Made in China: Is innovation still missing?

From imitation and assembly to the introduction of absorption and then to acquisition cooperation, the distance between China's manufacturing and its rivals is getting closer, and the technical blockade encountered is getting stricter. The realization of innovation-driven and transformational upgrading is the only way to “Made in China 2025”. Reconstructing the key generic technology R&D system is a must for China’s manufacturing to transform China’s wisdom.

However, innovation is not easy. Talking about innovation, Guan Xiyou, chairman of the Shenyang Machine Tool Group, said with deep feeling: “If you know that the i5 will succeed today, you should put all your money on it!” And remembering the hardships of innovation, he also said: “If you let When I come back, I don’t know if I will not be innovative.”

The seemingly contradictory two words, it is difficult to innovate in the enterprise.

The reporter found that the three problems of innovation power, evaluation mechanism, and innovation and patience have plagued the company and demanded cracking.

Why do many people call innovation and dare not innovate?

The research and development of Shenyang Machine Tool Group, i5, was first subjected to tremendous pressure from inside the company.

“Every year we go in more than 100 million yuan, but when I go to Shanghai R&D base, I see only a group of young people and dozens of computers. No one knows when they will succeed.” Looking back, Guan Xiyou still has a fear.

At the end of each year, the company's decision-making level will be very tangled, in the end give back money? Even once the chairman of the board approved the money for the R&D base, the relevant departments of the company had to come back.

"Up to 2012, mature technology has not yet been developed. Research and development funds are going to be exhausted. There is no progress in projects with Germany. Market sales have fallen... It was the hardest time. One day I was at the top of a German hotel. On the night of the station, the heart of jumping from the building is all there.” Guan Xiyou said, “Major innovations are often accompanied by huge risks and uncertainties. If they fail, the state’s money will be lost. As a person in charge of state-owned enterprises, I’m also hard to jump from building to building. Explain."

Chinese manufacturing has stepped into a new stage of innovation drive, and it requires the entrepreneurial spirit of adventure. For state-owned enterprises, while advancing risk and innovation, we must ensure the safety of funds. Creating a good environment for inclusive failure is a difficult problem to be solved.

Some state-owned enterprises have unsatisfying difficulties in innovation: First, manufacturing industries have a meagre profit, and large amounts of R&D investment will eat up profits, and the performance will not look good. The second is the chairman of the company, who will often change places in a few years and lack long-term innovation strategy. Third, if the R&D investment exceeds a certain amount, it will be difficult for the company to make decisions. The relevant matters need the approval of the higher authorities.

Lin Muxi, a professor at Liaoning University, believes that the state-owned enterprises are more restricted in terms of asset changes and incentive mechanisms. In the rapidly changing market competition, one-point autonomy is less and there is a risk of failure. It is necessary to speed up the reform of the operating and decision-making mechanisms of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises, so that enterprises can increase their innovation drive in their efforts to respond to market competition.

In contrast, in some private enterprises, the person in charge of the company is not affected by the tenure system. The company's interests and personal interests are bundled together, and the distribution and incentive mechanism has greater flexibility, which in part promotes the rational internal control of innovation. Driving force.

At the celebration of the i5 smart machine tool, the young technicians of the R&D team expressed thanks to Guan Xiyou for toasting. Guan Xiyou asked, “I don’t care about it, what contribution is there?” The R&D team replied: “It’s because you don’t care, we Only succeeded!"

Innovation requires a good mechanism. Innovation is not controlled but released. To let go, companies and governments need to work together.

Who has the final say in the outcome of innovation?

Who needs to judge and test the innovation results?

This seemingly simple proposition is of great significance for whether or not Chinese manufacturing can achieve a magnificent turn. However, this problem once caused the Shenyang Machine Tool Group to suffer.

After the launch of the i5 intelligent machine tool, experts were organized to visit and review the assessment, but the experts did not give clear conclusions at that time. Therefore, when companies decided to concentrate their efforts on the mass market of the i5 intelligent machine tool, doubts and opposition came along.

