The joint venture of KONE, a global well-known elevator solution and service expert from Finland with 90-year operating history, 800 sales outlets all over the world, and Giant, a domestic brand with firm customer base that has been involved in the elevator industry throughout the country since the beginning of reform and opening up with an average annual growth rate of 30%, has received great attention in the industry.

After GiantKONE brand was launched, the cooperation between GiantKONE and KONE officially began, marking GiantKONE elevator entering a new stage of development. In the future development, does GiantKONE elevator have a major strategic shift? What plans will GiantKONE have for the future? With these questions, the reporter interviewed Mr. Qian Jiang, chairman of GiantKONE Elevator Co., Ltd.

"Elevator": Please tell us about the joint venture with KONE Elevator Co., Ltd. After the establishment of GiantKONE, what adjustments will be made to GiantKONE Elevator?

Qian Jiang: The joint venture contract between Giant Elevator and KONE Elevator Co., Ltd. was signed on February 3, 2005. A new business license was obtained on March 3, and the joint venture officially began operations on April 13. The total investment in the joint venture is 200 million yuan, and the registered capital is 83 million yuan in the initial period. In the early period, Chinese party accounted for 60% of the shares, and KONE accounted for 40% of the shares. Our joint venture period is 50 years with the brand name GiantKONE.

What the customer is most concerned about is: After the cooperation with KONE Elevator, what improvement will be made in the product technology of Giant Elevator. After the establishment of the joint venture company, the most important task of the current work is the introduction and digestion of technology. According to the signed contract, GiantKONE Elevator can obtain all the dynamic technology of KONE Elevator, including the technology of KONE Elevator's full range of products. However, the process of introducing technology must be carried out step by step. GiantKONE Elevator is not a brand-new factory, which has a very complete product base and will integrate various elements such as technology. We will carry out the grafting and transformation of some technologies. The existing products will mainly introduce a series of new product technologies directly. This work will start with the component technologies that can significantly improve the product quality. Currently, control technologies and components such as controllers and inverters have already begun to be introduced. We plan to spend two years to complete all technical transition work.

The second task is to join Kone Elevator's global supply chain. KONE has a global supply chain resource. Entering this supply chain means that we can optimally obtain the components and materials we need on a global scale. On the other hand, we also serve as a member of this supply chain. Its supply chain supplies our products and components. This supply chain includes both components and complete machines. GiantKONE Elevator Co., Ltd. has sales networks all over the country. While selling GiantKONE products, we will also actively promote KONE's original products.

The third task is to integrate management. As a prestigious "hundred-year-old shop," KONE not only has a profound corporate culture, but also has a wealth of management experience. After the joint venture, we can learn more from KONE's mature and scientific management model, mainly in accordance with KONE's management standards, with finance as the core, reorganization of business processes, and management, production, and branch operations.

The fourth important task is how to obtain more orders on the premise of increased production capacity after joint ventures. We will expand our sales network. In the domestic market, we will develop our agents mainly through the improvement of sales policies. In the international market, we will actively develop our export business through the international market of KONE.

"Elevator": What strategic significance does the cooperation with KONE have for Giant Elevator?

Qian Jiang: Zhejiang Giant Elevator Co., Ltd. has been manufacturing elevators since 1978 with a history of 27 years. It has relatively solid hardware and software conditions, including a relatively stable customer base, sales networks, plants and equipment that spread across the country and overseas. Production line, excellent corporate culture and management, staff team. Giant elevators have achieved very good performance and many honors in the past development. Has grown into an influential local Chinese brand. As one of the world's largest elevator manufacturers, KONE is the world leader in elevator technology, with a strong R&D capability and advanced product technology and management technology, and a global sales network and supply chain platform. Facing the current market opportunities, Giant Elevator hopes to have faster growth. The cooperation with KONE Elevator is beneficial for Giant Elevator to upgrade the technical level of the original product, on the other hand, it is also beneficial for Giant to expand the international market. The cooperation between Giant Elevator and Kone Elevator is an influential partnership between a Chinese company and a best global company. It is a combination of strength and strength. Cooperation with KONE can boost Giant’s faster growth.

"Elevator": The international market owned by KONE is one of the factors that has contributed to the cooperation between GiantKONE and KONE. After establishing a cooperative relationship with KONE, what will be GiantKONE’s positioning in the future international market? Will there be any adjustment to the sales area of ​​the original domestic market?

