Yves Serra, CEO of the Swiss Georg Fischer Group (GF) Group, has been paying more attention to the Chinese market since he was ordered in the 2008 financial crisis, especially in recent years. He comes to China two or three times a year, at least three weeks at a time, spending more time talking to customers and interacting with front-line employees. "Today, China's competitive situation and development opportunities have undergone qualitative changes. Here is the place where you can 'seek the miracle'." Yves Sela said.

In the 40 years of reform and opening up, China’s market has grown in size. For example, in the field of finishing, the Chinese market used to be a small piece, and it took only 25 years to become the world's largest market. The more important change is the improvement of quality. "China has entered a new stage of consumption upgrading and quality upgrading. Consumers want higher quality products, and enterprises are becoming more and more important in terms of quality." For the Swiss manufacturing industry, this may be a very favorable signal for the GF Group, which has been inherited for 215 years.

With the core business of piping systems, automotive products and processing solutions, GF Group's products cover almost every aspect of our lives – in the automotive sector, GF's customers include not only Volkswagen, Toyota, Honda, GM, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Hyundai, etc. A joint venture brand, and has many independent brand users such as Great Wall, Geely, Chery; in the pipeline market, GF products are widely used in large-scale projects such as the Bird's Nest, Expo Park, National Grand Theatre, etc., as well as Vanke, Greenland, and Langshi As for the real estate projects of enterprises, as for the machining field, the machine tools of GF processing solutions are spread all over the Chinese manufacturing industry, whether it is daily necessities such as beverages and ballpoint pens, electronic products such as mobile phones and tablet computers, and high-end manufacturing such as aircraft engines. In the field, GF's machine tools can be seen everywhere, helping the development of China's manufacturing industry at all levels.

According to the 2016 annual report, GF Group's performance in the global market is as stable as ever, with annual sales increasing by 3%. In contrast, GF's performance in the Chinese market can be described as “bright eyes”.

In 2016, GF Piping Systems acquired a total of three companies, two of which were Chinese companies (Shu Chang Auto Parts Co., Ltd. and Jingrong Lingyun Gas Equipment Co., Ltd., the latter acquired through the Asia-Pacific Group). Although the overall growth of GF's auto business last year was only slightly increased, the Chinese market grew strongly by 12% and its turnover reached 100 million Swiss francs (about 663 million yuan).

Today, GF has been in China for 30 years. Mr. Sela mentioned that China currently accounts for 20% of GF's global business, especially the finishing market, which already accounts for 40% of the Group's global market. GF's pipeline, automotive and processing solutions in China will continue to expand production capacity.

The GF Group also has a five-year plan to achieve a turnover of 4-5 billion Swiss francs (approximately RMB 29-325 billion) by 2020. An important force is to focus on the high-end market – new markets have brought new opportunities at a critical stage in China's economic restructuring. “China is a strategic market for the GF Group, and the Chinese government is paying more and more attention to quality and ecological issues,” said Sela. The layout of GF Group in China has been adjusted accordingly. Innovative investment has been increased in the field of lightweight auto parts, automated machine tools and pipeline systems. In the increasingly booming new energy vehicle market, preparations are also in full swing.

“I really like talking to Chinese customers, and their rapidly changing needs are the source of innovation.” In the interview, Yves Sela repeatedly emphasized the need to understand and meet the needs of customers. For the GF Group, this is by no means an empty talk. It has many aspects and has spared no effort to implement it.

We can look at innovation in this way: one is to innovate some subversive products or technologies to inspire and lead consumers' needs after years of growth, such as Apple's iPhone, and the other is to understand Innovate on the basis of consumer demand to better grasp trends and adapt to the market. In Serra's view, it is impossible to always make breakthrough innovations like Apple in the daily work (in fact, even Apple itself can't do it), and more is to constantly understand customers, adjust products, and adapt to needs. “In essence, the reason why innovation has become innovation is precisely to solve the needs of customers. Therefore, GF Group conducts independent research and development on the one hand, and many engineers participate in it to contribute; on the other hand, marketers in the front line of the market and Product managers will also participate in R&D. They can get feedback from customers and understand the real needs of customers.” Serra said, “GF Group has regulations for management personnel and must spend 50% of their working time on customers. Including myself, too."

However, it is not enough to be next to the customer. Mining customer needs is a systematic project. On the one hand, GF Group has built a rich and professional talent team, recruiting engineers from various fields such as hardware, software, machinery and environment. On the other hand, through training, they constantly improve their professional skills and accurately grasp customer needs. Difficulties and pain points, then you can develop new products on this basis, or upgrade the original products. “Employees visit customers to take photos, shoot videos, and find out what kind of problems customers have from some details. To optimize according to these problems, the bigger the company, the more it has to avoid “unnecessary innovation” and design some What customers don't need at all," Serra said.

Switzerland has a small land area and a small population, but its manufacturing industry enjoys a high reputation internationally. In Yves Serra's view, this country has a strong gene for the pursuit of ultimate and persistent innovation. “Because Swiss companies have no innovation, it is difficult to survive.” The innovation of genetic penetration in the development of GF Group has formed its most simple but core competitiveness.

When talking about the hot topic of "smart manufacturing", Yves Sela is quite calm and can't help but think about it. "Made in China 2025" is the same process as "Industry 4.0". In this process, manufacturing companies need to adapt to new needs through reforms to meet the ultimate needs of customers. ”

Since the start of the war in Germany in 2011, the wave of Industry 4.0 has now swept through every corner of the global manufacturing industry. In this mighty new industrial revolution, countries have frequently introduced strategies from the national level to seize opportunities and seize the commanding heights; and many industrial giants have also laid out in an effort to lead the trend of change. As a world-class industrial giant, GF Group is also naturally exploring and arranging Industry 4.0, but it still maintains its innovative rhythm.

In the pipeline field, GF's approach is to add sensors to the pipeline components, so that the entire pipeline system has communication and sensing capabilities, can be aware of the installation of components, whether there is leakage, if there is a potential risk, The system will promptly feedback, the staff will promptly repair and eliminate hidden dangers; in the field of machining, GF can customize the unique workshop management software for customers, and can connect all processing equipments such as machine tools and robots with the processing of all workpieces. Together, intelligent judgment and monitoring of the entire machining state is achieved, ensuring that the entire process is under uniform control, ensuring that all processes are processed in the correct state. In this way, not only can the processing efficiency be greatly improved, but also the processing quality and level can be guaranteed, creating greater value for the customer.

Although it can provide customers with such a high level of intelligent solutions, GF Group does not put all the emphasis on high-level intelligence, but from the actual situation and the actual needs of customers, taking into account. To some extent, this reflects the stability and rationality of GF. "If the machine itself is not good enough, it is like building a fortress in the desert. GF is a Swiss company, quality is our business card, and must not be lost," Yves Sela said. "Our growth plan is a quality." The growth is not an empty talk concept. Striving for stability and balanced growth is our main strategy. It is our goal to best meet the needs of our customers."

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