"It should not be overly entangled in the academic definition of intelligent machine tools. The market is the only standard for the inspection of innovation results." said Zhu Zhihao, head of the i5 innovation team. Shenyang Machine Tool Group decided to seize market opportunities decisively and set up a dedicated i5 production workshop and sales team.

The market reaction exceeded expectations. The i5 product has sold nearly 4,000 units in more than one year in the market. This is the proof that the new product market for the machine tool industry has been sold. In April this year, Shenyang Machine Tool Co., Ltd. and Xuchang Far East Drive Shaft Co., Ltd. and other companies reached a framework agreement for strategic cooperation in smart manufacturing, and jointly created a high-end intelligent manufacturing demonstration and application base for the driveshaft industry. In June of this year, it reached a strategic cooperation framework agreement with the Jiangmen municipal government of Guangdong Province to create the “i5 Intelligent Manufacturing Demonstration Park”.

Ningbo Huifeng Mould Company produces electric motors and gearbox accessories for Mitsubishi, Siemens, etc. The precision of the parts produced is required to reach the micron level. The company gave up orders for high-precision CNC machine tools from Japanese and Taiwanese companies, and purchased i5 machine tools in batches...

To rely on the market to evaluate and test innovation results can promote the formation of innovative mechanisms and the cultivation of innovative talents. Liang Zhiyong, an expert on servo thermal analysis in the i5 team, has only secondary technical qualifications. According to the traditional concept of talent evaluation, he has not been able to enter the eyes of the research institutes, but he has overcome the problems of thermal generation and thermal analysis in the i5 R&D. Control within 2 degrees Celsius.

For a long time, people have ridiculed a number of scientific research achievements, "taking leadership as the audience, using papers as a means, winning for the purpose, and taking the warehouse as the final destination." The dislocation of the evaluation mechanism has greatly reduced the effectiveness of innovation.

Lin Hao, director of the Shenyang Institute of Computing at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, believes that evaluating a scientific and technological achievement in the past sometimes overrelied on expert assessment meetings, appraisal meetings, and acceptance meetings. This will not only affect the industrialization of innovation results, but also provide scientific research results for researchers. Through expert review, do several sample prototypes to complete the task. As to whether the results are transferred out, whether they meet the market demand, and they do not have much interest, this will affect their innovative enthusiasm.

Innovative talents must grow in the market; innovations must be tested in the market. Only in this way can innovation drive a new leap forward in manufacturing in China.

Why does innovation lack patience?

The American innovator Bill Saporito once said: "Or innovation, or demise. Especially in technology-driven industries, no longer disappears faster than success."

With the rapid advancement of science and technology, the realization of China’s intellectual creation must break through the bottleneck of innovation. Lack of money, lack of people, lack of mechanisms? The reporter noted that apart from these, we often lack patience.

A major innovation often involves investing heavily, experiencing long periods of time, whether there is innovation and endurance, test the enterprise, and test the government.

I5 has experienced more than seven years of innovation. With all kinds of doubts, the biggest one is that when you invest so much, when can you see the results?

Enterprises are constantly explaining the progress of R&D to all parties.

When the innovation entered the third year, Guan Xiyu found technical director Zhu Zhihao and asked for results to be obtained that year. The answer received was “Impossible!” Guan Xiyou once wanted to immediately interrupt R&D, but he has already invested so much money and no way back. gone.

Impatience comes from various reasons: government officials are concerned about taxes, entrepreneurs are concerned about profits during the term, and scientific research institutions are concerned that scientific research results are reviewed by experts within a specified time... For those who need large input and will not be effective in the short term, it is easy to develop. Lost patience. Imagine how many people are willing to withstand loneliness and withstand the pressure to sit on this cold bench?

Similarly, Yu Dehai, chairman of Dalian Guangyang Group, who is also committed to CNC research and development, has the same feeling: Innovation needs to establish a talent team, continuous investment, and long-term accumulation. The government must provide support and tolerance for corporate R&D. If you don't see results for a few years, you will give up and it is very likely that you will let innovations die."

"Bao Jianfeng has been grinding out and plum blossoms are coming from bitter cold." The major innovations made in China are ahead of schedule, firm will, and continuous efforts. Can withstand the tempering, withstand the test, withstand the pressure, in order to achieve a positive result.