Chapter 911 Special Equipment, Defeating Diamond

In 2014, the automotive industry changed the decline of the previous few years and once again ushered in a situation of rapid development.

There are endless news reports about the construction of new factories by various OEMs and suppliers.

This has brought a lot of dividends to various equipment manufacturers.

"Mr. Cao, our new factory will be officially put into production next week. Do you have time to come and give us some guidance?"

Zhang Sheng, general manager of Ji'er Machine Tool Factory, and Cao Yang are old acquaintances. Many things are communicated directly by phone.

In recent years, Ji'er Machine Tool Factory has been growing and developing along with the pace of Nanshan Equipment. Now, it is second only to Nanshan Equipment in the domestic stamping industry and other machine tool equipment fields.

The things that Yamazaki Mazak, Deutsche Sim and other machine tool giants bullied domestic users in those days are basically no longer found.

The kind of software that you bought with a lot of money, but you don't know how to use it, and people deliberately block you.

There are also operations such as the equipment being locked after moving, which are becoming less and less common now.

The most important thing is that there are fewer and fewer companies importing machine tools from abroad.

In the past, China had to spend a lot of foreign exchange every year to import machine tool equipment from Japan, Germany and other places. Now the foreign exchange funds saved in this area are more than 10 billion US dollars every year.

Among them, Nanshan Equipment and Jier Machine Tool Factory have naturally made great contributions.

Domestic manufacturers have begun to accept domestic equipment, and the capacity utilization rate of related equipment manufacturers has naturally soared rapidly.

At the beginning, the factory area of ​​Jier Machine Tool Factory was very large, and a lot of construction land was reserved.

Now all of them are almost used, so we are considering building a new modern factory.

Cao Yang is also very supportive of this.

Because during the construction of this new factory, many of the imported equipment were produced by Nanshan Equipment.

"The commissioning of the new Jier factory is a major event in our Chinese machine tool industry. I will definitely participate."

Although Cao Yang is very busy, there are still some activities that need to be attended.

Eighty percent of the equipment in the new factory of Jier Machine Tool Factory was purchased from Nanshan Equipment.

After all, although Jier produces machine tools, the equipment needed for production and assembly is not their area of ​​expertise.

For example, various control systems, robots and other products, Jier itself does not make them.

So to some extent, the new factory of Jier Machine Tool Factory can be regarded as a demonstration project of Nanshan Equipment.

At that time, it can be introduced well, so that other customers can also consider purchasing the entire factory production line from Nanshan Equipment.

This kind of "turnkey" project is definitely very attractive to some customers who are not short of money.

For example, some new car-making forces have just entered the automotive industry, and the company's employees are also from all over the world, and they are a team of people gathered from all over the world.

In fact, the ability of these people needs to be observed.

If they are directly responsible for the construction of the new factory, there may be some problems.

At this time, all the complete sets of equipment are handed over to Nanshan Equipment, and things will be much simpler.

This is not the first time that Nanshan Equipment has done similar projects, and its reputation in the industry is still good.

If Nanshan Equipment is entrusted to do the overall work, the final cost may be lower.

After all, Nanshan Equipment already has its own fixed industrial chain and suppliers. It can produce the equipment it can produce by itself, and leave the equipment it cannot produce to cooperative suppliers.

In the end, the cost is lower than that of Party A looking for suppliers to supply equipment one by one.

"Mr. Cao, Nanshan Equipment is now the world's largest equipment manufacturer."

"In the future, the orders for our new factory will depend on you."

Although a small part of the products of Jier Machine Tool Factory overlap with Nanshan Equipment, it is considered a competitor.

But more often, the cooperative relationship between them is very close.

For example, in the projects built by automobile factories, the stamping workshop generally uses TDM presses to form a stamping line. This type of equipment is what Jier is good at, and Nanshan Equipment is basically not involved.

In the past, it was not the first time that Nanshan Equipment took the project of the entire factory and handed over the stamping equipment to Jier for production.

That's why Zhang Sheng said that.

"Nowadays, presses are all transforming towards servo presses. If Ji Er can keep up with the pace in this regard, it doesn't have to worry about orders."

"The quotations from stamping equipment manufacturers in Japan and Germany are still too high."

"Most of the customers who are building new factories now are from countries with less developed economies, and they are still quite sensitive to prices."

"At the same time, everyone still has a relatively high pursuit of technological advancement."

