Finishing / Ba Jiuling (WeChat Public Account: Wu Xiaobo Channel)
Standing on the square in front of Gree, an employee passed by the minibus, and I heard him sigh in Cantonese: There are so many people.
There were only three teams at the scene, but we had six teams and 12 buses.
This is a streamlined team. At first, more than 800 people signed up. Later, more than 600 people were confirmed to be able to come. In the end, due to epidemic prevention and control, only more than 400 people did so.
So many people want to come, one is to see Gree’s “core technology”, and the other is to see Ms. Dong Mingzhu.
At the manufacturing summit we held last year, the minibus found that although the news about her on the Internet was either a live broadcast or accosted by Internet celebrities, there was always a bit of gossip and bad intentions, but in the entrepreneur group Here, Miss Dong’s reputation is almost unmatched. When she came on stage, many people spontaneously gave a standing ovation.
The same is true this time. Before the guest sharing session, Mr. Wu took into account everyone’s mood, and specially arranged for the female students to sit in the middle area of the front row of the venue, so that when Miss Dong arrived, everyone would come to the stage to take a big group photo, and also blocked her from being alone. Group photo interruption.
As soon as she entered the venue, the order was immediately out of control, and Teacher Wu was overwhelmed by the surging crowd.
The day before, Mr. Wu wrote “I’m going to see Dong Mingzhu at this time”, which said:
People in the business world are looking for something called “confidence”.
Where is the confidence, I have no direction, so I thought, why don’t I go to see some people who are still working hard, maybe they have.
Facts have proved that Ms. Dong Mingzhu did give us confidence.
She said: Don’t give up our future goals because of the difficulty of the road.
She said: You can’t rely on others, you must rely on yourself.
She said: Don’t hold back.
These are the big truths we have been listening to, but from her mouth, it is full of strength and inspiring.
Because she is Dong Mingzhu, she is a “big woman” who is 68 years old and still fighting in the front line of the industry.
While sorting out her speech, Xiaobus realized that it is difficult to convey our feelings on the scene in pure words. Applause broke out several times in the venue, and she kept suppressing the applause with her own voice. Time is limited and she comes and goes in a hurry. She doesn’t want to spend her time receiving compliments, but prefers to talk more.
At the later resumption meeting, many students said that they were inspired by Dong Mingzhu. Some people say: learn from Sister Dong, at least until the age of 69.
It’s really hard not to be moved by her, especially after seeing Gree under her leadership.
Over the years, the minibus has visited more than 30 factories, including five or six of the Fortune 500 companies. Every time I enter the factory, I always pay attention to the brands of those large-scale equipment, whether they are more domestically produced or imported, so as to roughly estimate the level of manufacturing technology.
In Gree’s factory, I saw Gree’s own CNC machine tools, producing Gree’s own molds, similar to this, the minibus has never seen it elsewhere.
At this time, you will know that “mastering core technology” is not an empty talk. Dong Mingzhu uses this sentence as an advertising slogan because she is really proud of it.
The person in charge of the mold factory said that in 2011, Gree bought a set of scrapped molds from a Japanese manufacturer at a cost of 1.8 million. It took four years to build it by myself, and another four to five years to reach the world’s leading craftsmanship level.
There is also a five-axis machine tool, bought for more than 18 million, equipped with a positioning device, which may be remotely locked for random movement or maintenance. So Gree developed its own five-axis machine tool, which has been put into use. The work surface is still relatively small, but the first step is to start from scratch, and the second step is to make it better and stronger.
On a display stand, there is an open impeller smaller than the palm of the hand. The person in charge said that the market purchase price is 15,000 yuan, and the cost of self-made is several thousand yuan. Do you think the huge R&D investment is worth it or not?
At the end of the factory explanation, a group of people surrounded the person in charge and added WeChat. Some people hoped to purchase Gree’s molds, and some hoped that Gree would help them complete the factory automation transformation. It is important to gain confidence from Miss Dong, and it is equally important to learn from Gree and improve the strength of your own factory.
The minibus has compiled the essence of Dong Mingzhu and Mr. Wu’s speeches, as well as their dialogues, in order to pass on confidence and experience to you.
Dong Mingzhu Chairman and President of Zhuhai Gree Electric Appliances Co., Ltd.
The central government advocates “keeping integrity and innovation”, and Gree has also adhered to the right path and took the road of independent innovation in the past ten years.
For Chinese manufacturing, what is the right way? I think the first is to have talents, the second is to have technology, the third is to have the ability to innovate, and the fourth and most important thing is to have the spirit of daring to challenge yourself.
In fact, in 2005, we just started to enter the field of core components such as compressors and motors. In 2012, when I became the chairman of Gree Electric, we only had a R&D team of 5,000 people.
