the transaction across the United States in less than five days, which is more than ten times more efficient than before.

When the person in charge of the factory signed the receipt of goods, the scene resounded with warm applause. This is FedEx's first business, and its successful completion marks the "epoch-making" supply chain logistics model advocated by John has finally become a reality. Everyone on site was shocked by the efficiency of this new logistics model, because it means that companies that adopt this logistics model can greatly improve production efficiency and reduce production costs, thus gaining a significant advantage in competition with similar enterprises. In 1937, when economic growth stalled again due to the U.S. government's balance-of-payments policy, this advantage was enough to make the difference between life and death for a company.

The camera flashes in the hands of the media reporters were ringing non-stop, and all the FedEx executives were surrounded by them. John suppressed his inner excitement and calmly coped with the interview with the media reporter. These few months have been too difficult for John. Every step of the "earth-shattering plan", John walked tremblingly, like walking on thin ice. A mistake in any one link could bankrupt his family. Sometimes at night, he will also think, why do you have to suffer for yourself, like many family members, to be a rich man in peace, and wait for death for the rest of his life.

But now, John feels that all his hard work has been worth it. It's not that this business makes him much money, but in fact, after removing all kinds of transportation costs, the profit is pitiful. John himself knew that with the overall economic situation in the United States today, before the outbreak of war in Europe, he was basically losing money and making money. In order to buy shares of railway companies in the secondary market, he borrowed a large amount of money from a commercial bank through his family, and suddenly turned from a multimillionaire to a "multi-millionaire". The company's income in the past two years can afford to pay the interest on the bank loan, even if it is thankful. John's great satisfaction now comes from the recognition of him by society and the market. This made him know that although he is not a superman who wears underwear and does not have the ability to save the earth, he can also change the world in some ways through his own efforts.

"Congratulations, Mr. Vanderbilt!" Antonio, vice president of Westinghouse Electric, squeezed through the crowd and held out his right hand to John, "Five days, that's a remarkable achievement. ”

"Congratulations too, Mr. Antonio!" John shook the hand of the Westinghouse executive hard, "I hope that FedEx can provide more and faster logistics services for Westinghouse in the future." ”

"I'm looking forward to it, and I wish us a happy cooperation."

"Happy working together!"

After a brief celebratory ceremony, John and his entourage left the factory in a car. John believes that through media publicity, what is happening here today will have a national sensation in a few days. More and more customers come to the door waving a checkbook, as evidenced by Tom Jr., who is now sitting in the front passenger seat.

Originally, according to the agreement between John and Thomas Watson Sr., Tom Jr. would come over when FedEx was first founded. But then there was a strike by auto workers, and the matter was just like his "Ford Plan". But on October 2, the day after FedEx signed the transportation agreement with Westinghouse, Tom Jr. was sent to the door by his father along with a letter of intent from IBM and FedEx. Thomas Watson Sr. was a shrewd, old-school businessman with a first-class sense of smell. Although the style of acting is a little too old-fashioned, once you see the opportunity, the action is called a neat and neat.

Tom Jr.'s role at FedEx was the Secretary of Air Transport and Special Assistant to John. However, the air transport department is still on paper, and currently has only one second-hand Douglas-DC2 aircraft. And the only "cargo" that this plane has carried so far is John and his group of company executives. The size of the U.S. was so large that John and his family had to fly frequently to and from the storage centers and operations centers in various places. So, Tom Jr.'s actual job now is actually John's attendant and the pilot of the company's business jet. However, he was very satisfied with the work of flying around every day, and the recent "big scenes" of the company blooming all over the United States also made the young man feel much more exciting than the door-to-door sales of punches in the past.

At this time, John and Tom Jr. are going to meet an old friend, Howard Hughes. Hughes, a year younger than John, is the founder of the flying club he and Tom Jr. joined. Hughes dropped out of school at the age of 18 to take over his father's business and became the chairman of the American "Hughes Tools Company". In 1926, Hughes bought the rights to operate 125 movie theaters, and since then he has entered Hollywood, and has become the chairman and director of the film company, participated in and shot dozens of films, and is a frequent visitor to the Oscars.

Although one of America's richest and movie moguls, Howard Hughes's greatest interest was flying airplanes. In 1932, Hughes started his own aircraft company, and John's previous stock in California Aerospace Industries owned half of Hughes Aircraft Company. On January 18, 1937, just a few days before John crossed over, Hughes piloted his modified H1B aircraft and successfully made a non-landing flight across the continental United States in just 7 hours, 28 minutes and 25 seconds. As a result, Hughes became a well-known "flying hero" in the United States, and was also received by US President Roosevelt. Little Tom is a great admirer of this legendary "Big Brother".

However, John didn't come to Hughes to buy a plane this time, he came to help his baby daughter Ella get a Christmas present. During this time, John was too busy to have time to go home. Even when she occasionally went home, Ella was already asleep. Little Ella is very angry with her father's behavior and has begun to refuse to talk to John on the phone. So, John decides to prepare a special Christmas gift for Ella to compensate his little princess.

If you want to ask what Los Angeles's most famous specialty is, there are undoubtedly many Hollywood movie stars. But for a girl like Ella, who is less than three years old, the brightest movie star is none other than Shirley Temple. Since Adele took her to the cinema to watch "The Little Princess" starring Shirley Temple, little Ella has admired this young lady who can sing and dance. John felt that an autographed photograph of Shirley Temple would help him win back his daughter's heart.

John: The place where they and Hughes met was in a hangar at an airport near California Tech, where Hughes spends far more time than in corporate offices. Hughes was overjoyed to meet the two old friends and excitedly began to introduce his plans to challenge for a world record in a round-the-world flight. John had little interest in challenging these "useless" world records, and he would have preferred to hear Hughes talk about the acquisition of World Airlines. Historically, in 1939, Howard Hughes took over the third-largest airline in the United States with a 78% stake. John is keen to get a kick in the deal, and the benefits to the company's future air transport business are undeniable. However, at this time, he didn't know whether Hughes's acquisition plan had started or not, so he didn't take the initiative to ask.

John took a great deal of trouble to interrupt Hughes and offer to help him get a signed photo of Shirley Temple. This kind of trivial matter is naturally not difficult for this movie tycoon, and it can be done with a phone call. John had wanted to go to the set to meet the legendary child star in person, but Hughes Phil dragged them on a tour of the Lockheed 14-N2 he was refitting. Little Tom was also interested in the twin-engine transport aircraft, nicknamed "Super Electra". Unable to resist them, John had to stay and ask the driver to help him go to the set to get the photos. "It's not bad to see, maybe the company will order this aircraft in the future." John comforted himself.