Zhang Bo: The spring of manufacturing is here again

"It's the Red Sea, but we have the ability to swim ashore first. ”

Text: "Chinese Entrepreneur" reporter Li Yanyan

Editor|Zhao Jiankai

Header photo by Deng Pan

Get off from Jinan West Station of the high-speed railway, drive along the Qingyin Expressway for about 70 minutes, and you will come to Binzhou Zouping Economic Development Zone. As you get off the highway, the fields on both sides of the road quickly fade away, and the residential buildings wrapped in aspen are lined up, and the factories and chimneys trace a clear skyline. This small and medium-sized city in Shandong is famous for its cotton textile and aluminum industries, and is home to the headquarters of private industrial giant Shandong Weiqiao Venture Group.

Cotton textile and aluminum, two traditional manufacturing industries without "intersection", Weiqiao has maintained the world's first production capacity and technology all year round, and is known as the "King of the Red Sea" in the industry. Not only that, Weiqiao also has the most complete industrial chain layout in the industry: "textile-dyeing and finishing-clothing, home textiles-recycled cotton" industrial chain and "thermopower-mining-alumina-primary aluminum-aluminum deep processing-recycled aluminum" industrial chain, which has global competitiveness.

Starting from a small oil cotton factory with less than 100 employees, to the world's leading cotton textile enterprise and aluminum manufacturing enterprise, Weiqiao has gone through a history of more than 40 years. Today, the company has developed into a Fortune 500 enterprise with 3 listed companies, nearly 100,000 employees, total assets of 260 billion yuan, and 17 production bases at home and abroad, ranking first among the top 100 private enterprises in Shandong for many years.

Photo: Deng Pan

However, Zhang Bo, chairman of Weiqiao Entrepreneurship Group, does not seem to be so interested in this "first". Recently, he was interviewed by China Entrepreneur. Compared with the glory brought by the "King of the Red Sea", he is more willing to emphasize the significance of entrepreneurship and "not lying flat". In 2018, Zhang Bo took over the career mantle of his father Zhang Shiping, and after the establishment of the new board of directors of Weiqiao, "building a century-old manufacturing enterprise" has become a new development goal.

This stems from his insight into industry trends. In recent years, Zhang Bo has clearly felt that "the spring of manufacturing is coming again".

For a long time, traditional manufacturing seemed to be in a "forgotten corner". Compared with the highlights of finance, real estate and platform economy, which are "rushed" by the outside world, the manufacturing industry is often not valued, and the tilt of social resources and the sense of identity are also low. In the past three years, geopolitics has superimposed international trade frictions, and the global industrial chain has faced restructuring. The return to the real economy and manufacturing industry has become the general trend of economic development in various countries.

The consensus was reached in a circle, and Weiqiao, which has always adhered to the manufacturing industry, has an unwavering creed: to start a business for the country and benefit the people. "Manufacturing is the cornerstone of a country, and without the support of a strong manufacturing industry, everything is empty talk. Zhang Bo told "Chinese Entrepreneur" that as an enterprise, it must bear the main responsibility. There must be difficulties at this stage, "but I particularly agree with one sentence, which is long-termism."

Zhang Bo believes that as a private entrepreneur, he should look for his own development opportunities in the needs of the country and take advantage of the trend.

"In the past, we were very successful in terms of scale and achieved the extreme, but now, we are not only pursuing moderate growth in quantity, but also in pursuit of qualitative improvement. This is also consistent with the context of the country's economic development. Zhang Bo said that in 2022, Weiqiao's sales will exceed 500 billion yuan. He predicts that there may not be such rapid growth in the future, but the quality of the company's development will change fundamentally.

"King of the Red Sea": I have the ability to swim ashore first

Weiqiao has always been the famous "King of the Red Sea" in the industry. It is said that the "Red Sea" market, which others dare not enter, can be turned over in Weiqiao, and the development of cotton textiles and electrolytic aluminum proves this. As early as 2003, Weiqiao Textile, a subsidiary of Weiqiao Venture Group, has become the world's largest cotton textile enterprise, and in 2014, Weiqiao became the world's largest aluminum product manufacturer.

Zhang Bo does not agree with the term "Red Sea". "Every industry has its specific stage of development. The rapid development of China's textile industry is to undertake the industrial transfer of European and American countries, and we have demographic dividends and cost advantages at that time. He remembered that around 2005, an American investment institution questioned him, saying that due to the rapid development of China's textile industry, American textile workers were laid off and the unemployment rate increased.

So, Zhang Bo asked him, "Suppose I go to New York to build a textile factory now, can you recruit workers for me?" I said that this is the transfer of production capacity at the world level, and this transfer will not stop. Zhang Bo said that in the past ten years, the mainland's textile industry has been moving to Southeast Asian countries, which is a trend. The key is that "even if the industry is transferred, we will continue to develop to the high-end of the industrial chain in China."

