Tech Giants: Starting from Bankrupt Companies

115: Chapter 115 Wings of Heavy Industry, Displaying Their Brilliance Once AgainTime rewinds to 9:00 AM on November 10th, at the Phase II Industrial Park of Xingchen Heavy Industry in Guancheng.

The autumn sunlight spilled over the massive ”Made in China 2017” slogan; the white characters on a red background were striking and vivid in the morning light.

Beneath the slogan stood a temporary exhibition hall capable of accommodating three thousand people—it featured a steel frame structure and glass curtain walls, exuding a strong sense of modernity.

The exhibition hall was already packed. In the front row sat procurement representatives from major automotive companies, aviation enterprises, and military industrial groups; in the middle were owners of machining enterprises from all over the country; the back rows were filled with media reporters and industry experts.

Everyone was waiting—waiting to see what the company that had once given the Chinese machine tool industry hope would bring today.

At exactly nine o’clock, the lights dimmed.

A spotlight hit the center of the stage. Gao Mingxuan walked out.

This forty-five-year-old newly appointed CEO of Xingchen Heavy Industry was wearing a dark blue custom-tailored suit today, without a tie, with the top button of his shirt undone, looking capable and relaxed.

He held a wireless microphone, his steps steady, with a confident smile on his face.

”At this time last year, we released the first generation of domestically produced high-end five-axis linkage machining centers here,” Gao Mingxuan’s opening was direct. ”Many people said it was luck, chance, an unrepeatable case.”

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the audience: ”Today, we bring the second generation. It’s not an improvement; it’s an evolution.”

The large screen behind him lit up, displaying four large characters: Heavenly Work Extreme.

”The second-generation five-axis linkage machining center, ’Heavenly Work Extreme’.” Gao Mingxuan walked to a machine tool covered by a red cloth. ”Performance upgrade: machining precision improved from ±0.002 millimeters to ±0.0015 millimeters.”

A gasp arose from the audience. An improvement of 0.0005 millimeters meant a leap in magnitude in the field of precision machining.

”Speed upgrade: the maximum spindle speed increased from 18,000 RPM to 24,000 RPM.” Gao Mingxuan continued, ”Smart upgrade: equipped with the ’flint no. 2’ chip newly released by Spark, it realizes real-time optimization of the machining process, intelligent anti-collision, and adaptive compensation.”

He lifted the red cloth.

The lights brightened fully, and the machine tool was fully revealed—a gray-white body, streamlined housing, and a control panel featuring a massive touchscreen. Most eye-catching was the spindle head, the intersection of the five movement axes, with an extremely compact structure.

”Live demonstration.” Gao Mingxuan signaled.

Staff pushed up an aviation-grade titanium alloy blank and fixed it onto the machine tool’s worktable. The technician operated the control panel a few times to pull up a machining program—an aero-engine blade.

Start.

The spindle rotated, almost silently. The tool touched the workpiece, and chips flew out like silk; they were not the traditional curled chips, but powder-like—this indicated that the cutting parameters were extremely precise and tool wear was minimal.

The large screen displayed machining data in real-time: spindle speed 21,000 RPM, feed rate 800 mm/min, cutting depth 0.2 mm... All parameters were in the green optimal range.

Fifteen minutes later, a complete titanium alloy blade was finished. The technician removed the blade and projected it onto the screen—the curved surface was smooth as a mirror, and the contour precision perfectly matched the design drawings.

”Traditional processes require twenty-five minutes to machine such a blade.” Gao Mingxuan picked up the blade, ”’Heavenly Work Extreme’ only needs fifteen minutes, an efficiency increase of 40%. And—the surface roughness improved from Ra0.8 to Ra0.4, an improvement of one grade.”

Applause began from the audience.

”This is not all.” Gao Mingxuan walked to another covered machine tool, ”The second-generation four-axis and three-axis machining centers, the ’Heavenly Work Sharp’ series.”

The red cloth fell, revealing three machine tools of different specifications—a large gantry milling machine, a medium-sized vertical machining center, and a small precision milling machine.

”General performance increased by 30%, energy consumption reduced by 20%.” Gao Mingxuan brought up comparative data, ”More importantly—we have implemented a ’Cloud Process Library’ for the first time.”

He demonstrated: selecting ”Aluminum Alloy 6061” and ”Deep Cavity Milling” on the control panel, the system automatically downloaded the optimal machining parameters from the cloud—speed, feed, cutting depth, and tool recommendations.

”This means that even an inexperienced operator can use this machine tool to produce qualified products.” Gao Mingxuan said, ”We want to lower the threshold for high-end manufacturing, allowing more small and medium-sized enterprises to use good equipment.”

The applause became more enthusiastic. Many owners of small and medium-sized enterprises were applauding vigorously—what they lacked most was not equipment, but process experience.

”Now,” Gao Mingxuan paused, his voice rising, ”the heavyweight product.”

The ground in the center of the stage began to descend, then rose again. A red cloth covered a massive object, as large as half a basketball court.

The red cloth fell.

The audience fell silent for three seconds, then erupted into exclamations.

It was a giant die-casting machine. The dark blue body resembled a sleeping steel beast; the clamping mechanism was so huge one had to look up at it, and the injection system looked like a giant cannon.

”3000-ton class ultra-large die-casting machine, ’Honghuang’.” Gao Mingxuan’s voice came through the speakers with a metallic texture, ”Clamping force of 3000 tons, capable of die-casting a car chassis in one piece.”

The large screen played an animation: molten aluminum was injected into the mold, formed under 3000 tons of pressure, and after cooling, the mold opened—the entire rear car chassis, formed in one piece, without welding, without splicing.

