China's wire and cable companies are on the path of product upgrading, quality upgrading, and grade upgrading. With their pursuit of innovation and adherence to quality, they have gained more and more confidence.
80% of domestic enterprises are concentrated in the low-end and mid-range markets of the industry, competing for 20% of the profits; some foreign-funded and joint-venture enterprises control 20% of the high-end market and take away 80% of the profits... Whenever he sees this data, Yang Zeyuan, chairman of the board of directors of Baosheng Group, the only "national team" in my country's wire and cable industry, has an increasingly clear "Chinese dream" about wire and cable: Baosheng should become the backbone of my country's wire and cable industry.
"This situation reminds us that Chinese cable companies must transform and upgrade in order to develop," said Yang Zeyuan. He added that companies in the wire and cable industry should proactively improve their quality, establish themselves on quality, build the image of the entire industry on quality, and take brand and quality as their core competitiveness to effectively improve their quality level.
Like Baosheng Group, the other two leading wire and cable companies in Jiangsu, Far East Cable Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Far East Cable) and Jiangsu Shangshang Cable Group (hereinafter referred to as Shangshang Cable), also take it as their mission to build an international brand for Chinese wire and cable and establish the image of "Made in China" for wire and cable. The benchmark companies they are aiming for are world-class companies and brands in the wire and cable industry, such as Prysmian and Nexans.
Challenges stem from confidence, and confidence stems from quality. As Ding Shanhua, Chairman and General Manager of Shangshang Cable, stated, wire and cable products have two main characteristics: first, they may appear unassuming, but are difficult to produce well and are often disposable; second, they have a wide range of applications, involving both national defense and public safety. For wire and cable companies to gain an advantage in market competition, quality is paramount, and quality remains the second priority. Only by continuously improving quality can they enhance their brand, reputation, and added value.
Enhancing added value by using the word "special".
In June 2011, Ding Shanhua welcomed a group of foreign friends. As soon as they got off the bus, they all had expressions of doubt and disdain on their faces. Ding Shanhua remained humble and unassuming, and simply greeted them warmly.
This group of people were the designers of the AP1000, the world's most advanced third-generation nuclear power project. AP1000 nuclear power cables represent the highest level of international cable research and manufacturing, and the skepticism foreigners had about China's cable manufacturing capabilities made them wary of Shangshang Cable. Ding Shanhua didn't offer much explanation, but simply invited them to visit the company.
Facts speak louder than words. After touring the three factory areas, the foreign technical staff were all astonished: "We never imagined that there would be such a highly professional cable company in China!"
Ding Shanhua smiled and said, "Before the visit, I knew that no matter how much I talked, it wouldn't matter, so I had to let the facts speak for themselves." Their strong capabilities impressed the foreign technical staff. Subsequently, both parties formally signed a contract. Now, Shangshang Cable has delivered products for two reactors, filling a major technological gap in the global nuclear power industry.
In fact, compared with power cables, which are widely used and have low technical barriers, special cables have higher requirements for specialization, relatively smaller demand, and higher technical barriers. Although the added value of the products is high, the R&D investment is difficult for ordinary enterprises to bear. This is why my country's high-end cables have always been subject to the control of others.
Why did Ding Shanhua choose to go through the hardship of manufacturing special cables? This was closely related to his unforgettable trip abroad.
At the beginning of this century, Ding Shanhua, during a study tour to Europe, discovered an "anomaly": although the development level of China's cable industry lagged significantly behind Europe's at the time, even the worst factories in China were no worse than the best in Europe. After much reflection, he realized that the era of large-scale infrastructure construction in Europe and America had passed, and the cable industry was gradually becoming a sunset industry; while China was in a period of rapid development, with huge demand for cable products, and was still in its sunrise period. "I thought at the time, one day the 'golden age' of Chinese cables will also pass. At that time, what will we rely on to compete in the market?"
Now, Ding Shanhua has already found the answer: quality. He has also determined a new approach to enterprise development: not seeking the largest scale, but seeking the best quality. To this end, Shangshang Cable decided to implement a development strategy of "refinement, specialization, uniqueness, and internationalization," and its products gradually became "high-end, innovative, and cutting-edge." It has successively provided products for the Liaoning aircraft carrier, the Beijing Olympics, and the Shanghai World Expo, not only withstanding the most stringent quality tests, but also setting a benchmark for quality in China's cable industry.
