On February 7, Shandong Province held the 2022 Work Mobilization Conference, which solemnly commended outstanding entrepreneurs, industry leaders and outstanding entrepreneurs in Shandong Province. Tan Xuguang, secretary of the party committee and chairman of Shandong Heavy Industry Group, was awarded the title of "Outstanding Entrepreneur of Shandong Province" and was credited with first-class merit. This is the highest honor for entrepreneurs in Shandong Province, and only three people in this selection have won this honor.
Looking at the land of Qilu, outstanding entrepreneurs have emerged, such as Li Changshun, Zhang Ruimin, Zhou Houjian... Behind a name is an industrial empire, Tan Xuguang can be said to be an outstanding entrepreneur with distinctive characteristics, forging the country's heavy weapon, shining on the world stage, he is the soul of Weichai Group, China National Heavy Duty Truck, Shantui Shares, Weichai Revo under Shandong Heavy Industry. He led the Shandong equipment manufacturing industry to compete in the world, which can be called an entrepreneur with real strength and important influence in the world, and is the Qilu business card of global entrepreneurs.
Just as there are no two identical leaves in the world, there are no identical businesses in the world. However, global entrepreneurs have common characteristics, such as excellent entrepreneurs with a world vision, industry leaders with core technologies, and global entrepreneurs who can lead enterprises in the international market. Tan Xuguang perfectly interpreted these three qualities.
An excellent entrepreneur with a world vision
For more than 20 years, Tan Xuguang has focused on the main business to achieve strategic transformation. Domestic mergers and acquisitions have created the only "gold industry chain" in the global heavy-duty truck market; integrate international resources, keep an eye on first-class famous enterprises, and engage in hand-to-hand combat with international capital predators. The core competitiveness of the enterprises led by Tan Xuguang is fought in the domestic and international markets.
In 1990, as one of the first people to go out to "eat crabs", Tan Xuguang led Weichai's first overseas technical service team to be stationed in Indonesia, and forged a new way for the export of products, technological adaptability development and quality service integration of the mainland machinery manufacturing industry. In 10 years, he raised Weichai's export earnings from 300,000 US dollars to 60 million US dollars, becoming a banner for the export of the national machinery industry.
What he experienced most during this period was that the product, service and technical standard system of Chinese enterprises could not meet the needs of the international market. For example, in the development process of the "Four Little Tigers" in Southeast Asia, a large number of power shortages were needed, and generator sets were needed. Our country uses the 50 hertz standard, and countries like the Philippines are 60 hertz. He immediately went back to presiding over the development of the project. For strategic issues related to the direction of enterprises, Tan Xuguang has always grasped the end and believes that strategic things must be done right.
In the spring of 2002, Tan Xuguang began to travel around Europe and the United States to find a future for Weichai: the country was ready to start implementing the National III emission standards in the automotive industry, and based on his long-term research and deep understanding of the fuel system, he judged that the immature high-voltage common rail technology route at that time was more advantageous, which meant that the automobile engine must adopt an electronic control system. At that time, all domestic enterprises and R & D institutions did not have the ability to develop, if Weichai can use foreign independent design agencies to complete the development of this product, it will achieve a comprehensive market leadership in one fell swoop.
In August 2003, Weichai invested more than 100 million yuan and Austria AVAL to jointly establish the "Weichai-AVL European R&D Center" to jointly develop electronically controlled engines that meet euro III./China III. standards.
In the contract text, there are two "special" clauses that show the wisdom and vision of Weichai people. One is the exclusivity of the development technology, which means that the jointly developed technology is globally unique. In addition, Weichai technicians are involved in the entire research and development process.
"No partner company has ever made such a request." AVL flatly declined.
"If Weichai technicians are not involved, the contract will be terminated immediately." Tan Xuguang's tone was firm. He understood that AVL urgently needed to open up the Chinese internal combustion engine design and development market, and Weichai was their best choice.
After several rounds of games, AVL agreed to Weichai's request. When a team of 30 people "cobbled together" returned from AVL one after another, Tan Xuguang was overjoyed, because he knew that Weichai had "borrowed" to cultivate a scientific and technological team with independent research and development capabilities.
