Recently, Fukang F family - light engine won the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology "light diesel engine for trucks" single champion. The single champion selection is a special cultivation and promotion action carried out by the state to implement Made in China 2025, guide manufacturing enterprises to focus on innovation and quality improvement in the field of subdivision products, cultivate world-class enterprises with global competitiveness, promote the mainland manufacturing industry to move to the middle and high end of the global value chain, and transform from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing power.
In April, in this season of flowers blooming and the most beautiful in Beijing, Liu Xiaoyong, editor-in-chief of AutoMotive Observation Media, and Wang Lan, editor-in-chief of Commercial Vehicle Watch, came to Beijing Foton Cummins Engine Co., Ltd. on Shayang Road and interviewed Chen Hua, general manager of Foton Cummins, asking him to deeply decode the story behind the "single champion".
Both the "Lighthouse Factory" and the "Single Champion" have high gold content, but there are more important things for Foton Cummins.
After the "Lighthouse Factory", Foton Cummins won the championship again.
It is reported that in 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology began to select "manufacturing single champion enterprises". Manufacturing single champion enterprises refer to long-term focus on manufacturing industry specific product markets, production technology or technology in the international leading, single product market share in the forefront of the world.
So, what kind of platform is the Fukang F family -light engine, which won the single championship of "light diesel engine for trucks"? What is the significance of this award to China's automobile manufacturing industry and to Foton Cummins? In the face of reporters' questions, Chen Hua, general manager of Foton Cummins, gave the answer.
F Series for China
"Initially, the research and development of F series products is not in China, mainly by the British, American experts for the Chinese market research and development, because the domestic level of technology is mainly low, relatively cheap mechanical pump engines, F series in the beginning of the investment is the global mainstream electronic control high-voltage common rail engine, for the reliable and durable demand of high-end market, and at that time the Chinese vehicle market is also based on low-end products, resulting in our initial sales is not ideal." Later, with the continuous upgrading of China's emission standards, the R&D ability and innovation ability of the Chinese team became stronger and stronger, and the technology research and development was gradually transferred to China, such as the research and development of China VI products, which was independently completed in China. "Mention the F platform, Chen Hua is like a number of family treasures," F series products are the first products launched in the Chinese light truck market after the establishment of Foton Cummins, and the shareholders of both sides believe that the development prospects of China's light truck market are huge, and the annual market size of the early planning is 200,000 to 400,000 units. In addition to the Chinese market, it has also achieved good results in global markets such as South America, Brazil, Europe, and Russia, and has achieved a good result of 100,000 units of annual exports. At present, the displacement of F-series products is 2.8 liters, 3.8 liters, 4.5 liters, and 2.5 liters that just hit the market last year. ”
Regarding the promulgation and implementation of global commercial vehicle emission regulations, China's regulatory standards have undergone a process from following to leading. From copying European emission standards to the recent implementation of China VI emissions, China's light truck industry has spent more than ten years to complete the development process of upgrading diesel emission standards in developed countries for 30 or 40 years. In addition to meeting emission regulations ahead of schedule, Foton Cummins F-Series engines have set a record of 1.8 million kilometers of bicycles without overhauls and more than thousands of millions of kilometers of non-overhaul customers. So far, the total operating mileage of F platform products is conservatively estimated to be more than 100 billion kilometers, and the cumulative sales volume has exceeded 1.6 million units, covering almost all the world's mainstream light commercial vehicle manufacturers.
The saying that "no Fukang, no light truck" is circulated in the industry, which shows the champion strength of F series products.
Break the bottleneck of large but not strong
Although Chinese commercial vehicle brands have always been catching up quickly on the road of competing with the world's first-class, large but not strong is still an urgent shortcoming in the process of China's commercial vehicles moving towards high-end manufacturing. Chen Hua said: "At present, although China's commercial vehicle industry has the largest number of ownership, and even some market segments have exceeded the global share of 50%, it is still large but not strong. ”
Customs data show that in 2021, the number of mainland truck exports and year-on-year hit a new high in the past 10 years, with a cumulative export of 368,000 vehicles, an increase of nearly 90% (88%) year-on-year, of which light trucks accounted for 65%. However, the main export destinations of mainland trucks are economically underdeveloped countries, and there is still no competitive advantage in the markets of developed countries such as Europe and the United States. Among them, the top five countries in terms of truck exports are Chile, Vietnam, Australia, the Philippines and Peru.
