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On the morning of February 7, the 2022 Shandong Provincial Work Mobilization Conference was held in Jinan, and 72 outstanding entrepreneurs were solemnly commended. Chen Xueli, former chairman of the board of directors of Weihai Weigao International Medical Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., was rated as an outstanding entrepreneur in Shandong Province.
On the 11th, Chen Xueli was interviewed and told the development process of Weigao, as well as his understanding of entrepreneurship and innovation.
Innovation is implemented as a relentless goal
Weigao was founded in 1988. At that time, Chen Xueli was the president of the Tiancun Town Welfare Institute in Huancui District, Weihai City, in order to improve the lives of the elderly in the welfare home, after inadvertently contacting the processing of infusion sets in Suzhou, Chen Xueli relied on 25,000 yuan of tax working capital to establish a small factory for the production of disposable infusion sets.
Chen Xueli recalled that 100% of the workers were farmers. The first production was a single-use infusion set, "but a single infusion set could not support the development of Weigao, so we went to create products that others did not have." At that time, Weigao had no funds, no talents, let alone experts. Chen Xueli said that it can be said that the history of Weigao was forced out.
When the medical device was first produced, because the infusion set was too simple, the 200,000 infusion sets produced by Weigao were sent to Dalian and returned in number. "Because the needle is stuck in, after the blood vessel is cut, there is a leak, this product is not so simple." It is in direct contact with a vein. Chen Xueli said that this prompted him to go to the Shandong Medical Device Research Institute to cooperate in 1988, to cooperate with the Changchun Yinghua Institute, and to ask Yin Jinghua to be the chief engineer of Weigao, which was forced out.
Up to now, there are more than 100 academicians who cooperate with Weigao, and Weigao cooperates with each academician to have actual products, not just for publicity.
In Chen Xueli's view, Weigao's development to today is based on innovative development, survival by innovation, and progress by innovation, without innovation, there would be no Weigao today. "I think the point of innovation is to create something that others don't have. For the understanding of innovation, I think first of all is a responsibility, as a factory director, a manager, a so-called entrepreneur to know the responsibility, responsibility to the body, to perform the responsibility, is to take innovation as a unremitting goal to implement. I think enterprises must have innovative ideas, innovative consciousness, innovative ideas. In an interview, Chen Xueli repeatedly elaborated on his understanding of innovation.
After more than 30 years of development, Weigao has become the largest medical device enterprise and industry leader in China. The main business is medical equipment and medicine, while the development of construction, finance and other industries, covers an area of more than 6 million square meters, has more than 80 subsidiaries and 3 listed companies, more than 30,000 employees.
"If you copy it, you'll be beaten up"
In the Weigao exhibition hall, a large number of Weigao's latest products are displayed, and the "Magic Hand" robot is one of them. The product has obtained the first license of China's minimally invasive robots, which is leading in China and has also made achievements in some aspects of the world.
Chen Xueli believes that if the company does not lead, there will be no market for the product. "It took a lot of hard work and a lot of money, but if there is no market, the innovation of the enterprise is ineffective." I think these two products illustrate the level of innovation at Weigao. Chen Xueli said that the research and development of the "magic hand" robot has taken nearly 10 years.
"Da Vinci is absolutely ahead of the curve in robotics, and if you copy it, wait to be beaten!" You infringe on other people's patents, why do people let you use them? Chen Xueli said that Weigao can only innovate on this basis. From the beginning of the project, it took 10 years, only the research took five or six years, Weigao to see how the experts operate, study whether the product has a market, whether there is a future.
In terms of products, Weigao's degradable cardiac stents have broken the international monopoly on technology in this field, and have been put on sale in 2020 and have been widely recognized by domestic experts. Chen Xueli revealed that such materials can be made into degradable cardiac stents, and can also be applied to other series of products in the future.
