Gong Shihua: Innovation and craftsmanship are the second vein of Ren Dou

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 to exclusively interview Gong Shihua, general manager of Foton Cummins, and asked him to deeply decode the story behind the "single champion".

In order to maintain the strength of the champion forever, it is inseparable from continuous innovation and the ultimate pursuit of the spirit of craftsmanship.

The introduction of the "3060" double carbon target and the new policies of the blue card regulations has made low-carbon emission reduction a hurdle that commercial vehicle engine companies cannot get around; the explosive growth of new energy commercial vehicles and the accelerated landing of hydrogen commercial vehicles have made technological change a topic that commercial vehicle fuel engine companies have to face.

In this context, what is the special significance of Foton Cummins winning the single championship of "Light Diesel Engine for Trucks" by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology?

A few days ago, automotive observation media reporter interviewed Gong Shihua, general manager of Foton Cummins, to listen to him explain in detail the story behind Foton Cummins' victory.

Continuous innovation can continue to lead

Gong Shihua believes: "Quality is always the lifeline of Foton Cummins people, and this will not be shaken at any time." Because of this, Foton Cummins F series products have always occupied an absolute advantage in reliability and quality, and have gained a reputation of "good use is not bad" among users.

Continuous improvement of product quality requires continuous innovation in multiple dimensions such as manufacturing system and product research and development.

In terms of quality control, Foton Cummins applies IIOT and big data analysis technology to establish a process data collection and analysis system, while improving process monitoring, and realizing timely early warning and intelligent decision-making under the premise of ensuring quality result determination and traceability. Taking Foton Cummins' self-developed intelligent machining equipment data acquisition platform that integrates monitoring and feedback functions as an example, the platform realizes the data collection and intelligent analysis application of all elements of the machining process, and realizes the accurate prediction of the health status of key components of the equipment (such as spindles, lead screws, etc.), with an accuracy rate of more than 95%; real-time detection of process parameters, according to the temperature changes in the factory, the processing parameters are automatically compensated and corrected, and the failure rate is greatly reduced.

The Foton Cummins F platform has been deeply rooted in the light engine industry for more than a decade, and its continuous innovation path can be roughly divided into three stages:

From 2009 to 2012, it was the initial stage. In 2009, when Foton Cummins F-Series products were first introduced to the market, they used fully electronically controlled high-voltage common-rail turbocharged engines. At that time, most of the engines on the market were mechanical pumps, and it was a good product to have a supercharger. Although the performance of F series products is significantly leading, due to the objective price difference problem, sales in China are not good, and overseas markets such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Russia, Brazil, the United States and Southeast Asia have become the main markets of the product.

2013 to 2019 is the growth stage. In 2013, Foton Cummins' annual sales exceeded 100,000 units for the first time; in 2014, the mainland implemented the National IV emission standard, and the all-light truck industry switched to a high-pressure common rail technology route. When most light truck engine companies are faced with problems such as how to solve the problem of system integration and how to improve the ability to improve the after-sales system of the maintenance of the electronically controlled engine, Foton Cummins will quickly integrate the experience of many years of sales to the foreign common rail engine market into the domestic market, and the advantages are prominent. Shenji F3.8 not only brings good reputation and sales to Foton Cummins, but also promotes the development of China's light truck engine industry.

After 2019, it is the mature stage. With the help of the strong market of the parent company of both sides, Foton Cummins is willing to invest in research and development, innovate at the production end, and dare to act in the market, and the annual sales of high-end light electronically controlled high-voltage common rail engines have successfully exceeded 200,000 units.

