Aiguo Wang

CEO

Sharp edges and burrs on sheet metal parts are very dangerous, and workers are prone to scratches during operation. At the same time, parts with burrs will come into contact with bending machines or roller levelers. If these machine components frequently contact with the sharp edges and burrs, wear will become faster, and in severe cases, it will directly lead to production stoppage and inability to use. At present, many enterprises still rely on manual operations when deburring sheet metal parts. For example, having experienced workers use brushes or angle grinders to remove edges, burrs, and splashes. The main drawbacks of this method are: high labor intensity and long processing time; Moreover, the processing effect cannot achieve a high degree of consistency, and continuous and efficient processing cannot be guaranteed; In this situation, many enterprises will face increasing pressure on working hours and costs. The demand for surface quality of sheet metal parts in the industry is constantly increasing, and manual deburring has reached the limit of economic benefits. Machine deburring has gradually become the mainstream choice in production. In this issue, the reporter interviewed Aiguo Wang, the general manager of Jiangsu Shinetek Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shinetek"), a leading deburring machine equipment enterprise, and asked him to tell us about Shinetek's striving for years.

Time changes, the original intention remains unchanged

Shinetek was founded in 2014, headquartered in Suzhou Industrial Park, with a manufacturing base located in Danyang, Jiangsu. It has established offices in Dongguan, Ningbo, Qingdao, Tianjin, and has agency offices in Kuala Lumpur, the United States, Taiwan, South Korea, and other places. Since its first product was released in 2014, Shinetek has launched over 20 grinding equipments, including PS, TK, and BR series for deburring profiles and plates, STK and SDTK series for slag removal, UD series for oxide layer removal on cross-sections, BP series for surface polishing and brushing, HG series for disordered lines, SW series for precision polishing of silicon and silicon carbide, polishing workstations for die-casting parts, and CNC machine tools for weld seam polishing, Automated assembly line for slag cleaning and polishing of medium and thick plates, and so on. Selected by benchmark leading enterprises in domestic industries such as electronics, communication, healthcare, heavy industry, kitchen appliances, aviation, rail transit, and power, and established long-term cooperative relationships. Shinetek's Danyang Factory was also completed in 2022. The factory adopts a fully self-developed SMIMS intelligent manufacturing management system, which uses advanced algorithms to digitize, automate, and paperless manage planning, logistics, processes, and quality.

When the reporter and Aiguo Wang talked about how fate led him to join the industry and set up shinetek, he replied: "My college major is mold design and manufacturing, after graduation in 1992, I worked as a process engineer in a state-owned enterprise, engaged in sheet metal stamping process technology work, because at that time our company had TRUMPF CNC punching machine and LVD CNC bending machine, so I had a deep understanding and learning of advanced sheet metal manufacturing equipment and technology abroad at an early age."

"In 1999, I left a state-owned enterprise to work in the research and development and design of computer structures in a Taiwanese funded enterprise. This was a very important turning point in my life. During this time, I saw and learned too much cutting-edge technological information and knowledge, and understood the management system and methods of modern enterprises that were different from the management mechanisms of state-owned enterprises back then. Later, I worked in a private sheet metal enterprise in Suzhou for several years, and had the opportunity to learn and fully exercise gradually maturing, I have understood the difficulties of survival and development for many enterprises.

"I started my own business in 2007 and established a small sheet metal factory, positioned to serve local foreign-funded enterprises in Suzhou. I purchased a batch of AMADA and Bystronic sheet metal equipment that year, which should have been a relatively high investment at that time. Due to my youth, ignorance, fearlessness, and daring to think and work, after several years of hard work, the company gradually accumulated experience, and our business and team were relatively stable. Because our customers are all foreign enterprises, so The quality requirements of customers for sheet metal parts are synchronized with those of their foreign counterparts, and they have strict requirements for process management and quality standards. In terms of deburring sheet metal parts, it is a basic quality requirement, but at that time, due to the low cost of labor, domestic peers, including us, did not even consider the automated deburring process."

"In 2011, because a product of Wal Mart had the requirement of deburring, but the manual work was always unsatisfactory, which led to my idea of using an automatic deburring machine. But when I searched all over the country, there was no such equipment, which led to the story of developing my own deburring machine and establishing Shinetek."

"The birth of Shinetek was due to "burrs" and also due to the gap in the domestic industry at that time. If there were professional manufacturers in China at that time, perhaps there would be no "Shinetek". At that time, I discovered that there were automatic deburring machines abroad and had already discussed procurement matters. However, due to the high price and the lack of consumables and accessories domestically, I was unable to afford it, so I gave up the idea of procurement at that time. Until August 2012, the problem of burr removal still plagued us. One day, we had a sudden idea: can we make this equipment ourselves? The simple idea at that time was, 'If we need it, it should be used in the same industry.'. We have taken the step towards Shinetek."