Tan Xuguang has traveled all over the world, and when the world is still arguing, based on the understanding of the fuel system, he chose high-pressure common rail technology, unified the technical route of the mainland heavy-duty high-speed engine, and avoided the detour of the mainland industry.
The world vision makes Tan Xuguang have a strong sense of "competition and cooperation", he adheres to the "me-based, chain integration innovation", increases independent innovation and investment, only the engine research and development investment has exceeded 30 billion yuan in the past 10 years, and has established many top innovation platforms such as "State Key Laboratory of Internal Combustion Engine Reliability", "National Fuel Cell Technology Innovation Center" and "National Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Base". Aiming at the most cutting-edge technology in the global industry, where there is a resource advantage, a research and development center will be set up where to create a global collaborative research and development system. He led the establishment of the International Technology Innovation Alliance for Internal Combustion Engine Reliability, organizing thousands of experts at home and abroad every year to study the future development of common key technologies in the internal combustion engine industry and lead the common development of the industry with an open mind.
An industry leader with core technology in hand
In Weichai's journey to the world-class, Tan Xuguang has gathered behind a team of scientific and technological pioneers who dare to be the first, keen on innovation and selfless dedication, and the Weichai Youth Science and Technology Innovation Team represented by the "three highs" test team, the electronic control technology team and the high-end hydraulic team is an outstanding representative. On them, there is the shadow of Tan Xuguang of the young age.
The core technology is tempered little by little in the atmosphere of unswerving, tolerant of failure, and full participation, and Tan Xuguang, who started as an experimenter as soon as he entered the factory, has a special understanding of this, and has also achieved his belief in serving the country with science and technology and the belief in serving the country with industry.
Tan Xuguang can never forget the embarrassing situation 15 years ago - Weichai does not have a completely independent intellectual property rights of the engine products, he went to a European world's top engine company to visit, the other side planned the visit route in advance, the key places covered.
Fifteen years later, Weichai has independently developed a full range of product platforms with medium and high-speed engines, traditional energy and new energy, with engine displacement ranging from 2 liters to 579 liters and power covering 18kW to 10000kW, becoming one of the few enterprises with the most complete product line in the world. The top engine company in Europe, now all open to Tan Xuguang, took the initiative to invite him to visit the core product area.
Weichai has continuously made breakthroughs in the key core technology field of the engine, and the powertrain technology of heavy commercial vehicles developed by Weichai has won the first prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award in one fell swoop; it has broken through the monopoly of electronic control core technology and given the engine a galloping "Chinese core"; let the high-end hydraulic technology land in China to resolve the "pain of locking the throat"... Tan Xuguang adheres to independent innovation and lets China's equipment manufacturing industry hold a key core technology.
Thermal efficiency is a measure of the internal combustion engine fuel utilization efficiency of the standard, the higher the thermal efficiency, the less fuel consumption, the more significant the effect of energy saving and emission reduction, reflecting the symbol of the comprehensive strength of a country's diesel engine technology, thermal efficiency improvement is also the common pursuit of the global industry since the birth of diesel engine 125 years ago. On September 16, 2020, Weichai Power released the world's first commercial diesel engine with a thermal efficiency of 50.23% in Jinan, setting a new benchmark for the thermal efficiency of global diesel engines, just like the first 100 meters in human history to run into 10 seconds. After 480 days, on January 8, 2022, Weichai Power once again broke the record, the thermal efficiency of the diesel engine body reached 51.09% for the first time in the world, and ran for 9 seconds on the 100-meter track, further enhancing the mainland's voice in the global internal combustion engine industry.
Set a benchmark for the world's internal combustion engine industry! Weichai has become a world-class diesel engine manufacturer! China's diesel engines have moved towards the world-class level!...... Behind this is that since 2015, Weichai has targeted 50% thermal efficiency to carry out special research, has invested 4.2 billion yuan, more than 1,000 R & D personnel, and finally broke through the five major subversive technologies, and overcome a series of world-class problems such as efficient combustion, low heat transfer and high reliability.
