During the Second World War, the "great invention" that made the most coveted by the first team was not the tank and plane, nor the vehicle-mounted artillery that the Germans were proud of, but the standard fuel barrel of the Wehrmacht used by the German army.
Known as "the key to the outcome of blitzkriegs," the tiny oil drum was emulated on the battlefield and eventually spread across Europe, where it is still popular for 85 years.
Demystifying the German oil drum design: World War II military supplies are now a classic image of locomotive culture and chicken games. This deceptively simple oil drum embodies the German designer's attention to detail: from the number of easily a soldier can grasp to the ergonomics of the three handles, from the perfect balance of capacity and sturdiness to the control of air resistance during throwing.
This seemingly ordinary oil drum actually has a variety of practical functions such as landing without falling and being able to float in water. This is the profound accumulation and crystallization of German manufacturing. "
When it comes to the design of fuel drums, the name of the German company Miller Electrical cannot be ignored. After its establishment in 1899, this century-old enterprise has successfully occupied the high-end market in Germany with its spirit of focusing on high-quality products.
Most notably, they designed the lid slash, lid spiral and thread shape, all carefully calculated to ensure that every drop of fuel is fully utilized.
This design concept was embodied in 1937, when the Wehrmacht standard fuel drum manufactured by the Miller Company, due to its excellent design, provided the German army with great advantages in fuel transportation and storage.
In contrast to other contemporaries who had to handle oil drums with care, the Germans could already carry them in large quantities by throwing them. This is the strength of the German Miller Electric Company, they not only responded to the call for military recruitment, but also contributed an excellent fuel drum to the world.
At a time when other armies were still careful to guard against the problem of oil drum explosions, the German team had managed to avoid this disaster by adopting an innovative design of double-layer metal slow charge drop.
Compared to others who need to use ships to transport fuel, the German ** team directly strings the oil drums together, covers them with bunkers, and marches with the soldiers. When it comes to opening the lid of the oil drum, others need to work hard to open it, while the German team can easily do it with just their hands.
These seemingly small details fully embody the German operating philosophy of determining success or failure with details and changing everything with details. This advantage in efficiency and safety soon attracted the attention of the British, American, and Soviet armies.
The design of the oil drum, which originally originated from the German battlefield, has been improved and optimized by various countries to become a classic style in all walks of life in Europe, and is still widely used in the European market.
However, even if the design plan was made public, and with lighter materials and improvements made in different countries, it was still impossible to replicate the welders of Miller's level. This shows that an excellent product requires not only good design and materials, but also skilled craftsmanship.
This event in history clearly demonstrates the German prowess in the field of industrial manufacturing. Sophisticated, rigorous, and the pursuit of efficiency are generally regarded as the hallmarks of German manufacturing, making "Made in Germany" a global manufacturing leader.
In 19th-century Europe, however, "Made in Germany" did not have a laudable connotation, and in fact it was seen as a symbol of counterfeit and inferior goods.
Made in Germany during the Second Industrial Revolution: German products that were once counterfeit goods have always been famous for their "double high" - high practicality and high technology content, and German manufacturing, as the world's industrial standard, actually experienced a "difficult period" about a hundred years ago.
In 1871, other countries were already enjoying the benefits of the first industrial revolution, and Germany, which had achieved unity and development, was faced with a world market for machine building that was highly monopolized by Britain and France.
While British department stores delivered goods around the globe, much of Germany's light industrial product manufacturing had not even formed a large machine factory, still relying on small family workshops and handicrafts.
In order to rapidly develop the economy and open up the way to sell their own products, the Germans began to imitate the products of industrially developed countries and used the advantages of the first to sell cheaper "copycat" products.
Cast Iron Scissors Case": The unique cast steel manufacturing technology of the British Sheffield company makes its scissors sell well all over the world. However, some knife manufacturers in the German city of Solingen imitated the Sheffield brand, using inferior cast iron to make scissors and selling them under the Sheffield company seal.
The quality of these scissors was far inferior to the original, which led to the occurrence of the "cast iron scissors case", which disgraced the German manufacturing industry.
The proliferation of counterfeit goods not only ruined the user experience, but also caused Sheffield to quickly detect piracy and inferior product practices by the Germans because of the large number of bad reviews.
Outraged by British manufacturers, the UK** subsequently introduced a new goods law that required all goods imported from Germany to be labelled as "Made in Germany" in order to distinguish between good British products and poor German goods.
However, in the 20th century, German manufacturing was once the object of spurning in Europe, why has it become a model of manufacturing in Europe in the course of half a century of development?
This is due to two factors: the strict quality assurance laws in place in Germany for the development of industry, and the natural attention to detail craftsmanship of the Germans.
From the changes in British business law, German manufacturers are deeply aware that the key to leading the manufacturing industry is high technology. So, they took radical action.
German businessmen, led by Alfred Krupp, the founder of the famous German Krupp Arms Company, even did not hesitate to become commercial spies and went to Britain and the United States to obtain today's manufacturing technology.
They brought these technologies back to China, developed and innovated, and eventually developed their own patented technology, which contributed to the rapid rise of German manufacturing.
The Krupp cannon, the world-famous weapon of war, whose steel pipe manufacturing technology originated in England, was the result of Krupp's success in stealing the latest steel production process by impersonating his identity and attending a cocktail party with a British industrial giant.
In contrast to businessmen who acquire technology by unscrupulous means, Germany** has adopted high-level legal measures to protect patent rights and product quality. In addition to the usual local, state, state and federal supreme courts, Germany has also established special patent courts to adjudicate patent rights. ”
Although Germany is a relatively late adjunct to the establishment of an intellectual property legal system among European countries, it has the highest level of rigor and punishment. Once a patent has been infringed, the German patent holder can directly apply for an interim injunction to prevent the manufacture and dissemination of the counterfeit product.