Traveling far and wide, steadfastly practicing without slackening

Set sail

Shinetek entered the market in 2014, when the awareness of using machines to remove burrs was not strong. Shinetek's sales team visited, explained, tested, and verified each major economically developed city in China through street sweeping. Through exhibitions, industry conferences, and the help of forging associations, Shinetek gradually opened a gap in the deburring machine market.

Speaking of this period of struggle history, Aiguo Wang said: Due to Shinetek's focus on deburring metal parts, we have formed a professional R&D team with strong capabilities, adhering to a customer-centric approach. Our value depends on our values towards others and society, and we have gained the attention and trust of many customers, providing us with more opportunities to understand and research different grinding needs. In 2014, the launch of the TK series model solved the problem of deburring general sheet metal parts. In 2015, the RS series has solved the problem of circular hole contour rounding in the 4G antenna industry, overturned the traditional process of hole edge rounding in the antenna industry, greatly improved efficiency, and greatly reduced manufacturing and quality costs, becoming an essential equipment for antenna manufacturers. As a result, the market door for deburring machines has been opened.

"Until today, the application of automatic deburring machines has been basically popularized, and the market has gradually become active. With the increase of customers, Shinetek has also become more mature and its comprehensive capabilities have greatly improved. Our product functions have evolved from single deburring to various functions such as slag removal, brushing, oxide skin removal, weld seam polishing, precision grinding and polishing. The product types have also evolved from single machines to workstations and polishing assembly lines. The sales revenue has increased from over 1 million yuan in 2014 to over 70 million yuan in 2021, almost maintaining an annual growth rate of over 50%. Although the market has declined due to the impact of the epidemic in 2022, we still maintain a high level, with sales revenue and market share remaining stable at the top. Our customer base covers various industries, including communication, healthcare, rail transit, heavy industry, kitchen and bathroom, aerospace, energy, and electronics. Many leading and benchmark enterprises in various industries are our customers, such as ZTE, BYD, Lixun, Foxconn, Yuyue, David, CRRC, Vio, Jinchuang, Zoomlion, Sany, XCMG, Liugong, Taizhong, Fangtai, Shuaifeng, Yitian, Liming Aviation, and China Electric Power Construction a large number of excellent enterprises such as China Energy Construction have chosen Shinetek and established sustained cooperative relationships."

Breaker

Facing competition from similar products in the market and to survive, one must have their own core competitiveness. Faced with questions from reporters, Wang Aiguo replied in this way: People often ask me what advantages Shinetek's products have, and my team and I have been thinking about this question and often use it as our team's goal. As the saying goes, 'good flowers do not bloom often, good times do not always exist.' A company or product cannot always maintain a certain advantage, it should be constantly developing and adding its own advantages. Being complacent and self-righteous is bound to lose our advantage. In the beginning, we The advantage may lie in being ahead of others, as there is basically no competition in the market without peers. Later on, as the market gradually matured and competition naturally intensified, our advantages at this time were our technology, quality, performance, service, reputation, and brand. Going forward, is it patented technology or other strengths of the company? My point of view is that there is no constant advantage, we have the ability to maintain and create advantages, which includes a sense of crisis in the team, a reverence for customers, the willpower to overcome difficulties, the determination to strive for the cause, and the spirit of exploring the unknown. This is our biggest advantage.

"At the same time, we also realize that the overall transformation towards digitization, informatization, and intelligence is a major trend in the development of the manufacturing industry. If enterprises do not take action, it will become increasingly difficult. Based on this, we have built a brand new digital factory. Firstly, we need to make our factories capable of digitization and informatization. I think the current goal of intelligent sheet metal production is too difficult to achieve. We have developed our own sheet metal APS automatic production scheduling system, sheet metal and finished product mixture warehouse and WMS management system, modular sheet metal flexible manufacturing MES management system, sheet metal online detection system, as well as rapid mold changing and manufacturing performance management system. I hope these can help simplify the management of sheet metal enterprises, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and improve profit margins and competitiveness."

At this point, the reporter also hopes that Aiguo Wang can provide some suggestions for sheet metal companies on their transformation, Wang replied: The topic of transformation and development of Chinese sheet metal enterprises is too big. I dare not speak recklessly, only have a little insight. From the perspective of our own and our friends around us, there are many friends who have not succeeded in transformation, but there are also many who have done well. If we transition from processing to products, it sounds beautiful, but the reality is cruel. My opinion is to first have the ability to resist transformation risks before going on to transform Dry products, but never give up the sheet metal industry easily. The sheet metal manufacturing industry is indispensable, and maintaining an advantage in the face of competition is the core issue. Controlling costs is the core of the core. Not easily transitioning into products, but can transform the operational management mode, reduce management and manufacturing costs, and reduce labor difficulty; It is possible to transform the business structure from pursuing mass manufacturing business to customer-oriented and project-based business, which may be a feasible direction for the sheet metal industry. This can also be considered another way of transformation."

