Reporter Gong Mengze, Cao Qi, Liu Zhao.
Photo by Gong Mengze, Cao Qi and Liu Zhao.
Qianli Jiangling will return in one day!This is Jiangling Motors Co., Ltd. *** hereinafter referred to as "Jiangling Motors") skillfully used the promotion language of Li Bai's poems, which has resounded throughout the country for many years. This sentence is like a time shuttle, linking a legend of Jiangling Motors. With the persistence of the 30 years since its listing, Jiangling Motors responded to the poet's pleasure of "the light boat has crossed the ten thousand mountains".
Jiangling Motors has been listed for 30 years, which is a wonderful epitome of our country's reform and innovation and forge ahead, and a vivid example of the domestic automobile industry's exploration and hard work. Qiu Tiangao, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chairman of Jiangling Group and Chairman of Jiangling Co., Ltd., said.
In December 2023, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the listing of Jiangling Motors, in order to explore the road of butterfly change from "Jiangxi's first share" to "a new paradigm of Sino-foreign joint ventures", the reporter walked into the Nanchang Jiangling Motors Building, stepped into the Jiangling Motors ** control hall, visited the smart factory, felt the high-efficiency automated production line and intelligent production management system, and tried to find out the transformation and upgrading of Jiangling Motors. The code for the rapid development of core manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing, and the transformation path of how to innovate and develop now and in the future.
Jiangling Motors can be said to be the first in the world, and successive helmsmen have moved forward through the thorns, leaving behind rich material wealth and spiritual inheritance. Jin Wenhui, Secretary of the Party Committee and First Executive Vice President of Jiangling Motors, told reporters in detail about the "breaking" and "standing" of Jiangling Motors, as well as the challenges and thoughts of facing the digital development of the global market in the future.
Capital "living water" helps a win-win situation
12 seconds in life pass in a flash, and in the production workshop of Jiangling Motors' Toyama plant, 12 seconds can complete the rapid switching of production of four models. More than 300 fully automated robots are operating at full speed, and the orange robots are uniform, waving their arms to work on the assembly line, which is the "daily work" of the daily work here, showing the continuous improvement of "Jiangling efficiency" under the empowerment of intelligent manufacturing technology in China's automobile industry.
As a leading green, energy-saving and intelligent benchmark factory in China, the Toyama plant adopts a highly flexible and fully automated production line for operation, with a stamping speed of up to 15 minutes and a full-sequence product mold switch within 150 seconds. Compared to the JMC Xiaolan Plant, which was put into operation in 2013, the welding automation rate of the Toyama Plant has increased from 552% increased to 98%, and production capacity increased by 50%. Looking at the present, technology is empowering thousands of industries, including automobiles, and has become an important "engine" for enterprises to improve quality, efficiency and high-quality development.
Scientific and technological innovation means that technology iteration is fast and capital consumption is large, and it is not easy for enterprises to break through easily. Among them, the capital market has given an important boost - providing direct financing channels, continuously improving inclusiveness, so that seeds can be cultivated in the fertile soil of capital, and a large number of "hard technology" and "specialized, special and new" enterprises have begun to grow rapidly.
Under the watering of capital "living water", Jiangling Motors has diligently practiced its internal skills, increased R&D investment, and moved towards digital development.
The company's cumulative patent applications have exceeded 3,000 mark, with 408 invention patents, 786 utility models, a total of 7 China Patent Awards, 2 Jiangxi Provincial Patent Awards, and more than 10 provincial and industry science and technology progress awards for scientific and technological innovation achievements. Xu Lanfeng, secretary of the board of directors of Jiangling Motors, told reporters that this patented technology is based on the strength of Jiangling Motors' multi-line parallel business strategy such as introducing cooperation, insisting on independent research and development, and reasonable dividends.
Achieving a win-win situation for enterprises and investors is also one of the core business principles for Jiangling Motors to maintain its combat effectiveness. "Since its listing on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 1993, Jiangling Motors has raised a total of 124.6 billion yuan, operating income increased from the initial 2.1 billion yuan to more than 30 billion yuan, and the output increased from 20,000 to 300,000 units. Xu Lanfeng told reporters that the company's cumulative dividends since its listing have exceeded 13 billion yuan.
