"Carry forward the entrepreneurial spirit and recast the glory of Dongfeng." Chairperson Jiang Zemin’s inscription for Dongfeng people inspired all the cadres and workers of Dongfeng Truck Company to work together and work hard, and achieved the most brilliant results in history. In 2002, the company produced and sold 158,000 cars, achieved sales revenue of 20 billion yuan, and created profits of 1.50 billion yuan. Both operating quality and profitability reached the highest level in Dongfeng’s history. In 2003, the company targeted to sell 160,000 cars, and medium-sized car sales continued to maintain the first market share. Sales revenue was 22 billion yuan, and profits were 1.60 billion yuan. Dongfeng commercial vehicles have entered the second golden age of rapid development in history. The restructuring plan of the strong alliance between Dongfeng and Nissan will surely inject strong impetus into the development of Dongfeng commercial vehicles.
Deepening reform, pioneering and innovation
The predecessor of Dongfeng Truck Company was the main part of Dongfeng Motor Company’s production of commercial vehicles. Since its establishment in 1966, it has made great contributions to the country, especially in the 1980s to the mid-1990s after the reform and opening up. With a series of advanced reform practices, it has become a leading enterprise in the automotive industry in our country. However, in the mid-to-late 1990s, due to the constraints of the system and mechanism, the development of the enterprise fell into a trough, and the cumulative loss exceeded 500 million yuan in 1998. At the most difficult time for the company, the Party Central Committee was very concerned about the revitalization and development of Dongfeng. In late May 1999, Comrade Jiang Zemin, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee, visited Dongfeng Company and pointed out the direction for the future development of Dongfeng Company. At that time, Miao Wei, the new general manager of Dongfeng Company, issued a "military order": to turn Dongfeng Company into a profit within three years and contribute to the reform and development of state-owned enterprises.
So Dongfeng Company underwent a "major surgery" – the main body of the company was adjusted into three levels. The first level was the group company of the decision-making body, which was mainly responsible for strategic planning, asset management, production and operation, and macro-control. The second level was the production and operation entity that bears specific profit or cost responsibilities. According to the business process and region, Dongfeng Company reorganized more than 30 professional factories, more than 10 joint ventures and holding subsidiaries under its original subordinates into several major plates such as the truck company, the parts division, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., Shenlong Automobile Company, and the southern business division. The third level is the basic unit of production and operation that also bears specific profit or cost responsibilities, mainly including the professional production plants directly under the original headquarters. The truck company came into being.
The newly established truck company is under great pressure, with many difficulties, people’s minds change, and everything needs to be prosperous. So, what makes all truck people face difficulties and challenges, so that the company suddenly comes like an "east wind" overnight, thousands of trees and pear blossoms, and thus enters the track of rapid development?
This is a set of very convincing data in the reform process of Dongfeng Truck Company: in 1999, it turned losses into profits of 360 million yuan; in 2000, it made a profit of 250 million yuan; in 2001, it made a profit of 900 million yuan; in 2002, it made a profit of 1.50 billion yuan. This is the company since its establishment, adhering to the policy of "market-oriented, marketing as a breakthrough, service as the center, and taking the road of quality and efficiency". It has based itself on the market with high-quality products, adapted to the market with flexible marketing, accelerated product development, optimized production and sales structure, and increased the proportion of "double high" production and sales with high-tech content and high added value represented by heavy-duty vehicles and special vehicles. All employees have worked hard and made great achievements. Data show that the company’s various businesses have created the highest level in history, and various commercial vehicles are in short supply across the board. Compared with the same industry in the country, Dongfeng Truck Company has the highest output, the highest sales volume and the best operating performance.
These outstanding achievements are mainly due to the company’s deepening of reform and the establishment of a manufacturing, marketing and management system in line with the market. It can capture market opportunities first, make accurate decisions, attack quickly and win successfully. In the words of Yang Shaojie, general manager of the truck company: "Our truck company thoroughly understands the practical significance of the adjustment of our country’s road transportation structure, and keenly captures the business opportunities emerging in the adjustment of the transportation structure, so that the company can do a good job of serving transportation enterprises and individuals, and usher in the peak of its own development."
Optimize the mechanism and strengthen management
At the beginning of the establishment of the truck company, the new leadership team took office immediately. Reintegrate the internal institutions, get rid of the chronic diseases that hinder the development of the enterprise, take decisive measures, lead the reform to a deeper level, and thoroughly carry out a "big change".
