In recent years, domestic brands have become the mainstream narrative in the consumer field against international brands, and there is no doubt about the long-term nature of this trend, but with the turbulence of the environment and the collapse of many radical consumption concepts, there are very few that can really consolidate the results.
Especially at the moment when the "new quality productivity" is proposed, it is truly tenable to achieve transcendence and break the traditional pattern with scientific and technological innovation and industrial strength.
Child safety seats are a very representative category, "in the past, overseas technology is indeed more mature, but now the situation is completely different, in the past ten years, the domestic research and development strength has surpassed the international level, and most of the current innovative products are from China." ”
As Lin Jiangjuan, chairman of Wheeldon, a domestic child safety seat brand, said, similar to the new energy vehicle industry, the safety seat industry is currently dominated by domestic brands.
In fact, in the early stage of the development of the industry, the overall domestic R&D and design level is also very average, and most of the products are spliced with plastic parts and metal parts.
In the past 20 years of development, including the national standard, European ECER129 and other industry standards, Wheeldon has been playing a role in exploring and promoting, and has won a number of "domestic initiatives":
The first to achieve independent research and development of injection molding process, the first to pass the European ECE certification, the first to develop eggshell wrap-around design, the first to become the industry standard after the first Wheeldon ISOfix interface, the first to pass the I-size certification, the first to develop a product that can rotate 360 degrees, the first to develop the side hover and door opening automatic rotation welcome function, the first brand with folding seats......
Today, many industries have fallen into a homogenization situation, and it is becoming more and more difficult to innovate effectively, what kind of new paradigm does such a brand that has been innovating for 21 years provide us?
Lin Jiangjuan, chairman of Wheeldon
Recently, Inspur New Consumption in-depth dialogue with Lin Jiangjuan, chairman of Wheeldon, from Buddhism, altruism, to organizational management and R&D innovation, I believe that her many underlying thinking about business operation and development, as well as the firmness to transcend short-term profits and pursue long-term success, can bring some new energy to everyone in the cold winter of the industry.
"I never wanted to be a Fortune 500 company, but I could be a 500-year-old company. There are thousands of companies in Japan that have a history of more than 100 years, and many of them are small but firmly ranked first in the professional field, and I think this is the most successful result. ”
Conversation | Lin Jiangjuan
Edit | Ichi-cho
Inspur New Consumption: Founded by Wheeldon in 2003, when the domestic child safety seat market was still a no-man's land, it should be quite challenging to do this from 0 to 1.
Lin Jiangjuan: At that time, we were still doing foreign trade business, but foreign trade is essentially to make circulating money, buying with the left hand and selling with the right hand, and the value created is limited. And slowly after the factory has the right to export, the industry begins to disintermediate, which also triggers our sense of crisis.
In 2003, I made up my mind to turn to business, and I remembered a traffic accident I witnessed in Israel in 2000, which was the first time I felt the importance of child safety seats up close, so the direction was quickly determined.
It's just that I didn't expect that the difficulty of product development would be so great, and it took nearly 2 years. During this period, it was very difficult, and there were many problems, either the mold could not be opened or the technology could not pass, and the product needed to be sent abroad for testing.
We initially had a registered capital of 2.5 million, but due to the relatively expensive molds, plus various expenses such as labor and space, this money was quickly burned out.
The product was not available, and I was embarrassed to raise the capital with the shareholders, so as a major shareholder, I could only advance the capital myself, and even mortgaged the house of my family for this purpose, and finally supported the day when the product was completed and successfully tested.
But the hardest part was from 2014 to 2015. At that time, I had just returned from abroad, and I hadn't been in charge of business for 5 years, so the company was in a state of ruin - there was a serious shortage of people, and the business did not make much progress compared to 5 years ago.
Therefore, I decided to start Wheeldon's second venture, on the one hand, to build a new factory and prepare for the listing of the new third board, on the other hand, to lay out e-commerce channels, and to rectify the internal.
The point is that my parents were not in good health during that time, and I needed to put a lot of energy into taking care of them, including accompanying them and handling various daily tasks.
