On April 28th, in the conference room of Hsinchu Industrial Technology Research Institute, a little-known gear factory with an annual revenue of less than 1 billion yuan launched a product launch event, which actually attracted Zheng Xiancong, CEO of the MIH Project Office of the Hon Hai Group’s electric vehicle open platform, Liao Cizheng, CEO of Pegatron, and Lin Shixian, Chairman of Geneng Power, etc., under the attention of people from all walks of life in Taiwan's electric vehicle industry, the event site was full of seats.
It turned out that following the German automaker BMW and electromechanical giant Bosch, this Taiwanese company took the lead in creating the world's third and Asia's first commercialized two-speed gearbox for electric vehicles.
The revenue is only 1/8 of the opponent
But it is the first to launch an upgraded version of the gearbox
Hu Zhusheng, director of mechanical and electromechanical systems at the Industrial Technology Research Institute, pointed out that in the power system at the heart of an electric vehicle, in addition to the motor, another core component is the gearbox that helps the electric vehicle slow down or shift gears to accelerate.
For a long time, the disadvantage of single-speed gearboxes is that if you want to drive at high speed, you can only give up endurance, and if you want endurance, you must give up high-speed driving. However, the two-speed gearbox jointly developed by ITRI and the gear factory allows both. , so it has attracted much attention.
This gear factory is a local enterprise company that has been in the army for 40 years this year. The soul behind it is a father-son file: Lin Sen, the chairman of the local enterprise, and Lin Yimin, the general manager.
You read that right, this company is called "local". Lin Sen, who named the company, said that it represents the concept and meaning of staying in Taiwan, but he did not deny that this often caused him to be asked immediately after introducing the name of the company, "So this Taiwanese company What is your name?"
Lin Kuanzao, a professor of chemistry at Chung Hsing University, has known the father and son for more than 5 years. He said that they are not easy. Not only did they catch up with Taiwan's gear king - Heda 5 years ago, and became the second largest electric vehicle brand supply chain in the world. A Taiwanese gear manufacturer, but at that time the difference in revenue between the two was 8 times.
Spreading out the data, the company's electric vehicle business department revenue has just started in 2017, only about 2 million yuan, and this year it will look at 575 million yuan.
Why does it become the new winner of the electric vehicle business opportunity?
The answer is, make mistakes.
In 1981, before Lin Sen founded a Batom Co., Ltd., he was an agent of European gear processing machines. Like a "gear missionary", he held symposiums throughout Taiwan every year and introduced the latest gear processing technology from the original factory. Share with Taiwan industry. The most classic case is that Wang Yongqing, the founder of Formosa Plastics Group, invested more than 60% of the equipment in the gear factory invested in the early years by this "gear missionary".
"We like to try new technologies, but we also make mistakes. Out of 10 new technologies, at least 60% or 70% will be used, but the success rate is only about half." Lin Sen said.
The business model of local companies is to first filter out the latest technologies published in various exhibitions around the world, and then buy them first. They first produce and test in their own factories, and then sell to customers with innovative needs while trying to make samples. Or joint development orders; after that, let customers share part of the budget to strengthen their own technical capabilities step by step.
Fight new technologies, dare to try and make mistakes
Extend the amortization period and find a partner to share the cost
Taking electric vehicles as an example, the tooth surface distortion control technology that can reduce gear noise has been paid attention to by car manufacturers in the past 2 or 3 years. Familiar with professional gear production and manufacturing, seek local cooperation in research and development, so as to shorten the research and development time. Unfortunately, Yulon decided to give up the R&D plan after only one year of implementation. Afterwards, local companies continued to rely on their own profits to support this technology. It took seven years to complete the production process.
Being at the forefront of technology means that we have to bear more variables.
Lin Yimin, who is in charge of R&D and manufacturing, gave an example. For example, in the design of the gear box of an electric vehicle, the sound of the power system should be heard as little as possible, and only the sound of wind cutting can be heard. The level of noise requirements is completely different from that of fuel vehicles in the past. Designing dozens of gear molds failed to meet the requirements. "I wondered in my heart, is it necessary for an electric car factory to be so strict?" he said.
"This is the result of a series of production hells. Every time the production line supervisor sees a new test question, his face turns dark." Lin Yimin said.
Try more, and there will always be investments that will bear fruit. The father and son team set the stop loss line at the bottom line of "maintaining the company's small profits without affecting operations." Faced with new technologies that can take a long time to recover, they learn to take a long-term perspective: amortize over a period of 6 to 7 years, and find partners to cooperate and bear the cost.
This process, of course, is not easy. Lin Sen said that this is all supported by the profits from the large number of OEM orders. "If the Batom Co., Ltd. is not a family business with 100% equity, it is impossible to do this." He said.
On May 1 Labor Day, we walked into its production base in Taichung City. Dozens of production line employees were busy coming in and out, and continued to work overtime. It was obvious that it had indeed reached its peak.
An electric vehicle power system supplier who is familiar with Heda and the local analysis pointed out that the local is a relatively small family business that pursues sophisticated R&D business. And there is a higher degree of coordination and lower co-development costs.
However, although the local market is the first to launch products, and there are already orders from Thai electric car manufacturers and Japanese and Taiwanese OEMs, peers pointed out that whether there are international car manufacturers willing to adopt them will be the test. If they want to continue to win, they must Can run faster than others, like a gear, the smaller it turns, the faster it turns.
De: https://today.line.me/tw/v2/article/meBy1m?utm_source=lineshare
※Si hay algún error, comuníquese con nosotros lo antes posible para realizar el procesamiento de eliminación. Gracias※

Batom Co., Ltd. chairman Lin Sen (left) and general manager Lin Yimin (right)