Haier Zhang: Using "internet thinking" to do manufacturing

Abstract: Haier Zhang will Haier from a local small factory to create a revenue of hundreds of billions (2012 the entire group income of about 160 billion yuan) of household appliances giants, Zhang called the first Chinese manufacturer. Now in the Internet age, Zhang hopes for the invisible giant, which is with a

Haier Zhang

Haier from a local small factory to create a revenue of hundreds of billions (2012 the entire group income of about 160 billion yuan), the home appliance giant, Zhang called "Made in China first person."

Now the internet age, Zhang expectations as "invisible giant", this is with Ali group of Ma Yun, Tencent Horse, Baidu Robin Li these "visible" network giants contrast. The wave of internet and mobile internet has swept through all industries. Haier, the leading household appliance industry, has not been spared. "The most I've paid attention to over the years is the Internet. Zhang told the 21st Century Economics report.

December 9, Ali Group announced the Haier Flag Regiment's Haier electric total of 2.822 billion Hong Kong dollar investment. Some people think that Haier will give up manufacturing, to the service industry, especially the modern logistics services sector transformation.

Zhang that this is a misreading of the outside world: Haier is not to give up manufacturing, but to change a thinking, with "internet thinking" to do manufacturing.

Internet thinking, not Internet Tools, is the biggest difference between Zhang and traditional manufacturing bosses. He is even different from his partner Ma Yun, Ma Yun stressed "Internet Tools", that the traditional industry net the best model is such as Taobao, cat cooperation, the use of electricity channels and network marketing can.

This formulation of Zhang is similar to the Lei of millet technology, but the connotation of the two is slightly different, Lei emphasizes the ecological chain, Zhang emphasizes the management of the manufacturing industry.

Zhang's "internet thinking" consists of two levels: first, the parallel production, that is, consumers, brands, factories, channels, upstream suppliers to participate in the entire process of Internet technology, the second is to operate users rather than operating products, the traditional manufacturing model is product-centric, the future manufacturing needs through their own products to find users, Interact with users, understand the needs of users, and then identify new product development, and cycle.

From home appliances manufacturing enterprises to a business with internet thinking, Haier is under the leadership of Zhang to carry out a great migration of the internet age.

Haier Group's two listed companies, Qingdao Haier main household electrical appliances manufacturing, responsible for the exploration of new manufacturing industry, Haier electrical appliances, main business channels, the same day logistics, responsible for new logistics exploration. Ma Yun, Zhang is intended to explore the "real Net + virtual network" seamless O2O Fusion, to create the O2O era from the user's nearest Internet portal.

In addition to the "Internet thinking" of manufacturing, Haier, under the leadership of Zhang, is still experimenting with the technology of manufacturing such as a factory without lights (unmanned factories), virtual manufacturing, 3D printing, etc. At present, Haier Group has been in Shenyang, such as the construction of lamp-free factory, the future will be put into the production of washing machines and other products.

In the Internet age, manufacturing prospects are not bullish, Zhang that this is the best era of manufacturing, the Internet for any product, will be more than the meaning of electricity: after the invention of electricity, the preservation of food cabinets into refrigerators, and later most of the equipment turned into electrical appliances;

Zhang is one of the most-read Chinese entrepreneurs, with nearly hundred books a year. In the last interview, he recommended the Facebook effect to reporters, and this time it recommended the impact of the moment.

Self-organizing enterprise

"21st century": under the impact of the Internet, what will the enterprise become?

Zhang: Traditional companies, like traditional media, are very difficult to transform into a mechanism that adapts to the Internet. The impact of the Internet is not only the electric business, internet marketing and so on, it will also bring a very deep impact. I think the impact to the end, the whole society will become self-organizing (automatic generation organization).

"21st century": What is the CEO's mission in the form of self-organization? Is there a need for existence?

Zhang: One is subjective initiative. Subordinates of the task is not issued by the superior, is the individual initiative to create, dynamic fight for. The reason to fight is to create value for the user, the CEO to judge "user value." Judging user value is what I need to do, of course I haven't done it yet.

We hope that self-organization is the self. A person discovers an opportunity, a few people like-minded, everybody together to do. Haier is a platform, a natural environment of the ecology, the soil is very fertile, very lush weeds. The CEO does not guarantee that there will be any trees, but the CEO must make sure the conditions are good.