The outside world compares the success of Weiqiao with the "King of the Red Sea", and in Zhang Bo's view, this is only because they adhere to the most simple development concept, "Your career must have development prospects, and in addition, you must have your own core things." In recent years, while the scale of the enterprise has increased, the technical level has also led the world. "Now the world's most advanced electrolytic aluminum technology is in Weiqiao, and we achieved the lead 10 years ago. ”

Differentiated competition is Weiqiao's killer feature. "If everyone thinks it's the Red Sea, how do you jump out? Or how do you use your core technology, differentiated competitive elements, and take the lead. There are red seas and blue oceans in an industry, and to give you a good example, although it is a red sea, I have the ability to swim ashore first. It's a comparison of who swims fast and who is physically strong. ”

After more than 30 years of industry development, Zhang Bo personally felt that in such a traditional industry, the speed of technological progress is unimaginable. "Eighteen years ago, it was good to be able to make 200 counts of cotton yarn, but now it can be done to 500 counts. He believes that this is the result of full competition. "In the process of competition, the improvement of technological progress, management, efficiency and product strength can be promoted. Zhang Bo said.

In internal meetings, Zhang Bo often emphasized that although the company is exploring some new development opportunities, the current core is still the textile and aluminum industry, "this is our top priority, we must develop it without distraction, we call it physical fitness." Although we are a traditional industry, we must continue to use new technologies and new processes to improve our production level, so that we have the conditions, ability and solutions at any time. ”

In the textile sector, Weiqiao has thousands of new varieties born every year, whether it is textile technology or fabric products, has won many national awards, and the company has also undertaken some national engineering tests and scientific and technological innovation projects. For more than ten years, Weiqiao Aluminum Technology has been in a leading position, especially in terms of material breakthroughs, Weiqiao has also made a lot of technical reserves.

"It's not so much the king of the Red Sea as the ability to swim ashore first. Everyone is in the sea, there is no point. Zhang Bo said. On the road from quantity to quality, profit growth is only the surface, and the core is the improvement of production level. In recent years, Weiqiao has been using digital, intelligent, automated and other scientific and technological means to transform traditional production lines and improve the manufacturing level.

Core competitiveness: dare to invest and strictly control costs

Whether it is cotton textile or aluminum, the core competitive elements have long been clear in the industry. As Zhang Bo said, there is no secret, "It's just whether you can be one step ahead of others and dare to invest." "When it comes to strategic initiatives, it is to continuously improve the production level of traditional manufacturing.

In 2016, Weiqiao Textile launched its first intelligent factory. At that time, the domestic labor cost was rising, and the textile industry, as a labor-intensive industry, was an unavoidable hurdle if it participated in international competition. "We want to use intelligent and unmanned means to transform the traditional textile industry, so we are the first in the world to launch an intelligent factory, which can turn off the lights for production. Zhang Bo said.

It is understood that the "Textile + AI" artificial intelligence factory launched by Weiqiao Textile has installed 150,000 sensors on the production line to ensure the orderly operation of various equipment. In the past, these processes relied on "crowd tactics", with hundreds of spinners circling around a pile of machines. Today, the intervention of high technology has changed the traditional production model, and the robots that can be seen everywhere have effectively promoted the transformation and upgrading of the industry.

Source: Visual China

Today, the number of workers in Weiqiao Textile Intelligent Factory is only equivalent to 10% of the traditional production mode 10 years ago. Although there was controversy within the company at the time about the huge upfront investment in the smart factory, after the investment, it was found that "of all our ecosystems, this production line is the most profitable." Zhang Bo said.

The number of Weiqiao textile intelligent factories continues to increase, but Zhang Bo emphasized that it is necessary to grasp the rhythm of intelligent transformation. The intelligent empowerment of traditional industries is the trend of the times, and job placement is also a requirement of local governments for corporate responsibility. How to resolve this contradiction? Zhang Bo discussed with the person in charge of the textile sector for a long time and decided to slow down and plan the rhythm of intelligent transformation according to the rhythm of employee retirement.

"After more than 40 years of business development, our employees have reached a peak retirement period. According to this rhythm, it is equivalent to the retirement of employees without having to enter new people, which not only achieves people-oriented, but also reduces some burden on the society. At the same time, because the employees are retiring, I naturally replace the work after retirement and attrition in an intelligent way. Therefore, this year and next year, the pace of our intelligent transformation will usher in an explosion. Zhang Bo said.