Internally cultivate in the heart, externally cultivate in actions

This service model also relies on Shinetek's talent cultivation and enterprise management. For these, Wang said, "Having been serving customers for many years is also a powerful support for Shinetek to continue moving forward." Wang said: "Because we have our own sheet metal processing factory, we better understand the needs of the sheet metal processing industry. Therefore, we have exhibition halls and professional pre-sales and after-sales teams in Dongguan, Guangdong, Suzhou, Jiangsu, Ningbo, Zhejiang, Qingdao, Shandong, Tianjin and other regions to provide customers with timely pre-sales, pre-sales, and after-sales services. The factory has an internal project team, and the company has developed a scientific project response process, specifically targeting customers' difficult and miscellaneous problems To provide technical support, regardless of the customer's needs, project engineers will provide one-on-one professional services, from customer requirements to plan development, testing and verification, follow-up tracking, project implementation, pre acceptance, final acceptance, etc., implementing closed-loop management. The entire process is traceable to ensure customer satisfaction. In the future, we will not only provide deburring machines, but also build Shineek into a platform for peer communication and improvement in sheet metal industry. Every month, we will organize sheet metal industry managers, technicians, and equipment, software, and system service manufacturers related to sheet metal manufacturing from all over the country to visit the Danyang factory for inspection, exchange, and discussion, providing comprehensive services for sheet metal enterprises."

The manufacturing of components and the development of automation equipment have gone through many detours and pitfalls, and of course, there are also many insights. In order to continuously improve myself, I have given the team many internal and external training courses, and I am also constantly learning from the experiences of successful individuals.

"At different stages of enterprise development, there should be different management ideas and methods. But talent cultivation and team building are always at the core. Our core management team and technical team have been accompanying the development of the enterprise from its inception to now, and have been in the company for more than 10 years. During this period, many external talents were unable to stay, and many self trained talents left the company. We have also been reflecting on our own problems. Previously, due to our failure to keep up with the needs of enterprise development in the construction of management systems, the lack of a talent value evaluation system and a talent value enhancement mechanism, some talents did not have accurate and clear judgments about the present and future, and even had misunderstandings about the company, resulting in talent loss."

" Nowadays, enterprises, especially sheet metal manufacturing enterprises, have the greatest thirst and helplessness for talents, because technical workers do not have professional schools to train them, small enterprises basically do not have a complete training system, and they mostly rely on job hopping and mentoring to bring out apprentices. It is best for management talents to grow from their own teams, which forces enterprises to be able to attract and retain talents. Our approach is to have a training and selection mechanism for skilled talents, especially to cultivate versatile workers, so that talents have the possibility of diversified development and valuable room for improvement.2、 For the cultivation of management talents, one should dare to let go. Their trial and error costs are the cost of growth. Once they go through this stage, their management abilities will definitely improve significantly. 3、 The atmosphere of team work should be full of positive energy. Small businesses cannot talk about culture, but creating a friendly working atmosphere is too important for small businesses. 4、 Establish a suitable and simple incentive mechanism to allow the team to see the synchronization of personal growth and enterprise development, so as to retain carefully trained talents. At different stages, the mechanism should also change accordingly, and the goals should be gradually adjusted. 5、 At a certain stage, enterprises need to have clear strategic directions and goals, give the team a hopeful future, and also introduce like-minded talents to learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, and enhance the team's overall capabilities. After having a stable team foundation, it is possible to gradually lead the team in terms of values and other aspects, and the corporate culture can gradually be established.

Closing remarks

At the end of the interview, the reporter asked about Shinetek's development plans for the next few years, Aiguo Wang replied: The completion of Shinetek's new factory means that we are standing at a new starting point, on a new platform, and on a new journey. I define this as Shinetek's second entrepreneurship. Our direction is also very clear. Firstly, we will continue to develop grinding products, strengthen research and development investment in grinding technology, develop from flexible grinding to precision and ultra precision grinding technology, and promote the application of grinding products in various fields, from standard single machines to full flow grinding the development of Cheng Automation combines various technologies to provide customers with one-stop grinding solutions. Secondly, we will solidly carry out self-research and self-use of Shinetek's smart factory, share the results of exploration with our peers, and contribute Shinetek's strength to achieving truly effective digitalization in the sheet metal industry. The sheet metal industry is indispensable, and the sheet metal market is also very large. Nowadays, sheet metal enterprises are highly competitive, and I believe they must also show a trend of diversity. They cannot all compete on the same track, and must take their own unique path. Sheet metal enterprises must transform themselves through automation, digitization, and intelligence to have a wider range of adaptability and win more customers of different types. In this way, the sheet metal industry can achieve good development and progress"