The most terrible thing is that my family does not support it, accusing me of not having a family as long as my career, but I really can't take care of it, after all, the plant has invested hundreds of millions, and it is urgent to solve the financial problem, and at the same time, the internal management also needs to be comprehensively adjusted and optimized, and there are some unfamiliar areas of business that also need to be explored and consulted.
Wave of new consumption: Haven't you ever thought about giving up? Can you still hold on to it in the most difficult time, where does this belief come from?
Lin Jiangjuan: It has to do with my personality, either I don't do it, or I want to do it, I will be extremely focused and never give up halfway. And I am born with such a sense of responsibility, I will take the initiative to take it, and I am not willing to rely on anyone.
Of course, in 2014, when my career became more and more confused, and my family was a little turbulent, I was indeed very confused.
By chance, I signed up for a major study in Chinese studies, which gave me a big shock. Since then, I have felt that it is necessary to study the Buddhist scriptures, not simply to believe in the Buddha, but because the wisdom contained in them is indeed extraordinary, completely beyond what everyone has previously known.
Wave of New Consumption: What is the most obvious change after learning Buddhism?
Lin Jiangjuan: In the past, I was impatient and domineering, I liked to be dominated by my own will, and I always had a trace of arrogance, lacked trust in the abilities of others, and thought that there was no problem that could not be solved.
This leads me to be straightforward, and some things are not roundabout enough, which may invisibly hurt some people, and in the final analysis, it is a lack of wisdom.
After coming into contact with Chinese culture and Buddhism, I suddenly had an epiphany and realized my own problems.
But the biggest influence on me was actually Kazuo Inamori's management philosophy, and his study of Buddhism and his handling of the human mind have reached the realm of a saint.
Although he is not highly educated, and the books are all in plain language, these simple contents are exactly what most of us know but don't do well - he did it, and the gap is here.
He believes that the biggest obstacle between people is communication, and he spends a lot of time in this area. For example, after work, he will chat and interact with everyone, a form called "empty bus", in order to get closer to each other and gain more understanding and support.
The distance between people seems to be close, but the distance between hearts may be very far, and what you want is not on the same channel as what he wants at all, and it can't resonate, and no amount of talk will help.
Once I understand this, I will try to reach a consensus among the team as much as possible. It just so happens that our company also has the foundation of values, namely "altruism, gratitude, innovation, and pragmatism".
When the new factory was completed in 2015 and we were refining our values, many team members thought that "altruism" was too empty and should use words like "loyalty" and "hard work", but I think "altruism" has a wider scope and higher dimension - how can we get altruism without loyalty and kindness?
So I put the word in the first place, and it may be a secret arrangement.
Inspur New Consumption: Many corporate values are empty slogans, how do you implement these concepts?
Lin Jiangjuan: With action. Values are not hung on the wall, but must be used as a guide to behavior. How to achieve altruism?
First, you need to think about why the business exists. Of course, making money is one thing, but if we are always thinking about how much we can gain for this purpose, then how can we reach a consensus in communication and negotiation? We have to follow the principle of altruism and always think about how to create value for others.
Therefore, we put forward the concept of "righteousness", that is, to work for the material and spiritual happiness of all employees. Because they are all creating value for the enterprise, the existence of the enterprise is built on their foundation.
We have been implementing the amoeba management model since 2016. Although this management method was introduced into China very early, many enterprises give up halfway through the implementation or fall into a situation where they are not up to the bottom, mainly because they do not understand the true essence of it:
It's not just a tool, it's a combination of Tao and art. The amoeba management method is "art", and the philosophy behind it is "Tao", and we must understand that its key principle lies in the change of people's hearts.
In the absence of the "Dao", the implementation of the "technique" will be perfunctory, coping, and mere formality, and eventually lead to the inability to implement, and it will not be done.
After I deeply understood this truth, I began to pay attention to the human heart. However, it is not achieved through the strict constraints of the system, and we do not even have an assessment, but we must insist on continuous cultivation and achieve common progress through communication.