Moreover, when a patent holder initiates a patent lawsuit, it does not need to provide security, and can even require the infringer to provide security for breach of contract. If the parties cannot reach an agreement, property seizure may even be carried out.
In addition, Germany is the country that receives the most patent infringement lawsuits in Europe, and the European Union stipulates that European patents can be prosecuted in any member state of the European Patent Convention when infringement issues arise.
Germany has the lowest fees, the best reputation for judges and the shortest processing times of all member states. This is a testament to the fact that the adequacy of German patent law has been widely recognized.
In addition, there are third-party organizations such as the Product Evaluation Association in Germany to check for consumers and ensure the quality of goods. For example, in 1962-1964, after two years of discussions, the German parliament established the Stiftung Warentest, which scored goods from 0 to 5A score of 5 is divided into grades, and each grade has strict testing criteria.
After rigorous audits and tests, products such as automobiles and bottle caps need to be verified multiple times to ensure their quality. The ratings of the review** have a high level of trust in the minds of consumers and can even influence consumers' purchasing decisions.
As a result, many merchants will print their ratings on product packaging to prove the quality of their products. In Germany, merchants are encouraged to prove their products in this way, rather than through exaggerated advertising or false publicity.
The dual protection of laws and institutions has made Made in Germany a world leader in the fields of auto parts, chemical manufacturing, pharmaceuticals and so on. At the same time, German handicrafts such as buttons, clocks and toys also enjoy a high reputation.
Germany's craftsmanship gives its toys an unbeatable value. As early as more than ten years ago, the British Christie's auction house had auctioned a teddy bear doll produced in 1908 and wearing a Louis Vuitton short coat for 193477 US dollars (about 1.6 million yuan at the exchange rate at that time), which made the "Rolls-Royce of the toy industry" famous.
This is due to the world-renowned patience and meticulousness of German craftsmen. As Ye Kefei said in his book "The Details of Germany", Germany is a country that even paints its own houses to consider whether it matches the color of the street, and this rigorous and meticulous national character is also reflected in their handmade toys.
The brilliance of Made in Germany comes from the great importance that the whole society attaches to industry. Each German knife, from the selection of materials to the cutting edge, has to go through more than 40 processes, of which the cutting is completely completed by skilled workers by hand, and the acceptance should not only ensure the sharpness, but also pay attention to the beauty of the knife.
RIMOWA, the world's first manufacturer of waterproof suitcases, is also the first brand to use PC materials to make luggage, each suitcase has more than 200 parts, each piece is meticulously crafted.
Volkswagen, which once started with humble low-end technology, now has a high-tech Audi brand, and is also one of the outstanding representatives of German craftsmanship. These reflect the German rigorous attitude towards manufacturing and the unremitting pursuit of quality.
With the slogan "Vorsprung Durch Technik" (Breakthrough Technology, Inspiring the Future), Germany is now widely acclaimed worldwide.
The slogan also underlines the revival of the 16th-century tradition of German metalworking in the 21st century, as demonstrated by the Renaissance Nuremberg columbian cups and astronomical instruments.
This meticulousness and patience are also reflected in the humanistic feelings of the German furniture designers. Also touted as smart appliances, while other businesses are committed to incorporating audiovisual or internet-connected devices into their products, Germans have seen kitchen functional services as the focus of smart appliances.
The Germans' view of kitchen tools is the same as what they have always known about Made in Germany: the upgrade of kitchen utensils should still be the kitchenware itself. The expansion of kitchen tools is not to distract people from doing other things while cooking, but to enhance the cooking experience of housewives as much as possible by simplifying procedures and increasing the taste of dishes.
This may be their way of "sticking to one path to the end" of industrial research and development, which has made the innovation of the Germans in "use" so far unsurpassed by craftsmen from other countries.
Although the ** of German products is expensive, their exquisite craftsmanship and excellent patience and creativity make Made in Germany worth the money and win the love of consumers even if they do not rely on **.
Industry 4China in the 0 Era: Enlightenment from an International Perspective In the context of globalization, China's manufacturing industry is undergoing an unprecedented change.
In this process of change, we can draw some inspiration from the experience of German industry. Every famous brand of German industry embodies the core of the craftsman spirit: excellence and perseverance.
The Germans carry out each process according to the norms and carry out their unique human spirit to the end. The industrial transformation of the Germans can provide an effective reference experience for our Chinese manufacturing industry.
In the face of the torrent of the times, China's manufacturing industry should not only pay attention to the development of heavy industry, but also pay attention to the needs of people in light industry, and pay close attention to details. At the same time, China's manufacturing industry also needs to pay attention to education and cultivation of the spirit of craftsmen in a big country, pay attention to infrastructure construction, and also pay attention to the development of citizen quality and public culture.
Only in this way can our Chinese manufacturing industry be invincible in the global competition. Germany's success lies not only in its advanced technology, but also in its profound educational culture and rigorous craftsmanship.
This kind of soft power has achieved a unique and vivid temperament made in Germany, when you are close to it, as far as the eye can see, everywhere you go is the traces of time, the fragments of life and the accumulation of culture.
This is what our Chinese manufacturing industry needs to learn and learn from. In general, China's manufacturing industry is in the industry 4In the transformation process of the 0 era, we should not only pay attention to the construction of hardware facilities, but also pay attention to the improvement of soft power.
Only in this way can our Chinese manufacturing industry be invincible in global competition and achieve industrial upgrading and sustainable development.