The production materials attribute of commercial vehicles is destined to "let users make money" as the survival value, there is no large accumulation of research on the actual use of user needs, there is no high investment in research and development of the world's highest standard emissions and fuel consumption regulations, there is no high standard of digital operation process control, there is no mechanism and core team that responds efficiently to market demand feedback, it is difficult to achieve "the pursuit of excellence and customer achievement".
As a core component enterprise of commercial vehicles, Foton Cummins has played an exemplary role in promoting the industry to move towards high-end and responding to the national intelligent manufacturing strategy. First of all, at the beginning of its establishment in 2008, Foton Cummins introduced the latest technology and product platform of Cummins, and also used one of the world's best manufacturing system solutions. At that time, the collaborative robots of factory F and the world's leading equipment abounded, and more than a decade ago, when digital intelligence was in its infancy, these devices had achieved the best manufacturing state under the closed-loop system. Secondly, with the development of intelligence and digitalization, Foton Cummins has been exploring how to connect all devices and realize information interconnection. At present, relying on the respective strong areas of the parent companies of both sides, Foton Cummins has achieved end-to-end systematic solutions, and has successfully implemented three aspects: customer-centric process design, seamless cross-functional linkage, and continuous connectivity between organizations and even supply chains.
"20 years ago, the gap between China's commercial vehicles and the world's advanced level was very large; in the past 10 years, China's commercial vehicle industry has accelerated its catch-up speed and continuously shortened the gap. The proportion of sales of foreign commercial vehicle brands in the Chinese market is getting smaller and smaller, which shows the continuous improvement of the technical strength and higher cost performance of China's commercial vehicles. Chen Hua believes, "From China III to China VI, China has caught up with and shouldered the world's strictest emission standards in a short period of time." The leading Chinese commercial vehicle key components enterprises, especially the technical level of the engine industry, has been able to catch up with or even partially lead the world. ”
With the synchronization of China's emission regulations with the international advanced level, Foton Cummins' product development model for the Chinese market has changed from the past to localized research and development for China's operating environment. As the "aircraft carrier" of China's express delivery industry, Zhongtong Express continues to increase the number of domestic trucks equipped with Fukang Power, which explains the technical strength and discourse power of Chinese engine brands.
Chen Hua believes that the selection of Chinese engine brands by international truck brands is not an isolated case but a development trend.
The more important award is the user's word of mouth
Referring to the relationship between the "lighthouse factory" and the "manufacturing single champion", Chen Hua believes that the lighthouse factory is a recognition of the overall strength of the enterprise, and the strength of the enterprise provides a boost for the single champion of the product, the former is the process, the latter is the result, and both belong to the external embodiment of foton Cummins' comprehensive ability.
The ultimate demand of commercial vehicle users is centered on the "quality improvement and efficiency" of vehicle operation, and they all hope that vehicle attendance rate is high and the operating cost of the whole life cycle is low. As an excellent representative of the engine industry to achieve "end-to-end solutions", Foton Cummins has realized the chain interconnection of information flow throughout the value chain, which has played a demonstration role in meeting the diverse needs of end users.
Behind the champion products is the continuous innovation of the enterprise, and the continuous power of innovation comes from the effective guarantee of the enterprise mechanism and investment. On the one hand, in terms of quality and efficiency, Foton Cummins has always emphasized the "0 defect" quality culture; on the other hand, Foton Cummins has invested nearly 500 million yuan in R&D every year, and has obtained more than 500 national patents, and has invested in various new technologies and new equipment at any cost in the direction of intelligent manufacturing.
