On October 29 and 30, SIE held the 2021 China Enterprise Digitization Summit and SIE Users Conference at the Jinji Lake in Suzhou. SIE has held this summit for eight years, and this is the first time in eight years that the venue of the summit was chosen in East China. In addition to its increasing investment in East China, SIE Information is obviously interested in the Yangtze River Delta, a manufacturing cluster.

Mr. Zhang Chengkang, the chairman of the board, also mentioned one of the future strategic directions and expected goals of SIE in the group visit, "we will deploy heavy troops in East China", and "strive to build a new South China".

East China is rich in resources and must be contested by military strategists

As a native enterprise in Guangzhou, SIE has performed steadily with an annual compound growth rate of more than 20% since its listing. The development momentum in South China continues to rise steadily, with a solid cash flow foundation.

And a successful enterprise is never satisfied with thriving only in its region of origin. Expanding business scope and scale, building an ecosystem, etc. are all necessary paths for a company's growth, as they can provide better services to more customers and achieve higher value.

For SIE, which focuses on the digitalization of manufacturing enterprises, the Yangtze River Delta region with numerous manufacturing enterprises is obviously an ideal place for business expansion. The manufacturing enterprises in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang are almost twice as large as those in the the Pearl River Delta, and a large number of customer resources are waiting for SIE to develop and serve.

Considering the needs of epidemic prevention and control, the original plan for this summit was around 600 people, but downstream customers were enthusiastic and the number of registrations far exceeded expectations one week before the meeting. The enthusiasm of numerous customers in East China indirectly confirms the strong demand for digital transformation among manufacturing enterprises in the current society.

As the central city of the Yangtze River Delta, Shanghai has become the future headquarters of SIE in East China for three reasons:

Firstly, Shanghai has an overall radiation effect on the Yangtze River Delta region, which cannot be replaced by other cities in terms of transportation network and economic benefits; Second, Shanghai is a talent highland in the Yangtze River Delta region, bringing together famous universities, which is convenient for SIE Information to attract talents and strengthen the team; Thirdly, the strong determination of the Shanghai government to promote digital reform can be seen from the various quantitative indicators in the "14th Five Year Plan for Shanghai's Comprehensive Promotion of Urban Digital Transformation" just released on October 27th.

Strategy established, stable expansion

Although Chairman Zhang Chengkang mentioned that "we have formulated the East China strategy in 2020", SIE has already made a layout in East China. It is located in Shanghai, with an office established in 2006 and a branch established in 2014; Similarly, its branches and delivery bases are also distributed in the Yangtze River Delta region, such as Hefei, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and other places.

Each base has accumulated a certain number of customers, ranging from traditional enterprise ERP to intelligent manufacturing, big data AI、 In cloud and other fields, SIE has made every effort to promote the digital transformation of enterprises in various industries. Many customers from manufacturing, high-tech, finance, transportation, medicine, logistics and professional services industries, such as Mengna Hosiery, Deli, Neptune Star, and Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group, have achieved the goal of transformation and innovation through the help of SIE's comprehensive solutions and implementation services.

But the problem is also very obvious, the East China regional team is scattered and unable to form effective group synergy. The direction of this strategy is very clear, which is to concentrate the strength of various points in the East China region, gather team members and customer resources in Shanghai, and play a role of 1+1>2.

For the future personnel planning of the East China headquarters, Zhang Chengkang has also had clear thoughts. "We plan to deploy at least 1000 people in the East China headquarters over the next three years, with a focus on delivering talent. The main R&D team will still be deployed in Guangdong, and in the future, we may build a R&D team in Shanghai according to the actual situation

Even though the originally scattered resources in East China have been integrated, there is also a plan for a large technical team in Shanghai in the future. SIE Information is still very clear about the limited power of its own enterprise. It is urgent to find external partners while aggregating internal resources.

In June 2018, SIE completed the acquisition of 51% of the shares of Shanghai Jingtong Technology Co., Ltd., which can also be considered as a sign that SIE regards East China as a key development area. In 2020, SIE Information successively acquired the remaining 49% shares of Shanghai Jingtong and 51% shares of Shanghai Gideon, aiming to create synergy in business operations, customer resources, technical capabilities, etc. It is believed that SIE will not stop looking for partners. In the future, there will be more investment activities to strengthen its own strength and move forward to the established goals in the East China strategy.

Regarding this goal, Zhang Chengkang said in an interview, "This year is the first year, and next year is the second year. We will strive to create a new South China in the future

Be fierce and fearless of competition

Then why do we believe that SIE can stand out from the fierce competition in the East China market?

The first is focus. SIE Information not only focuses on the manufacturing industry, but also focuses on the sub industries with great potential in the manufacturing industry in the future, focusing on breakthroughs. Zhang Chengkang listed some key industries that SIE focuses on: SIE has a deep understanding of the digitalization of products such as electronics, semiconductors, PCB boards and so on, because he was born in Midea; Secondly, as a populous country, China's fast-moving consumer goods industry, as well as livelihood industries such as pharmaceuticals and medical devices, cannot be ignored; And in the current trend of technological development in the new energy industry, Zhang Chengkang keenly captures that there is still a lot of room for improvement in their level of informatization, and there is a great demand for digital transformation in the future.

The company has been studying digital solutions for these potential industries for ten years, understanding the internal logic of industry manufacturing, looking for commonalities, solving differences, and combining the historical experience of agent enterprise management software, it has developed SMOM (SIE Intelligent Manufacturing Operation Management Platform) with independent intellectual property rights. From the business operation management level to the workshop manufacturing management service system, the company has formed an intelligent manufacturing overall solution with intelligent factory as the goal, with six core business modules of planning, logistics management, production management, quality management, equipment management, and operation management as the main body, and has developed industry suite solutions suitable for different industries according to the differences of various industries. Last year, we released the electronic industry package, this year we released the PCB industry package, and at this summit, we released the customized furniture industry package, which covers the entire process of research, supply, production, sales, and service, providing enterprises with a "standard platform+industry kit package+configuration service".

We will focus on the knowledge barriers obtained in the industry, cooperate with the general underlying platform, establish a product ecosystem, establish a brand, and firmly grasp customers. This solid and effective product logic enables SIE to occupy a place in the field of industrial management software.

Another point is the operational philosophy after acquiring customers. Zhang Chengkang gave an example to describe his understanding of a company's operational capabilities, saying, "The development of a company is like walking on two feet, one foot represents occupying the market, and the other foot represents operational capabilities. When the left foot steps out, the right foot must keep up in order to move forward step by step

Talking about the possible competitive impact of local competitors in East China in the future, Zhang Chengkang said that SIE Information is not afraid of competition and expects to grow in the competition.

Although we are in East China and our brand is not as strong as in South China, I believe that as long as we cultivate for two or three years, this brand will definitely take shape. Since we have a good reputation, the key is not to mess things up. Developing in the To B market requires the spirit of craftsmanship and continuous polishing. If we didn't do well in the first year, we will continue to do well and optimize in the second year. ”

To carry out the spirit of craftsmanship and do a good job of oneself is the style of SIE's progress.

Since its establishment 16 years ago, SIE Information insists on accumulating industry experience and constantly polishing its products. Now, under the command of Zhang Chengkang, a group of elite soldiers carrying sophisticated equipment are steady and resolute, ensuring the defense of southern China and opening up new territories in eastern China.

Of course, business expansion is just a result. In the process of progress, how much help and value SIE Information can provide to those manufacturing enterprises that need digital transformation is the most important. I believe that Zhang Chengkang can lead SIE to deliver a satisfactory answer to the society.

Author: Sun Qiyuan