Interview with Dong Mingzhu: What is the significance of speed growth?

Interview with Dong Mingzhu: What is the significance of the speed increase?

On February 19th, when the reporter of China Entrepreneur came to Gree headquarters, Dong Mingzhu was taking part in the recording of Everyday Up. She didn't know this program before. "It turned out to be a talk show, and I was stunned when I stood on the stage."

after becoming online celebrity, Dong Mingzhu's social roles are more diverse-entrepreneur+online celebrity+China real economy spokesperson+city ambassador, which also makes her more eye-catching and controversial, and all this is exactly what she is fighting for the future.

"only five minutes." Dong Mingzhu told the reporter of China Entrepreneur who asked for an interview at the hotel gate. For nearly 2 minutes, Zhou Tianyu, the general manager of Beijing Gree, who has been following around, interrupted the interview. Dong Mingzhu got up and said half jokingly, "I don't think you can finish the interview in 5 minutes."

"When will Gree mobile phones be mass-produced?"

Dong Mingzhu: "You don't believe me when I say 217, do you?"

"When will Yinlong launch a new energy passenger car?"

Dong Mingzhu: "I'll tell you the time now. What if I can't get out then?

compared with 212' s call for "re-creating a Gree in five years" and Lei Jun's "betting 1 billion" at every turn, Dong Mingzhu's words are still sharp, but there are some differences, that is, he rarely announces any "big goals".

Perhaps, after showing Gree's ambition in a high-profile way, what Dong Mingzhu needs most now is the confidence and patience of the outside world.

Breakthrough

"These places are all going to be expanded, and the pressure is great this year."

In the direction of technician Chen Pang's finger, the land for the new factory building has been fenced off, but the ground has not yet been broken. There are about hundreds of large containers occupying both sides of the road, which are the most accurate CNC machine tools used to process the core components needed by Gree robots.

Recently, Gree split the original smart equipment business into three parts. Nanshui's factory mainly produces robots, while Beiling's machinery research institute mainly focuses on automated production lines. At present, this old factory located in Jinan University mainly conducts upstream technology research and development.

Dong Mingzhu said it was not a "big move". Compared with the air-conditioning business of hundreds of billions, intelligent equipment is only a "insignificant" small unit of Gree. In 213, it was only the production department of automation equipment. In 215, it had the output of 2, manipulators, and also set up the Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. to operate independently. "It was all internal digestion before, and it began to be sold externally this year."

according to Dong Mingzhu's consistent thinking, Gree's products must be independently researched and developed from the inside out. For example, if it plans to launch a washing machine, it is necessary to produce internal drum molds instead of relying on external procurement like other enterprises, which also reduces the cost to some extent. "Foreign imports cost $3 each."

Gree's mold factory officially opened to the public in 216, and many orders are in areas that have not been involved before. One of the most difficult tasks comes from a top European automobile brand. xingxing, a technician of the mold factory, pointed to the mold at the air inlet and said, there are many holes in it, and the difficulty is the greatest. Many domestic mold factories are afraid to take them. It is said that the agreement at that time was very strict, and if it could not be delivered on time, it would be possible to compensate thousands of dollars for every minute of delay in the production line.

Panorama of Zhuhai Gree Headquarters

This job was also brought back by Dong Mingzhu. Like other departments, the mold factory will receive many "whimsical" requests from the boss. A few years ago, when the "National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and the China People's Political Consultative Conference" was held in Beijing, it was foggy. When Dong Mingzhu came back, she wanted to make an air conditioner that didn't consume electricity. At first, the engineers said it was impossible, but at her request, Gree introduced photovoltaic air conditioners two years later.

"How many times has the research and development of a new technology failed in the development process, and it has lost 1 million yuan and 2 million yuan? As long as the research direction is not wrong, I will allow it," Dong Mingzhu said. "There is no reason to say that a research will be successful, but it must be successful in the end."

This kind of pressure often keeps xingxing awake at night.

"Is there anyone who can't get out in the end?"

"There's really nothing that General Manager Dong can't finish."

in Dong Mingzhu's view, "when a person says there is no pressure, it is basically impossible to make progress. Enterprise development itself is unbreakable. "

It is only after three years' long progress that the intelligent equipment business finally has a robot that can "get it". At first, the first generation was basically assembled products. By the second generation, some parts were self-developed, but the core products were still imported from Germany and Japan. It was not until the third generation that a big breakthrough was made. The three core components of the robot, such as reducer, controller and motor, could be generated internally, thus cutting the cost by one third. "Otherwise, it will not be competitive in price if it is put on the market." Chen Pang said.

The same thing, put on another domestic appliance giant Midea, may be a different story version.