According to Chen Hua, the so-called end-to-end is from the supply chain end to the client, Foton Cummins has a "digital, intelligent" solution. Foton Cummins provides a variety of solutions for the two aspects of efficient travel and TCO that commercial vehicle users are most concerned about. For example, in view of the problem of a route, different models and different fuel consumption of large logistics users, the data analysis of high fuel consumption models through the Internet of Vehicles, the modification of bad driving habits, remote calibration and other means to reduce the fuel consumption of the fleet. For example, vehicles with different routes of goods such as mountainous areas and national highways can achieve lower fuel consumption through intelligent thermal management. For another example, in terms of service diagnosis, according to the actual operation of the user's vehicle, the maintenance cycle is adjusted, the cost of the car is reduced, and greater value is created.
Liu Xiaoyong, editor-in-chief of Automotive Watch Media, and Chen Hua, general manager of Foton Cummins
Chen Hua revealed that in order to achieve the reliable quality of the terminal product, the supplier link is equally important. At present, Foton Cummins is thinking about how to extend the mature intelligent manufacturing experience to the supplier side of the solution. He explained: "The lighthouse factory and the single champion are a recognition of the strength of Foton Cummins, but if you want to survive in the market competition, live well, and always maintain the status of the champion, it depends on the user's recognition." All awards are aimed at better serving users and creating value for users. Because the pursuit of excellence to achieve customers, is the goal of every Foton Cummins employee.
It can be seen that for Foton Cummins, tangible trophies are important, but the user's reputation and the user's smiley face are the more cherished awards of Foton Cummins and the company's eternal pursuit of the goal.
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Manufacturing single champion enterprises refer to long-term focus on manufacturing industry specific product markets, production technology or technology in the international leading, single product market share in the forefront of the world. It contains two connotations: one is "single", requiring enterprises to focus on the target market and "intensive cultivation" in related fields for a long time; the other is "champion", which requires enterprises to have a champion-level market position and technical strength in related segments.
The purpose of implementing the single champion cultivation and promotion action is to accelerate the construction of a gradient cultivation pattern of high-quality enterprises in the manufacturing industry and strengthen the state's support for the development of specialized and new specializations. On the one hand, guide more manufacturing enterprises to pay attention to the innovation, product quality improvement and brand cultivation of the subdivided product market, and drive more enterprises to grow into single champion enterprises, thereby further enhancing the irreplaceability of the mainland production end in the international industrial chain. On the other hand, it is necessary to promote the individual champion enterprises to further optimize and strengthen, consolidate and enhance their global status and competitiveness, and with the help of the advantages of these champion enterprises, actively promote the synergy and cooperation between enterprises in the horizontal and create an industrial cluster with market dominance; in the vertical direction, by playing the leading role of the champion enterprises, driving the development and growth of the entire upstream and downstream industrial chain in terms of independent innovation, strong chain replenishment, and financial development.
In March 2016, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Implementation Plan for the Special Action for the Cultivation and Promotion of Single Champion Enterprises in the Manufacturing Industry", which clarified the conditions for single champion enterprises from 9 aspects, such as focusing on limited target markets, market share of main products, strong continuous innovation ability, excellent business performance, long-term focus on main products, in line with the key development direction of manufacturing industry, attaching importance to brand cultivation, environmental protection and energy consumption standards, and management system specifications, and guiding manufacturing enterprises to focus on innovation and product quality improvement. In the same year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Federation of Industry and Economic Cooperation jointly organized a series of work such as declaration and selection. In the past six years, a total of six batches of 848 single champion demonstration enterprises and champion products with excellent innovation ability, outstanding quality and efficiency, leading market position and strong leading role have stood out. They are rooted in the subdivision of the industrial chain, focusing on innovation and product quality improvement, and have played a prominent role in supplementing the chain and strengthening the chain, replacing localization, filling the domestic gap, etc., making great contributions to improving the industrial base and the modernization level of the industrial chain, and are an important force for cultivating new momentum for economic growth, helping the development of the real economy, and promoting the sustained growth of the mainland economy.