Text / Ba Jiuling (WeChat public account: Wu Xiaobo channel)
"Germany is a place where as long as you 'roll' a small side, you can be ironed immediately."
Today, when it is still difficult to find a job on the Internet, German migrant workers are already fighting for the possibility of working four days a week.
What we think of as diligence is seen as greed in Germany. This may be one of the reasons for the difference between Chinese and German manufacturing: we pursue efficiency, and they pursue quality.
In April this year, more than 120 entrepreneurs followed Mr. Wu Xiaobo to Germany to experience the management philosophy of German enterprises and their ultimate pursuit of quality.
At Hannover Messe, entrepreneurs witnessed a variety of cutting-edge technologies and solutions, from AI (artificial intelligence) to industrial machine learning, to hydrogen and fuel cells, which are all hot topics in the current technology field.
In the SAP exhibition hall, we saw the transformation process of SAP for a beverage equipment company - from process reengineering, manufacturing services to delivery, the transformation of the entire software and hardware collaboration system.
According to its leader, they are discussing how to integrate it with generative AI in every detail and every module.
In the industrial Internet of Things venue, we saw smart energy, that is, the intelligent use and control of energy. For example, all electrical appliances can be remotely controlled, and gas leaks can be detected at the first time.
At the scene, we also experienced a "screw screwing performance" of the industrial metaverse: the robot will screw it first, and judge how many turns it will screw in the end through the torque of the screw.
During this visit, entrepreneurs not only saw the future prospects of AI applications and Industry 4.0, but also realized once again that technology-driven innovation is the eternal topic of enterprise development.
On the second day after the exhibition, we participated in the 5th Sino-German Intelligent Manufacturing Docking Forum.
In addition to the keynote speeches by Mr. Wu Xiaobo and Mr. Deng Di, a number of experts from the German manufacturing industry also shared the management experience and digital transformation process of German manufacturing enterprises.
In addition, Sun Haotian, head of Feishu's manufacturing industry, shared the soft power that Chinese manufacturing companies need to have to go overseas to Europe.
He said that as a collaboration and management platform for advanced enterprises, Feishu is being chosen by more and more manufacturing enterprises and has become an important tool to promote digital and intelligent organizational transformation.
On the same day, we also arranged a themed private board meeting, where Chinese and German entrepreneurs gathered to discuss new business opportunities in the Chinese and German markets in the new political environment.
In the following days, we visited several German industrial giants and German "hidden champions" to learn more about the success of German industry.
Including Phoenix, a leader in German electrical technology, Mercedes-Benz, a representative of automobile manufacturers, SAP, a well-known German software service company, BASF, a German chemical giant, Siemens, a century-old German company, BOSCH, an international leader in the field of auto parts and home appliance manufacturing, ThyssenKrupp, the king of German arms, and Kärcher, a global leader in the high-voltage cleaning market......
At Siemens, the person in charge told us that German companies are able to innovate precisely because they are constantly investing in research and development and applying the latest scientific and technological achievements in practice.
As early as around 1850, he said, Siemens' founders began to retain almost all of the engineers who joined the company through a series of groundbreaking employee welfare measures.
In the social environment at that time, many entrepreneurs could not understand his approach, but after about 20 years, Siemens has accumulated a large number of the best engineers. Because of them, Siemens has grown from a small workshop to the global company it is today.
At Phoenix, we learned about the experience of digital transformation in German companies.
In their view, strategy, technology, and talent are the three cornerstones of digital transformation. Industrial enterprises must think from these three levels, never look at the present, and invest in a forward-looking way to form a comprehensive digital competitiveness.
At the review meeting of this visiting study, some entrepreneurs and students said that a large number of German enterprises focus on specialization, refinement, special innovation, in-depth and specialization, and continue to inherit, innovate and develop for multiple generations under this concept, and jointly build "Made in Germany" into a national brand, laying the foundation for the national layout of local companies.
Of course, more participants saw the opportunity and wondered: What are the cutting-edge new technologies at the Hannover Messe? How do you bring them back and apply them to your own business and products? How should some of the management experience of German industrial enterprises and "hidden champion" enterprises be applied to the development and strategy of their own enterprises? In the face of the German and European markets, how can we establish cooperation?
In order to help more entrepreneurs get inspired by this learning, we have compiled the wonderful views of several teachers to share with you.
▶ ▷ Wu Xiaobo
Financial Writer
In terms of the number of exhibitors, Germany and China are the two protagonists of this year's Hannover Messe. The position of Made in China in global manufacturing is still very important.
▶ ▷ Dundi
Senior research expert of Sino-German "hidden champion" enterprises
Director of the Research Center for Cross-Cultural Management, Jinan University
The core values of the German "hidden champion" enterprise: the life of the enterprise > the scale of the enterprise. To survive and to be a leader in this industry is the long-term vision of German companies.
▶ ▷ Zhang Yingchun
Founder of Lonou Consulting
Author of the best-selling management book "Organization Can Manage People Well".
The convergence of smart factories and the Industrial Internet of Things has formed the iconic Industry 4.0 in a sense, which has given me a glimpse of the future of manufacturing.
▶▷ Mike de Vries
Chief Operating Officer of the Sino-German Science and Technology Park
General Manager and Director of the German-Chinese Liaison Association
According to the AHK survey, 91% of German companies plan to continue to operate in China, and more than 50% plan to increase their investment in the Chinese market.
▶▷ Andreas Hube
Former Global Vice President of SAP
Founder of SenV Holdings
Smart cities can protect citizens throughout their lifecycle and provide valuable information to improve people's lives.
▶ ▷ Sun Haotian
Head of Feishu's manufacturing industry
Data is the "fifth factor of production" after labor, land, capital, and technology, and if we believe that "data is advanced productivity", we will do everything we can to increase our data.
On May 31st, we will lead entrepreneurs to Phoenix (China) Station, led by practical mentors, to visit Phoenix Contact's new generation of intelligent benchmark factory, and have in-depth exchanges with corporate executives to understand the key points of Phoenix intelligent manufacturing and digital transformation, and find the best path for enterprise development.
In this study tour, we also invited Mr. Zhang Yingchun, the founder of Longou Consulting, to accompany us. Mr. Zhang Yingchun is the author of the best-selling book "Organization Can Manage Good People", and has carried out in-depth resident services for hundreds of manufacturing industries for more than ten years, and has summarized a set of practical methodologies for digital transformation.