The car giant started by marrying the daughter of the king

Chapter 405: The leader leads the team, the budding of China's private auto parts enterprises
There are tens of thousands of parts on a car. Even if we count the parts delivered directly to the welding, assembly and other workshops of the OEM, there are more than 1000 parts.

With so many parts, it is impossible for any automobile manufacturer to produce all of them by itself.

Even BYD in later generations cannot do this.

Of course, the most important thing is that there is no need to go to this extent.

BMW Group is no exception.

Except for key components, most other parts are purchased from external supporting factories.

In the past two years, in order to make the supply chain more dynamic, Jiang Hui has begun to consciously support some private enterprises to enter the supply chain system.

Well, strictly speaking, these private enterprises are still in the status of self-employed individuals and are not particularly formal enterprises.

However, since the overall atmosphere in Shenzhen is different from other places and these companies are supporting the BMW Group, the relevant departments will naturally not make things difficult for them.

Here's a very simple example. If you shut down a small individual factory like this, Land Rover will directly say that it will stop production because of a lack of parts supply.

Then the leader will definitely come out to deal with you.

Yonghua Stamping is such a small company. After accepting a 30% investment from Nanshan Technology two years ago, it officially entered the supply chain of BMW Group.

The main parts they produce are cold stamped parts, mainly various brackets and simple small stamped parts.

There are many different brackets used on a vehicle. It is unrealistic and unnecessary for Nanshan Technology to do everything by itself.

"Brother, our monthly turnover has exceeded 30 yuan, so we can introduce new stamping equipment."

"According to the current development pace of the BMW Group, we will sooner or later become the second largest stamping manufacturer in China."

Guo Shengbin is the sales director of Yonghua Stamping Factory and the younger brother of General Manager Guo Shengqiang.

In this company, Guo Shengqiang holds 40%, Guo Shengbin holds 30%, and Nanshan Technology holds 30%. The equity structure is very clear.

Of course, Nanshan Technology does not actually participate in daily management, but only arranges a financial staff member to serve as the director of the finance department.

"The production schedule for Land Rover's X-Series pickup trucks has been increased to 8000 units next month, and it is likely to exceed 1 units the month after next."

"The production of the small stents we supply will also explode."

"It seems that borrowing money to buy equipment before was totally worth it."

Guo Shengqiang was one of the first people to go into business.

With the support of their uncle who swam to Hong Kong City earlier, they founded Yonghua Stamping Factory.

Currently, there are more than 100 people in Shenzhen.

The most important thing is that Yonghua Stamping Plant chose the right partner and cooperated with BMW Group from the very beginning.

The current development speed is amazing.

Not only BMW and Land Rover are using their parts, but Nanshan Technology, Nanshan Engine, Nanshan Equipment and other related manufacturers are also its customers.

Now their factory has no energy to develop new customers. The orders from BMW Group are enough to keep them busy.

"I have a feeling that the sales of the Land Rover G and X models can be further improved."

"By then, there will be no problem for the BMW Group's combined monthly sales to exceed 5 vehicles."

"If the market performance is ideal, it is even possible to exceed 6 units in monthly sales."

"We must keep up with the pace, otherwise other factories will rush in and snatch orders from us."

Guo Shengqiang also has a sense of crisis.

If their factories were located in other cities, they would not be able to exist legally.

It will take until next year for relevant departments to officially give legal recognition to private enterprises.

Now only individual businesses are allowed to exist.

"That's true. If we keep up with the development pace of the BMW Group, we may be able to export and earn foreign exchange in the future."

"I heard that Nanshan Technology has received several large orders from America and Europe recently."

"They put several new hot stamping production lines into operation at once."

"This is completely beyond everyone's imagination."

As a shareholder of Yonghua Stamping Plant, Guo Shengbin is also very concerned about the information of Nanshan Technology.

“Hot stamping parts are sometimes not delivered as a single part, but are welded together with some cold stamping parts to be delivered as a small assembly.”

"During this process, we actually have the opportunity to supply some parts to Nanshan Technology and indirectly realize export earnings."

Guo Shengqiang is proficient in stamping technology, otherwise he would not dare to start a business at this time.

In fact, for a car body, not all parts are best made of the highest strength material.

It emphasizes being soft where it should be soft, and hard where it should be hard.

Neither too soft nor too hard is good.