According to Jiangling Motors' plan, from 2023 to 2025, the company will also adhere to cash dividends. The annual profit distributed in cash shall not be less than 10% of the distributable profit realized in the current year. In addition, the cumulative profits distributed in cash in the past three years will not be less than 30% of the average annual distributable profits realized in the past three years.
Behind the continuous dividends is the company's stable fundamental support. On the one hand, it comes from the core competencies of the enterprise, such as business ability, innovation ability and technical supportOn the other hand, it comes from the help of the capital market. For many people who witnessed the company's listing back then, the scale and vitality of Jiangling Motors in the capital market today were unimaginable at that time.
Divide the world's car companies to improve themselves
From the birth of the first self-manufactured Jinggangshan brand car in the history of Jiangxi, to the first JMC N series light truck off the assembly line;From the establishment of JMC Isuzu Motors Co., Ltd. with Isuzu Motors Co., Ltd. to the introduction of Ford Motor Company of the United States (hereinafter referred to as "Ford Motor") as a strategic investor by issuing B shares with ADRS (American Depositary Receipts) as the first in China, Jiangling Motors' innovation road has been passed down from generation to generation.
The clock was set back to 1985, when the domestic market was short of weight and light", Jiangling Motors seized the opportunity to take the lead in introducing Isuzu's production line with advanced production technology, as well as the 4JB1 engine that would dominate the field of commercial vehicles in the future, officially opening a new chapter in independent development.
In 1991, Jiangling Motors Group Co., Ltd. was formally establishedIn 1993, Jiangling Motors was listed on the Shenzhen ** Stock Exchange, becoming the first listed company in Jiangxi Province. In 1995, JMC and Ford Motor established a joint venture.
Jin Wenhui told the reporter that from the A-share listing in 1993, to the introduction of strategic investor Ford through B-shares. It can be said that Jiangling Motors has been playing the role of an innovative explorer, through the combination of industry and finance and capital operation, it has realized a virtuous circle of "financial dredging blood, industry providing profits", and then wrote a majestic "Jiangling story" for 30 years.
In Jin Wenhui's view, the introduction of Ford not only brought capital, but more importantly, brought a complete and innovative modern management model abroad. "The transformation and upgrading of the original state-owned management model has benefited all managers and even the entire enterprise. After that, whether it is sales system reform, financial management, quality management or product development, a complete set of management system has laid a solid foundation for the subsequent development of Jiangling Motors. Jin Wenhui said.
With the unified and efficient coordination and cooperation of both Chinese and foreign sides, Jiangling Motors has stood out from the market with its open concept and aggressive development strategy, and has become one of the largest enterprises in the field of commercial vehicles in China from a small local factory with assets of only 40 million yuan, and at the same time ranks among the fastest-growing enterprises in the domestic automobile industry and the enterprises with the best economic benefits.
In 1997, the first Transit car officially rolled off the assembly line, and China's first truly Sino-foreign jointly developed commercial vehicle was born. In 2002 and 2003, Jiangling Motors' own brand pickup truck model Baodian and BUV model (business utility vehicle) Baowei were launched one after another, and Jiangling Motors embarked on the road of independent development.
At the beginning of the new century, Jiangling Motors opened the curtain of "second entrepreneurship". In 2004, the sales revenue stood on the level of 10 billion yuan for the first time, becoming the first 10 billion yuan enterprise in Nanchang CityIn 2005, it was rated as the first most competitive listed automobile company in China.
I came to JMC after graduating in 1995 and have been working on the system, going through project planning and management, vehicle engineering development and various sectors. Ding Wenmin, executive vice president of Jiangling Motors and president of the General Institute of Product Research and Development, told reporters that the deeper the cooperation between Jiangling and Ford over the past 20 years, the stronger Jiangling's independent development capabilities. Jiangling Motors continues to build and invest in R&D facilities and equipment, build R&D processes and quality systems, and gradually form a comprehensive and positive engineering development capability.