In 2017, I proposed a new policy: from that year onwards, the company would share 30% of its operating profits with all employees every year. As a result, due to a shareholder problem that year, the company suffered its first loss in history, with an amount of nearly 30 million.
In the case of huge losses, it is not realistic to let the company come up with money to pay bonuses, but if the system is not cashed, it will become a dead letter, and employees will definitely look forward to the year-end bonus after a year of hard work. So, I decided to personally contribute to the team to pay dividends.
Because we want to achieve the material and spiritual happiness of our employees, if we don't even have material, how can we have spirit?
So, on the one hand, I want to deliver on my promises, and on the other hand, I want to really do something altruistic.
Inspur New Consumption: What kind of team has been formed under such cultural immersion?
Lin Jiangjuan: People from many channels will praise Wheeldon's team because our members are humble and helpful, and always maintain an altruistic heart, and many brands will show a self-righteous attitude after a little achievement, and even speak wildly.
What is the essence of business dealings, is it a commodity? No. Commodities and interests are important, but I think the answer is obvious. So, it's the hearts and minds that really trade.
In other words, when you're dealing with a team that's both humble and kind, and whose product is just as profitable, would you choose a team that is arrogant and empty-eyed?
And the core motivation for us to do a good job in products comes from the second sentence of the righteous name, "to escort the safety of family inheritance all over the world".
As a manufacturer of car seats, our products are for children, and they are the future of every family. Such a product is not an ornament, nor is it an ordinary daily necessities, but a tool and carrier that can save people's lives. Once this is understood, a sense of purpose and conscience will drive us to make the product the best.
Inspur New Consumption: When it comes to products, where are teams like yours more inclined to invest their money and energy?
Lin Jiangjuan: We will never compromise on quality, and everything is based on quality.
Many brands in the industry may not be able to provide or even know the concept of COP (Conformity of Production), and mature foreign markets require a COP test for every 5,000 units sold, in order to verify whether the functional data has been changed due to the interference of some factors in the production process, so as to ensure the stability of the product.
Every 5,000 units need to be tested, and the cost of a single test is 5,000 yuan, which is a big expense for enterprises. The reason why we follow international regulations is because overseas customers need us to provide COP test reports, but also to ensure that each product is subject to strict quality control.
Inspur New Consumption: But high cost is also a price, won't it weaken some of the advantages?
Lin Jiangjuan: It depends on what your product is used for. To make a safety seat, you still have to return to the original intention, after all, in the face of safety, you must not relax your vigilance.
Although this information may not be received by the outside world, I have always believed that I must act according to my conscience, and I don't think about anything else.
At the product level, because we have been doing export, we follow international standards. Compared with domestic standards, it is more objective and standardized. That's what we've always adhered to: to go above and beyond the industry standard.
As for the feedback of this, the product is safe enough that you won't be unable to sleep because of potential risks. In the final analysis, we must not only do things for the purpose of profit, but also assume social responsibility.
Why did I decide to implement a standardized system in the company in 2008 before I had the idea of going public? Because as a person and as an enterprise, if I don't know what a standard is and don't restrain myself, I am "creating evil" for myself.
This insistence has also brought very practical benefits, when we began to prepare for the listing of the new third board in 2014, compared with other enterprises that have not carried out standardized management, the financial audit process is extremely easy.
The auditors of the audit firm told me that they had never encountered such an easy project, and even one auditor chose to join us because the company's finances were very standardized, and he was also very relieved.
So this persistence always pays off. And the fact that we can be profitable under such strict regulations is a reflection of our true power at Wheeldon.
Inspur New Consumption: When we withstand many twists and turns and adhere to various norms, what kind of development is the entire safety seat industry undergoing, and what stage has it come to?
Lin Jiangjuan: I have witnessed many changes in the safety seat industry, including the initial foreign R&D and foreign production to the current domestic-led, and the pattern is changing very quickly.
In the early days of the business, we thought that the overseas technology should be more mature for such imported products, so we would seek to cooperate with foreign design teams to develop innovative products.
However, the current situation is completely different, especially in the past 10 years, the domestic R&D strength has surpassed the international level, and the current innovative products are all from China.
