Source: Huzhou Daily

On the morning of September 21, 2008, the signing ceremony for academic workstations of academicians of GiantKONE Elevator Co., Ltd. was held. Song Nanping, Secretary of the Secretariat of China Association for Science and Technology, and Tan Jianrong, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering made a special trip to attend the ceremony.

In June 2009, GiantKONE Co., Ltd. spent more than 20 million yuan to introduce Savanini flexible sheet metal production line from Italy.

Currently, in the plant area of the company, the main work of 4-storey R&D center will be completed soon, which is expected to be put into use at the end of the year …

Chairman Qian Jiang said that science and technology are the lifeblood of companies. Whoever has the most advanced technology will have louder voice in market competition.

In the interview, I learned that to complete the leap from follow-up to lead in product research and development, GiantKONE has come a long way.

Zhu Xi, Assistant to General Manager and former head of the technology department, said: In the early years, product development mainly followed the follow-up strategy, and we produced what products that were sold well in the market.

However, following suit can only benefit for a while, but is not conducive to long-term profit. At that time, the giant's product technology was always followed by others, a slow-paced person, and did not occupy the commanding heights of the market.

In the setback, Giant was determined to build its own strong R & D team, with its own core technology. Otherwise, the company will not be able to be freed from the trap of small scale business.

Hence, in this century, Giant increased the investment in science and technology, and spent more than 600 million yuan each year in the development of electricity and escalator products, and strived to achieve comfort, energy conservation, and environmental protection. In 2005, after the company cooperated with KONE Corporation, Finland, it also strengthened the product R&D road that combined technology introduction and independent innovation to take all the escalator projects of the National Grand Theater, the Olympic Bird's Nest, the New Baiyun Airport and other landmark buildings. The technology accumulated by KONE Corporation in China, which has gained fame in China for over 100 years, has provided the wings for GiantKONE to take off. In 2007, the company and Zhejiang University jointly launched the project of “High-speed and High-efficient Traction Elevator Key Technology Research and Industrialization Development” project, which was a great success and created a domestic precedent, laying a solid foundation for the expansion of market share. In June last year, the company won the title of "High-tech Enterprise in Zhejiang Province". 

The increasing "Expansion" of the technical department may illustrate the ideas on the side. It is understood that before the non-joint venture, the production technology, engineering design, R&D and design personnel of Giant's Technology Department were not up to 20 people. Currently, there are already 40 people in the R&D department alone.

Zhu Xi said that the amount of science and technology that GiantKONE introduces to technology digestion and absorption and independent innovation has reached a very high proportion. In terms of speed, in general, 4m/s is sufficient to meet the 25- to 50-story building requirement. Elevators are already mature products in our company. The company is currently developing an elevator with a speed of 6m/s for high-rise buildings with more than 50 floors. We must know that for such elevators, the domestic market has to rely mainly on imports.

As orders grow steadily, increasing production capacity has become a top priority. Last year, the company decided to introduce the world's most advanced Italian Savanini flexible sheet metal production line. It was officially put into production after successful commissioning at the end of June this year, just in time for the production of the company's products. In the high season, it is very important for companies to complete the orders.

Only last year and this year, GiantKONE applied for and obtained seven patents including appearance and utility models. Qian Jiang said that the vigorous development of these years is inextricably linked with the progress of product technology and management technology. In the next step, we will actively use the advanced technology of KONE Corporation, Finland and at the same time make full use of the “Academician Expert Enterprise Work Center” and enterprise R&D center and other platforms to improve the technological innovation system and improve the technological innovation capability so as to strive for greater market share.

Huzhou Daily Reporter Zheng Feng