"This somewhat contradictory demand is most suitable for our Chinese equipment manufacturers to deal with."

Cao Yang is still optimistic about the equipment industry.

Whether it is America or China, or India and Africa, everyone will continue to realize that industry is still very important.

Therefore, the support for industry will only be strengthened, not weakened.

And to develop industry, various machine tools are absolutely indispensable.

Zhang Sheng naturally agreed with Cao Yang's reminder.

However, with the continuous expansion of production capacity of Jier Machine Tool Factory and Nanshan Equipment, other manufacturers are in a difficult situation.

For example, Schuler, which has a pivotal position in the global stamping equipment industry, is now almost unable to survive in the Chinese market.

"Lucas, now even the suppliers of Spring City Volkswagen and Magic City Volkswagen use a large number of presses produced by Jier and Nanshan Equipment. If the headquarters does not give us more authority, Schuler's days in China will be very difficult in the future."

As one of the earliest employees of Schuler China, Xu Dacheng has now become the sales director of Schuler China.

His former boss, Lucas, is now the general manager of Schuler China.

So the relationship between the two of them is very close, and they can talk about anything in private.

Even which lady yesterday is more beautiful, and which place to change next time, are all casual.

"The headquarters has already placed part of the stamping equipment in China for production, and even some key parts are purchased in China."

"What kind of greater authorization do you think is needed?"

Lucas frowned and looked at Xu Dacheng, with a little idea in his mind.

As the world's largest provider of stamping equipment solutions, Schuler had a good life.

But in the past ten years, the situation has been getting worse and worse.

Now they can't even keep the top three positions in China.

The key is that the market share of the first and second place is higher than that of all other manufacturers behind them combined.

It can be said that the alliance formed by Nanshan Equipment and Ji'er Machine Tool Factory has almost eaten up the market share of various high, medium and low markets in this industry.

What is left for Schuler is mainly some orders from German-related investment companies.

But even this basic foundation is now unstable.

"Establish a research and development center in China, benchmark Nanshan equipment and Ji'er Machine Tool Factory, and promote the full localization of all parts."

"At that time, we will control the production cost of the equipment to the same level as Ji'er Machine Tool Factory and Nanshan equipment, and ensure that the quality will not be worse."

"In this case, combined with the brand influence of our Schuler, I believe that many Chinese companies will still consider re-selecting us."

"Otherwise, our selling price is always several percent higher than others, which is completely uncompetitive."

Xu Dacheng's plan is to fully transform Schuler into a Chinese company.

Except for shareholders, everything else must be consistent with Chinese companies.

Only in this way can Schuler maintain sufficient competitiveness.

"The headquarters actually has no big objection to the goal of 100% localization."

"But it is probably difficult to put all the R&D work in China."

"This means that some of Schuler's most core design information must be handed over."

Lucas joined Schuler after graduating from university. After working for more than ten years in Deutsche, he continued to work in Schuler China for more than ten years.

He is very familiar with the various situations within Schuler.

For many equipment industries, R&D design is the most core resource.

As long as this part of the resources is mastered, it is not that difficult to process and assemble the equipment.

When most foreign-funded enterprises enter the Chinese market, they only bring the production link to China.

People are reluctant to bring in R&D easily.

Although there have been significant changes in recent years, such as Volkswagen and BMW have set up R&D centers in China and started to put the R&D work of vehicle models in China.

But for most manufacturers, they are still not willing to do this.

"If you are not willing to do R&D and production for the Chinese market, then I suggest that the headquarters lower the control requirements for equipment sales yield."

"As long as we can avoid losses, we can consider selling the equipment to maintain our market influence."

"Otherwise, we will gradually become a marginal brand in the market."

Although Xu Dacheng is not a stubborn person.

But if some things are not made clear, he feels that the future will be more difficult.

Especially the new factory of Ji No. 2 Machine Tool Factory is about to be put into production. At that time, the production capacity will be greatly expanded, and the production cost will definitely drop significantly.

In order to make use of the production capacity of their new factory, it is almost inevitable to fight a price war.

And this is exactly the situation that Xu Dacheng least wants to see.

The equipment they sell has no great profit.

If the price continues to drop, it will really be a loss-making business.

"If the Chinese market cannot bring profits to the headquarters, then it is very likely that they will consider withdrawing from the Chinese market completely."

"Xu, you also have to consider where to go in the future."

After Lucas said this, Xu Dacheng's face changed drastically.

Is this day finally coming?