Foreign companies have developed a path dependence, after all, there are more domestic product choices, and they can greatly improve their efficiency and efficiency without their own investment, which in turn prompts domestic enterprises to accelerate the pace of innovation.
When I first entered the domestic market, I foresaw that sooner or later, the safety seat industry would converge with industries such as alcohol, tobacco, and home appliances.
At the beginning, the home appliance industry was also a foreign brand outstanding, everyone was purchasing Sony, Panasonic and Samsung, but now how many foreign brands can be seen?
Of course, there are some low-price competitions in the industry at the moment, which can make you wonder if your pricing is reasonable. But in my opinion, the core of high-quality products is not the price, but the value, and our task is to fully demonstrate the value of the product.
Since competition is inevitable, face it head-on. I can't say whether there are some unbreakable barriers, but we can prove it with professionalism and lead it with innovation.
Inspur New Consumption: Can our professional investment and adherence to value be recognized by consumers, and are there any misunderstandings about the current consumers' perception of safety seats?
Lin Jiangjuan: The market also needs education, and we are also in contact with the traffic police and the national legislature to discuss the need to include the use of safety seats in regulations.
We also often receive feedback and gratitude from consumers, and it is often after a car accident that people realize the importance of car seats.
Many consumers are educated and start buying safety seats after witnessing the experiences of their friends, and if there are no such cases around them, they are likely to feel that their children will grow up quickly and save money.
There are also some young parents who only look at non-core elements such as appearance, and do not delve into the performance, professionalism and historical heritage and reliability of the product, but the safety seat has been with the child for at least nearly 10 years, so there will be some risks, such as the brand may suddenly disappear during use.
And unlike other products, making safety seats is extremely dependent on experience accumulation, which comes from repeated testing and verification in many product research and development of enterprises every year, while new companies do not have a few products, do not have so much time to accumulate experience, and even do not know what kind of test results are the best.
After all, the safety seat is a layer of protection for the baby's life, so it is recommended that you carefully choose the brand that has existed for a long time, history is the embodiment of experience, and the company can exist for a long time.
For example, our company has been focusing on the field of safety seats for 21 years, although there are some other excellent competitors on the market, but it is no exaggeration to say that so far, our product research and development capabilities and technical strength are the best in the industry, and no one has been able to surpass them.
Moreover, our products have been exported for many years, and the quality has been verified by many countries.
Inspur New Consumption: We should pay attention to performance and professionalism, but how to reflect the gap between different brands in this regard?
Lin Jiangjuan: The safety seat is different from other products, it really requires experience. So the gap is reflected in several aspects:
First, the accumulation of time. Because experience can only come from the test results of the products you develop, we have developed so many products, and the experience accumulated after countless tests and verifications is very scarce.
Many companies that don't have enough time to accumulate don't have a few products in total, and they don't have so much testing experience, and they don't even know what kind of test results and test performance are the best. This can only be accumulated over time.
The second is the perception of details. For example, the fabric that comes into contact with it, whether it is toxic or has damage to the baby's skin, requires a strict test report.
Therefore, we often suggest that consumers must see whether there is a professional test report when choosing a brand, including the COP report, which must look at its test time, if it was done a few years ago, it can no longer explain anything.
The lack of experience accumulation has also led to the fact that the functionality of most products on the market is similar. But we have been making some innovative breakthroughs, such as our smart products, which can automatically turn around as soon as the door is opened, or voice wake-up does not require manual operation by the user, so it is convenient to put the baby on it.
This is our first and the first intelligent rotation product in the world, and we have caused a sensation when we participated in Cologne and Dubai.
In fact, to put it bluntly, it still needs to accumulate for a long time, for example, we became the first brand in China to pass the I-size certification in 2015.
As soon as the new standard of I-size comes out, our foreign customers will immediately tell us, and the information of the new test standards and accident scenarios of global safety seats can be collected at the first time to help make product iterations.
Why have I insisted on focusing and focusing on only making safety seats for so many years? If I have to do this and that for a while, I can't do it so professionally with more products.
