Rebirth 99 to become a car giant

China's automobile industry has developed rapidly in recent years.

Vehicle sales hit new highs every year.

However, the development of parts companies actually lags behind that of complete vehicles.

Especially China's own parts companies, if we put aside the Nanshan Group, they are completely incompatible with the status of a major automobile country.

Other major automobile countries have already formed their own supply chains.

However, China's automobile supply chain is formed by parts companies from all over the world.

This obviously dissatisfied some knowledgeable people.

Over the years, Cao Yang has also been committed to promoting the development of Nanshan Auto Parts, hoping to make Nanshan Auto Parts a parts company comparable to Bosch and Denso.

So far, the results are quite promising.

Dai Hanbiao will report something surprising to Cao Yang today.

"Are you saying that BMW Brilliance has handed over the production of hollow stabilizer bars for several new generation models to Nanshan Auto Parts?"

Cao Yang looked at Dai Hanbiao in surprise.

The relationship between BMW and Nanshan Group is not good, and there are even conflicts between them because of Xingchen Motors.

Are you actually starting to use parts from Nanshan Group now?

"Yes, their original parts are produced by Deutsche Mubea. The hollow tube material of the stabilizer bar is imported from Germany. The cost of one kilogram is 20 yuan."

"We use hollow pipes produced by Nanshan Special Steel ourselves, and the cost is only 10 yuan per kilogram."

"Coupled with the fact that we can use higher-strength steel and thinner and thicker hollow tubes, the cost of raw materials alone has more than doubled."

"In addition, our stabilizer bar rubber sleeve joining technology is also world-leading, which fully reduces the problem of abnormal noise of the stabilizer bar."

"Under such circumstances, if BMW Brilliance wants to reduce costs, it is impossible not to consider us."

"After all, in terms of materials, processing, rubber sleeves, etc., our costs are much lower than Mubea's."

"In terms of technology, we are more advanced and can make the stabilizer bar even lighter."

"For the same hollow stabilizer bar, we can ensure that the durability reaches 500,000 times, but other manufacturers generally can only guarantee 200,000 times."

"Now with such a hollow stabilizer bar, we have almost entered the supply chain of most domestic car companies."

"We produce all hollow stabilizer bars for vehicles such as GM and Changan Ford."

"Needless to say, independent brands, solid stabilizer bars, with low technical content, are produced by some other suppliers."

“The hollow stabilizer bar is our only one.”

"In this field, no matter whether it is ThyssenKrupp or Mubea, or Japanese Clockwork and Sogefi, they are no match for us."

Although the stabilizer bar is not a high-tech part, the fact that this part can be incorporated into BMW cars is a different sign.

"Nanshan Auto Parts now involves many types of auto parts. Whether it is the powertrain field, chassis field, or electronic appliances and interior and exterior decoration, there are some parts that are good at it."

"But a hollow stabilizer bar that doesn't seem to have that high of a technical content and is highly competitive is now able to occupy more than half of China's market share and can be exported. This is indeed worthy of careful analysis as a case."

"Everyone has different opinions on how the automobile industry will develop in the future."

"But no matter how cars develop, there will still be such a thing as cars."

"As long as there are cars, there must be corresponding car parts."

"Parts such as stabilizer bars are needed whether it is a fuel vehicle, an electric vehicle, or a hydrogen energy vehicle."

“Being able to make seemingly simple parts into something extraordinary is very commendable.”

Although whether Chinese manufacturers master hollow stabilizer bar technology is a very small matter for the development of China's automobile industry.

It can even be said to be a trivial matter.

But this unexpected ice-breaking trip still made Cao Yang realize the opportunity.

There may be many conflicts among OEMs.

But in the parts business, there can still be some cooperation.

The hollow stabilizer bar looks like this, so can other parts also look like this?

BMW is like this, so can Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, and even Toyota be like this too?

Anyway, as long as there is money to be made, Cao Yang feels there is no need to refuse orders from these car companies.

This is also a good opportunity to indirectly learn other people's management techniques and understand their new model schedule.

However, everyone at Nanshan Auto Parts was in a good mood, but at ThyssenKrupp, the situation was completely different.

"Xu Li, didn't you say before that as long as ThyssenKrupp and Fuao Spring, a subsidiary of Spring City Automobile Group, form a joint venture, we will get the spring stabilizer bar orders in the entire Northeast region?"