Because when a collision occurs, some parts need to be able to collapse, so that they can fully absorb the energy of the collision, which also serves as a protection for the passengers in the car.

Otherwise, there is a possibility that the car is not seriously damaged, but the people are gone.

So in fact, the design of a car body is not that simple.

Many things in it need to be simulated using simulation software, and even adjusted after actual collision tests.

Of course, if you just want to build a car and have a frame, then these things don't matter.

Just like those purely hand-made car models in China before, where was the special emphasis on body collision safety?

"Indeed, for example, the B-pillars of the Land Rover G and X models are made of hot stamping parts in the upper part and cold stamping parts in the lower part."

"This will result in better collision performance."

Guo Shengbin felt that what his elder brother said made sense.

In the future, by cooperating with Nanshan Technology, we can fully realize indirect export and foreign exchange earnings.

We can even take advantage of the opportunity of Nanshan Technology's cooperation with OEMs such as General Motors and Volkswagen to see if we can directly export the small brackets produced by Yonghua Stamping Plant overseas.

In fact, it is not impossible.

From a cost perspective, he believes that the prices produced by his own factory will definitely be lower than those produced by local suppliers in the United States and Europe.

Most of the small brackets used on the chassis require surface treatment for painting, so there is no need to worry about rusting during long-distance transportation.

Another factory that is in a similar situation to Yonghua Stamping Factory is Hengyi Plastic Factory.

There are a lot of plastic parts in the interior and exterior of a car.

From the instrument panel on the center console to the pillar trims, to the various plastic parts such as the fenders, many of them are not very large.

Except for the front and rear bumpers and instrument panel, which BMW Group intends to continue to produce and process in-house, there are no plans to produce other parts in the future.

In this case, it is natural to find an external supporting factory to produce it.

The slightly larger injection-molded parts for the column trims are currently produced by state-owned enterprises in Yangcheng.

However, for some small injection molded parts, the BMW Group is consciously supporting some potential self-employed individuals.

Among several candidate manufacturers, Hengyi Plastic Factory was selected by Nanshan Technology.

By investing 30% of the shares, we will strengthen the cooperation between the two parties and support Hengyi Plastic Factory to become a supplier of BMW Group.

We have now started to supply various small injection molded parts for several car models.

Taking advantage of this cooperative relationship, Hengyi Plastic Factory is also continuously increasing its equipment investment.

"Brother, Nanshan Technology has agreed to help us import a 500-ton injection molding machine."

“Then we can produce larger injection molded parts.”

Wang Zifei is the head of the sales department of Hengyi Plastic Factory.

Her brother Wang Ziming is the factory director.

Private enterprises in this era are basically all family businesses.

It was common for fathers and sons, brothers and sisters to fight together.

In fact, family businesses have their own unique advantages in the early stages of development.

Everyone understands it very well, so there is no need to have so many concerns and speculations.

Of course, after reaching a certain stage of development, whether to continue to maintain the family business model is a matter of opinion and a test of the wisdom of managers.

In fact, some of the world's large auto parts companies are still family businesses even in later generations.

They can also develop their companies into one of the top 100 automotive parts companies in the world.

"It seems that Nanshan Technology was sincere in wanting us to find a way to speed up our development and keep up with the development needs of the BMW Group."

"In addition to importing advanced injection molding equipment from abroad, we also need to contact some domestic equipment manufacturers to purchase more equipment."

"Otherwise, if the production capacity is not enough, we won't be able to keep up even if we want to."

Wang Ziming is now full of confidence in the future development of Hengyi Plastic Factory.

In fact, he has made a lot of money in the past two years.

At this stage, BMW Group does not have particularly high requirements for the parts costs of its supporting factories.

Most of the time, you first need to solve the problem of whether you can produce, whether the production is sufficient, and whether the quality is stable.

Cost reduction is actually a second-stage issue.

Of course, parts like plastic parts are not that difficult to produce. If your quotation is too high, there will probably be no hope for long-term cooperation.

It's even normal to replace you in the middle.

“Yes, these injection molding machines are like money printing machines now.”

"After the operation started, parts were continuously injected and there was no need to worry about not being able to sell the parts after production."

As the head of the sales department, Wang Zifei naturally knows the sales situation in the factory best.

The situation in factories across China is now full of contradictions.