Like Shangshang Cable, Anhui Hualing Cable Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Hualing), located in Wuwei County, Anhui Province, a well-known wire and cable industry base in my country, has also achieved great success in the field of special cables. Relying on continuous investment in scientific research, Hualing's flagship product, locomotive cables, has ranked among the top three in sales nationwide.
In a sense, special cable products such as nuclear power cables are more like badges of honor in the industry. Shangshang Cable represents Chinese companies that have finally crossed the invisible technological gap and stood at the commanding heights of international cable research and manufacturing. It is precisely because of a large number of companies like Shangshang Cable and Valin that China has been able to gradually overcome the obstacles of cutting-edge technologies, break through foreign technological blockades, and form a strong endogenous force in the process of moving from "Made in China" to "Created in China".
Using the word "new" to enhance competitiveness
Baosheng Cable has launched a new product.
This cable company, renowned in the industry for its "innovation," averages over 30 new products annually, making it a leader among domestic wire and cable enterprises. "Innovation has always been a characteristic of Baosheng Cable. We have now achieved the capability of 'selling one generation, developing one generation, and reserving one generation,' hoping to lead the market through independent innovation." Li Ming, deputy manager of the product R&D department at Baosheng Technology Innovation Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Baosheng Shares), a listed subsidiary of Baosheng Group, has worked in R&D for nine years. He believes that the four-tiered R&D organizational structure—from the academician/postdoctoral workstation and the Jiangsu Provincial Wire and Cable Engineering Technology Research Center to the Baosheng Technology Center and workshop process personnel—along with sound R&D policies, is a crucial guarantee for Baosheng Cable's continuous innovation capabilities and provides the strongest support for the improvement of Baosheng Cable's product range.
Medium-voltage fire-resistant cables are one of the products of Baosheng's commitment to innovation. Originally widely used in high-rise buildings, low-voltage cables have gradually shifted towards medium-voltage cables as buildings grow taller and safety requirements become more stringent. After keen market observation, Baosheng initiated the research and development of its new product, medium-voltage fire-resistant cables, in early 2009.
With no mature products available on the market and no established technologies within the industry to reference, the project team had to rely heavily on trial and error, making the task incredibly challenging. Liu Yanjun, deputy director of the product R&D department at Baosheng Group, and his team embarked on a difficult innovation process. Finding suitable insulation materials was crucial to the entire R&D effort. The R&D team of over 30 people searched for suitable materials through repeated experiments and verifications. After repeated exploration, they finally overcame all the technical difficulties at the end of 2011. After undergoing the most stringent testing and verification by authoritative departments, they launched a new type of medium-voltage fire-resistant cable that met the required standards, seizing a market advantage.
Coincidentally, Anhui Pacific Cable Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Pacific) also significantly enhanced its market competitiveness after launching its new product, rare earth aluminum alloy power cable. "We develop new products every year. In addition to rare earth aluminum alloy power cable, we have also put into production lines for marine cables and locomotive cables, and the market sales are currently quite good," revealed Wang Yeshan, Executive Vice President of Pacific. He added that the first production line for rare earth aluminum alloy power cable was very well received by the market after it went into operation, and they are now preparing to put the second production line into operation.
Currently, many companies in the wire and cable industry, such as Baosheng and Pacific, regard innovation as the internal driving force for their development, relying on innovation to improve product quality and market competitiveness.
Relying on "technology" to increase safety levels
When she received the company's research and development task for a medium-strength aluminum alloy energy-saving conductor, Xu Jing, the head of the overhead conductor research and development department of Far East Cable, knew that she also had to translate customer requirements into design inputs.
Far East Cable won the bid for this product from the power company in early 2012. This product is a new type of energy-saving conductor. Unlike traditional products, it not only requires removing the steel core commonly found in these conductors and replacing it with aluminum alloy, but also requires adding trace elements to the aluminum to increase the product's conductivity.
Therefore, a series of functional requirements, such as ensuring the product's mechanical properties are not compromised and whether its electrical performance can surpass that of traditional products, became technical challenges that Xu Jing and her team needed to overcome. Unlike the traditional model, these functional requirements all came from customer needs, rather than from the company's R&D department developing solutions behind closed doors.
Far East Cable has a specific term for this kind of quality R&D that starts from customer needs and begins in the design phase: QFD, or Quality Function Deployment. It's a quality improvement method that begins in the R&D and design stage, aiming to introduce quality management into the R&D process to meet customer needs. By applying QFD, Far East Cable's carbon fiber composite overhead insulated cables and non-metallic armored power supply cables for railways have effectively met users' quality function requirements, becoming models of quality innovation and market favorites for Far East Cable. For example, non-metallic armored cables eliminate the electromagnetic interference problems present in metallic armored cables, reduce losses, provide component protection, and significantly improve safety performance.
