Editor's note: Last year, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the founding of China International Marine Containers Group, the container sector invited enterprises to dig deeply into the major events in the growth history of each company for contributions, so as to carry forward the spirit of CIMC, look back on the past and look forward to the future. Our company has received a special invitation for interviews and contributions from the container sector, and has published a special article. This article has been published by the group and sector on the CIMC intranet and related platforms. This month, it was also published on the front page of the journal "Box to Box" in the sector. It is now reprinted to the company's internal media for everyone to read.
China International Marine Containers has been striving for 40 years, winning the first place in container business, and more importantly, it has been 40 years for CIMC Southern to forge ahead. Southern CIMC has gone through three historical stages: Shekou (1982 2003) in Shenzhen, Pingshan (2003 2019) in Shenzhen, and Fenggang (2019 present) in Dongguan. From producing one large container per hour in the Shekou era to producing one in Pingshan every 3 minutes, and then to shutting down one large container every 1 minute in Fenggang, representing a huge leap forward and continuous innovation and development of CIMC's container manufacturing technology, constantly surpassing itself.
40 years ago, in the "Shekou era", from stamping to welding, to spraying and completion, the entire box was purely handmade, involving hundreds of components, and the level of hardship can be imagined. But the people of Southern CIMC adhere to the "special zone spirit" of reform, entrepreneurship, and hard work. They are not afraid of hardship and fatigue, and use their hands to increase the production from 8 units to 100 units, laying the foundation for CIMC's rapid development. Taking advantage of the trend of reform and opening up, CIMC's container business has always maintained the world's first place since 1996.
Along the way, Southern CIMC relied not only on excellent quality and technology, but also on a vigorous and innovative spirit. Because of innovation, lean thinking has taken root and sprouted in containers; Because of innovation, the concept of green manufacturing is integrated into various fields of the company; Due to innovation, Fenggang Factory has become the world's largest and most advanced "container benchmark factory" led by digitization. In 2021, the production of Southern CIMC reached a record high of 557500 TEUs, with an output value of 10.7 billion yuan, making significant contributions.Toyota's lean containerization
If the Shekou period was characterized by "working low", then after the production of the Pingshan factory in 2003, Southern CIMC began to take the initiative and think about "how to become a flagship". At this point, the industry benchmark production line "Dream Factory" with independent research and development, design, and complete independent innovation has officially been put on the agenda.Dream Factory was built on December 3, 2010, and is a production line dedicated to producing 40 foot boxes. The annual design production capacity is 270000 TEU, which is 1.5 times the conventional production line, and the design speed is 133 seconds. The comprehensive use of advanced technologies and lean concepts such as streamline, mechanization, automation, layout logistics lean, and synchronous box shifting is a concrete manifestation of Toyota's "lean concept".
Looking back to 2008, when the financial crisis hit and there were no orders in the market, the company faced great difficulties in operating. But the company did not "wait and lean", but actively organized personnel to "go out" and visit companies such as Toyota to learn lean concepts. Because only by continuously pursuing higher goals can we always stand at the forefront of the industry.The process of transforming lean concepts from car manufacturing to container manufacturing is very challenging, with the first challenge being the difficulty of "awareness". At that time, everyone was still in the initial learning stage of lean. When the company wanted to integrate lean concepts into production line design, many people did not understand or agree because there was no tangible effect support. But all the difficulties did not intimidate CIMC people. Liu Xuebin, then General Manager of Southern CIMC, personally attended the seminar and discussed with Japanese experts and production line leaders. Eventually, a consensus was reached to introduce the lean concept into the construction of the "Dream Factory".The automatic stamping streamline is the most typical case of lean implementation. Previously, stamping positions were scattered and separated, like "islands", resulting in a lot of material waste and high labor intensity. After the renovation of the assembly line, machines replaced manual labor and automation replaced manual labor, resulting in a significant increase in production efficiency and a sharp decrease in labor intensity. Once put into use, it led the industry trend and largely overturned traditional production models, attracting industry emulation. In the early stages of preparation, the biggest resistance of this innovative design came from within, because streamline belongs to pulling the trigger and moving the whole body. As long as one place stops, everything else will stop, and everyone is worried about the impact on the process. Later, after countless experiments and tests, we were able to dispel everyone's worries in practice.