Haier formerly engaged in independent management, now engaged in the community of interests, is a sense of self-organization. But there are shortages, that is, not natural growth, mostly planning. Experiment first to cultivate this meaning. Eventually reaching four words, "endless", some trees may die, but there will always be some trees emerging. Whether it is death or new students to see the market, if the market is gone, then you should not exist.

"21st century": What do you mean by management without leadership?

Zhang: It is under the impact of the Internet, we have proposed "management without Borders, enterprises without leadership." To achieve "management without boundaries, enterprise without leadership" premise is that the enterprise has become a self-organization.

I recommend that you take a look at the shock of the moment. This book is for Irwin. Toffler 30 years ago, "the impact of the future." Including the media, government agencies, business companies, the future will be on the run. For example, there is a thing on the road, the Internet immediately overwhelming, the agency media can only insist on coping, can not survive without coping. The reason is that everyone is the media, from the media. The media should optimize all kinds of resources and become a platform;

21st Century: What has been the biggest change in Haier over the years?

Zhang: Constantly changing, but the thinking must be different from the original, became the internet thinking.

21st Century: What is the biggest change that the internet has brought to the world?

Zhang: I think Drucker has a good saying, the biggest effect of the Internet is to eliminate the distance. If it is 0 distance, the electrical business will certainly prevail over the traditional marketing channels, the internet media will prevail over the traditional media, because the traditional media can not do "0 distance" of these three words, there is no good who bad problem.

Size and importance are two different things. Drucker's metaphor is very good: railways, for example, do not create as many products as they do, but the importance of railways is obvious, as is the Internet, and the trend is irreversible.

"21st century": How Haier let these more than 100 independent operators to form centripetal force?

Zhang: In fact, it is a target problem with inconsistent objectives and a fear of fragmentation. But if the goal is to create value for users, each link according to the expertise to form a division of labor. As individuals, if not for the user, for other links to create value, it will be the entire ecological chain abandoned.

"21st century": that is to say, even if all belong to Haier, but an autonomous business can not be inside the Haier procurement, can be purchased from other enterprises?

Zhang: If we don't buy from you now, you can improve your strength or you'll be dissolved. Now some departments are very pressure, so two roads, or you compete with others, if the further development of no procurement, it must be closed. When the door closes, you guys are casual, nobody wants you.

Future Factory

"21st century": What is the role of manufacturing in the future Haier system?

Zhang: About manufacturing, we set ourselves within 5 words: Intelligent unmanned. First, unmanned, unmanned will not rely on so many people, the degree of automation is very high; second, intelligence, intelligence is very efficient. Intelligence is also personalized manufacturing, design products quickly, but the production of things are not uniform.

In the past experience, automation is scale, and personalization is inconsistent, intelligent can overcome this.

"21st century": How to achieve personalization?

Zhang: Personalization should be a permanent goal, it includes two levels: the first level, modular personalization, Last (2012) "Singles Day" Haier selling TV, you choose what color you want to pick. When Haier TV received more than 10,000 orders, TV is not our advantage products. Now start customizing the air-conditioning;

The second level of personalization is that of one-on-one production. Modular personalization is the primary stage and one-to-one personalization is the advanced stage. The primary phase is now achievable, and the advanced phase needs to wait for a variety of technologies to mature, such as 3D printing.

21st Century: What do you personally think about 3D printing? Do you believe it will be popularized in 10 years?

Zhang: It's hard to say, at least I think it should be in this direction. Haier in a sense of the launch of China's first 3D printer, we call the first laser stamping machine. At that time mainly used for printing modules, no problem to open the mold.

In 1999, when General secretary Jiang Zemin visited Haier, he found it very strange and he had never seen it. What the hell is this? Use a laser printer to print a refrigerator, exactly the same as the real one.

3D printing is now subject to a lot of restrictions, and it has been said never possible. I think it can be developed, but there are two problems: first, the front-end materials can be arbitrary, such as whether to put some powder to print out a glass? Printing porcelain finished printing metal parts, how to solve the material problem?

The second is how to combine with the needs of consumers. Even if the material can meet the demand, but the price is too high. I think in children's plastic toys can first try, kids toys plastic a lot of young parents are 80, a generation, their own design, will be very fulfilling. First develop, then go to other areas.

"21st century": More than 100 years ago, Ford invented the assembly line, opened a large-scale production, is a kind of progress, the future of 3D printing, return to personalized production, is not a setback?