At present, Weigao has more than 1,000 varieties of medical devices and drugs, more than 200,000 specifications, more than 1,500 patents, including more than 400 invention patents, more than 30 listed in national projects, and won 4 national science and technology progress awards and 2 national technological invention awards. More than 100 kinds of products break the monopoly of foreign countries, high-end infusion consumables, polysulfone membrane dialysis devices, orthopedic materials, pre-filled syringes, indwelling needles, blood transfusion consumables and many other products to break the monopoly of foreign countries.
Such results, in chen Xueli's eyes, are the embodiment of the "solid" innovation content of enterprises. "Weigao now has more than 1,000 kinds of products and more than 1,500 patents, which shows that the actual content of our innovation is still relatively 'strong', Weigao has the current market scale, can be recognized by society, can be recognized by Chinese medical institutions, otherwise our products have no market." Chen Xueli believes that innovation is a complex and broad concept, but the implementation of enterprises is to honestly create new products that others do not have, in order to continue to develop.
"Weigao has developed to this day, and innovation is ultimately reflected in products, but in fact in ideology. We have a sense of crisis, we want to produce, we want to develop, so we are constantly exploring and constantly working hard. Chen Xueli said that this is not that he alone has the consciousness of innovation, but that all Weigao people have this awareness.
In 2024, Weigao's output value will reach 100 billion yuan
In an interview, Chen Xueli twice mentioned the Entrepreneur Theory of the American economist Schumpeter: Entrepreneurs must first have innovative ideas; factory directors and managers must have a sense of innovation and must have innovative performance. This is also the principle that Chen Xueli has always followed.
In his view, the development of medical devices is endless, and the industry has unlimited prospects, but he also realizes that if Weigao does not do well, Weigao may face an exit, "there must be a real sense of crisis." ”
At present, there are more than 7,300 kinds of medical devices in clinical applications worldwide, and Weigao produces more than 1,000 kinds. According to the long-term strategic planning, Weigao plans to launch 30-50 new medical devices every year to ensure sustainable development. It takes about 4-5 years for a new product to go from research and development to clinical to obtain relevant documents. "We realise that the crisis is big. Without these products, our revenues will go backwards and the market will shrink; with these products, our revenues will increase, the markets will expand, and we will be able to continue to grow. Speaking of the future, Chen Xueli said that Weigao must be solid, otherwise there is no room for survival.
According to the plan, Weigao will do a complete, good job and excellent of the 11 major categories of medical device products that have been involved, forming a complete product system, and Weigao will become a complete medical device supplier. Chen Xueli revealed that by 2024, Weigao's output value will reach 100 billion yuan.
Named an outstanding entrepreneur in Shandong Province, Chen Xueli regarded this as a spur to him, not a simple reward. In order to be worthy of this encouragement, Chen Xueli mentioned his hope for the future of Weigao: to truly stand first or among the world's medical industry, and rank among the top 50 global medical industry in 2030.
In January 2021, Weigao successfully completed the transition. In an interview, Chen Xueli acknowledged Weigao's performance that year, and he looked forward to sustainable development in 2022. "As my hope for them, one is the value of 'conscience, sincerity and loyalty', which is the core value established by Weigao at the beginning of its inception; and then adhere to the eight words that the company had when it was established in 1988, 'pioneering and innovating, realistic and consolidating'." Chen Xueli introduced in detail the embodiment of "conscience, sincerity and loyalty" in the development process of Weigao enterprises.
As the former chairman of the board of directors of Weihai Weigao International Medical Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., Chen Xueli is now most concerned about the formulation of guidelines and policies and whether the plan can be completed, "I want to care about this, as long as the task and plan are completed and the operation quality is improved, then they will do a good job." I can't mix specific things in terms of management. Chen Xueli said that young entrepreneurs must cultivate their ability to bear hardships and withstand the test, and what he is most concerned about at present is the development of enterprises: what they do; whether they have value in doing so; and whether they are good for the development of enterprises.