Daikin revenue, profitability record high, last year's EPS nearly 647 yen
In the industrial zone near Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, the world's largest air conditioning equipment brand, Daikin, has developed the world's first air-conditioner compressor that can operate even in Southeast Asia, where electricity is often disrupted and voltage instability is present.
Returning to Taiwan with the same high humidity but with great physical comfort, Daikin has introduced an air conditioner that can turn on dehumidification and cooling at the same time. After reaching the set temperature, the compressor will not need to be cooled down, but it will still contain a small amount of refrigerant. Dehumidification, somatosensory temperature will feel comfortable due to humidity drops, but also more energy-efficient, which is also a new technology before grabbing the opponent.
"Daikin can continue to grow. It's really nothing special to say it is white. For a manufacturer, the most important thing is to provide products that best meet the needs of the market," Daikin Industries' Oceanian vice-minister, Oceania Ando Shigo, sat in Bangkok. In the office, using the Japanese people's conservative and non-flattering tone to explain Daikin’s revenue, why the net profit can be renewed.
According to the 2017 earnings report released by Daikin (from fiscal year April 17 to March 18), revenue reached 2.29 trillion yen, 4.7 times that of Panasonic's air-conditioning business, and net profit of 18,000. 9.1 billion yen (approximately NT$52.3 billion), EPS of 647 yen per share, selling air-conditioner only, net margin of 8.25%, earning more than anything else in the household electrical appliance industry.
Although it is not the Japan Electric Group, it has diversified its business in large-scale groups such as Hitachi, Matsushita and Toshiba, such as Octopus octopus. Over the years, it has focused exclusively on Daikin, which is related to the "air" field. , 15% of the revenue also comes from the air-related chemical business, including the sale of air-conditioning refrigerant in the most important key consumables.
Concentration is the key to Dakin earning and winning the industry, but it is actually difficult to concentrate. In recent years, in the face of the rise of South Korea’s Samsung, LG and China, Hitachi has not only sold 60% of its air-conditioning business, but is even worse than Toshiba’s. Household appliances were sold to the China-US group, Sharp became a member of the Hon Hai Group, and Sanyo eventually lost even the brand.
From the three sites around the world, we see that only those who focus on doing "air conditioning" are the kings of profit-making.
Thailand" cover networking factory
Labor Province 74%, capacity increase 3.4 times
Daikin had already set up a compressor plant in Thailand as early as 2002. At that time, Thailand’s minimum wage was THB 146 a day, but by 2016, it had doubled to 300 baht. In order to reduce costs, the head of Daikin Thai Compressor Co., Ltd. Tian Zhiren, proposed to the headquarters to build a plan for the Internet of Things (IOT) and a highly automated production line.
In the middle of last year, the latest third plant was officially opened. From the outside, it looks no different from the appearance and area of the first factory. However, in fact, its production capacity is 3.4 times that of the first factory. .
When I walk into the factory, I see a space that is partitioned by a transparent curtain. The robotic arm is busy picking up and down and assembling the components. A pair of well-matched spindles and bearings are arranged in a row and ordered to be assembled. , And there is a blue box in front of the assembly disk, which records all the parts data that has been measured by the computer.
Because every part has a slight difference in labor, in the past, this process must be manually measured one by one, and then manually selected and the spindle is only 3 microns within the gap to match the pair of bearings, both labor-consuming and inaccurate, now big gold The design of this automated instrument, which originally required 27 people, dropped drastically to just 7 people, a 74% reduction.
After walking through the third factory building, a kanban marked with the difference between front and back manpower and cost can be seen beside each process. In the past, in the No. 1 plant, a compressor was completed every 30 seconds. By the end of this year, the third plant is expected. The production capacity will be expanded to an annual production of 1.8 million units. By then, the average production time will only be 10.5 seconds, and the production efficiency will be greatly improved. Moreover, the annual production cost will also be 800 million yen less than the No. 1 plant.
In fact, Daikin not only uses IoT technology on the production line, they also want to develop next-generation air conditioners.
Japan" Training AI Talent
Push the air system and collect heartbeats
At the end of 2015, Daikin spent 38 billion yen. In Shiga Prefecture, Japan, where the production line has been relocated, it has created a technology innovation center (TIC) that is responsible for Daikin's global air conditioning technology R&D.
Recently, Daikin’s hottest research topics are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things technologies. According to Nikkei Business, Daikin hopes to use the Internet of Things to push the “custom air” brand new service market.
Mr. Ando explained that Daikin and NEC are cooperating in the Center for Technology Innovation to study how space, air conditioning and lighting should be designed in order to maximize energy efficiency. At the same time, by collecting heartbeats, breathing, etc. for everyone in the office space. The Vital Signs data demonstrates each person's different comfort feelings about the air. “We imagine that the next generation of air conditioners is not a box that will blow out the wind or adjust the temperature and humidity. The future air conditioning will be more and more detailed, and it can also meet the needs of everyone. development of. "
Their preliminary experiments were divided into three types of environments: the temperature was kept at 27 degrees Celsius, the temperature was given to different temperatures, and the air-conditioning emitted aroma. The cameras and sensors recorded hundreds of people's heartbeat and breathing. Then they were analyzed by artificial intelligence. These big data are used to determine the mental condition of each person under different circumstances.
In addition, Daikin has an experimental site in Kobe. They set the temperature and humidity to be able to fine-tune 0.1 degrees Celsius and 1%. In addition, they also give different fragrances and lights to allow the subjects to work inside. The breathing, heartbeat, and work efficiency of these people in different environments.
In order to apply AI cutting-edge research to air-conditioning technology, Daikin invested approximately 3% of its annual net profit and 5.6 billion yen in research funding at the end of last year. Osaka University asked them to identify AI related fields such as image recognition and deep learning. The exclusive course, which currently has about 100 students, aims to train a thousand AI talents by 2020.
Taiwan's qualified dealer
Support technology, make everyone rich
The unique and close dealer system is another key to Daikin's success.
Incumbent Dajin’s president, Inoue, once visited the national distributor when he took office. At that time, Daikin established a sales company through itself, and then the sales company wholesaled air conditioners to dealers, blindly demanding that they accept sales targets, but not Providing such technical support, many dealers began to leave them, let Inoue feel a strong sense of crisis, and proceed to change the situation, to make money with their dealers to earn.
The lens returned to Taiwan.
"While using wholesale methods, those people will not help you to care for the market. Prices and quality cannot be maintained. They will not design, will not install, just make money to change hands," in order to keep the market and ensure the profit of dealers, and Tai Dajin’s general manager Wang Xuang Lang spent more than 20 years, and he has trained qualified dealers. So far, there have been over 1,000 Taiwanese companies. “You see a certified shop with Dajin signs on the doorway, and the average annual revenue is 7 , 8 million yuan. ”
At the time of Inoue’s taking over as President Daikin, Daikin suffered losses for the first time in 17 years. He resolutely cut off the 7-year investment, but it was always the largest robotic business in deficit, and he re-centered on the air conditioner and gradually expanded. Related to the industry such as refrigeration, refrigerant and other markets.
“It is better to use core technology and core business than to airborne into a new business.” Inoue said, “In the core business area, there are many opportunities for development.”