Gong Shihua said: "In the mature stage, Foton Cummins has also faced many challenges, and it is precisely because we have been adhering to the concept of continuous innovation and striving to pursue the 'champion' performance of the relevant links of the whole value chain, which has achieved foton Cummins as a champion manufacturer of high-end light electronic control engines." ”

Craftsmanship is the basic skill of the champion

The challenges faced by the mainland manufacturing industry are on the surface technical issues, in depth they are talent issues, and more essentially, cultural issues. Gong Shihua believes that Foton Cummins provides fertile soil for the spirit of craftsmanship from corporate culture to organizational process design. First of all, in the enterprise, technical engineers, senior technicians are very respected, many employees like to do in-depth technical work, and actively participate in various skills competitions. At present, Foton Cummins has a number of national May Day labor medals and Beijing model labor model winners. Secondly, from the design of enterprise organizational processes to give engineers enough decision-making power, and in the welfare distribution policy to the technical research and development personnel.

Liu Xue of Foton Cummins Heavy Manufacturing Department won the title of National May Day Labor Medal

"The new intelligent era puts forward higher requirements for the spirit of craftsmen, not only skillful but also good brains, to understand and master intelligent equipment." Gong Shihua added.

Gong Shihua believes that the spirit of craftsmanship is both the driving force of innovation and the guarantee of innovative achievements, and the two are mutually reinforcing. "The innovation to meet the national laws and regulations and policies belongs to the innovation that enterprises must achieve to determine the bottom line of enterprise survival, and it is also the innovation that leads excellent enterprises to become stronger from the macro level; the innovation that leads the development of the industry from the strategic level of the enterprise and meets the diversified needs of users is a higher level of innovation, and it is also an innovation that makes the enterprise live better from the micro level." Macro and micro innovations require excellence and the pursuit of the ultimate craftsman spirit to provide a steady stream of impetus. Driving innovation with the spirit of craftsmanship, rather than using administrative means to drive innovation, will make enterprises naturally have the endowment of innovation. ”

As we all know, Fukang F platform products, from the initial 3.8 liters, expanded to 2.8 liters, and then to 4.5 liters and the recent blue card compliance 2.5 liters, each step is an innovative product of Foton Cummins' active response to regulations and user needs. The honor of this single champion is the greatest recognition of foton Cummins' craftsmanship spirit of insisting on making engine products well.

Nowadays, the trend of truck electrification has begun, in the face of new energy, hydrogen energy and other new technology changes to the challenge of traditional diesel engines, Gong Shihua believes that the form of energy is not a separate product problem, but a complex industrial chain problem. He analyzed: "At least 30 years, as a diesel engine coexisting with a variety of energy sources will still occupy the dominant position in the market, Foton Cummins is also relying on the existing mature industrial chain foundation to do clean energy horizontal expansion." ”

In the face of complex industry development trends and technical route changes, Foton Cummins has effectively responded to innovation led by the spirit of craftsmanship. For example, in the face of the most stringent National VI emission regulations, based on customer value considerations, after fully analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of various technical routes, Foton Cummins innovatively chose a full range of non-EGR technology routes, solved the user's after-sales concerns, and through massive data analysis, provided different calibration development for different product applications, to meet the needs of user scenario-based operations; in the face of the challenge of intelligent manufacturing transformation and upgrading, Foton Cummins has greatly improved the efficiency of product development and manufacturing through automation and digitalization Through the "end-to-end" innovation of the whole value chain, Foton Cummins realizes the data link chain chain of data collection and analysis during the use of internal production equipment and end-user products, and closely links user data into the production and operation of the enterprise through advanced digital tools and analysis systems. Up to now, Foton Cummins has formed two major digital platforms, digital service middle office and FVP, to support the efficient operation of users, more than 650,000 Foton Cummins engines are connected to the Internet of Vehicles, and users can enjoy real-time fault diagnosis, fault prediction, remote calibration upgrade, driving behavior analysis, fleet management and other services provided by Foton Cummins.

Liu Xiaoyong, editor-in-chief of Automotive Observation Media, and Gong Shihua, Chinese general manager of Foton Cummins

"In the minds of all Foton Cummins people, no matter the size of the work, the difficulty, we must carry forward the spirit of innovation and continuous improvement." Using the spirit of craftsmanship to continuously do a good job in products is the right way. Gong Shihua said.

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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.