In May 2023, the global sales of Ford's light passenger car family exceeded 12 million units, becoming the only light commercial vehicle brand in the world to achieve this achievement.
Under the new situation, national strategies and industrial policies are guiding the reallocation of resources in the automobile industry chain, and enterprises need to more actively strengthen product research and development and technological innovation, enrich the product matrix, and do a good job in forward-looking layout. A good internal and external environment can enable enterprises to devote themselves to R&D and innovation without distraction, improve the technical level and core competitiveness of the industry, and promote the development of the industry to high-end and branding. Jin Wenhui said.
In the context of comprehensively encouraging independent innovation, Jiangling Motors has formed a pattern of scientific and technological innovation "standing up to the sky" and small and micro innovation "overwhelming".
Liu Hui is the secretary of the Party branch of the third workshop of Jiangling Motors Stamping Factory and the chief technician of the mold fitter. Not far from the production line is the Liu Hui National Skill Master Studio named after him.
As the first batch of national special technicians of Jiangling Motors Group, Liu Hui's studio participated in and implemented the 5,000-ton stamping automation mold transformation design won the third prize of China Machinery Industry Science and Technology Award. "The heavy machinery press can realize the whole process of automatic destacking, loading and unloading, not only the staffing is reduced from the original 7 people to 3 people, but also changes the low production efficiency in the past, two or three hundred pounds of materials have to rely on moving up and down. Liu Hui told reporters.
Yuan Zhenghai is the head of another master studio of Jiangling Motors. In the early 90s of the 20th century, in the face of the problem of restricting the development of enterprises at that time, "the best-selling model molds must be imported from abroad", he participated in the development of frame longitudinal beam molds, so that the accuracy of the molds reached the level of the original imported molds from Japan, ending the long-term dependence on imports. Since 2011, Yuan Zhenghai Studio has participated in a total of 46 projects that have won the Jiangling Group Science and Technology Progress Award, saving a lot of costs for enterprises.
In 2015, Jiangling Motors tried to develop door exterior panel molds for the first time, accumulating valuable experience for Jiangling Motors to independently develop passenger car exterior panel molds. At the same time, Jiangling Motors has also completed the automation transformation of all the company's stamping dies, laying a solid foundation for building an automated factory.
Technology feedback to create a model of joint venture
Inherit the past and forge ahead into the future.
In April 2023, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley came to China, and his first stop was Nanchang, Jiangxi Province. In May, Ford and Jiangling Motors signed a framework agreement to further expand Jiangling Motors' product export business on the basis of the existing cooperation.
At the time, Jim Farley said Ford's strategy in China would change — that is, to invest less, leaner, more focused and more rewarding businesses in China.
According to the agreement, Jiangling Motors will export Ford brand electric vehicles and Jiangling's own brand electric vehicles and traditional fuel commercial vehicles to overseas markets, and Ford's corresponding overseas channels will be gradually opened to Jiangling and sold in international markets through Ford's existing sales network.
This means that, on the one hand, the pickup trucks, light buses and other commercial vehicles produced by Jiangling Motors have quickly stepped onto the international stage, and on the other hand, in the development of electric vehicles, international sales channels have also been paved in advance. Relying on Ford's global sales network, Jiangling Motors will not only usher in a new market structure, but also quickly accumulate global experience and enhance its global vision in terms of development potential and prospects.
In fact, as a shareholder of 32% of Jiangling Motors, Ford has also formed a new joint venture with Jiangling Ford Technology, and Ford is willing to achieve a win-win situation by helping Jiangling Motors.
Since the beginning of this year, JMC Ford Technology has made every effort to build a new channel brand - Ford Beyond. At the 2023 Ford Zongheng Brand Night, Ford Zongheng not only released the first domestically produced Ford pickup truck model, the Ranger Ranger, but also launched its outdoor off-road community activities, purchase platform and supporting services to Chinese users. Ford Zongheng said that in the future, it will continue to innovate to further meet the needs of Chinese users for outdoor travel.