On the one hand, there are many military factories and other factories within the system that are unable to sell their products after production and are in a development dilemma.

On the other hand, the various products produced by some small workshops of individual businesses are in short supply, and it is very difficult to find materials and equipment.

Obviously, Hengyi Plastic Factory is in a state of product shortage. The orders from BMW Group alone are enough to fill them up.

After all, they are now just small factories like small workshops, which cannot be compared with the situation of overcapacity of private auto parts companies in China in later generations.

“In addition to increasing production capacity, we also have to consider some efforts in part process optimization.”

"We need to make Nanshan Technology and BMW Group realize our value as much as possible, so that this cooperation can continue for a long time."

"In the past two years, I have also taken advantage of the opportunity to communicate with some retired Japanese engineers hired by the BMW Group to learn about the situation of the overseas auto parts industry."

"For some plastic parts, Toyota's OEM is responsible for the design first, and then uses the drawings to select the supplier with the best cost."

"Ultimately, the selected supplier will work with the OEM's R&D personnel to further improve the drawings and make them the most suitable for mass production."

“It can be said that suppliers also need to have the ability to draw blueprints.”

Wang Ziming is a very thoughtful person, otherwise he would not open a factory now.

Now that he has already set up the factory, he naturally hopes to make it as big as possible.

He hopes that one day in the future, Hengyi Plastic Factory will become one of the largest auto parts companies in China.

Now we are producing simple plastic parts, and in the future we will be able to produce large and complex plastic parts.

After that, we will further expand our production categories and become a leader in the field of interior and exterior decoration.

"Well, when the time comes, we'll see which people in the factory have potential in this area, and we can consciously train them."

Wang Zifei also agrees with her brother's point of view.

The BMW Group itself is creating this kind of R&D atmosphere and encouraging all supporting factories to increase their R&D investment.

However, most state-owned enterprise supporting factories do not really accept this approach.

For them, why would they waste money on some unrealistic research and development when they already have orders to produce?
BMW Group also saw this situation, so it consciously began to support the development of private supporting factories.

Hengyi Plastic Factory is undoubtedly standing at the forefront of the development of the BMW Group and will reap the benefits as long as it seizes the opportunity.

……

"Director, I don't think our turnover this year will increase compared to last year."

“We have been greatly affected by the decline in sales at Capital Motors.”

"The number of parts supplied to BMW Group is also decreasing, and many have been switched to other manufacturers."

"I heard that several manufacturers that built factories in Shenzhen are now developing very well."

"Should our factory consider building a branch in Shenzhen to provide supporting services to the BMW Group at a closer distance?"

He Qingquan originally thought that he could retire peacefully at the Capital Automobile Accessories Factory, or even develop further.

But looking at the current pace, it seems that the situation is a bit bad.

At Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, sales of BJ212 have fallen rapidly this year, with sales of less than 3000 units per month, and the sales are still declining.

It is estimated that by this time next year, it will be questionable whether there will still be 2000 vehicles per month.

Although they have made some efforts and launched this model equipped with Nanshan engine 1.5L product, the overall sales volume is still declining.

As for Shouqi Jeep, most of the parts are imported directly from the United States, which has very little impact on the turnover of Capital Automobile Accessories Factory.

Originally, many parts of the BMW Sunshine were purchased by the BMW Group from the Capital Automobile Accessories Factory.

However, in recent years, production has gradually been switched to Nanshan Technology and supporting factories near Shenzhen.

Therefore, even though the sales of BMW Group were increasing rapidly, the turnover of Capital Auto Parts Factory did not increase.

"All our factory employees have settled down locally. If we were to build a new factory in Shenzhen, I guess few people would be willing to move there."

"Besides, even if we build a factory in Shenzhen, will BMW Group be willing to give us more orders?"

Tang Qingru was not particularly impressed by He Qingquan's suggestion.

In his opinion, BMW Group will definitely find a way to kick them out.

After all, they have very close relations with Capital Automobile Manufacturing Plant, and BMW Group has its own direct manufacturers.

It is inevitable that everyone's interests will conflict.

"I see that there are many related supporting factories in the automobile industrial park built in Shenzhen."

"There are so many parts in a car, it's impossible for Nanshan Technology to produce all of them by itself."

"Compared to most manufacturers, our experience is relatively rich."

