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16 Feb 2025
The meeting was attended by nearly 40 participants, including chairman, general managers, and core management teams from the AAC Machinery, New Energy Materials & Machinery, Hydraulic Technology, and Smart Energy business sectors, etc.On the first day of the conference, attendees visited KEDA's 6 major production bases in Foshan.
On the second day, Mr. Xuexian YANG, Director and General Manager of KEDA Industrial Group, along with the core management teams from KEDA Ceramic Machinery and HLT&DLT, held in-depth discussions on topics such as business management, globalization, R&D, production, and engineering management. Mr. Cheng BIAN, Chairman, Mr. Dengping TAN, Chief Advisor, Mr. Fei ZENG and Mr. Peng ZHOU, Vice Presidents, Mr. Qi PENG, Board Secretary, Mr. Lin LUO, CFO, and Mr. Longju HUANG, Investment Director, also participated in the event.
The meeting received a warm response from the department heads, who expressed that they greatly benefited from the discussions. With high enthusiasm, they signed the 2025 Business Responsibility Agreements with Chairman Mr. BIAN.
| Sharing Valuable and Actionable Insights in Special Project Management
Mr. Ruiyang FENG, Deputy General Manager of HLT&DLT, elaborated on the core secret behind the company's strong market competitiveness over the past 68 years: focusing on research and development to ensure product leadership, which has helped navigate market cycles.
Currently, HLT&DLT has established a research and development framework of "Five Verticals, Five Horizontals, and Two Platforms" (Ceramic Press + Extruder). The company upholds a "Customer-Oriented Design" philosophy, consistently launching nearly 20 new products annually using standardized, modular, platform-based, and digitalized design methods to meet market demands.
Mr. Xudong SUI, Deputy General Manager of KEDA Ceramic Machinery, shared insights from the Polishing Division's transformation towards building "the world's most advanced ceramic tile polishing & squaring machinery assembly workshop".
By introducing lean production and management, as well as lean thinking, the division successfully transformed its three main production lines in 2023 to a continuous flow assembly mode. As a result, redundant workforce was reduced by 45.2%, per capita output increased by 16.8%, and sales value, profit, machine dispatch numbers, and inventory turnover all saw significant improvements.
Mr. Weidong HE, General Manager of Foshan KEDA Industrial Co., Ltd., shared that the company is dedicated to "creating perfect projects and forging excellent quality", with the goal of making project execution a core competitive advantage.
Foshan KEDA Industrial Co., Ltd. manages projects across 4 dimensions: Progress, Quality, Safety, and Cost. It divides the process into 3 stages: pre-project, in-progress, and post-project management. The company has gradually developed a pre-project control and resource deployment system, centered around the "Main Business Processes".
This approach has enhanced team capabilities, resolved fundamental project issues, and ensured first-time project success. The result has been a higher assembly rate, shortened construction cycles, and significantly improved project quality and customer satisfaction.
Mr. HuoJin GUAN, Deputy General Manager of HLT&DLT, shared insights on the company's globalization strategy with the presentation titled "Rooted in China, Strengthening Asia, and Expanding Globally: The Journey of Ceramic Machinery Going Global." He emphasized the current positioning of the ceramic machinery "Globalization" strategy as "China's Leader, International First-Class".
The ceramic machinery sector is rising globally through its "Green Solution" approach, offering standout technological solutions & high-quality, customer-focused services to the world. HLT&DLT also
focuses on building a top-tier talent team & system, strengthening its global core competitiveness. The company is committed to developing a global supply chain, localized operations, and a global operational management system.
He also highlighted a few key points about risk management, including business risks, payment risks, compliance with localized operations, and international trademark protection.
▶ Chief Counselor Mr. Dengping TAN:
Achieving Efficient Operations through "To Honor Commitment and Take Practical Actions"
Mr. TAN shared his hope that attendees would gain insights into the company's next steps by visiting and learning from internal benchmark units. He emphasized, "It is crucial to understand the internal logic clearly. It's not just about a beautifully designed workshop, excellent automation, or impressive digitalization—all these are secondary. The ultimate goal is efficient operations."
He stressed the importance of following the closed-loop model: moving from awareness to action, generating positive outcomes through action, and using those outcomes to inspire new perceptions, thus achieving spiral development.
In the pursuit of operational efficiency, the philosophy of "To Honor Commitment and Take Practical Actions" should always be upheld. "Never aim for the 'best', focus on 'better'. Management is a process of accumulation, not something that can be achieved overnight."