In the 10 years from 2012 to the present, the R&D team has reached 16,000, and the number of patented technologies has exceeded 100,000.
Today Gree can proudly say that it has the right to speak in the world. In ten years, we have realized the upgrade of the optical storage “zero carbon source” technology from the first generation to the third generation, and this technology is currently the world’s first. .
In the past ten years, we have adhered to the road of independent innovation, and we will never waver in our beliefs. Therefore, I would like to say a word to you, don’t back down when you encounter difficulties, and you must rely on yourself.
You have come to see Gree today, and you have learned about Gree’s quality control. This is my greatest achievement, because it is full of our dreams.
Many of the entrepreneurs here today are from the manufacturing industry. You must have the spirit of not being afraid of losses and pursuing perfection, and not cutting corners where consumers cannot see them.
I resolutely told my employees that we shouldn’t take opportunistic actions just because consumers can’t see them. These things are easy to say, but in the process of experiencing, you can stick to it and not waver, it is indeed a kind of self-revolution.
So I said a word, quality is related to two lives, one is the life of consumers, the other is the life of the enterprise itself. When you respect other people’s lives, you respect your life.
I have another sentence, when you stand on the top of the mountain, there is a starry sky above your head.
Why is Gree air conditioner characterized by quietness? Why should even the loudest wall breaker be quiet? Why is the same level of energy efficiency, but we can save 30% more energy than others?
Because a manufacturing enterprise, if it can’t make products to the extreme, and does not conduct research and development based on the needs of consumers, it will not last for a long time. Only technologies developed based on consumer demand can have real value and significance.
Behind this is our perseverance and perseverance. Just because the company has grown bigger, you must be high above the ground. You must have a kind of respect. The greatest respect for consumers is to come up with the best products.
Wu Xiaobo Financial Writer, Initiator of “Into the Benchmark Factory”
What is the doorway of a business? The first is called product, the second is called technology, and the third is called entrepreneurship. I think it depends on these three things.
In the 1980s, China’s manufacturing industry changed mainly through three lines: one was food line, including beverages and health care products; the other was clothing line, including textiles, printing and dyeing; the third line was household wires, refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines.
At that time, the development strategy of these light industries was “three to one supplement”, that is, to introduce foreign equipment, technology, and talents, and then to localize, and at the same time, to gradually complete import substitution through the development of private enterprises.
From 1978 to 1998, market substitution in the home appliance industry took a full 20 years. By 1996, statistics from the Ministry of Internal Trade showed that the market share of home appliances in China’s top 100 shopping malls exceeded 50% for the first time, which was a landmark event at that time. But what did we rely on back then? Rely on the price war and scale advantage.
Gree started to make air conditioners in the 1980s. Before 2000, its core production components were basically imported from abroad, or the motors and compressors were brought over and assembled in China.
It turns out that we have nothing, and we can only continue to localize by using the market for technology. Now you will find that in the home appliance industry, even in the beverage industry, our localization substitution rate has basically completed 98% to 99%. %, just the last 1% to 2%. Today there is a word called “stuck neck”. Because the card is the 1% to 2% that we don’t have.
In fact, any product, especially end consumer goods, is called a design from the outside. When it is opened, it is a component. If you look inside, you will find a motor, a capacitor, and an enameled wire. So what are these things made of? It depends on the mold, and the production of the mold requires a lot of equipment. Only when we have the ability to make the equipment for the production of the mold can we be considered to the end.
Today, I estimate that there are no more than 30 home appliance companies in China with a scale of more than 20 billion; I estimate that there are no more than 10 companies that can achieve the mold level; and companies that can produce mold production equipment should not be more than 5. This part of the business is at the top of the Chinese pyramid, and they’re amazing.
Gree is mainly about “playing inwards” and insisting on hitting the bottom. Some companies can achieve a scale of 100 billion a year, but many of them are export-oriented companies that follow consumer trends and are actually empty inside. If you also want to take the road of Gree, you must have more than 20 years of determination, because this road is too difficult.
Why does the entire manufacturing or business community admire Dong Mingzhu? I think the reason is here.
Dong Mingzhu has many paranoid parts. For example, she doesn’t use “airborne troops”, and she doesn’t invest much. Almost everything is produced by herself, or acquired when the team is still very young, and then rely on herself. develop. Gree has so many R&D personnel, but most of them are cultivated by herself, and she does not need foreign personnel, so she has her own obsession, and this obsession forms the style of enterprise growth.
In fact, any enterprise has the projection of the entrepreneur’s character. We first see the product, then the technology, and finally the person. It is the spirit of each entrepreneur and a certain paranoia formed in his cognition that determines the character of the enterprise.
dialogue session
Wu Xiaobo: It used to be “good air conditioners, made by Gree”, but now it’s “good electrical appliances, made by Gree”, will you offend more and more people like this?
