Weichai, Shengrui blaze trail for industry

The two leaders' superior products are setting standards around the world and bringing the manufacturing process and profits home, Tang Zhihao reports.

Leading companies in the Weifang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone are pushing up technology and product renewal in support of the local manufacturing industry's upgrade and transformation.

Weichai Group, one of the leading diesel engine developers in China, reported 50 billion yuan ($7.3 billion) in sales in the first quarter of 2017, up 86.4 percent year-on-year. Its net profit increased 126.6 percent compared to the same period last year.

The demand for Weichai's products is so high that clients have to wait for days to get the final products.

"The country's economic situation is steadying and improving, while rules curbing overload trucks get stricter, both helping the market to get warmer," said Zhang Quan, CEO of Weichai Power, a subsidiary of Weichai Group.

The company said product innovation is a key element of its growth.

Zhang said the country's policy change has helped to increase the demand for engines with 500 horsepower in the heavy truck industry. Weichai foresaw the upcoming business opportunities, and developed and reserved such products two years ago.

Li Shaohua, vice-president of Weichai Power, said that the company experienced a drop in sales in 2014 and 2015 due to the economic slowdown, which put pressure on the company to adjust its development and structure.

The company introduced one of the first 13-liter-class engines in China in 2015 and successfully led the Chinese heavy truck industry's increase in power.

At the end of 2016, the company developed engines and components for large mining trucks with China Shenhua Group, a leading State-owned energy company, to expand its product portfolio.

"Manufacturing enterprises can have a future only if they improve innovation capacity and product quality," said Li. "If you don't have the core technologies, then the big part of the profits will be taken away by others."

Weichai is not the only business in the high-tech zone paying attention to product innovation.

Shengrui Transmission Corp, developer of the world's first-ever front-engine, front-drive 8-gear auto transmission (8AT), launched a two-month production upgrade project on April 15. The company will be able to increase annual production capacity from 150,000 8ATs to 250,000 beginning in June.

Shengrui revealed that a new production line will start construction at the end of this year, effectively expanding the company's annual production capacity to 550,000 units annually.

Shengrui's rapid growth was strongly supported by its innovation capability.

The privately-owned company, transformed from a Stated-owned diesel engine parts supplier in 2003, started to research and develop the world's first front-engine, front-drive 8AT in 2006.

Li Weiqiang, deputy general manager of Shengrui, recalled that the 4AT was the mainstream product in the domestic market in 2007, when the company started to make samples of the 8AT.

"Very few domestic companies could even produce the 6AT. The market for 8AT was dominated by Japanese and German companies," said Li.

He said many core technologies in the vehicle manufacturing industry, such as electronics, engines, transmissions and integrated control systems, were controlled by foreign developers.

Shengrui introduced the first 8AT prototype in 2010. It has been able to produce the prototype locally since 2012.

The company has established partnerships with many automotive developers to increase awareness of its 8AT. For instance, the 8AT has been equipped on Landwind-branded vehicles in China.

Shengrui's 8AT won the National Science and Technology Progress Award in January. The award is one of China's top prizes devised by the State Council in recognition of scientific contributions made by both groups and individuals. The company has become the first auto parts supplier to obtain such an award in China since 1949, when the People's Republic of China was established.

Shengrui's automotive transmission industrial park, which started construction in May last year, will soon be completed.

Contact the writer at tangzhihao@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/08/2017 page12)