In 216, Midea invested 1 billion euros to acquire 95% equity of Kuka, an industrial robot company with a history of 1 years. In 217, Midea may strike again in the field of robots. Recently, it was reported that its target was an Israeli robot company with a history of 3 years. Some people think that the way of acquisition can make enterprises cut into this market faster.

"China enterprises can't do anything but mergers and acquisitions?" For this question, Dong Mingzhu made no secret of her disgust. "Now many companies often say that we have innovated, cooperated with others and bought which technology, but I think what we bought is only the past of others. If it has a future, it will not be sold to you, right?"

in Dong Mingzhu's view, technology is like a living body, which is dynamically evolving. If you buy technology, but you don't have a team that grows with it, it is difficult to upgrade the technology. "The more abstruse you buy, the more you don't understand."

For many enterprises, M&A is a shortcut to occupy emerging opportunities, and the most direct effect is to expand the scale of enterprises.

as the undisputed "boss" of the air-conditioning industry, Gree's market share in the domestic air-conditioning field has exceeded 4%. Has it reached the "ceiling" of growth? Wang Jingdong, the secretary-general of Gree Electric, told the reporter of China Entrepreneur that the inventory clearance in 216 was very effective, and Gree basically got rid of its historical burden. At the same time, Gree also ushered in the best profit rate ever. Central air conditioning and overseas markets have become new growth points.

compared with the domestic market, Gree's overseas market has been progressing smoothly. Now Gree's products have been sold in more than 16 countries and regions around the world, and Brazil and Pakistan have also established production bases, but the income from export business has been less than 2%.

"The proportion is small now, but on the other hand, there will be more room for growth in the future." Wang Jingdong called Gree's overseas layout a strategy of "encircling the city from the countryside", that is, first in the Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia, and then in-depth exploration of European and American markets.

Brand and channel are the two biggest obstacles, which is the logic of Haier's bid for GE home appliances at a high price of $5.58 billion, and the logic of Midea's purchase of Toshiba home appliances, which can gain ready-made brand influence and distribution channels at the same time. But Gree still sticks to its own logic.

"These brands and departments are now relatively low in their own profitability. Can China enterprises transform their profits if they take them? It can't be said that just taking a brand and using a cost advantage of China to expand is not the goal of Gree's internationalization. " Wang Jingdong said. Gree would rather start slower and harder, but be more solid.

in the eyes of an insider, the different choices of Gree and Midea are ostensibly the differences of business strategies, but actually represent the two route differences faced by China manufacturing in the growth process. "Is it fast or slow?"

"What is the significance of speed increase?" Dong Mingzhu asked.

adventure?

does gree need speed?

To be sure, if Gree continues to grow at an annual rate of 2 billion, the criticism suffered by Dong Mingzhu may not appear.

the turning point is in 215. In 212, Gree Electric's revenue exceeded 1 billion yuan for the first time, and Dong Mingzhu put forward the goal of "2 billion yuan in 218". In the following two years, Gree successfully achieved the annual growth task of 2 billion yuan. Until 215, the whole industry was in a state of rectification and depression, and Gree was not spared.

Yuan Liang (pseudonym), who has been a Gree distributor for 2 years, witnessed the most difficult year. "The inventory pressure for many years gathered in 215 and suddenly broke out."

In this year, Gree's revenue and net profit both declined, so those doubts about Gree and Dong Mingzhu began to enlarge. Some people said that Dong Mingzhu's goal of 2 billion yuan was "the Great Leap Forward", while others blamed Gree's performance decline on Dong Mingzhu's obstinacy and mistakes in diversification strategy. Gree's mobile phone has also become a target for criticizing her "rash advance".

"If you have no confidence in your own products, how can others have confidence?" Dong Mingzhu insists that Gree mobile phones are the best, both internally and externally, and even when meeting with the superior leaders, he will promote the mobile phones as soon as possible.

For a long time, Dong Mingzhu has always been a man who is very determined about his own judgment.

objectively speaking, gree has no inherent advantages in making mobile phones. From a technical point of view, there are as many as 15,862 patents authorized by Gree, but few of them are related to the mobile phone business, and there are shortcomings from the production point of view. According to Dong Mingzhu, the reason why Gree mobile phones are not mass-produced is that the production capacity cannot keep up; Let's talk about the channel level. At present, Gree II has started to sell in JD.COM Mall, but there is no layout offline. The traditional channel advantages of air conditioners and small household appliances may be difficult to leverage. "It is impossible for us to sell mobile phones in this channel." Yuan Liang, an out-and-out Gree fan, thinks.

"Frankly speaking, mobile phones are not our strong point, and the challenges are quite big." Wang Jingdong said, "But I think that the concept of pursuing the ultimate and pursuing the user experience is applied to the research and development of mobile phones, which is the competitiveness of Gree mobile phones."

isn't there any doubt in Dong Mingzhu's heart?

