On the morning of February 7, Lu Wei, chairman of Shandong Runde Biotechnology Co., Ltd., attended the 2022 Shandong Provincial Work Mobilization Conference, at which he was named "Shandong Industry Leading Entrepreneur" and remembered the first class merit. Recently, Qilu Evening News • Qilu OnePoint reporter walked into Runde Biology to explore the story behind how entrepreneur Lu Wei led the company to become the world's largest ammonia sugar producer.
Walking into the runde biological gate, on the left hand side, you can see a pond planted with lotus flowers, there are two factories facing the gate, and the white wall is written with "enterprise spirit" and "enterprise core values". Walking into the engineering and technology center, there are many Chinese paintings with lotus flowers painted on the welcome wall and the corner of the staircase.
According to reports, Lu Wei founded Shandong Depu Chemical Technology Co., Ltd. in 2007, mainly producing propylene glycol, dimethyl carbonate, and propylene carbonate. After the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, the problem of staged overcapacity in the dimethyl carbonate industry has become more and more prominent, and the whole industry is in a state of loss, and Depp Chemical, as the dimethyl carbonate industry, is also deeply affected.
"In the United States, ammonia sugar is a daily necessities, and the demand is huge." Talking about the relationship with ammonia sugar, Lu Wei recalled that when he went to the United States on a business trip in early 2010, he found that the shelves of supermarkets were filled with ammonia sugar series of health care products, as a nutritional supplement for joint cartilage, ammonia sugar has been used to prevent and treat osteoarthritis for a long time.
Lu Wei introduced that the number of patients suffering from arthritis in the world has reached 355 million, in Asia, 1 in every 6 people suffer from arthritis, while in China, arthritis patients have reached more than 100 million, the incidence rate is about 13%, of which half of the people over 50 years old suffer from osteoarthritis.
Lu Wei, who is seeking transformation, has captured this business opportunity. Subsequently, through a variety of modes of investigation and expert exchanges, ammonia sugar was finalized as the entry point for the transformation of enterprises from the chemical industry to biomedicine.
Independent innovation, to become the world's largest producer of ammonia sugar"The company adheres to independent innovation, becoming the world's largest producer of ammonia sugar, and the market share of glucosamine series products has reached more than 50%, which is behind years of exploration, investing a lot of money, continuously experimenting and continuously optimizing the production process to improve, and finally successfully created its own advantages."
Lu Wei recalled that from June 2010, the research and development and experiment of biological fermentation method to produce ammonia sugar was launched, Shandong Runde Biotechnology Co., Ltd. was formally established in 2014, the fermentation method produced ammonia sugar technology successfully reached production in 2016, the production capacity reached 2000 tons in 2017, and the annual output of 10,000 tons of biological fermentation method ammonia sugar production line in 2020 reached production and operation, and the market share ranked first.
"Along the way, the most difficult is the period from 2015 to 2017, this stage is the stage of trial production of ammonia sugar, investing 150,000 or 60,000 yuan a day, but not producing good products, and the entire trial production stage has invested more than 100 million yuan." Lu Wei introduced that the capital pressure in the trial production stage is very large, one is to invest the profits of Depu Chemical into Runde Biology, and the other is to borrow money to increase bank loans, which is very stressful during that period, sleep badly, and the hair is also a lot whiter.
"The fermentation method takes corn starch as the raw material, which is not affected by the season, the production cycle is short, the intensity is high, the environmental pressure is small, the raw material source is safe, the product has no odor, no allergic reactions, and extends the industrial chain of corn agricultural products, which greatly improves the added value of the product."
Lu Wei said that at that time, the more popular production method of ammonia sugar was the chemical hydrolysis method of shrimp and crab shells, but the production of 1 ton of glucosamine required 40 tons of shrimp and crab shells, producing 600 to 800 tons of waste acid and alkali, high pollution, high energy consumption, unstable raw material sources, and prone to allergic reactions. At present, Runde Bio's biological fermentation method to produce ammonia sugar project, subverting the traditional production process, the production technology has been identified as "international leading level" by the China Light Industry Federation, and won the first prize of the China Light Industry Federation Science and Technology Invention Award.
Technology is rooted in strengthening the technology that leads the world in the production of ammonia sugar"Accelerating the pace of industrial transformation and upgrading is the key to improving the level of the industrial chain, strengthening and developing emerging industries, and cultivating world-class technology-based leaders."
In Lu Wei's view, Runde Biology should further invest in technological transformation and expansion, increase investment in research and development, and further extend the ammonia sugar industry chain on the basis of sitting firmly in the top position of ammonia sugar raw material suppliers, from raw materials to terminal products such as medicine, health care products, and cosmetics. At the same time, by leading the world's ammonia sugar production technology, paying attention to technology rootedness, it has established stable cooperative relations with many colleges and universities and enterprises at home and abroad, introduced top experts in the industry, and carried out strategic cooperation around the fields of ammonia sugar core technology development, green manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing and industrial chain extension.
According to reports, the company has built the first batch of China Light Industry Certified Engineering Technology Research Center, China Biological Fermentation Industry Association Special Technology Center, Shandong Province Amino Sugar Green Manufacturing Engineering Technology Research Center, Shandong Province "One Enterprise One Technology" R & D Center, Shandong Province New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion Industry Public Training Base, Academician Workstation, Postdoctoral Innovation Practice Base, etc. At the same time, it also undertakes 36 national, provincial and municipal projects, mainly including the integration of green manufacturing systems for national industrial transformation and upgrading, Taishan industry leaders, and key research and development plans of Shandong Province. And with the first drafting unit to apply for the formulation of 2 industry standards for ammonia sugar, fermentation industry intelligent manufacturing 2 industry standards approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, 5 group standards by the industry association.
Lu Wei introduced that the company will further strengthen the development and application of ammonia sugar application, promote the company's high-quality raw materials to the new food, health food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries, extend the ammonia sugar industry chain, and move from raw material supply to terminal development. At that time, the company will form a scale of sales income of more than 10 billion yuan and profits and taxes of more than 2 billion yuan, driving the employment of more than 1,000 people.
Leaving the Runde Biological Engineering Technology Center, looking at the lotus flowers in the pool, I couldn't help but think of the question in "Love Lotus Says": "Lotus love, who is the same person?" I believe that under the practice of Lu Wei, there will be more and more "givers" to witness the glory of Runde Biology.