DreamWorks is the epitome of lean philosophy, which runs through the entire workshop layout and is a pioneer in the industry. Without precedent, everyone crossed the river by feeling the stones, and many people questioned the feasibility. Moreover, the suppliers involved in research and design at that time did not have experience in container factory design. Amidst various doubts, the construction of Dream Factory has been progressing in an orderly manner. In order to ensure safety, it took four months for equipment debugging after completion. It took two months for a box to be optimized from the assembly platform to the outlet, and the level of precision can be imagined.During the debugging period, many people take the production line as their home and are on standby 24 hours a day. When they get tired, they go to the maintenance team for a while and immediately rush over to solve any problems. Although it was hard, no one retreated. Everyone thought and used their energy in the same direction, experiencing failures over and over again, and being inspired to debug equipment over and over again. Hard work always pays off. After "hard" adjustment, Dream Factory has ended its "pain" and ushered in a new life. The production line operation has become smoother, and production has steadily increased.Innovation never ends, and Fenggang Factory is an upgraded version of Pingshan's "Dream Factory". Here, you can see more lean concepts become reality. Compared to Pingshan, there are 4 more pre-treatment automatic lines, reaching 6; The large warehouse used for warehousing has disappeared, and JIT's on time production has achieved the goal of significantly eliminating warehouse area; The workshop crane lifting has been reduced by over 90%, further reducing safety risks.A leader in green manufacturingDuring the Pingshan period, Southern CIMC took the lead in implementing environmental protection measures for oil-based paints and gained recognition; Subsequently, it led the application of water-based paint and always led the industry in environmental protection.CIMC Southern began to cooperate with Shenzhen Research Institute of Tsinghua University to study the application of water-based paint very early, established a container water-based paint coating process laboratory, took the lead in completing the transformation of water-based paint in the industry, and officially used water-based paint to produce containers in batch on July 1, 2016. It is the first factory in the industry to successfully apply the "oil to water" water-based paint process. This technology reduces VOC emissions by 75%, and the results are promoted throughout the industry, leading the green development of the industry.
Everything is not smooth sailing, especially the innovation of "oil to water" that subverts tradition. The paint film has high roughness, blistering, sagging, cracking, and local rusting; The consumption of water-based paint is high, and the cost will increase by 800 yuan for every 1 TEU produced; What should we do if the cost of consumables such as nozzles, filter cartridges, and filter screens increases? Difficulties are presented one by one in front of everyone. Faced with difficulties, the company collaborated with suppliers to strengthen technical analysis and repeated experiments, successfully developing key process technologies such as "hot air dehumidification", "VOCs water absorption", and "circulating air in the drying room", continuously solving the "obstacles" on the development path, effectively mastering the water-based paint product technology, and promoting it to the entire industry, contributing to green environmental protection.
This decisiveness and perseverance are also the foundation for Southern CIMC to always maintain the top position in the industry and lead the development of the industry. At the Fenggang factory, the company continues to improve and conducts in-depth exploration of green environmental protection from multiple aspects. In addition to the application of water-based paint, Fenggang Factory is constantly upgrading and transforming, creating a green and environmentally friendly production workshop, increasing the number and length of drying and cooling rooms, and assisting production lines in multiple dimensions to form a more efficient production model.The development and application of green energy is also a major highlight of Fenggang Factory. In 2020, the company will build a 4MW roof distributed photovoltaic power generation project on the roof of the workshop building in Fenggang Phase I, which is one of the earliest photovoltaic plants in the sector and the first large-scale roof photovoltaic project with 10kV high-voltage grid connection in Dongguan. By constructing new energy power plants on the roof of the factory area and using renewable energy such as solar energy, enterprises can reduce their electricity costs, achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, achieve a "win-win" economic and ecological benefits, and actively contribute to the achievement of the national "dual carbon" goal.
In terms of waste heat utilization, the company has installed four sets of air compressor waste heat recovery systems, which use a heat exchange system to exchange the heat generated during the operation of the first phase air compressor and directly supply heat to the production drying room and dormitory building. In addition, the first energy storage power station in the sector will be put into operation in 2022.Through the company's major initiatives to create a green factory, it is expected that the equivalent energy consumption per unit output value will be reduced by 20% in 2027. On the road of green and environmental protection, Nanfang Zhongji will shoulder social responsibility bravely and unswervingly.Dreammakers of Intelligent ManufacturingFrom Shekou to Pingshan and Fenggang, step by step, Southern CIMC has been committed to promoting the upgrading of manufacturing capabilities. At the time when the "14th Five Year Plan" country proposed to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of enterprises to intelligent manufacturing, Southern CIMC came to Fenggang, Dongguan and officially embarked on its third entrepreneurial journey, marking the beginning of intelligent production.