Revolutionary breakthroughs are inseparable from advanced scientific and technological strategic planning, and cannot be separated from the determination of decision-makers like Tan Xuguang. In 2017, Weichai Group released the "2020-2030 Strategy", proposing that by 2020, Weichai's traditional engine business should surpass the world-class level. In fact, the future is here! Weichai established the Future Technology Research Institute, which gathered a large group of high-end talents with doctors. Tan Xuguang led the company to accelerate towards a no-man's land of scientific and technological innovation.
A global entrepreneur who leads the company in the international market
What is the path to globalization? Tan Xuguang has taken a different path.
On January 2, 2022, Tan Xuguang once again embarrassed a number of issues raised at the 2021 annual briefing meeting of leading cadres at the ministerial level and above of Weichai Group.
"Weichai's risks, none of the executives can say. What are the current risks of Weichai? What are the risks ahead? ...... What are the major risk points for the group before 2025? ......
Blade inward, self-examination, this is not his first time, whether it is his own institutional reform, or from a global perspective to find a way for enterprises, he is in front of the future, surpassing the competitors of the same era.
In 2004, an international giant saw Weichai's development and decided to acquire Weichai. At that time, Weichai had already gone public, and it wanted to control Weichai. The talks collapsed when the two sides were involved in how the technology landed. Since that time, Tan Xuguang has figured out that first-class technology can only rely on itself, if it does not come.
In the same year, Tan Xuguang invited a world-renowned strategic consulting company to "physically examine" Weichai.
"If we stick to the existing single business of diesel engines and do not carry out industrial extension, within 5 years, Weichai will fall back into market difficulties." This sentence, which was somewhat "alarmist" at the time, made Weichai executives tremble in their hearts.
The words of the consulting company are well founded. Throughout the world, truck factories will build their own engine factories after they develop and grow, and the living space of independent engine manufacturers will become smaller and smaller.
What is the way out? A year later, the Weichai people who were thinking hard ushered in a good opportunity - the collapse of the capital predator "Delong System", and the Xiang torch assets they controlled were sold, including Shaanxi Heavy Duty Truck, which developed complete vehicles, Fast, which produced transmissions, and Hand, which made axles. With the Xiang Torch, Weichai can extend to the powertrain and master the core technology of heavy vehicles. This move has made Weichai feel like a bamboo, opening up the framework for Weichai to build an industrial matrix.
In 2008, a sudden economic crisis swept the world, severely damaging the European and American economies. This is an opportunity for Weichai, which has accumulated a lot of funds, to copy the bottom of the merger and acquisition.
At this time, a marine engine design and manufacturing company with a history of more than 100 years, the French Baudouin company, entered Weichai's vision. At its peak, French military vehicles and speedboats, and even Charles de Gaulle aircraft carriers, procured their products. During the economic crisis, Baudouin's orders plummeted and lost money for many years. At this time, Weichai decisively made a move, bought Baudouin for 2.99 million euros, and had its first overseas factory, so as to begin to "test the waters" of internationalization.
Tan Xuguang is like a piano master, playing the five overseas merger concertos known as the "European Trilogy" and "North American Duet" like a stream of clouds, which has achieved international Weichai. What amazes people in the industry is that Tan Xuguang can see accurately, shoot quickly, and have not lost a hand, so that Weichai has mastered the world's high-end forklifts, intelligent logistics, high-end hydraulics, gas power and other high-quality industrial and technical resources.
Equipment manufacturing industry to today, looking back, a decision-maker of an enterprise, to understand the product, understand the technology, understand the market, otherwise he can not make a correct judgment, can not make scientific and efficient decisions, even if there are more resources, this enterprise is not sustainable, it is impossible to be successful in the international market.
People familiar with Weichai will find such a law: whenever the economy declines, Weichai's decline is often the slowest; and whenever the economy recovers, Weichai's growth is often the strongest. Because behind this, in the scientific and technological revolution and industrial change determine the life and death of enterprises today, there is a global entrepreneur who leads China's equipment manufacturing industry in the international market, he is Tan Xuguang.