While daring to invest, Weiqiao also worked cost control. Inside Weiqiao, there is a slogan called "Dry towel to wring out another drop of water". This sentence originated from Yang Congsen, general manager of Shandong Hongtuo Industrial Co., Ltd., who is Zhang Bo's brother-in-law. With this slogan as a banner, the aluminum industry launched a double benchmarking activity, saving 1.5 billion yuan in the first year. In the second year, the figure was close to 1 billion yuan, and in the third year, it was more than 700 million.

This is all through the enhancement of cost management, and the additional profit savings. Although before, Weiqiao was already known for its "strict management". Zhang Bo's answer is to adjust the production process, "for example, how to ensure that the quality of the coal entering the furnace is not high or low, and it is in the right state. For example, how to delay the service life of the electrolytic cell in the electrolytic aluminum plant and reduce overhaul. ”

Weiqiao's internal double benchmarking activities cover comprehensive control and process adjustment, as well as staff training, and the standards are not only benchmarked against internal indicators, but also against the highest level in the industry. Zhang Bo said that "dry towel wringing water" sounds like a contradiction, but it represents a kind of determination and direction, "we must achieve no waste of money, and maximize the benefits of internal control."

In Weiqiao, the concept of saving is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Zhang Bo described that the inside of Weiqiao was particularly stingy, and a penny was broken in half. But when it comes to foreign cooperation, it is very generous to spend money. Especially as the main enterprise of the chain, Weiqiao must first see whether this cooperation can make the other party make money. Of course, this is not just a profit, "we hope that through profit, more enterprises will gather and make the industrial cluster healthier."

"We have now passed the stage where the pursuit of profit is the top priority. Zhang Bo said. Whether it is to launch an intelligent factory in a rhythm or to engage in benchmarking activities, it depends on the value choice of the enterprise with the word "righteousness" first. This was proposed by the new board of directors of Weiqiao in 2018. In cooperation, the first consideration of enterprises is not to maximize profits, but to be altruistic, and to obtain profits on this basis, "this is not a contradiction".

Make efforts to develop new materials and cultivate new industries

The new development direction of "building a century-old manufacturing enterprise" comes from Zhang Bo's thinking about industrial trends. The original two industries in Weiqiao have ceilings, and there is no way to achieve a hundred years, so new industries must be cultivated. "It's a very important consideration of which new industries will allow us to go longer without stray too far from the fundamentals. ”

First of all, work hard around the aluminum industry. After research, Zhang Bo's team found that Weiqiao's electrolytic aluminum production capacity is now leading in the world, but there are still shortcomings in the development and production of alloy materials, such as aerospace, automobiles, ships and other transportation core parts production, Weiqiao has not done enough. "There is still a lack of good material. If we want to lay out high-end products, we must first tackle the core materials. ”

As early as 2016, Weiqiao began to lay out the difficulties and pain points in China's aluminum application in the future.

In recent years, Weiqiao has made significant breakthroughs in the demand for lightweight and carbon reduction in the field of transportation. For example, the most effective and economical way to lighten the body is to replace steel with aluminum alloy. In 2016, Weiqiao cooperated with Soochow University to establish Weiqiao Lightweight (Suzhou) Research Institute.

In addition, due to the lack of experience in the manufacture of body parts, Weiqiao also introduced some related enterprises in the form of investment promotion, and Weiqiao provided materials. On November 9, Weiqiao released a new material in Sanya, "the performance of aluminum alloy materials has reached the world's leading level. Zhang Bo said that he is very proud, "In the automotive field, we in China also have our own core, high-end materials. ”

According to its introduction, the manufacturing technology of these materials has achieved a world-class breakthrough of "casting instead of forging", that is, replacing forged aluminum alloy with cast aluminum alloy. "The highest fatigue strength achieved internationally is 105 megapascals, and we have now exceeded 130 megapascals, which is a world-class breakthrough and contribution. "What's more, through Weiqiao's integrated die-casting technology, the manufacturing cost of some auto parts has been greatly reduced.

"A production enterprise should provide good products to the society, and at the same time continuously reduce the cost of products. This is the purpose of industrial enterprises. Zhang Bo said.

Today, Weiqiao's aluminum alloy technology is far ahead of the industry. The market is generally using aluminum alloy to replace steel, aluminum instead of iron, aluminum instead of copper, and Weiqiao has begun to replace the first generation of aluminum alloy with the second generation of aluminum alloy. Whether it is extrusion, forging, casting or rolling, compared with traditional aluminum alloys, Weiqiao's aluminum alloy materials are generally more than 20% stronger.

On October 19, 2021, the first all-aluminum body of Weiqiao Lightweight Base rolled off the assembly line, marking the realization of the whole chain operation of Weiqiao Lightweight Base. In February 2021, Weiqiao Venture Group and Beiqi Foton Motor reached an all-round strategic cooperation, and projects such as new energy all-aluminum small VAN models, all-aluminum cargo boxes, all-aluminum frames, and all-aluminum rear collision avoidance have been developed and launched in batches.