Qian Jiang: Before the cooperation, Giant Elevator has involved a lot of overseas sales. The original international market of Giant Elevator is located in South America, the Middle East, and Europe (including Western Europe, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy) and other regions. After cooperating with KONE, KONE’s global sales network can be used to extend the reach of the market to areas that North America and other giant elevators have not been involved in before.

In China, we will establish a more balanced sales network that facilitates marketing. In the past, due to limitations of many reasons, the market has been positioned in some local markets. After cooperating with KONE, we will expand the sales network, develop new agents throughout the country, and set up branches to serve regional markets.

"Elevator": After the introduction of KONE's advanced technology, will GiantKONE adjust its product strategy?

Qian Jiang: GiantKONE Elevator's current products are very rich, including 8 categories, 13 series, 188 standard products, the elevator product speed up to 3m/s, the maximum load of 5t. GiantKONE Elevator Co., Ltd. has reached a timetable for technology introduction with KONE Elevator Co., Ltd., including all products, including machine rooms and small machine rooms. As the first step passenger elevator technology, it is mainly the introduction of KONE’s advanced technologies and key components such as control systems, frequency conversion systems, door machine systems, and car decoration and control panels. Our product positioning has been formed, mainly in two directions: Firstly, a large amount of high-rise building elevators and escalator products, we will focus on high cost performance, high cost performance means competitive prices, and high-quality products Quality and customer satisfaction services. On the other hand, considering that GiantKONE Elevator Co., Ltd. has very good traditional advantage, that is, it is tailor-made for customers. Based on the strong R&D capabilities, it will expand a field in the personalized demands of customers, such as various special sightseeing elevators.

“Elevator”: KONE attaches great importance to the work of maintenance. And we understand that KONE provides maintenance for more than 500,000 elevators. With such a cooperative partner focused on maintenance, will GiantKONE learn from KONE and make adjustments in the maintenance work?

Qian Jiang: The current service market in China has formed its own unique characteristics. We attach great importance to the growth of joint venture sales. In terms of maintenance, we will work closely with our agents to maintain product quality. Under the premise of maintaining product quality and brand reputation, we will adopt appropriate methods to do it. Good maintenance work. We firmly believe that where products are sold, where service outlets are opened, and every product is effectively managed and running well, the technical barriers should not be set to force customers to accept your services. In addition, under the premise of ensuring good product operation and customer satisfaction, we will consider assigning maintenance services in some areas to agents that focus on service quality and have the ability to meet customer needs. However, we will still supervise the quality of products, such as the appointment of a service director in a region, providing service support and training for authorized agents, as well as supervising and inspecting the quality of their services, and maintaining direct and frequent contact and communication with each customer.

"Elevator": How do you regard the development trend of China's elevator market demand?

Qian Jiang: There are many theories that support the increasing demand for China's elevator market. For example, from the perspective of the average number of elevators per capita, there is an average of 1,000 people in the world and one elevator, while China now has more than 3,000 people and one elevator, and the international per capita. Compared with the amount of ownership, there is still a large gap in China, which means that there is still a large room for growth in the Chinese elevator market. In addition, from the perspective of China’s national conditions, China’s sustained economic development, advancement of the urbanization process, and the scarcity of per capita land resources have all laid a good market foundation for the continued development of the elevator industry. The process of urbanization in China is accelerating. Some experts predict that 50% of China’s population will be living in urban areas in 2040. However, the per capita land in China is scarce, and housing will become one of the important issues to be solved in the process of urbanization. There are limited construction sites. It is not allowed to develop large-scale villas and other low-rise buildings. The only way to solve urban housing problems is to develop high-rise buildings. China’s national conditions have determined that we have to take the path of intensive land use. In the next decade or two, the demand for elevators in high-rise buildings will increase, bringing great opportunities for the elevator industry. According to this development trend, the demand for the Chinese elevator market should continue to increase.

"Elevator": Some insiders predict that in the future elevator market, machine room-less elevators will replace those with machine room. What do you think of the future trend of machine room-less elevators in the Chinese market?