”Tesla’s latest die-casting machine is 6000-ton class, we still have a gap.” Gao Mingxuan said candidly, ”But 3000 tons is already enough to die-cast a B-class car chassis. And—the control system of this equipment uses our own ’flint no. 2’ chip.”

He walked to the die-casting machine’s control cabinet and opened the door. On the main control board inside, the logo of flint no. 2 was strikingly visible.

”From machine tools to die-casting machines, from chips to control systems, everything is self-developed.” Gao Mingxuan turned to face the audience, ”This is what Xingchen Heavy Industry wants to do—not buying to assemble, but building from the roots up.”

Applause thundered.

”Now, connecting to the Shenyang branch.” Gao Mingxuan signaled.

The large screen switched scenes. It was a familiar workshop—the Xingchen Heavy Industry Shenyang branch, converted from an old machine tool factory.

A figure appeared on the screen. Ma Zhendong, sixty-two years old, a former level-eight worker at the Shenyang Machine Tool factory, now the Quality Director of the Xingchen Heavy Industry Shenyang branch. He was wearing dark blue work clothes, his hair gray, but his back straight.

”I am Ma Zhendong.” The old man’s voice came through the speakers, with a Northeastern accent, ”I’ve worked with machine tools in Shenyang my whole life. In the past, we could only build ordinary lathes, and the best we could do was three-axis milling machines. Today...”

He turned sideways, and the camera panned to the workshop. Twenty ”Heavenly Work Sharp” four-axis linkage machining centers were arranged neatly, and workers were assembling them.

”Today, we can also build four-axis machines.” Ma Zhendong walked to a machine tool and touched the body, ”This machine, the bones are ours—the bed, the column, the base, all cast by the old workers of the Shenyang factory. The heart is Xingchen’s—the CNC system, the spindle, the guide rails. This is the ’Revitalization of the Northeast’ in the new era; it’s not waiting for others to invest, but growing new bones yourself.”

The scene cut back to the main venue. Many audience members were wiping their eyes.

Gao Mingxuan returned to the center of the stage: ”Data release: Xingchen Heavy Industry’s projected revenue for 2017 is 24 billion yuan, with Chinese-made high-end machine tools accounting for over 60% for the first time. Market share: the domestic market share of five-axis machine tools has jumped from 3% last year to 15%.”

He paused: ”There is also a breakthrough in exports. We have already obtained orders from Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Malaysia—of course, five-axis are not exported for now, mainly four-axis and three-axis. But this is a start.”

For the final segment, Gao Mingxuan invited a special guest on stage.

Lu Qiming, sixty-eight years old, Chief Scientist of Xingchen Heavy Industry, a national treasure-level expert. He was thin, wore thick glasses, and needed an assistant’s help to walk, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle’s.

The old man walked onto the stage, did not speak, and first unfolded a list.

”This is the supplier list for our second-generation machine tools.” Lu Qiming’s voice was not loud, but the audience was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, ”32 suppliers, 100% domestically produced.”

He pointed to several names on the list: ”CNC system—Xingchen CNC; spindle—Xingchen Precision Machinery; guide rails—Xingchen Precision; lead screw—Xingchen Transmission... all produced by Xingchen Heavy Industry itself, or by its holding subsidiaries.”

The old man looked up at the audience: ”Two years ago, I returned from Germany. Many people advised me: Old Lu, the Chinese machine tool industry has no hope, don’t waste your effort. Today, I want to say—”

He paused, enunciating each word:

”Hope is something you build yourself.”

The applause lasted for a full minute. Many people stood up to applaud.

After the press conference, the exhibition hall opened for viewing. Corporate representatives surrounded ”Heavenly Work Extreme”, asking about prices and technical details; small and medium-sized enterprise owners lingered in front of the ”Heavenly Work Sharp” series, calculating return on investment; procurement managers from automotive companies showed strong interest in the ”Honghuang” die-casting machine.

Gao Mingxuan was surrounded by the media.

”General Manager Gao, Xingchen Heavy Industry’s revenue this year is 24 billion, what is the profit margin?”

”Specific financial data will be disclosed after the listing. But I can reveal—the gross profit margin of domestically produced high-end machine tools has already exceeded that of imported equipment.”

”What are the plans for the next steps?”

”Next year we will launch the third generation, with a machining precision target of ±0.001 millimeters. The year after, we will develop a five-axis turn-mill compound center. The year after that...” Gao Mingxuan smiled, ”Perhaps we can build a ’mother machine of industry’ that belongs to China.”

The term ”mother machine of industry” made all the reporters’ eyes light up. That is the machine that makes machine tools, the pearl on the crown of manufacturing. Currently, only a few countries like Germany, Japan, and Switzerland can build it.

”How long do you think Xingchen still needs?”

”Ten years.” Gao Mingxuan said, ”Maybe longer. But it doesn’t matter; we have plenty of time, plenty of patience.”

In a lounge in the distance, Su Chen watched all this through a monitor. He did not go on stage, leaving the stage entirely to Gao Mingxuan and the Xingchen team.

Lin Wan walked in: ”President Su, news has come from Red Flag. The OEM agreement with BYD is basically finalized, and we will sign next week.”

”Good.” Su Chen nodded, ”All three lines are starting to have breakthroughs.”

”But the pressure is also greater.” Lin Wan said softly, ”The success of the chip means we have officially entered the table of top players. From now on, every card must be played carefully.”

Su Chen looked at the excited crowd on the screen, those shining eyes.

”Then play.” He said, ”Since we are at the table, don’t think about a retreat. Either win, or lose spectacularly.”

Outside the window in Guancheng, the sunlight was just right.

This world factory was nurturing new possibilities.