"Why did BMW lose several orders this time?"

As the general manager of Thyssenkrupp China, Tokes would not pay attention to such a specific order under normal circumstances.

As one of the world's top 500 companies, ThyssenKrupp's business is very extensive.

In addition to the steel business that everyone is familiar with, they are actually an important supplier of automotive chassis systems.

Even on the German side, they have military business.

However, the loss of orders this time does not bode well.

Tox felt he needed to pay attention to this change.

"I went to find out more about this order."

"This new BMW model, their stabilizer bar specifications are completely in line with the benchmark Xingchen car."

"The stiffness requirement of a stabilizer bar has actually reached 108N.M. In the past, the stiffness of our ordinary stabilizer bars was only between 30 and 40N.M."

“Other than that, the stress requirements of this hollow stabilizer bar are pretty good.”

“It’s well known that the higher the stress requirements on a hollow stabilizer bar, the worse the durability performance.”

"In order to meet this somewhat contradictory performance, the internal shot peening process is usually added to eliminate the stress inside the tube, thereby improving the durability performance."

"But none of our factories in China have internal shot peening equipment."

"Importing related equipment purely for BMW projects does not mean much, but the cost alone is not a match for other manufacturers."

"After all, for this BMW project, there is no way for our internal shot peening equipment to maintain a high enough production rhythm."

Xu Li naturally knew that the loss of this order was a very bad sign.

Thyssenkrupp is the world leader in suspension springs and stabilizer bars.

But on the Chinese side, its position as the boss has long been lost.

Even Nanshan Auto Parts has now begun to encroach on this business in the global automobile market.

"According to what you mean, our technology is not as good as others, the cost is not as good as others, and maybe even the delivery is not as good as others?"

This is the first time Tokes has encountered this situation of being lower than his competitors in all aspects.

So his face looks very ugly.

"There is a big difference in the forming process between hollow stabilizer bars and solid stabilizer bars. The solid stabilizer bar is thermoformed, which requires a special thermoforming machine to bend and shape the stabilizer bar, and then undergoes heat treatments such as quenching and tempering, while the hollow stabilizer bar is The rod is cold-formed according to the spatial direction of the stabilizer rod, and then undergoes heat treatment and other processes."

"What we have done most before is solid stabilizer bars. Our technological accumulation in hollow stabilizer bars is indeed inferior to that of Nanshan Auto Parts."

In the face of hard facts, it is meaningless to explain blindly.

Xu Li naturally knew this very well.

So admit it directly.

"Have you ever specifically compared the hollow stabilizer bar of Nanshan Auto Parts to see where the technological advancement is reflected?"

Tox himself is a Ph.D.

Therefore, I am often willing to discuss specific technical issues with my subordinates.

"During the actual use of the vehicle, when the left and right wheels jump up and down inconsistently, the stabilizer bar end will move a certain displacement driven by the stabilizer bar connecting rod."

“Based on our past experience in the development of stabilizer bars, in order to check whether the fatigue stress of the stabilizer bar meets the design requirements, we usually assess the stress level of the stabilizer bar at 55% of the maximum stroke T of the end, and use this to determine whether the stabilizer bar meets the durability requirements. .”

"At the same time, constraints are imposed on the stabilizer bushing installation area so that the stabilizer bar can rotate around the line connecting the centers of the two bushings."

"According to this requirement, while meeting the requirements of BMW's drawings, the hollow stabilizer bar of Nanshan Auto Parts can be used 500,000 times without breaking, while we can only guarantee 200,000 times without breaking."

"In the actual test, it broke after more than 300,000 times."

"Although BMW's drawings require it to be used 200,000 times without breaking, we have met the drawing requirements."

"But when compared with others, there is no advantage at all."

"If everyone follows the drawing requirements, Nanshan Auto Parts' stabilizer bar can be made lighter."

When Xu Li said this, Tox couldn't help but frown and asked, "How do they do this?"

"Steel!"

"Pipemaking craftsmanship!"

"Processing craftsmanship!"

"This is the result of many influences!"

Tox was a little dissatisfied with Xu Li's answer.

These are all qualitative analyses, and there is no quantitative confirmation.

However, he also knows information about his competitors, and sometimes it may not be so easy to obtain quantitative information.

"There should be many models on the market that use Nanshan Auto Parts' hollow stabilizer bars. You can try to get a few models and let the people in the technical department analyze them carefully to see what they do well."

