What can you do in 5 minutes?
Designed a crane on site and won an order of 140 million yuan.
More than 3 years ago, at a negotiation meeting for a steel plant project in a Southeast Asian country, Party A suddenly requested that the crane design must be changed due to changes in working conditions. Liu Yonggang, the representative of Party B and deputy general manager of Henan Weihua Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd., calmly took out his computer. In just a few minutes, the drawings of a crane with new specifications were completed, laying the foundation for cooperation.
"At that time, we could only quickly generate a general drawing of the entire machine. Now our design system can automatically generate a complete set of component drawings!" On June 13, Liu Yonggang, who has been promoted to the company's vice president, proudly told reporters that the company's self-developed digital design system can currently quickly design 28 types of cranes, and the design process time has been shortened from weeks to minutes. This technology is unique in the industry.
According to reports, cranes are a non-standard product. Each product needs to be combined with customer needs, workshop conditions, installation environment and many other factors. Production can only begin after extensive calculations and verification by engineers. Such a design process usually takes two weeks or more, causing engineers who are originally an innovative research and development force to spend most of their energy on the task of drawing drawings for new orders.
In response to this situation, Weihua organized R&D forces to launch a digital design system. After designers input the main parameter information according to customer requirements, the system can automatically complete the drawing of the crane, significantly improving design efficiency and accuracy.
Today, 70% of the cranes produced by Weihua Group are designed by the "digital design system".
"Now engineers can spend more time developing new products and product standardization and serialization, and Weihua's crane technology research and development has entered a virtuous cycle." Liu Yonggang said that they are currently developing a new generation of digital design system, which will be able to automatically complete the design of three-dimensional cranes, making the connection between design and production smoother.
In recent years, Weihua Group has always used technological innovation as an engine to promote corporate development. Annual R&D investment accounts for 4% to 6% of annual sales revenue. It now has 33 national and provincial R&D platforms, a scientific research team of 1,000 people, and has obtained more than 1,200 authorized patents. It has participated in the formulation of 127 international, national, industry, local, and group standards. The overall technical level of the company is domestically leading, and some technologies have reached the international leading level.
Thanks to its technological leadership, Weihua Group has achieved high-quality development. "Weihua-made" cranes are exported to more than 130 countries and regions, with sales revenue growing at an average annual rate of more than 30%. It has been ranked among the top 500 Chinese manufacturing companies for many years.