This is not the ending he hopes to see.

During his days at Schuler, although it was sometimes difficult to be suppressed by competitors, the overall income was not greatly affected, which is very important.

At Schuler, although sales staff have bonuses, most of their income is in the basic salary.

So even if the bonus coefficient is not ideal, the overall income will not be particularly affected.

Otherwise, Xu Dacheng would probably have stopped working long ago.

"Lucas, has the headquarters officially considered closing the Chinese branch?"

Xu Dacheng is still very active in this matter that concerns his future.

If you understand the situation in advance, no matter what countermeasures you take to deal with it, you can take a certain initiative.

"Although it has not been finalized, if there is no way to make a profit, then staying in the Chinese market is no longer meaningful."

Lucas knew that the situation in the Chinese market was no longer what it used to be.

Schuler no longer had any technical advantages, nor any cost advantages.

In this case, it was almost a matter of time before it could not survive.

Many Japanese home appliance companies have gradually withdrawn from the market in recent years, and the situation is actually similar.

Without technical advantages and cost advantages, customers will naturally not choose you.

If customers have abandoned you, then it is naturally time for you to exit the market.

"Will you consider layoffs or a comprehensive exit from the market at that time?"

Xu Dacheng further confirmed the subsequent arrangements, but Lucas did not give him any accurate answers.

And Schuler's situation is actually just a microcosm of the changes in the Chinese stamping equipment market.

Aida Press, which also produces stamping equipment, officially announced the shutdown plan on the day when the new factory of Ji'er Machine Tool Factory was officially put into production.

"Mr. Liu, if you are willing to follow me back to Japan, I can help find a way to transfer you back to the headquarters to work."

"Otherwise, you can only accept this closure plan."

Ichiro Kato is still very concerned about Liu Wenfei, who has mastered many of his affairs.

Although Aida Stamping is preparing to withdraw from the Chinese market in an all-round way, it will only retain a few after-sales personnel to deal with the situation in the next few years.

In this case, Ichiro Kato, the vice president of sales, naturally has no need to exist.

Liu Wenfei has followed him step by step from an ordinary employee to the head of the sales department over the years, and has helped Ichiro Kato do a lot of things.

Even when Ichiro Kato's girlfriend came to make trouble, it was Liu Wenfei who helped settle it.

Ichiro Kato is still willing to continue using familiar people.

Anyway, after he returns to the headquarters, he can continue to serve as the deputy director of the Aida Stamping Sales Headquarters, which is equivalent to a half-level promotion.

The performance of the Chinese market is not good, but he can be promoted half a level back to the headquarters in Japan.

There is no doubt that there is someone behind him.

Otherwise, how could he get this treatment?

"Mr. Kato, although the company is preparing to shut down related factories and completely withdraw from the Chinese market."

"But the after-sales business of the equipment sold in the past still needs to be continued, and the company will retain a part of the after-sales team."

"I think even after-sales work actually requires communication with customers."

"Can the person in charge of after-sales be laid off and the remaining staff be handed over to me?"

Although the compensation plan given by Aida Stamping is very good, it directly reaches the level of 2N.

This condition leaves many people speechless.

However, Liu Wenfei still wonders whether he can continue to stay in the company.

Because if the remaining people are handed over to him, it basically means that he will be the actual person in charge of Aida in China in the future.

There are not many specific things every day, but he can continue to receive a salary.

If he really withdraws from the Chinese market one day, he can still continue to receive compensation conditions that are not lower than the current ones.

Based on these premises, Liu Wenfei hopes that he can continue to stay.

Anyway, for Kato Ichiro, this is within the scope of operation.

"Aren't you going to look for some new opportunities while you're still young?"

"Or follow me back to Japan?"

Ichiro Kato did not directly agree or reject Liu Wenfei's proposal, but continued to confirm what he was concerned about.

Just as Liu Wenfei thought, it was not difficult for Ichiro Kato to help with this matter.

"Although I speak Japanese very well, the living environment in Japan is very different from that in China after all."

‘I am very willing to go on business trips frequently to report to you, but I may not be able to consider working in Japan for the time being. ’

“As for looking for new opportunities outside, I have not considered this for the time being.”

“Over the years, I have been accustomed to working for Aida Stamping, and I hope to continue working for the company.”

Liu Wenfei answered Kato Ichiro’s question half-truthfully.

In fact, he also has to go to Japan for business trips many times every year, and he has a lot of say in the living environment of the two places.