"Now it's just the hollow stabilizer bars that have been taken away. In the future, it will be other parts such as suspension springs and steering columns."

"By then ThyssenKrupp's business in China will be worse than ever."

Tox felt an inexplicable feeling of worry in his heart.

Although he has not been working in China for a long time, he has heard a lot about the famous names of Nanshan auto parts.

For example, Schaeffler, which is also a European company, was very hurt.

The next victim, let’s not be Thyssenkrupp, right?

…

"Mr. Dai, many manufacturers have been consulting us recently, asking us if we sell hollow stabilizer bar materials."

“Considering that the manufacturers that buy these materials are almost all competitors of Nanshan Auto Parts in the spring stabilizer business, so I haven’t agreed yet.”

As the general manager of Nanshan Special Steel, Xie Lingyun's life is actually very smooth.

Compared with other businesses, Nanshan Special Steel basically does not need to worry about sales.

More often than not, customers come to order special steel on their own.

Of course, most of Nanshan Special Steel's production capacity is provided to various companies under Nanshan Group. With such internal related transactions, there is no need to worry about performance.

The more comfortable he lives, the more he thinks about things sometimes, lest such a comfortable life be broken.

"Those people are thinking very fast. They actually know how to buy hollow tubes from you?"

Dai Hanbiao quickly weighed the pros and cons of this matter in his mind.

There is no business that cannot be done in this world.

It’s nothing more than whether the benefits of this business are worth it for you.

Whether you are selling hollow stabilizer bar parts or pipes, you can make money.

If selling materials makes more money, then there seems to be no need to stop Nanshan Auto Parts.

"Our spring stabilizer bar factory currently only has one factory here in Yangcheng, and we have no business elsewhere."

"Considering the special size of the stabilizer bar, the transportation fee is relatively high."

"For example, the hollow stabilizer bar we recently quoted to BMW Brilliance includes a shipping fee of 8 yuan per bar."

"This shipping fee is definitely not low."

"However, the spring stabilizer bar business is not the core business of Nanshan Auto Parts. We have no plans to continue to build factories across the country in order to get more orders."

"So if manufacturers north of the Yangtze River want to buy Nanshan Special Steel's hollow tubes, I think you can sell them at will."

"Of course, the price cannot be lower than what we sell to Nanshan Auto Parts."

After Dai Hanbiao thought for a moment, he came up with his plan.

You can sell it!

But it can’t be sold cheaply!

Xie Lingyun naturally knows this truth.

However, Xie Lingyun asked a more sensitive question, saying: “Some manufacturers south of the Yangtze River, even some manufacturers in Yangcheng, such as Xifeng Nissan, Yangcheng Honda and Yangcheng Toyota, do not use Nanshan Auto Parts products very much. "

"But hollow stabilizer bars are also a must for them."

"In this case, if we sell the hollow tubes to their suppliers or potential suppliers, will it also be equivalent to expanding our group's business in disguise?"

When Xie Lingyun said this, Dai Hanbiao fell silent.

The headquarters of Nanshan Auto Parts is in Yangcheng, but its main business is not in Yangcheng.

This is a bit embarrassing.

If Yangcheng's automobile industry is underdeveloped and Nanshan's auto parts products have no market space, then forget it.

It's actually nothing like that.

Regardless of which statistics are used, Yangcheng's automobile production is among the best.

It stands to reason that Nanshan Auto Parts' spring stabilizer business's share in Yangcheng should be able to surpass the national level.

The actual situation is completely different.

"If it is a manufacturer that does not directly compete with us, then it can naturally be sold."

Although a little reluctant, Dai Hanbiao still agreed to Nanshan Special Steel's sale of hollow pipes.

It will definitely be more difficult for Nanshan Auto Parts to obtain orders in the future.

However, the more this is the case, the more it reflects the technical level of Nanshan Auto Parts.

For example, for suspension springs, everyone uses spring steel from Baosteel, but Nanshan Auto Parts can make them lighter and have better performance.

This is unmatched by other competitors.

In this regard, Dai Hanbiao also held a special meeting within the company, emphasizing the importance of continuous research and development of new technologies.

Cao Yang also participated in this meeting in person.

"President Dai just shared with you the case of the hollow stabilizer bar. I think it is very meaningful."