Inspur New Consumption: This kind of long-term accumulation and focus is indeed rare, but we will also see that many companies are solidified the longer they go, but Wheeldon has been making a lot of new progress almost every year, and has done a lot of "domestic initiatives", how do you protect "innovation" and maintain creativity?
Lin Jiangjuan: Our annual investment in innovation will account for nearly 10 points of sales, which is a high level in the industry.
Without the determination to invest, the R&D team cannot be motivated. You have to be prepared to fail and let everyone be bold enough to try.
For example, I would tell the team that innovation itself has the possibility of failure, and you can just let it go, and the company will bear the consequences of failure. Therefore, our R&D staff is very happy to work.
Taking our smart products as an example, it took 3 years from product development to test passing, and 8 million R&D funds were invested, not including labor costs.
Therefore, in order to achieve such an innovative breakthrough, various conditions are required, and financial strength, motivation, ability and concept are indispensable.
When we explore the unknown territory of innovation, there are no standards and references to speak of, but we are only concerned with how to solve the pain points of consumers and how to better provide convenience and functionality. After all, we are positioned in the high-end market, and we naturally pursue the ultimate, striving to do the best in all aspects such as function, beauty, and simplicity.
Inspur New Consumption: Many people may be avoiding how to pay less "tuition", but your way of thinking is quite different.
Lin Jiangjuan: Yes, everyone should pay as little "tuition" as possible and spend as little as possible, but I think this is necessary.
In 2006, we participated in the Cologne exhibition for the first time and felt that it was necessary to cooperate with foreign design teams to develop products, so we chose a particularly well-known team in the Netherlands and signed a research and development contract of 250,000 euros, which was more than 2 million yuan at the exchange rate at that time.
The appearance design of the product is indeed very beautiful, and great innovation has been made, but due to the lack of foreign infrastructure projects, the landing ability of the design is weak. At that time, we were just starting out, and we didn't have much experience in landing, which led to the product finally staying in the semi-finished product stage.
The R&D investment for this product is huge, including tooling and testing costs, with a total cost of more than 7 million.
But I never regretted that there were some roads that had to be taken, and although it was a failure at the time, it laid the foundation for our later success.
Because at that time, the domestic understanding of safety seats was almost blank, and there was no team with relevant R&D strength.
Since we want to seek international cooperation, we naturally have to choose high-end, of course, this is also because I personally can't accept inferior products, so this has virtually laid the foundation for us to take the high-end route, how good to do.
When docking with foreign teams, he will guide you on how to operate, how to achieve it, and what problems you will encounter in each link, which is equivalent to hiring a teacher.
On this basis, our R&D team slowly accumulates experience and grows. Including the subsequent crash test again and again every year, our R&D personnel also have to go to the site, and every collision is the accumulation of experience.
Why do we have to go to the Netherlands to do it? Because E4 is one of the most authoritative testing institutes in the Netherlands, and they have a lot of experience to tell us why we have these results and point out where we still have shortcomings.
That's why I said it must take time to settle.
Inspur New Consumption: What changes have your mavericks brought to the industry?
Lin Jiangjuan: We have been changing the industry all the time, including various firsts from technology to appearance and function, and even gradually becoming the norm in the industry.
For example, we created the flank protection, we created the built-in steel frame and is now the industry standard, and just as most of the ISOfix connections are now designed by us, and even our suppliers have made a fortune with them.
Inspur New Consumption: What is this ability to continuously innovate and lead?
Lin Jiangjuan: The key to doing anything is to use your heart, as long as you have the heart to do it, there is nothing that cannot be done, this is the "power of believing".
In each era, a number of successful enterprises will emerge, and at the same time, many similar competitors will be eliminated, which is a natural law, so if you don't want to be eliminated, traditional enterprises should keep pace with the times.
Many new colleagues find that a company with a history of 21 years can be so vibrant. In fact, there are not so many skills, what matters is the mentality and enthusiasm for the cause, and it is important to stick to the original intention of starting a business.
Age is just a number for me, and even my mentality is younger than that of young people, and I can more easily accept new concepts and new things, including the videos I usually watch are related to new technology.
