Recently, entering the No. 6 intelligent factory of Ningbo Xusheng Group Co., Ltd., a lightweight steering knuckle developed independently by the enterprise is produced busily. The wheels are connected to the body by the steering knuckles, which act like a joint, allowing the car to steer smoothly. Two years ago, the weight of a single steering knuckle was reduced from 7.7 kg to 5.86 kg by Xusheng, by which, the foreign technology monopoly has been broken.
Despite the fact that only less than two kilograms have been lost, the new energy automobile are quibble like this, because the total weight of the body is reduced, by which the endurance can be promoted and also the cost can be reduced. In Xusheng, whether it is the power system, chassis system or battery system, the weight of the body can be reduced by about 20% to 35% through the improvement of the process and the modification of the material.
The lighter the product is made, the weight of Xusheng in the industry is more and more heavy. Starting from mold manufacturing, the industry of aluminum processing is focused on by Xusheng, which is the single national champion enterprise in manufacturing industry. The brand logos of new energy automobile at home and abroad are hung on the wall of corporate partner, by which the foundation of Xusheng has been made more and more sufficient.
Eleven years ago, the annual sales volume of Xusheng was less than 100 million yuan, which entered the “surge period” in these years: the revenue exceeded 3 billion yuan in 2021, and it reached 4.45 billion yuan in 2022. The operating profit increased by 68.05% comparing with the previous year. It is expected that the revenue will exceed 10 billion yuan in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of over 30%.
The key point of rapid development was 11 years ago.
In June 2013, Xusheng contacted a world-renowned manufacturer of electric automobile through the recommendation of a customer by chance, At the time, the manufacturer was looking for suppliers around the world to optimize a part in the battery cooling system.
At that time, the annual number of order form of this manufacturer was less than 10,000 units a year. Small-batch, multi-variety, parts order form of high-requirement, were expensive, brain-consuming, labor-consuming in the eyes of many enterprises of automobile parts so that the order form was difficult to be accepted by most enterprises.
But Xusheng accepted. XU Xudong, the chairman of Xusheng Group, recalled that, he made an analysis immediately after receiving the drawings and the method of one-time forming after forging and machining was decided to be adopted finally, by which the structure of parts can be reformed.
The quick response of Xusheng is inseparable from his accumulated experience over the years. The 70% of the production capacity of die-casting mold is in the District of Beilun and 11 of the top 20 die-casting molds in China have settled here. In the fierce competition, all kinds of demand can be captured quickly by Xusheng, which has been "trained" to do it and the, personalized products can also be produced, the corresponding mold can be researched and developed and also can be made by Xusheng according to the needs of the market.
In just 15 days, the mold has been opened by Xusheng, and the qualified samples also has been trial-produced, furthmore the production costs can be reduced significantly, which surprised the manufacturer. In October 2013, the first generic contract was signed by them.
With this experience, even the new energy automobile were still observed or denied by many people in that time,, the corresponding production lines of new energy automobile was developed resolutely by Xusheng with a huge sum of money being invested, "Things that don't take risks also mean you don't have a big reward." said XU Xudong.
Get on the new track and the challenge is arriving. Since the last year, prices of new energy automobile have been cut, and Xusheng can see clearly that the key is to maintain a reasonable profit margin.
The key is to improve the efficiency of R&D and production.
The quantity of order form of the traditional automobile industry is in order, but the quantity of order form of the new energy automobile is little with many problems fluctuation and fast rhythm, which means that the corresponding personnel, equipment and production line should be matched flexibly by Xusheng.
In the layout of the factory, the adjustments have been made by Xusheng. With the headquarters building of Xusheng Group as the center of the circle, there are 9 factories being operated in ten kilometers, and the tenth factory will be put into operation soon. Through digital management and clear division of labor, a rich product matrix can be built in each factory,. In addition, with the mature industrial chain in the region, the mould materials can be delivered to the corresponding factory in two hours.
“Our innovation is not measured in days, months, but in hours. "The relevant person in charge of Xusheng Group said, the customer" roll ", Xusheng is even more" roll ", 7 to 10 days has been given by the customer and the proposal can be given in 2 to 3 days, and then the samples can be delivered, and the time of the order form to be delivered can be measured to a certain time of a certain day in a month.
"Let customers to be surprised for our speed", exactly under the challenge time and time again, Xusheng has climbed to the commanding heights of the industry step by step. Last year, a three-year plan of digital upgradation has also been formulated by Xusheng, in which the production capacity and the internal management efficiency shall be improved continuously with 130 million yuan to be invested
More long-term planning, Xusheng is also planning. As early as 2017 and 2019, the business department of aluminum forging, the business department of aluminum extrusion have been established successively, by which Xusheng has become the only enterprise mastering the three major aluminum alloy forming processes of die casting, forging and extrusion simultaneously in the world.
Relying on this unique industrial advantage, the battery systems and body systems with high-performance of new energy automobile are being focused on by Xusheng. “Our strategic direction is to be an ‘integrated supplier’, and break through and innovate constantly in the integrated structural parts to improve the dominance of the market further. "Introduction of relevant persons in charge of the enterprise."
In 2023, the first overseas factory was laid in Mexico by Xusheng. The Mexico factory will also have the whole process such as fusion casting, extrusion, die casting, precision machining and so on in the future, which will become a new fulcrum for Xusheng to embrace the global market.
"We want to be the first in the industry in our familiar links, digging a 5-meter-wide track to a depth of 10,000 meters." said by Xu Xudong (Zhejiang Daily reporter Zhu Mei and Chen Minming at Beilun Station of Sharing Alliance)