Qian Jiang: In 1996, KONE introduced the world's first machine room-less elevator, which caused a revolution in elevator technology. The global rise of the production of machine room-less and room products. As a pioneer of this technology, KONE’s machine room-less elevator has won numerous honors and awards in the world. KONE's machine room-less elevators have unique advantages, such as saving construction costs, facilitating installation, energy-saving and high-efficiency, and environmental protection. By the end of 2005, the total number of machine room-less elevators installed by KONE had reached 100,000 units. The occupancy rate of KONE's machine room-less elevators in the world has gradually increased. It is estimated that by 2010 KONE machine room-less elevators will replace 2/3 traditional elevators and occupy a market share. 60%. It can be seen that in such a short period of time, the rapid development of machine room-less elevators is also an inevitable result of the advantages of machine room-less elevators. Before the joint venture, Giant Elevator has produced machine rooms and machine room elevators. After the joint venture with KONE, GiantKONE will introduce advanced technologies such as KONE Monospace and Minispace in the future to improve the original machine room-less elevator technology of Giant Elevator. I am also optimistic about the market for elevators without machine room. Now the whole society is advocating environmental protection and energy saving, as well as the rational use of space for buildings. These requirements have made the machine room-less elevator fully show its advantages and face the future demand of the elevator market. The market prospects of computer room elevators are still very broad.

"Elevator": In the future competition, how to maintain the existing market share and achieve certain development? What are the development goals of GiantKONE?

Qian Jiang: Competition is based on many factors, such as product quality, price, brand, and service. In terms of product quality, through the cooperation with KONE, it is beneficial to the improvement of our product quality. The introduction of KONE Technology will result in certain changes in our products. In terms of price, we have entered the global supply chain of KONE. More cost-effective materials and components are available for selection, and the cost of the product will be reduced. We will reflect the cost reduction factor on the price and let profit to the customer; on the service, KONE has a set of perfection and improvement of its own characteristics. The management methods and management culture, we will also introduce learning, so that our services will be more standardized. Cooperation with us has added many favorable factors to our competition. As a national brand, the market share of giant elevators has increased by 25% to 30% every year for 10 consecutive years. Orders in the first half of this year increased by 30% from last year. With the help of the joint venture, GiantKONE will win more space for development through competitive product variety, quality, price and service. GiantKONE has established a market goal. We hope to obtain 5% of the Chinese market share after three years of hard work. Together with KONE China, we will obtain the KONE brand's global market position ranking in the domestic market. We are confident in our future development.

"Elevator": Now, let’s talk about a different topic. It is said that you like photography. And you are known as a scholar-merchant in the industry. What role do you think an individual's cultural qualities play in the formation of the entire corporate culture?

Qian Jiang: Scholar-merchant, that’s flattering. Hobby can help one get rid of the complicated work and relax, like vacation in foreign countries. GiantKONE Elevator adheres to Giant’s slogan "Safety, technology and humanity." "Humanity" is the humanism we promote. The elevator is based on people and is used by people. Therefore, whether it is the designer of an elevator or the manager of an elevator, it is necessary to demonstrate people-oriented care in the work. It is very important to have proper humanistic qualities. Humanistic literacy will help people build an imagination, cultivate their minds and raise their horizons. Every year, I would like to stress the new college students who have entered the company. While mastering a lot of science and technology, I should continue to improve the humanities. Product innovation, management innovation, and communication with customers in the sales process require humanistic knowledge to inspire your imagination and creative thinking. People always have some hobbies outside of work. With humanistic cultivation, many of our work will produce unexpected results.

Personal Profile of Chairman Qian Jiang:

Born in 1961, master's degree, senior engineer. He currently serves as the chairman and general manager of GiantKONE Elevator Co., Ltd., chairman of Zhejiang Giant Elevator Co., Ltd., secretary of the Party Committee, director of China Elevator Association, vice chairman of Huzhou Photographers Association, member of Huzhou CPPCC, and chairman of Huzhou Elevator Association. In 1982, he worked as an engineer, deputy director, factory manager, chairman, general manager, and secretary of Huzhou Elevator General Factory and Zhejiang Giant Elevator Co., Ltd. Since he took charge of corporate work in 1991, he has devoted himself to institutional innovation, management innovation and technological innovation. He has united all employees and developed a distressed state-owned enterprise into the largest Chinese-funded company with products that are distributed throughout China and are exported to the domestic industry in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. The company has won the honorary titles of Zhejiang High-tech Enterprise, Zhejiang Famous Trademark Enterprise, Zhejiang Green Enterprise, Zhejiang Province AAA Grade Contract-reliant and Credit Enterprise, Zhejiang Famous Brand Product Enterprise, and passed the ISO9001 Quality Management System and IOS14001 Environmental Management System International. Certification and was the first in the industry in the country that obtained European Union's product safety or CE certification.