Cao Yang glanced around the participants, then picked up the microphone and began to express his views.

"In the past year, many people in the group have focused their attention on Xingchen Motors and Jaguar Land Rover."

"The development of vehicle companies is of course very important."

"But if there is no corresponding development of parts and components, then the entire vehicle will be like a castle in the air, like the moon in the mirror."

"In the list of the top 100 international auto parts companies, because our related industries have never released reports to the outside world, none of them are on the list."

"Only a few companies in China, such as Dicastal, have made it onto the top 100 list due to their scale. It's hard to say how strong their technical strength is."

"Not to mention Nanshan engines and Nanshan gearboxes, I hope that Nanshan's auto parts business will become number one in the top 100 parts companies in the future."

"Bosch and Denso are the best, and so are our Nanshan Auto Parts companies."

"Whether it is bearings, gears and EPS that are already relatively good, or instruments and audio navigation that are constantly leveraging our own unique advantages, we must also speed up technological upgrades."

"Especially after the establishment of the intelligent network connection center, the related parts business must keep up with the development."

"T-BOX, gateways, millimeter-wave radars, cameras, vehicle control systems and other intelligent network-related parts are the most important parts in the future."

"One of our hollow stabilizer bars can sweep across the country. I hope that the intelligent network connection system can also sweep across the country, or even the world, by then, making Xingchen Motors the smartest luxury car and the most technologically advanced luxury car."

Today is a conference attended by Nanshan Auto Parts Section Chief and above. Naturally, Cao Yang wants to take this opportunity to state his thoughts to everyone.

Let us point out the direction of future development.

Choice is often more important than hard work.

If you choose the wrong development direction, then there will be no point in working hard.

It's like it's already the end of 2008, and those who make mobile phones are still thinking about making traditional feature phones instead of making smartphones.

So no matter how strong your technical strength is, no matter how hard your employees work, they will eventually be eliminated.

Similarly, in the era of electric vehicles, if you continue to invest manpower and material resources in engines and gearboxes every day, no matter how good these two products are, they will ultimately not be able to keep up with the development of the times.

Cao Yang does not want any mistakes to be made in the development direction of Nanshan Auto Parts.

This is a waste of time.

Bosch and Denso are not so easy to surpass.

If we don’t seize the good opportunities of the last ten years, it will be more difficult to surpass them in the future.

After all, even when it comes to the electric transformation, their strength is still very strong.

Many parts are needed for both electric and fuel vehicles.

"Mr. Cao, customers like BMW who once had objections to us have begun to use Nanshan Auto Parts products."

"For some of our other parts, we should have a chance to beat our competitors at OEMs such as Volkswagen, Toyota and Honda."

"In this case, do we need to consider grabbing orders?"

Dai Hanbiao asked a more critical question.

No matter how good the parts technology is, it will ultimately need to be installed on a vehicle model before it can be implemented.

Otherwise, it would be the same as the results in university laboratories.

"This depends on the situation and analysis. There is no need for us to make meaningless efforts just to expand our customers."

"For example, Toyota's ESP is made by Denso. Even if they ask us for a quotation, nine times out of ten they will just ask us to accompany them. We need to think clearly about the quotation strategy for this kind of parts. There is no need to reveal our strength. Give it to the other person.”

"But for example, some direct suppliers do not make good enough parts. If you think you have a chance, you can still give it a try."

"Although Toyota and Volkswagen are not popular, they cannot be ignored in the global automobile market."

"General Motors and Ford will not even be rivals of Toyota and Volkswagen in the future."

"It is unrealistic for Nanshan Auto Parts to become the world's No. 1 parts company and completely leave aside the No. 1 and No. 2 car companies in the world."

With Cao Yang's words, Dai Hanbiao knew what was going on.

When Nanshan Auto Parts develops customers, it doesn’t need to be timid or think too much.

After all, no matter how advanced your technology is, as long as you keep upgrading your technology, you don't have to worry about the technology being learned after the parts are delivered to the other party.

If people can really learn your technology so easily, it only means that your technology is not advanced enough and the threshold is not high enough.

After all, even if you don't supply others, they will still have ways to obtain your parts.

Unless you don't supply a single customer.

In that case, it wouldn't make any sense.

Just as the meeting between Cao Yang and Nanshan Auto Parts ended, Mi Ying reported an unexpected incident to Cao Yang.