"As long as we set up a factory there and ask Jiang Hui for some orders, it shouldn't be a big problem."

He Qingquan had been dealing with Jiang Hui for a long time, and felt that as long as he set up a factory in Shenzhen, he should be able to make something of it.

But Tang Qingru didn't want to make any trouble, and he was helpless.

Originally, he was looking forward to Tang Qingru's quick retirement so that he could take over.

But now Tang Qingru is not willing to make any risky decisions because he will retire soon.

After he retires, even if He Qingquan successfully takes over the position of factory director, it will still be a mess.

By then, the Capital Automobile Accessories Factory, which had been profitable for many years, might very well fall into a loss-making situation.

After all, the downward trend in sales this year is already very obvious.

At this rate, next year will be even more difficult.

If some of the unused equipment could be moved to the new factory in Shenzhen, it might be possible to turn the situation around.

If you miss this opportunity, it will be more difficult in the future.

……

"Director, the new Land Rover X-Series pickup truck launched by BMW Group is very popular again."

"The manufacturers that supply parts for this pickup truck are now working overtime to rush the parts."

"I originally thought that pickup trucks might not have a big market in China, but now it seems that this is not the case."

Zhao Guangming came to Geng Weidong's office with mixed feelings.

As for FAW, although it established FAW Toyota through cooperation with Toyota, it is now selling Crown sedans.

However, these products are assembled through CKD parts, with very low production volume, and do not have such a big impact on the overall development of FAW.

They have also finalized cooperation negotiations with Volkswagen and are preparing to produce a sedan.

However, it faces the same problem as FAW Toyota, that is, the parts of early models were supplied in the form of CKD and the production volume was limited.

"We have never produced a pickup truck, and it is too late to redesign it now."

"The focus of the factory at this stage is to develop several joint venture factories and increase the sales of Hongqi sedans."

"Since the parts companies of the BMW Group are developing very fast, can we consider asking the purchasing department to find their supporting factories to supply some parts?"

"For example, asking the suppliers of Mercedes-Benz cars to also promote the localization of models for FAW Toyota or FAW Volkswagen?"

Geng Weidong's view on BMW Group is now changing.

The other party has already firmly established itself as the number one in the domestic automobile industry, leaving FAW far behind, and there is absolutely no hope of catching up.

As a result, Geng Weidong felt relieved and the pressure was not so great.

Since no matter how hard I try I just can’t catch up, so the goal is to become number two in the country.

This goal is not so difficult to achieve for FAW.

"This should be possible. Shanghai Volkswagen did that last year."

"The localization rate of Santana will be able to increase to a certain extent this year, which is also related to their use of suppliers from the BMW Group."

"Even Nanshan Technology has started supplying parts to Santana."

Zhao Guangming didn't expect that Geng Weidong would actually discuss this topic with him.

This approach was obviously more radical than he had imagined.

This doesn't seem like a bad thing.

If parts are always imported through CKD, a large amount of foreign exchange will be consumed, which will bring great pressure to FAW.

If we can purchase domestically, no matter which supporting factory we buy from, we can save foreign exchange.

At that time, more car models can be produced using limited foreign exchange.

This is definitely good for FAW.

Overall, the domestic automobile market is still in a booming development situation.

Especially Toyota's Crown is very well-known in the south.

As long as FAW Toyota can produce it, it basically does not need to worry too much about sales.

It would be a pity to miss such a good opportunity.

"You can personally lead a team to Shenzhen to inspect Nanshan Technology or other supporting factories."

"As long as BMW Group dares to use it, if we need it, we don't have to worry about whether the other party can meet our needs."

Geng Weidong felt that the time had come for FAW to make changes.

Otherwise, if the sales volume of BMW Group exceeds 40 vehicles this year, or even exceeds 50, it will be a huge stimulus to the superiors.

FAW will definitely be under certain pressure.

Embracing the BMW Group in a timely manner and learning some of their practices will then be a form of accomplishment.

"No problem, I'll contact the people in the purchasing department right away and arrange it as soon as possible."

"When the time comes, I will bring along the people in charge of design, quality, and technology, and introduce the right supporting factories into our system as quickly as possible."

Zhao Guangming is naturally very positive about this kind of supplier inspection.

Soon, he officially took action.

These news will naturally be fed back to Jiang Hui one after another.

(End of this chapter)