Guangxi Yuchai Devoted to Creating Innovation "Highland"

Although summer is coming, the global economy is still in a recession and there is still huge downgoing pressure for Chinese economy. Such public opinions as "The Chinese economy will be confronted with the slowest growth in the past ten years" and the like form a pessimistic "context".

Yet, Yan Ping, chairman of the board of directors of Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Group Co., Ltd., holds a different opinion towards it: Chinese economy will gradually stabilize from a continual drop in 2012. Although being confronted with a severer test, Yuchai has not stopped its pace of development. With the core technology and talents, the leading team and excellent employees, the goal of RMB 46 billion Yuan of the operation revenue is to be achieved this year.

With such confidence, triumphant news keeps pouring in. On May 16, Yuchai launched the first power assembly researched and developed for special requirements of school buses in China. At present, Yuchai power has been used on more than 10,000 school buses. On April 10, the Diesel Engine Construction Project Used for YC6T Marine and Generator Set assumed by Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Group Co., Ltd. was accepted. The fields opened up by Yuchai have covered six aspects such as engine, logistics and energy, etc. with investment throughout the whole country.

For the adverse development situation, Yanping has always reminded Yuchai employees that "Yuchai walks on the road of sustainable development due to self-dependent innovation in the technology. Nowadays, we are in trouble and we will be eliminated if we don't pursue innovation or reform. ".

Build the highland for innovative talents

On May 7, Yuchai held the award ceremony to reward S & T experts. Both Shen Jie and Zhuo Bin, senior technical consultants of the chairman, were rewarded a car worth of RMB 500,000 Yuan to commend their contribution to R & D of large-power marines, engines for generating power and power for new energies.

Before the "May 1 Labor Day", Yuchai rewarded skilled workers giving priority to front workers, 18 excellent technicians and gold medal workers. Yan Ping said "Doctors as well as excellent technicians in the production line are talents."

The awards like "big money" are commonly seen in Yuchai. "There is no good timing or place in Yuchai; yet, the platform of "highland for talents" built for intellectuals is definitely the best in the industry at home." People in Yuchai are proud of it.

Zhuo Bin said "Although it is a small highland, it provides a large stage. I spare no efforts with the industrial scale, tolerance and strength in Yuchai."

A few years ago, Yuchai put forward the Incentive Scheme in Management and Innovation by Yuchai Group and formed a set of motivation systems including encouragement in innovation, linking theory with practice and continual improvement, etc. No matter which post you are in, you can get specific returns based on your own innovative contribution. Especially, during the "11th Five-Year-Plan", Yuchai put forward the Motivation Methods for Employees with Great Contributions and set up the "Prize for the Outstanding Contribution" to inspire employees who make great contribution in the technical progress and operation and management, so as to greatly encourage all employees to be innovative and ensure the sustainable development of the Company.

Last autumn, Yuchai applied the lean manufacturing. In April, Yuchai rewarded 8 lean manufacturing projects with the bonus varying from RMB 50,000 Yuan to RMB 100,000 Yuan and successfully initiated Phase II of the lean manufacturing project, deepening the lean manufacturing.

At Yuchai, if R & D experts and engineers are intelligent people, workers and technicians are creative working people. As many people know, Yan Ping has always regarded workers and technicians as treasures. Decision-makers in Yuchai deem that workers and technicians are a key link to turn drawings into real objects. Whether a product is good or bad has a close relation with the technical level, sense of responsibility and creative power of workers.

In fact, since 2008, Yuchai has established the society of technicians and employed almost one thousand backbone technicians in various types of work and posts, building an excellent team for the innovative development of the Company. In the past years, with superb skills and rich experience, the skillful "excellent technicians" solved numerous technical problems in their own posts, so as to ensure the sustainable and innovative development of the Company.

People are the innovative subject. With a mature innovative cultural environment, Yuchai greatly mobilizes the enthusiasm and subjective initiative of every employee in different posts, so as to help the Company form a strong innovative capability.

Before 1996, Yuchai only had 27 patents. Now, Yuchai has up to 1,026 patents, increasing by more than 30 times during 10 years, being the unit with most patents as declared and authorized in the industry and Guangxi. From 2006 to 2011, Yuchai has applied the most patents among enterprises in Guangxi. In 2011, the project of "R & D, Promotion and Application of YC6L Series of Diesel Engines" of Yuchai was awarded the "Prize for Special Contribution in Science and Technology in Guangxi".