This passion drives us to continue to explore, continue to innovate, and face challenges with the determination to never give up. Doing business is the same as being a man, giving up is nothing, only offense is the best defense.
I've treated my work as a hobby, so I don't feel tired anymore. Until now, I have insisted on checking the work logs and reports of dozens of employees every day to understand their specific work content and progress.
We want to be a century-old enterprise, to seize the first place in the minds of consumers, to let consumers choose Wheeldon to have a sense of security, I believe these will be possible. Because the goal has always been there, the company is not very short of money, and there is determination, enthusiasm and so on.
Inspur New Consumption: On the way to become a century-old enterprise, what do you think is the most important trend in the industry in the future?
Lin Jiangjuan: The original safety seat products are purely mechanical, and smart products are a new field, not so easy.
In order to do a good job in smart safety seats, it is necessary to have two completely different capabilities at the same time: the manufacture of mechanical safety seats and the development and integration of intelligent systems. There are very few talents who have both, so many so-called smart products are half-baked.
It's hard to make, and it's even harder to mature – the system may be stable when it's out of the carrier, but it's in a different state when applied to the product.
Therefore, the industry still has a long way to go in the field of intelligence, but we are already ahead of the curve, after all, 4 years have passed since the successful research and development, and many people may have just started, and they have to step on the pit we have stepped on again.
Inspur New Consumption: Looking back at the present, what do you think are the real challenges facing the industry?
Lin Jiangjuan: First, the challenges of the industry may arise at the level of consumer awareness.
On the one hand, they do not have a good understanding of the product's functions, and the strong association between the car seat and the car will also bring certain limitations.
On the other hand, after the national legislation, some consumers may still choose some inferior products because of the difference in their perception of the product, and the risks caused by such inferior products may affect the reputation of the industry, which is a problem that I am more worried about.
Consumers may reject domestic products altogether because of some misgivings, and instead think that foreign brands are safer and more reliable, but in fact, foreign brands are also produced in China.
Therefore, we need to build up our minds as soon as possible so that they know how to think and judge what makes a good product from a professional perspective, which is quite a challenge.
Second, the lack of enforcement may also be a challenge, which will directly lead to the difficulty of scaling up sales. Taking the Brazilian market as an example, before the introduction of the relevant law, major traders stockpiled goods, but when the law was actually implemented, everyone found that the law enforcement was not strict, and consumption immediately weakened, resulting in a large amount of inventory backlog.
Inspur New Consumption: What are your different understandings of the so-called consumption winter?
Lin Jiangjuan: For the domestic market, we are most worried about the problem of the reduction of newborns.
The decrease in the first two years is indeed due to the impact of the epidemic, and many women of childbearing age choose to postpone childbearing for 1-2 years. However, it is expected that the number of births will pick up in the past two years and will not be so pessimistic. Of course, it is impossible to go back to the top of the past, after all, there are indeed some young people who do not want to get married or have children.
But in other words, as long as you can become a leading company in the industry, it is enough for you to do. I never wanted to be a Fortune 500 company, but I could aim to be a 500-year-old company.
Just like Japan, there are thousands of companies with a history of more than 100 years, and many of them are small but firmly ranked first in the professional field, and I think this is the most successful result.
Even if the space for innovation will become smaller and smaller, we can also make a fuss about the details of the product through professionalism and craftsmanship. Therefore, we must be refined, because only by doing fine can we become stronger, and only when we go deep can we truly understand its essence.
In the long run, the key is to see who is more persistent, many brands cannot stick to the professional field and will be eliminated in the big wave. And those companies that can stick to the end can truly represent the level of professionalism in this field.
As consumers gain a deeper understanding of the product and demand more from the product's functional requirements than other attributes, their choice becomes simple and straightforward: choose the most professional one.
We have focused on it for so many years, that is, to let consumers understand that in the child safety seat industry, we represent safety, reliability, and the most trustworthy brand.
That's why we're committed to building the number one brand of safety seats – and when it comes to safety seats, the first brand that pops up in everyone's mind will be Wheeldon. Doing a good job and surviving for a long time is victory.