The company first started by rationalizing the relationship, changing the system, optimizing the mechanism, and strengthening management. It successively established a financial management committee, a product working committee, and a preparation committee, and reorganized a heavy-duty vehicle factory, a special-purpose vehicle company, a telecommunications company, and Dongfeng Bus Chassis Co., Ltd. The original automobile transportation department suffered losses for many years. Through reform, it replanned its business direction and changed its name to a heavy-duty vehicle factory. It became the main position for the R & D and production of heavy-duty vehicles, off-road vehicles, and overseas vehicle assembly, special vehicles, and special chassis of Dongfeng Truck Company. After the reform, the auxiliary functional area of business was transformed into a professional factory directly facing the market. The fourth multi-variety and flexible assembly line of Dongfeng Company was built, and the capacity was increased by more than 20 times. It took only more than a year to turn losses into profits. The reform turned a loss-making enterprise into a "special force" with large profits and the company’s new product development and market rapid response.
The system is the carrier, and the mechanism is the soul. The truck company has achieved tasks in place, responsibilities in place, and management assessment in place by implementing measures such as cadre system reform and post evaluation work. The company has also made breakthroughs in the reform of salary distribution, employee management, and cadre management. The average salary of employees has increased by 25%. The company continues to adhere to the principle of "three rigidities" centered on financial management and budget management, give full play to the enthusiasm and creativity of all units, and encourage them to base themselves on the market, operate flexibly, and seek greater efficiency growth points. Now the company’s more than 30 units have indicators, and everyone is under pressure.
Market-oriented reform, all the market has the final say. Units that do not meet the profit targets set by the company will not receive full wages, and units and individuals who exceed the profit targets will be rewarded. The reform forced all units to go to the market one after another, face the user directly, and everyone picks up the heavy burden, and everyone has indicators. The new management system clarified responsibilities and rights, transforming Dongfeng Truck Company from a slow-to-respond "aircraft carrier" to a flexible and combat-effective "joint fleet".
Product development to win quickly
The market is changing rapidly, business opportunities are fleeting, and products are the top priority among all factors. Today’s market competition is no longer the concept of "big fish eat small fish", but "fast fish eat slow fish". If you can’t establish a fast-changing production, development and marketing system, it is difficult for enterprises to win in the fierce market competition. In order to become a fast-changing "fast fish", the truck company has changed the previous "serial" to "parallel" management mode from market forecast and information feedback to R & D trial production and production organization, and vigorously promoted "synchronous engineering", so that information feedback, process design, production organization, planning finance, quality inspection and other functional areas of business form a joint force, harmonious resonance, shorten the new product development cycle and production organization time, optimize the management system, and improve work efficiency. The company has strengthened macro-control and micromanagement, established a flexible production system that adapts to market changes, established a perfect production and sales regular meeting balance system, changed the passive adjustment of the work plan to the predictive active adjustment of the early decision-making, and flexible manufacturing system has formed a benign value chain for the company’s decision-making, research and development, production, sales and service.
In terms of new product development, vigorously adjust the product structure and increase the intensity of new product development. This made Dongfeng commercial vehicles quickly attack the city and seize the ground, not only regained a large number of lost ground, but also occupied some new markets. For the flat-head gasoline vehicles that are not well sold in the market, resolutely stop production or reduce production. For products with large market demand, not only should we increase production, but also improve and innovate in configuration and technology to make them more mature and better meet the needs of the market and users. The company focuses on "Tianlong" products and forms a series of products from 240 horsepower, 270 horsepower to 300 horsepower to improve the core competitiveness of Dongfeng commercial vehicles. Adhere to the guiding ideology of cultivating core competitiveness with core products, and use the global commercial vehicle technology platform to comprehensively improve the technical content of Dongfeng products. This year, more than 30 models in 16 series of heavy, medium, light and military models have been developed, and new product sales have reached more than 90%. The success rate of new products on the market is 100%. New products are launched every month, and there are market hotspots in Zhou and Zhou. Dongfeng’s new generation of heavy-duty flat-head semi-trailer tractors represented by "Dongfeng Tianlong", "Dongfeng *******" EQ5075 series cars meet the high-end medium-sized van of Europe III emission regulations, "Dongfeng Iron Armor" EQ2050 series cars meet the tactical indicators of the third generation of light off-road vehicles in the army. New vehicles such as high-mobility light off-road vehicles, "Dongfeng Hercules" EQ3260G series engineering vehicles, and "Dongfeng Urban Wind Shadow" EQ6111RC series ultra-low-floor buses have beautiful appearance, luxurious interior, first-class configuration, high technical content, and set comfort Safety, environmental protection, with a world-class technical level, fully reflects the comprehensive strength of Dongfeng Motor Company’s research, development and manufacturing. The continuous launch of new products has brought fresh blood to the Dongfeng Motor family.