Under a series of layouts, rumors about Weiqiao's "car building" are rampant.

"Building cars is not the goal, and cars will never be my main business. "We need to shorten the life cycle from parts to automobiles and accelerate the pace of application." If one of our parts is manufactured, we take it to a factory that has nothing to do with it to try it, and we can't get in for two or three years. My own car, in order to ask it to be preferentially imported into my own products, is actually a test and demonstration. ”

Zhang Bo hopes to empower the automobile manufacturing industry, "flatten the smile curve", "bead into a chain, weave a chain into a network", which is also the idea behind Weiqiao's material end: to attract more parts and components enterprises to enter the game, to build a healthy and efficient industrial cluster, from raw materials, aluminum alloys, parts to applications, each link can have a reasonable profit, "this profit is not hard to give it, but because of its performance and value." ”

The idea of "ten years later".

Zhang Bo, as the successor of Weiqiao's career, did not grow up with a golden spoon all the way, but the "second generation" who took root in the front line. In 1999, Zhang Bo joined Weiqiao and successively served as the chairman of Weiqiao Textile, the chairman of Weiqiao Aluminum, and the vice chairman and chairman of Weiqiao Venture Group. Over the years, Zhang Bo has felt a moment of deep pressure, never a strategy and business formulation. What is the real stress?

"Around 2017 and 2018, we faced multiple tests. The new energy conversion cycle at the national level has begun, and under the requirements of de-capacity, part of our production capacity will be stopped, as well as the central environmental protection inspectors, the capital market has been shorted by the United States, and the old man is sick and hospitalized," facing "Chinese Entrepreneur", Zhang Bo recalled the difficult moments of those two years, "Everything has been added together." ”

All of a sudden, the impact of capital markets and financial institutions, policy adjustments and environmental protection pressures, as well as the question of how enterprises themselves can deal with risks and achieve growth, have all hit Zhang Bo. At that time, Zhang Bo was busy dealing with all parties every day, and his two younger sisters stayed in the hospital to guard the old man. "We have a division of labor, I said that you are responsible for taking care of the elderly, and I will deal with these things outside, and I said that there is no hurdle that cannot be overcome. ”

After the decision on green development was made, Weiqiao implemented it efficiently. On September 17, 2020, the Weiqiao 2.03 million tons green aluminum project located in Yanshan County, Wenshan Prefecture, Yunnan Province, completed the infrastructure installation and put into operation in just over 9 months, setting a new record for construction speed and quality at home and abroad.

Zhang Bo said that his father's personality charm had the greatest influence on him, which was also Weiqiao's greatest wealth. The new board members of Weiqiao have worked with him for at least 20 years. For the family, when I was a child, my family education was very strict, and it was common to be beaten. When I grow up, this "fear" in my heart is transformed into awe. He admired his father's ability to seize opportunities and his perseverance in starting a business, which also deeply influenced his life path.

When he was young, Zhang Bo fought hard battles in difficult places. In 2014, when the Ebola epidemic was raging in West Africa, Zhang Bo took the risk and went to Guinea to negotiate with high-level government officials, thus creating the largest overseas bauxite base of Chinese enterprises - the Win Alliance Project, which can provide more than 45 million tons of bauxite resources for China every year, and win a considerable degree of voice in the global competition for China's aluminum industry.

Zhang Bo, who took over the burden from his father's shoulders, began to plan the future of Weiqiao.

In 2019, Weiqiao Venture Group invested 10 billion yuan to establish the Weiqiao Institute of Advanced Technology of the National Academy of Sciences in conjunction with the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and CITIC Trust, and has established seven research centers such as aviation and aerospace, intelligent technology, energy and environment, and a supporting science and technology innovation guidance fund of 6 billion yuan.

Zhang Bo said that science and technology is an important strategy for enterprises to lay out the future, and it also carries the sustenance of Weiqiao to feed his hometown. He hopes that through investment, he will drive the scientific and technological innovation atmosphere of Binzhou City and leave something lasting here. In his vision, in the future, hundreds of production transformation projects will be born here, and tens of thousands of high-tech talents will work here, thereby helping the development of the entire Binzhou City.

Zhang Bo hopes that the high-tech sector will become a new growth point for Weiqiao in the future, and the contribution is pinned on 10 years later.

A few days ago, he found a PPT of the report he made that year, which was the next ten-year plan for the Weiqiao Science and Technology Innovation Zone that he did in 2020. Many of the things that were said at that time have been realized now, and "it really won't take 10 years now." It revealed that in the next ten years, at least 100 start-up enterprises will be invested, and some industries may become the focus of Weiqiao's development. "This is also to find development opportunities for Weiqiao in the next ten years. Zhang Bo said.

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