Dong Mingzhu: Impossible. Only in competition can you grow, you should not refuse competition. Many people now understand competition as “fighting each other” – malicious slander and fabrication of rumors. That’s not called competition.
Competition is necessary, how can progress be made without competition? If I was the only one in the world doing air conditioning, would I still improve? Progress is forced out by opponents.
Wu Xiaobo: Every time I come to Gree, you will tell me about products in that exhibition hall. I find that when you talk about products, you emphasize two points. The first point is the consumer experience, and the second point is that you can save me money. These two points are very moving.
Dong Mingzhu: You can’t brag, you can impress people if you really do it. I think numbers should speak for themselves. Originally, the air conditioner used in the Great Hall of the People was imported. After replacing it with our air conditioner, it can save 32% of electricity bills. How many scenes like the Great Hall of the People, right? This year’s Qatar World Cup stadium, the air conditioning used is also Gree.
Wu Xiaobo: Let’s give Sister Dong a round of applause, it’s not easy. You said, to become the next “Dong Mingzhu”, which three things must be done?
Dong Mingzhu: The first is integrity. No matter what others say, I’m right. I’m not lying. I must insist. Integrity is very important. The second is to keep learning. Many people understand learning as imitation. We have talked so much today, and I hope you can use it for your own use, so that you can achieve greater improvement. The third is perseverance, which is very difficult to persevere.
Wu Xiaobo: What should I do if I can’t stand it? Have you ever had a time when you couldn’t stand it?
Dong Mingzhu: When I broke my waist, the doctor said I would stay at home for three months. But at that time, I just came back to be a minister, and the company was very difficult. At this time, is the company more important, or is it important for me? So later the company sent a car to pick me up every day, and I sat in the office with a bandage and persevered. That year’s performance rose sevenfold, which is not easy.
Wu Xiaobo: It is definitely difficult to run a business. Every time I ask if you are okay, you always say okay. It’s definitely not easy, right?
Dong Mingzhu: No. Everyone will encounter difficulties along the way. There are many kinds of difficulties, it depends on what kind of mentality you use to face them. If the difficulty is a challenge for me, I don’t think it is a difficulty.
Wu Xiaobo: Is there a time when you can’t fight, when you admit your counsel and admit defeat?
Dong Mingzhu: I don’t think that’s called admitting defeat. In fact, others may really be right, you have to be able to face it correctly. People will encounter happiness and unhappiness in the process of growing up. It’s not that I haven’t cried, I have cried, but I usually don’t cry.
Wu Xiaobo: Why are you crying?
Dong Mingzhu: I feel wronged. But after I’m done crying, I’ll keep fighting until I win it.
Wu Xiaobo: Anyone else dare to give you grievances?
Dong Mingzhu: Of course. You have taken other people’s vested interests, and of course others are going to mess with you, and you must fight. You will also encounter many such situations in the future, and this is another sentence that I didn’t say just now: you must remember to “keep upright”.
Wu Xiaobo: Dong Zong said that she has several points in dealing with customers. The first is called win-win, if you make money, I make money. There is another one called Gratitude. What is the third?
Dong Mingzhu: The third one is the principle. It doesn’t matter if you have a good relationship with me or not, if we work together, it’s the rules. If you don’t have a good relationship with me, you just want to be special. That’s not acceptable.
Wu Xiaobo: Is there a fuzzy area between empathy and principle?
Dong Mingzhu: Outside of work, we should talk about feelings, but at work, we should talk about principles, and there should be no ambiguity.
Wu Xiaobo: You have been able to get to this day for a long time because you have adhered to your own principles and bottom lines. The last question is, you really have no confidence, what should you do if you want to have confidence?
Dong Mingzhu: I think you must have confidence, but confidence is not called out. You have to diagnose your company, judge what kind of situation you are facing now, and adjust yourself. Like us, from “good electrical appliances, made by Gree” to the equipment behind “good electrical appliances, made by Gree”. You have these things, will people come to you? You will be able to survive.
Wu Xiaobo: Everyone who came here today is in the manufacturing industry. Everyone who has been there for thirty or forty years is Dong Mingzhu.
Dong Mingzhu: They will be better Dong Mingzhu.
Wu Xiaobo: You are already very good. We applaud Dong Zong, thank you.
Next, we will go to see many of the most advanced factories in China and even the world with Mr. Wu, such as Haier, Jikr Automobile, Lenovo, Anta, Bosideng, etc., and experience the wave of intelligence in the manufacturing industry. You are also welcome to come and visit. .