Base on the market and adapt quickly
Sun Tzu’s Art of War says "know yourself and know your enemy, and win a hundred battles". Only by understanding the market can you defeat your opponents. Yang Shaojie, general manager of the company, and Zhou Qiang, secretary of the Party Committee, often lead scientific research, production, and marketing personnel to conduct market surveys all over the country. They keenly found that, on the one hand, our country’s entry into the WTO will inevitably have an impact on the truck market, and the personalized needs of customers have also put forward higher requirements for production enterprises. On the other hand, the country has implemented a proactive fiscal policy, and the development of the western region has been in full swing, which will provide development opportunities for truck companies to expand their broad market space.
"Can Dongfeng trucks meet the ever-changing needs of users? How many new markets has Dongfeng trucks opened up? Which models of Dongfeng trucks are the most popular? What is the marketing and service network of Dongfeng trucks? How can Dongfeng trucks let users buy with confidence and use them with peace of mind? How can Dongfeng truck company go to the international market?" All of this is always haunting the hearts of the company’s management and ordinary employees.
For example, the same truck, the northwest market of China, needs models with good stability and large load capacity; the southeast coastal market needs models that are convenient, flexible and adaptable, indicating that the variant demand of China’s truck market is accelerating. The same truck, Henan needs a flat-head car, Hebei needs a long-head car, Shanxi needs a flat-head and a long-head, indicating that the Chinese truck market is further segmented. The same truck, in the past, users’ eyes were fixed on the multi-pull fast-running models, but now they not only need to pull more and run faster models, but also drive and ride comfortably, which shows that the demand level of China’s truck market is improving. As the same truck, some areas need to be used for coal pulling, some areas need to be used for long-distance transportation, some areas need to be used for engineering construction, and some areas need to be used for port transportation, which shows that the multi-demand trend of China’s truck market is obvious. In response to the variant needs of the market, the company has fought a war of differentiation, implementing differentiation in product design, production, marketing and service, further segmenting the market, and formulating different marketing strategies according to different regions and different consumption levels.
Change static marketing to dynamic marketing, change "business" to "business", everything from the user’s perspective, to a single sales behavior that only promotes products, to an integrated production, supply and marketing behavior that understands customer needs and serves customer needs. A Dongfeng truck sales company in the west organized personnel to promote products to key western development projects such as the Qinghai-Tibet Railway and Chaer Salt Lake, and drove cars to the construction site, where production and sales met directly. More than 100 Dongfeng trucks were quickly sold to key construction sites.
Implement "a la carte" marketing, tailor-made cars for customers, as long as customers need, the company will satisfy them immediately. "Customer orders, I will fry." In just over 20 days, more than 5,000 colorful and unique trucks were delivered to users.
There is a demand in the market, and the company must act immediately. For the special needs of the domestic truck market, such as the construction of highway concrete mixer trucks and special fire trucks, the company has not been involved in the past, but has now been listed as an urgent project for research and development, and has launched technical research. In order to adapt to the transformation of the truck market from low consumption to low and high consumption, the company has set up a project to develop high-tech, high-value-added trucks with excellent performance configuration, stable and comfortable operation.
People-oriented is very popular
In the company’s reform and development, the truck company places people first, perfects the system, optimizes the mechanism, closely integrates ideological and political work with production and operation, fully mobilizes the enthusiasm of employees, and gives full play to the enthusiasm of employees to participate in production and management. The majority of cadres and employees participate in the whole process of production and operation of the enterprise with a sense of ownership, and at the same time enjoy the fruitful results of the company’s reform and development and production and operation.