Managers shall recognize that through effective organizational coordination, they can transform "Entropy Increase" into "Entropy Decrease", turning disorder into order. This approach directly addresses real-world problems, leading to more efficient operations.
"The general manager and chairman must adopt an open and inclusive mindset. Meanwhile, they shall set an example—shoulder responsibility in major matters and take decisive action in smaller ones—creating a positive working atmosphere."
It is essential to identify the most important tasks at this stage and devote maximum effort to achieving them. Product research & development, as well as production, must closely align with market and customer needs, avoiding the pitfalls of superficial self-satisfaction.
A clear blueprint for future development should be outlined, with step-by-step plans to enhance competitiveness and achieve a "Small Steps, Quick Progress" strategy.
On this foundation, an effective operational mechanism should be established to motivate employees. This will ensure that those who work hard for the company are rewarded, while those who try to cut corners have no place to thrive. This will create a unified & collaborative work environment.
▶ Director and General Manager Mr. Xuexian YANG:
Passion is the Foundation of Success
Mr. YANG first advised all business leaders to equip themselves with basic knowledge in 3 key areas: Finance, Law, and Products. This knowledge is essential for fully understanding the operations of the company and making targeted decisions.
"If a general manager lacks knowledge in any area, they must fill that gap and not avoid it," he stated. This goes beyond understanding industry trends, customer needs, competitors, product characteristics, internal management, business processes, and employee conditions. A general manager must have a comprehensive grasp of every detail to make accurate decisions in business operations.
"The success or failure of a company is determined by the leader. The general manager's role is a tough one." Especially in a B2B machinery company like KEDA, the general manager must have the "right tools" to handle complex challenges. It's a role that requires perseverance.
When building competitiveness, Mr. YANG suggested focusing on every product, every task, and every detail, ensuring exceptional service to each customer so that competitors have no opportunity to surpass.
"The biggest competitive advantage of Chinese products today is Customization. To establish a strong global presence, we must fully meet customer needs, whether it's addressing the personalized demands of front-end customers or speeding up the development, production standardization, and modularization in the back-end."
In response to the rapidly changing market, Mr. YANG shared the philosophy that "Companies Grow through Constant Contradictions". He encouraged everyone not to focus too much on creating a perfect team. "The team will never keep pace with business growth to a certain extent. Only by learning through action and acting through learning can we continuously improve and adapt to the ever-changing times."
Finally, Mr. YANG emphasized that only through genuine passion and a heartfelt commitment to the company can one truly devote themselves to the work, leading to a sense of accomplishment & fulfillment.
▶ Chairman Mr. Cheng BIAN:
Strengthening Communication Between Enterprises & Advancing Talent Breakthroughs
Chairman Mr. BIAN expressed his satisfaction with the open & heartfelt sharing of valuable experiences & management insights, which far exceeded his expectations. He believes everyone gained significant insights from the session.
The headquarters and operational units complement each other, while communication & collaboration between different units are essential. He encouraged each unit to learn from benchmark companies, optimize strategic direction, and enhance operational management. Strengthening communication & mutual support across areas such as technology, management, and products is key to solving problems that arise in different enterprises at different stages.
For example, when facing product development challenges, experts from various fields within KEDA Industrial Group can be brought together for technical seminars. The company can also leverage its scale to establish a unified procurement platform.
Furthermore, breakthroughs within the company must be driven by breakthroughs in talent, as "the history of a company's development is the history of talent iteration".
This year, individuals like Mr. Wenfeng LIANG and Mr. Jiaozi, both born in the 1980s, made significant breakthroughs in their fields with projects such as DeepSeek and Ne Zha 2. This highlights that to achieve breakthroughs in technology, processes, sales, and globalization, KEDA must attract top-tier talent.
Leaders of each unit should always stay forward-thinking and boldly seek, hire, and nurture professionals who surpass them in expertise to drive the company's progress & breakthroughs.
Finally, Chairman Mr. BIAN emphasized the importance of KEDA Industrial Group's unique benefit-sharing culture, "When Money Scatters, People Gather, and When Money Gathers, People Scatter".
He assured that, as business continues to develop and performance improves, the company will consider fair benefit distribution to ensure that rights, responsibilities, and benefits are aligned. He emphasized that no one should bear responsibility & exercise power without receiving their deserved benefits.
"I hope that, as KEDA Industrial Group continues to grow, everyone's income rises, key employees thrive, and all staff acquire wealth. We must be accountable to ourselves, our teams, and every KEDA member. I want each of you to love your role and work together towards our shared dreams!"
(KEDA Industrial Group)