In February 2019, Dongguan Southern CIMC was completed and put into operation, which is an upgraded version of the "Dream Factory" in Pingshan, Shenzhen. The new production line adheres to the principles of "technology leadership", "lean planning", "high-quality and efficient", and "safety and environmental protection". Drawing on 40 years of experience in container manufacturing from CIMC, it extensively draws on the practices and concepts of automotive and other advanced manufacturing industries. Under the guidance of the "Longteng Plan" manufacturing technology upgrade project in the container sector, it creates a more efficient and intelligent new generation of production lines, with an hourly output of over 55 large containers, Labor efficiency has significantly improved. In the first phase of Fenggang, more than 90% of the stamping parts have been automated and streamlined production, painting, welding and other sections have been completed, and robots have been used in large quantities to save labor and improve production efficiency. At the same time, the stability of production quality and customer satisfaction have also been improved.
Fenggang Factory adheres to the advanced concept of "no competition for people, no competition for equipment", and is the leader in the industry with the most automation coverage. It has played a pioneering role in the exploration of robot applications. For example, 12 Robot welding are used for front end up and down wave welding, which is the first time that Robot welding is used in the industry. However, during the initial testing process, there were many issues such as welding deviation, cutting, burning through, and abnormal scanning, resulting in significant production opinions. Faced with difficulties, Southern CIMC resolutely refrains from "deserting". After continuous efforts to improve, we have finally successfully met the application standards, and the weld seam stability has reached level A or above.
In addition, there is also a black paint pit station for spraying the bottom and side beams of the chassis, which has some concerns in the application of robots. Everyone thinks that robots are relatively "expensive", and the spraying environment for black paint is harsh. Is it feasible? Will the failure rate be high? Practice is the only criterion for testing truth. After experimental verification, the black painted robot operates well in harsh environments, greatly reducing the labor intensity of workers. Originally, manual spraying of black paint was a dirty, tiring, and harsh work station, but now robots have replaced manual labor, greatly reducing the labor intensity of workers.Compared to several experimental robots at Pingshan Factory, Fenggang Factory has invested heavily in intelligent manufacturing. The company has invested a total of 246 welding line robots, 48 painting robots, 51 transporters, and nearly 400 intelligent special machines, which are absolutely leading in the industry in terms of intelligence. The production capacity of a single shift has rapidly increased, reaching over 460 units.
From 2020 to 2021, due to the impact of the pandemic on the global supply chain, there was a situation where domestic exports were difficult to obtain in just one box. The company seized the opportunity to carry out technological transformation and quickly increase production capacity. From the earliest 144 seconds to 105 seconds, 95 seconds, 83 seconds, and later using the limited one month period of the 2021 Spring Festival holiday, utilizing innovative application scenarios for intelligent equipment and disruptive innovation in transportation technology, we overcame the difficulty of limited production line space and successfully shortened the production line pace to 60 seconds, significantly improving production efficiency and ensuring the demand for domestic export containers. In addition, the company has conducted in-depth exploration in flexible composite production, and a single production line can meet the simultaneous production needs of various types of special boxes. The company undertakes the group's "star driven" strategy, transforming from the original "standard box main production base" to "standard box becomes a benchmark, special box becomes a demonstration". Standard box further stabilizes its leading position in the industry with "business ambition" as its core business, and special box achieves rapid development in corners with "entrepreneurial ambition", with two business lines advancing side by side, forming a development pattern of "two wings flying together". It is precisely due to continuous innovation that the company has maintained the highest industry output record in the past two years, making outstanding contributions to the country's "stabilizing foreign trade and promoting growth". It has been awarded the Collective Award for Outstanding Contribution by the Container Industry Association for "Ensuring Stable and Smooth Supply".
As the most advanced carrier of export logistics, containers have always been helping Chinese manufacturing go global. While striving to become a model of container manufacturing, we are also contributing to China's manufacturing industry. In the view of Liu Xiaoxu, the current general manager of Southern CIMC, adhering to the manufacturing industry is a need for the company's production and operation, and it is also the responsibility of Southern CIMC to "not forget its original intention and mission", and to help Chinese manufacturing continue to go global. In the future, Southern CIMC will continue to uphold the corporate spirit of "two have three dares", that is, having ideals, responsibility, daring to venture, innovate, and work hard, as well as the diligent and perfect work style to continue to write new brilliance. Carrying 40 years of glory, the people of CIMC in the south will further gather the magnificent force to forge ahead and forge ahead bravely on the new journey of intelligent manufacturing.