Creating a Perfect Innovative Platform

How good the future competitiveness of Yuchai is and whether its future market can be leading depend on whether its R&D level can keep a powerful state.

For this point, the decider of Yuchai is clear in mind. Only with funds guarantee, mechanism guarantee and platform guarantee, can it keep vigorous creation impetus.

Since 2005, annual input of Yuchai for science research has all along accounted for over 3% of the sales, and its annual new products sales ratio has exceeded 40%. Yan Ping told the reporter, "I have a word to say, for the budget department, cost control must be strict. For R&D project, how much you want I will be OK."

In 2007, Yuchai established Engineering Institute. With the domestic leading position in R&D innovative capacity, this institute became the core department of its innovative R&D system, possessed two R&D base Yulin and Nanning, and got breakthrough in the study of diesel development frontier technology. Later on, in such fields as construction machinery, lubricating oil industry and special vehicle, etc., Yuchai has successively established research institutes, forming a perfect innovation platform.

At present, engine R&D laboratory of Yuchai has become the lab with the largest scale and most perfect facilities in the domestic same industry. This laboratory is the largest emission test system equipped with over 50 advanced thrust stands, and successively passed National Laboratory Authentication and Laboratory Authentication.

In 2011, approved by National Development and Reform Commission, Yuchai was appointed the representative of national engineering laboratory with highest level of efficient, energy-saving and environmental internal combustion engine in internal combustion engine industry. Yuchai also took full responsibility to bear the important task of construction, and it will be built into a technology R&D platform and R&D achievements transformation platform open to all the industries.

So far, Yuchai has built the most complete R&D platform in domestic engine product types, with three core technology platforms of "combustion technology platform, electric control technology platform and powertrain technology platform".

Through school-enterprise cooperation, Yuchai also extended cooperation and invested over RMB 50 million Yuan each year in the industry-school-research program, while strengthening technical communication and cooperation with domestic and overseas colleges and research institutes. At home, it established close partnership with such colleges as Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University and Tianjin University, etc. for strengthening industrialization platform construction; at abroad, it conducted powerful combination with enterprises and colleges in such countries as Austria, Germany, America and Britain, etc., to ensuring butt joint of product technology and world advanced technology and leading the industry demands.

Cooperation promotes innovation, and innovation propels development. For example, the cooperation with internal combustion engine national key lab of Tianjin University successfully developed the first diesel engine for automobile prototype of our country meeting the demands of Europe 6 emission regulation.

Such perfect cooperation and innovation platform greatly promotes the basic technology, key technology and forward-looking technology, and forms a produces study grinds technical team with high quality and high level, which make Yuchai always in front of domestic same industry.

At present, Yuchai possesses several leading new technology, such as Euro III-VI emission control technology, hybrid power assembly technology, two-stage supercharging technology, four-valve technology, air hybrid power technology, diesel and petrol mixed firing technology, simulation technique and post-processing technology, etc.

In construction machinery R&D, Yuchai possesses such advanced technologies as five hydraulic system mature technology "load sensing, confluence control, regeneration oil make-up, retaining valve and straight valve technology" and "intelligent electric control system with the mainstream appearance design of streamline and animal simulation", etc.

In the period of "11th Five-Year Plan", Yuchai was approved to participate in the formulation of 14 national standards and revision of 29 national standards, and assumed 7 national "863" high-tech research subjects.

It was these innovative achievements that vigorously drove Yuchai to upgrade domestic diesel engine emission, and become the leader of this industry.

Existing achievements never make Yuchai slow its steps. Yan Ping's crisis awareness is always very strong, for he thinks that present competition is not domestic competition but a competition with the world. He said, "Overseas products have totally come into China. What can we rely on to surpass them? Rely on products. What can products rely on? That's R&D team who can provide better new products by creation."

Yan Ping said, "From now on, we need to begin with such aspects as cultural concepts, talent training, mechanism system and technology R&D, etc. to promote self-dependent innovation capacity of Yuchai." Only by elaborately creating core competitiveness and possessing successive innovation, alert reaction, consummate execution and responsibility, can Yuchai realizes a long-term, sustainable development."

(Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition  Pang Geping, Zhang Yixuan)