With his appearance, he will definitely be an ordinary sales representative when he goes to the Japanese headquarters.

The atmosphere in the Japanese office is quite depressing, not like the Chinese side at all.

He is really a little uncomfortable with the fact that he can’t even speak loudly.

In addition to the price difference, he is not very interested in working in Japan.

This is a bit different from some people.

After listening to Liu Wenfei’s choice, Kato Ichiro did not force it.

As long as he can appease this subordinate and don’t suddenly cause trouble for himself, that’s fine.

…

“Mr. Cao, Huitian Stamping has announced its withdrawal from the Chinese market, and Schuler will probably not be able to hold on for much longer.”

“In the field of stamping equipment, basically no one can threaten our position.”

“However, in terms of various CNC machine tools, we have not yet formed a monopoly advantage, and we are ready to continue to strengthen it.”

“On this basis, we are also constantly expanding equipment in new fields. Today, I will report to you about artificial diamond production equipment.”

Taking advantage of the turbulent changes in the stamping equipment industry, Pan Jinxing reported the latest research and development results of Nanshan Equipment to Cao Yang.

As the largest equipment manufacturer in China, Nanshan Equipment launches new products every year.

Some are specially developed according to the needs of various affiliated companies of the group, and some are specially developed according to the needs of customers.

Some are completely in the field that Nanshan Equipment wants to tackle.

In all walks of life in China, many large manufacturers have become accustomed to looking for solutions from Nanshan Equipment when they encounter special equipment for producing parts, but they cannot buy similar equipment on the market or are dissatisfied with the equipment on the market.

This can be regarded as a side proof of the special status of Nanshan Equipment in the Chinese equipment industry.

There is obviously nothing wrong with describing Nanshan Equipment as "a timely rain in the equipment industry".

"Artificial diamond production equipment?"

"This thing should have been studied by companies many years ago, right?"

Artificial diamonds are not new.

In 1952, William Eversall, a scientist at the Federal Silicon Carbide Company, first discovered artificial synthetic diamonds using chemical vapor deposition.

In 1954, Dr. Hall, the head of General Electric's "Super Pressure Project", led a team to make further progress in the field of artificially cultivated diamonds, making great contributions to the artificial synthetic diamonds of later generations, and the first "high temperature and high pressure synthetic diamond" was born.

And in 1970, General Electric successfully cultivated the first gem-grade large diamond through improved technology.

After years of development, the technology of artificial synthetic diamonds has become more and more sophisticated, so artificial synthetic diamonds have gradually entered the market.

Moreover, in normal life, artificial diamonds are almost the same as naturally formed diamonds in appearance, color and size.

If you don't use some professional instruments for analysis and testing, the naked eye can't identify them at all.

Some people even think that the color and quality of diamonds are far higher than natural diamonds.

"Yes, artificial diamonds have been made for a long time, and even some of them are quite good in our country."

"But the price of artificial diamonds is still too high, about one-third to one-half of natural diamonds."

"And the technology of artificial diamonds in large grains is not particularly mature, and the production cycle is a bit long."

"We Nanshan Equipment produces various machine tools, whether it is a lathe or a grinder, all of which need to use diamonds as a material to produce cutting tools."

"It can be said that diamonds are a relatively important raw material for us, and also an important raw material for many of our customers."

"In addition, the jewelry market has been The market is developing very fast, and the demand for both artificial diamonds and natural diamonds is relatively strong. "

"So we thought about developing a device that can efficiently produce large-grain diamonds."

"The equipment we have developed can produce large-grain diamonds in the shortest time, reducing the production cost of diamonds by more than half on the existing basis."

"And our diamond cultivation workshop can realize unmanned production and continuously provide a large number of diamonds."

"To be frank, after our unmanned diamond cultivation factory is fully mass-produced in a few months, the number of diamonds cultivated by our factory alone will exceed 30% of the world's artificial diamonds."

"As long as we are willing, it will be no problem for us to occupy 90% of the global artificial diamond market in the next three years."

"The price of diamonds will definitely plummet further by then, greatly reducing our cost of use."

After Pan Jinxing said this, Cao Yang became interested.

Diamonds are not only a kind of decoration, but also an industrial product.

If they are used well, there are really many things that can be done.

He even thought of the special use of diamonds, which can lay a foundation for the technological leadership of Venusstar Technology.

This matter can be arranged as soon as possible.