The company has reformed a new salary distribution system, and the new basic salary system is closer to the market. The company has fully established a mechanism of "enterprise distribution depends on efficiency, and employees’ income depends on contribution". According to job responsibilities, technical requirements, labor intensity, work efficiency, work performance, economic benefits and other indicators, the income level is determined, and the grades are boldly opened. There is no cap, so that those who can do more and do more can get more and earn more, so that those who do not work and do less can not "mix" days. In addition, completely break the original boundaries between the identity of workers and cadres. All on-the-job personnel are employees of the company, and they are divided into managers, technicians, production personnel, and service personnel according to the nature of their positions. No matter the cadres and workers, they must compete for jobs; those who cannot compete for jobs will be sent to the company’s re-employment service center for training. In the enterprise, a competition mechanism of "the capable go up and the mediocre go down" has been formed.
The reform will inevitably touch the interests of some people. Within the company, the implementation of a clear reward and punishment assessment system, the implementation of heavy rewards for individuals and units who complete tasks well, and the deduction of funds, warnings, exemptions or demotions for those who fail to complete tasks make every unit leader and employee try their best to do a good job in the enterprise. In the technical department of the company’s frame factory and forging plant, the minister’s income is not as good as that of the vice minister, the vice minister is not as good as the technical staff, and the technical staff is not as good as some front-line technical workers, which is no longer news. This was impossible in the past. In the engine factory, skilled workers with excellent work can enjoy the same monthly bonus of 550 yuan as technicians, which has long been rumored to be a good idea. In addition, the company also set aside 5 million yuan to reward personnel with special contributions, which greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of employees. At present, the floating part of the company’s employee income has accounted for 70%, and the income difference between employees can reach 5 to 6 times.
The reform has led to the rapid development of the company, which has brought rich profits to the employees, as well as enthusiasm for work and dedication to the factory. The company is serious about financial discipline and has increased its efforts to reduce costs. The procurement and coordination department takes centralized procurement and the assembly responsibility system as the main line, comparing quality and price procurement, and adopting a healthy competition mechanism. In order to save energy and reduce consumption, some branch and workshop workers changed their working habits during the day and chose to work at night with favorable electricity prices; in order to control costs, workers have gradually developed many good professional habits, such as "changing labor insurance supplies according to the piece", "picking up leftovers anytime and anywhere", etc. In order to reduce expenses, more and more workers have begun to pay attention to the operation process of the purchase and sales link, actively exercise their right to know and supervise, and the company has formed a good atmosphere in which everyone has to calculate an account, everyone reduces costs, and refuses to waste. According to incomplete statistics, in recent years, the company has created hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits in terms of cost savings alone.
With the strategic goal of "building a learning type and building the first brand of commercial vehicles in China", Dongfeng Truck Company has greatly promoted the learning style throughout the company, formed an atmosphere of learning for all employees, and improved the quality of employees. Enable enterprise employees to update their concepts, change roles, and think from a different perspective, and truly regard users as "gods" and "parents of food and clothing". Firmly establish the concept of "market first, user first, and service first". Focus on the development of third-generation commercial vehicles. From the development trend of commercial vehicles, products will further develop in the direction of large tonnage, high horsepower, high reliability, safety, and environmental protection. Electronic technology, information technology, satellite remote sensing technology, humanized design, and a large number of applications of new materials and new processes have made commercial vehicles develop with each passing day. With their own wisdom and hard work, Dongfeng people have finally developed a leading domestic, international and advanced Dongfeng series of commercial vehicles.
After joining the WTO, in the face of crises and challenges, the leadership team led by General Manager Yang Shaojie, Party Secretary Zhou Qiang, and Deputy General Manager Hu Jianguo is leading all the company’s employees to integrate into the tide of the world’s automobile industry with a new concept and positive attitude. They will learn from others’ strengths and embrace them, speed up the introduction of foreign advanced technology and management experience in various ways, and narrow the distance with the world’s trucks in as short a time as possible, so that the east wind blows China and goes to the world.
With the advanced technology, superior configuration and superior performance of Dongfeng’s third-generation commercial vehicle – "Dongfeng Tianlong" tractor – officially put into trial mass production on the assembly line, Dongfeng Truck Company has entered a period of rapid development through science and technology, scientific management and lean management. This marks that Dongfeng Truck Company has the ability to combine its own characteristics, introduce, absorb and digest international advanced technologies, and independently research, develop, produce and sell high-end and advanced heavy trucks that meet the characteristics of Chinese roads. This also shows that after three years of reform and development, Dongfeng Truck Company has entered a new fast lane of development.