"Why do you doubt yourself? I have never misjudged. The same is true for mobile phones. " Dong Mingzhu said, "It doesn't mean that I produce mobile phones today, which means that tens of millions of them will be realized immediately. There is a time to precipitate."

At the end of 215, Gree established the Communication Technology Research Institute. At present, two mobile phone production lines have been built in Zhuhai, Gree Electric, but they are in a state of "absolute secrecy". One of Dong Mingzhu's "goals" in 217 is the large-scale launch of mobile phones. "What worries me most now is that demand exceeds supply."

equally determined is the acquisition of Yinlong.

A Gree employee once commented that Dong Mingzhu was a person who didn't play cards according to common sense. After all, when Gree Electric's acquisition of Yinlong ran aground, many people judged that Dong Mingzhu would stop there and abandon the seemingly unrealistic idea of "building a car". Who would have thought that she would do something with all her wealth in the name of an individual investor? And this is what Dong Mingzhu thinks is "the most proud thing in 216".

The latest announcement issued by Gree Electric on February 21st shows that Dong Mingzhu's personal shareholding in Yinlong has already accounted for 1%. According to the announcement made by Zhongyeda Electric Co., Ltd., a shareholder of Yinlong, at the end of December 216, Dong Mingzhu was only the fifth largest shareholder at that time, accounting for 7.4627%. This also means that in the past two months, Dong Mingzhu has made a lot of additional investment.

"If you miss Zhuhai Yinlong, Gree will miss an era." Dong Mingzhu failed to stop Gree and Yinlong from "missing", but she brought them back to the negotiating table with her own strength.

just now, they signed a mutual purchase agreement for the coming year, with a total amount of no more than 2 billion RMB. Among them, Gree purchases new energy vehicles and energy storage equipment from Yinlong, which is estimated to be 1 billion yuan. The most important thing is that Yinlong, as a buyer, is expected to purchase 8 billion yuan of intelligent equipment from Gree, and 11 billion yuan of industrial products, including motors, capacitors, molds, automobile air conditioners, etc. Gree Electric's announcement mentioned that Zhuhai Yinlong aims to achieve the sales of about 3, new energy vehicles in 217.

"There are high requirements for the efficiency and effectiveness of air conditioners in the automotive field, especially for new energy vehicles, which is also Gree's advantage, and there is much to be done in it." Wang Jingdong said that Gree's previous acquisition plan also made a comprehensive understanding and analysis of this, so the business of the two companies should be more in the future.

from Dong Mingzhu's point of view, the merger and acquisition of Yinlong is not only about short-term business collaboration, but also about a broader market in the future.

"New energy vehicles have enabled us to stand on the same starting line as other countries. It is a creative change, not an imitative change." Dong Mingzhu said, "The products themselves should be environmentally friendly, otherwise they will do things that damage the environment and then engage in environmental protection. Isn't that nonsense?"

In 214, Dong Mingzhu was hired as the United Nations ambassador for sustainable urban development, which is one of her many roles. On February 16th, 217, she became the spokesperson of China's real economy together with Zong Qinghou, Chairman of Wahaha Group, and Xu Liuping, Chairman of TCL Group and Chairman of China Changan Automobile Group. At the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and the China People's Political Consultative Conference in 217, Dong Mingzhu, as a representative of the National People's Congress, will also submit a bill related to industry.

"I think the biggest thing the government will do after the supply-side reform is put forward is to use the reverse mechanism to require enterprises to strictly control the quality, and products that do not meet the requirements will not be able to circulate in the market." Dong Mingzhu often mentions some cases of "mutual convenience" between testing institutions and enterprises. The former does not "check" the quality of products, but depends on the depth of the relationship.

"I think it's normal for some enterprises to die when they die. It is normal for inferior things to be eliminated. Why should we protect them? " In her view, there is nothing wrong with China manufacturing as a whole, but many entrepreneurs need to change their concepts. "Concentrate on cultivation, don't be impetuous, don't be eager for quick success."

Principle

After tasting the snacks in front of two people, Dong Mingzhu said they were too sweet. Together with the orange peel just peeled off the table, they were wrapped in paper and thrown into the trash can.

Even a little contact with Dong Mingzhu will reveal that she is a cautious person. A Gree employee told reporters that Sister Dong could name almost everyone who had interviewed her, and even remembered the questions she had asked. As long as she is in Gree's headquarters, she will patrol the workshop almost every day, and she is familiar with Gree's product performance, technology and equipment in the factory. Gree has just launched a steam car washer, which is the name she gave-a glass of water is new, which well summarizes the function of the product "one liter of water can wash a car".

"leaders manage small things well, enterprises.