"Customer-centric and market-oriented are the core concepts of Far East Cable's R&D. The pursuit and emphasis on technological innovation are also important guarantees of Far East Cable's quality," said Wang Chuanbin, Senior Vice President and Chief Quality Officer of Far East Cable. He added that Far East Cable not only has its own technology research institute with R&D departments for overhead conductors, power cables, and equipment cables, but also a nationally accredited testing center and laboratory, as well as a postdoctoral workstation and an academician workstation. It applies for more than 40 patents and develops more than 20 new products every year, which well meets the needs of different users.
In many wire and cable companies in Hebei Province, there is a small, independent building with four prominent characters: "Technology Center." The purpose is to leverage technology to ensure the quality and safety of cable products. For example, Hebei Taidou Cable Group Co., Ltd., targeting cutting-edge international and domestic technologies, invested 130 million yuan in upgrading some equipment and 20 million yuan in research and development and testing of new products for high-end materials such as fire-resistant, environmentally friendly irradiated, and aluminum alloy wires and cables, accelerating product quality upgrades.
"Like a boat sailing in the wind, once it sets sail, it cannot be moored." Just like the famous line by the Tang Dynasty poet Han Yu, for my country's wire and cable companies, whether they are industry leaders or not, quality is the "mooring boat" on which their development will always depend.
A Battle of Specialty Cables
Specialty cables have specific performance requirements compared to conventional cables due to the special nature of their applications. Compared to ordinary wires and cables, which are produced in large quantities and widely used, they are characterized by higher technical content, stricter usage conditions, smaller batch sizes, and higher added value, often requiring the use of new materials, new structures, new processes, and new design calculations.
In recent years, with the rapid development of the national economy, my country's demand for special cables has grown dramatically. The demand for special cables in industries such as shipbuilding, railways, aircraft, aerospace, petroleum, chemical, metallurgy, and nuclear power has increased year by year. Due to the expansion of the overall market, special cables have also ushered in excellent development opportunities: oil drilling platforms require more than 15,000 kilometers annually; high-speed rail requires more than 37,300 kilometers… and special cables such as railway signal cables, marine cables, automotive wires, mining cables, and aircraft cables are growing at a rate of tens of thousands of kilometers per year.
Because Europe and the United States started developing specialized cables more than half a century earlier than my country, they hold a relatively leading position in terms of both experience and technology. However, China's pace of catching up in the specialized cable industry has been extremely rapid. For example, military-grade shielded cables, aerospace-grade silane cross-linked wires and cables, and high-temperature, high-conductivity transmission cables have already broken free from foreign technological monopolies. While my country may still lag behind Europe and the United States in cables with special applications and structures, we are almost on par with foreign countries in high-temperature resistant, green insulation, environmentally friendly, and functional cables.
Specialty cables differ from conventional cables, requiring specific applications and conditions. Therefore, they must be resistant to high temperatures, acids and alkalis, termites, corrosion, and even radiation. However, their high technological content, novel application areas, and high barriers to entry also contribute to the development and improvement of enterprises.
At the same time, the national advocacy for energy conservation, emission reduction, and green development has also provided new development opportunities for special cables. For example, the construction of the national smart grid, from planning and feasibility studies to phased implementation, relies heavily on special cables at every stage. Furthermore, the large-scale transformation of urban and rural power grids, the application of high-voltage and ultra-high-voltage cables, the construction of new energy power plants, and the specialized needs of other emerging fields are also injecting vigorous development vitality into the special cable industry.
In recent years, the domestic cable industry has increasingly called for "abandoning low-end and pursuing high-end" products, making specialty cables the best choice for wire and cable companies to enhance product added value and market competitiveness. Currently, specialty cables account for approximately 30% of the total domestic cable market sales.
It is roughly estimated that the annual sales of specialty cables in China are around 40 billion yuan. Judging from the strategies of developed foreign cable manufacturers such as General Electric (USA), Nexans (France), and LS Group (South Korea) entering China, competing for the specialty cable market has become a common goal. For Chinese companies to further expand their market share, increasing R&D investment is an inevitable choice. (Reported by Xu Jianhua, National Quality Inspection Center)