Zhang: I feel this is like a philosophical negation of denial: The first is a small workshop, and then become the assembly line, this is the initial negation, but now this 3D printing, is the negation of the negative, it and the original small workshop is different. Like you open a small shop, and then become a big chain, and then become a household of electric dealers, but with the previous small shop is completely different. I think it is a kind of progress.

The whole process revolution

"21st century": What do you think of the big data?

Zhang: Big data is really hot now, but we think it's very simple: if you can make it valuable it's called Big data, if you can't turn it into something valuable it's a big number.

"21st century": The daily logistics of the data collection done very well, this is a successful large data case?

Zhang: Haier delivery service vehicle is a sales terminal and service terminal, but also the user needs to obtain the terminal. Previously said the user entrance, the next line under the integration of online, Rob is the user portal. User entrance on the Internet may be search, browser, the data is inaccurate; in the O2O era, Haier can be sent to the loading of the user portal, the data is accurate.

There is a problem with the domestic electricity dealers. The internet has three functions, that is, platform, interaction, payment; Domestic electricity dealers may prefer to play the price war through the Internet, there is no winner, this is not the real value of the Internet. The value of the Internet should be interactive, understand the needs of users, create better user value.

"21st century": how to achieve value interaction?

Zhang: With management master Gally Hammer ("The management of the Great future" author) said, on the user-wide process, from the product design start, to manufacturing, sales, service, user-wide participation in the process. After the completion of a cycle, and then participate in the design of new products, manufacturing, sales and service.

The case of Amazon (398.08,-6.31,-1.56%) is a good illustration of the full process participation: for example, a parent to buy toys, immediately analyze why you want to play this toy, buy a small plane or small warships? Like military toys or something? Amazon will also start recording consumer preferences as a child, starting at age two or three and recommending products.

The other is Amazon's ebook. After the ebook comes out, not only is the price cheaper than the paper book, and the ebook does not end, everyone can write the end, this is really different place.

Amazon is only in the sales link to allow users to participate in the future of the manufacturing industry is users, producers, product suppliers can participate in each link. The whole process, the whole industry chain, the whole life cycle will give manufacturing a better future.

Now the electric dealers still stay at Wal-Mart (78.47, 0.08, 0.1%) "Every day low price" level, I think this is not the essence of Internet interaction. China's internet can not always stay in the price, should be to the value of interactive development.

21st Century: What is the difference between the eco-chain involved in the whole process?

Zhang: About the future of the eco-chain model, there is no particularly good reference, my reference is to become a "parallel platform", the interests of the parties on the parallel platform to maximize. In Machiaville's words: "If you do something that doesn't benefit all parties, then you won't succeed."

The former tandem platform is not the case, the concatenation of the various links are only concerned about the maximization of their interests: for example, from the upstream selection of the cheapest supply chain, sold downstream to higher prices. Profit maximization must have a source, what is the source? You must create value for your users.

Future family

"21st century": What do you think of smart TV? Everyone thinks that this is the future of subversion of traditional television.

Zhang: I think in the end, TV is not money, by buying software, selling service fees.

"21st century": Haier very early launched the family interconnection standard E Jia, now what do you think of home Internet?

Zhang: We think the direction of the past has a problem, should be in the middle of the user survey, the user most concerned about what? In fact, we have done, the Chinese users are most concerned about a lot of the first is safety; For example, the safety of the family, many young parents worry that adults will not be able to use the networking equipment, including the current social security problems, networking will become a big problem.

Haier has many experiments in the home Internet, but it is inconvenient from the user's point of view. It is important that we never give up.

21st Century: What are the problems besides security?

Zhang: Is now the most basic how to remote control it, I take a mobile phone can control the home switch, in fact, we did, did not seem to be satisfied with the user. So I personally think that can be from remote control to self-control, is the home of the equipment can be based on the surrounding environment to determine their own.

It used to be man-machine conversation, and now there is a long way to go before the environment and machine talk.

The situation is somewhat similar to what Drucker said that "demand has not been created," and that security, environment and machine services need to be created and then tested by the market.

"21st century": Haier's role in addition to hardware, services, there are other expansion space?

Zhang: In fact, we are not so thinking about the problem, we are not thinking about what products to do, we are now thinking how to interact with users, the traditional economy is actually no users.

"21st century": the past only products, product-centric?

Zhang: At that time only customers, I produced products to advertise, promotion, and finally someone to buy the end, payment is the end of sales. Now payment is the beginning of the sale, the user for you is forever. The big thing is that the information is here, you can use the data analysis, it's very different.