Yves Serra was the CEO of the Swiss Georg Fischer (GF) Group. Since he was appointed to the 2008 financial crisis, he has devoted more attention to the Chinese market, especially in recent years. When I come to China two or three times, at least three weeks at a time, I spend time visiting customers and more and more time interacting with front-line employees. 'Today, China's competitive situation and development opportunities have undergone qualitative changes. It's a place where you can 'witness miracles'," said Yves Saila.
In the 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s market has grown in size. For example, in the field of precision machining, the Chinese market was previously a very small piece. In just 25 years, it has become the largest market in the world. The more important change is that Quality improvement, 'China has entered a new stage of consumer upgrading and quality upgrading. Consumers want higher quality products, and companies are increasingly valued for quality.' For quality-famous 'Swiss Made' For the GF Group, which has inherited 215 years of innovation, this may be a very favorable signal.
Unmatched China Market
Taking the pipeline system, automotive products and processing solutions as the core business, the products produced by GF Group are involved in almost every aspect of our lives – in the automotive sector, GF's customers include not only Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Hyundai, etc. A joint venture brand and owns many independent brand users such as Great Wall, Geely, Chery, etc. In the pipeline market, GF's products are widely used in national large-scale projects such as the Bird's Nest, Expo Park, National Grand Theater, and Vanke, Greenland, Landsea The real estate projects of enterprises, etc. As for the machining industry, the machine tool products of GF Machining Solutions are in all corners of Chinese manufacturing industry, be it daily products such as beverages, ballpoint pens, electronic products such as mobile phones and tablet computers, and high-end manufacturing such as aero engines. In the field, GF's machine tools can be seen everywhere, helping the development of China's manufacturing industry at all levels.
According to the 2016 annual report, GF Group's performance in the global market is as always 'stable', with annual sales increasing 3% year-on-year. By contrast, GF's performance in the Chinese market can be described as 'bright'.
In 2016, GF Pipeline Systems acquired a total of three companies, two of which were Chinese companies (Shuchang Automotive Components Co., Ltd. and Jingdeng Lingyun Gas Equipment Co., Ltd., which was acquired through the Asia-Pacific Group). Although last year's GF automotive business, The overall growth is only slightly, but the Chinese market has grown strongly by 12%, with a turnover of 100 million Swiss francs (about 663 million yuan).
Today, GF has been in China for 30 years. Mr. Saila mentioned that China currently accounts for 20% of GF's global business, especially the precision machining market, which already accounts for 40% of the group's global market. GF's pipeline in China , Automotive, and processing solutions will continue to expand production capacity.
The GF Group also has a five-year plan - to achieve a turnover of 4.5-5.0 billion Swiss francs (about 29-325 billion U.S. dollars) by 2020 since 2015. An important force is to target the high-end market. In the crucial stage of China's economic restructuring, new markets have brought new opportunities. 'China is a strategic market for GF Group, the Chinese government has paid more and more attention to quality and ecological issues',saila said. GF Group in China The layout has been adjusted accordingly, increasing investment in lightweight auto parts, automated machine tools, and intelligent piping systems. In the increasingly vibrant new energy vehicle market, preparations are also in full swing.
Innovation is not mystery
'I very much like to talk to Chinese customers. Their fast-changing needs are the source of our innovation.' During the interview, Yves Sela repeatedly stressed the need to understand and meet customer needs. For GF Group, this is absolutely It is not empty talk. It has many aspects and has spared no effort to implement.
We can look at innovations in this way: One is to accumulate a product or technology that has some disruptive significance over the years to stimulate and lead the needs of consumers, such as Apple’s launch of the iPhone; the other is to understand Innovating on the basis of consumer demand, better grasping trends and adapting to the market. In Serra's view, it is not always possible to carry out breakthrough innovations like Apple's in daily work (in fact, even Apple himself cannot do it). , More is to constantly understand the customer, adjust the product, adapt to the demand. 'In essence, the reason why innovation becomes innovation, it is precisely to solve the customer's needs. So GF Group on the one hand independent breakthrough R & D, many engineers involved Among them, contributing power; On the other hand, marketers and product managers who are in the front line of the market will also participate in R&D. They can get feedback from customers and understand the true needs of customers. 'Sela said, 'GF Group's management There are rules and regulations, 50% of the working time must be spent on customers, including myself, and so on. '
However, it is not enough to be next to the customers. Excavating customer needs is a systematic project. On the one hand, GF Group has built up a rich and professional talent team and recruited engineers from hardware, software, machinery, environment and other fields; On the one hand, through training, they continuously improve their professional skills and can accurately grasp the difficulties and pain points of customer needs. Then they can develop new products based on this, or upgrade the original products. 'Employees must visit customers Photographs, video shoots, from some details to find out what kind of problems the customer has, to optimize based on these issues, the bigger the company is to avoid some 'unnecessary innovations' and to design something that the customer simply does not need. Sella said.
Switzerland is a small country with a small population, but its manufacturing industry enjoys a high reputation internationally. According to Yves Serra, there is a strong gene for the pursuit of extremeness and innovation in this land. 'Because Swiss companies can't survive without innovation.' The innovative gene infiltrate the development of the GF Group, forming its simplest but most core competitiveness.
Intelligent manufacturing is a means
When talking about the hot topic of “smart manufacturing,” Yves Sayra's rather calm opinion can't help but think about it. 'Made in China 2025' is just like Industry 4.0. In this process, Companies need to adapt to new needs through reforms to meet their ultimate needs.
Since it started in Germany in 2011, the wave of Industry 4.0 has now swept all corners of global manufacturing. In this mighty new industrial revolution, countries have frequently adopted strategies from the national level to seize opportunities and seize the commanding heights; Industry giants have also laid plans to lead the trend of change. As a world-class industrial giant, GF Group is also naturally exploring and deploying Industry 4.0, but it still maintains its innovative rhythm.
In the field of pipelines, GF's approach is to install sensors on pipeline components, so that the entire pipeline system has communication and perception capabilities, can be aware of the installation of components in place, whether there is a leak, if there is a potential risk, The system will feedback in time, and the staff will repair it in time to eliminate hidden dangers. In the field of machining, GF can customize a unique workshop management software for customers, and can contact all processing machines of all machine tools, robots and other parts, and the processing flow of all parts. Together, it enables intelligent judgment and monitoring of the entire machining state, ensuring that the entire machining process is under unified control, ensuring that all processes can be processed in the correct state. In this way, not only processing efficiency can be greatly improved, Can also guarantee the quality and level of processing, to create greater value for customers.
Although it can provide customers with such a high level of intelligent solutions, GF Group does not place all its emphasis on high-level intelligence, but starts from the actual situation and the actual needs of customers. From the point of view, this just reflects the stability and rationality of GF. 'If the machinery and equipment itself is not good enough, it is like building a fortress in the desert. GF is a Swiss company. Quality is our business card. We must not lose it', Yves • Syrah said, 'Our growth plan is a qualitative growth, not an empty talk. To seek stability, balance growth, this is our main strategy. The best to meet customer needs is our goal. . '