We advocate maximizing the interests of the joint venture, not the interests of shareholders. Under this premise, even if everyone has their own opinions at first, they will eventually reach a consensus. Jin Wenhui told reporters that the joint venture company is truly the best in order to maximize benefits, and in the future, Jiangling Motors and Ford will deepen cooperation and grasp new development opportunities.
After more than 30 years of exploration and breakthroughs, today's Jiangling Motors has fully integrated resources to give full play to its advantages on the road of strengthening close cooperation and common development in domestic and foreign markets, and boosted the rapid development of Ford Motor in China with global standards and global quality, providing an excellent paradigm for the industry.
Digitalization empowers high-quality development
The excellent paradigm has been formed, and under the wave of digital economy, how to multiply the "number" upward, Jiangling people have their own understanding.
In recent years, Jiangling Motors has actively promoted the digital transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry, enhanced the awareness and ability of enterprise digital transformation and upgrading, plugged in digital wings for production and manufacturing, and made every effort to promote the acceleration of automobile manufacturing from the "ballast stone" of economic development to the "pillar" of high-quality development. "Digitalization is not a panacea, but it is impossible without digitalization. In the view of Yu Xianzhong, a CAE** technical expert of Jiangling Motors, digital transformation is the only way for car companies, and the key is innovation.
Digital transformation is a digital project of the whole life cycle, this is a very huge project, the core thing is R&D and manufacturing, R&D is the vitality and core competitiveness of the enterprise, who masters more, mastered deep and wide, whose vitality is stronger, and the greater the space for development. Yu Xianzhong told reporters that intelligent networking should be deepened on the basis of digitalization, if there is no front digitalization as the foundation and support, all the follow-up things are impossible to talk about, only the front end does a good job and the back end can keep up.
At present, Jiangling Motors' digital intelligent factory has realized the digital transformation of the whole process of production and manufacturing, of which the digitization rate of equipment can reach 85%, and the intelligent equipment is closely integrated with cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analysis, and the digital factory collects more than 100,000 pieces of industrial data per second to optimize the production process and improve customer experience.
What substantial improvements and changes has digitalization brought to JMC?
In the field of R&D,"JMC did not have a digital review before, and after the digital review, all digital prototypes must be evaluated before production, and only 100% of the virtual verification can be produced, so that they can be produced90% of the risk can be avoided. Yu Xianzhong said.
In manufacturing, digitalization has dramatically improved production efficiency. "In the past, it could take two to three years or even longer for a car to be developed, but now the build cycle can be cut in half through intensive digitalization. Xu Hui, deputy director of the information department of Jiangling Motors, said.
In order to realize JMC's independent forward development, we have created a digital design platform, broken through the 'bottleneck' technology such as improving combustion speed, and the team-led advanced digital design platform project for automotive powertrain won the second prize of China Automotive Science and Technology Progress Award. Zeng Xiaochun, director of Jiangling Motors Power Institute Assembly and NVH, told reporters.
In the field of new energy, Jiangling Motors has carried out research and development of pure electric platforms for new passenger cars and new commercial vehicles, independently developed domain control package integration technology, and simultaneously carried out independent research and development of advanced electric drive systems. Enabled by digital intelligence, Jiangling Motors has made many breakthroughs in key core technology fields such as electrification, networking, intelligence, and sharing.
Time sharpens faith, and years witness the original intention. "2024 is approaching, starting from the 30th anniversary of listing, Jiangling people will move forward with a broader development vision. Xiong Chunying, President of Jiangling Motors, said that Jiangling Motors will continue to adhere to the customer-centric concept, integrate the core values of "integrity, dedication, innovation and cooperation" into the blood of enterprise development, face the ever-changing challenges in the field of new automotive technology, and make every effort to build a scientific and technological Jiangling and characteristic Jiangling, and strive to stand at the forefront of the rapidly changing market, become the backbone of China's automotive industry, and lead the industry to transform and upgrade to accelerate the race.
* |Station cool Hailuo production |Zhang Wenling