Since the beginning of this year, COVID-19 has swept the world and has had a huge impact on China’s rubber tire industry. With reduced orders, impeded logistics, increased costs, and tight budget, multiple difficulties overlapped, and the pace of production and operation of enterprises was disrupted. How to turn crisis into opportunity is a huge challenge for every enterprise.
Clear Strategies for Three Major Sectors
Generally speaking, by April, the production and operation of Doublestar had basically returned to normal and are developing towards a good situation.
First of all, Doublestar has formulated the correct strategic guideline.
The strategic guideline for Doublestar in 2020 is to continue to adhere to the general guideline of “Foremost, Open, and Innovative”. Its core is to develop into a unique world-class enterprise. Taking this as the starting point, we accelerate the improvement and strengthening of market-oriented management system for three major industrial groups, improve the support service capabilities of various platforms of the group, and improve the error proofing, error display and error correction capabilities of platforms. Its ending point is to quickly respond and adjust to the market, discover and create demand externally, and improve quality, efficiency and safety level internally.
Secondly, when facing the epidemic, we turn the crisis into opportunity, and achieve innovative breakthroughs.
Among them, the tire sector actively implements “Three New” strategy, the intelligent equipment sector actively implements “Sample Project” strategy, and the waste rubber and plastic recycling sector actively implements “Bellwether” strategy.
“Three New” strategy of tire sector refers to “New Retail, New Format, and New Model”. Doublestar creates the “New Retail” model together with Alibaba, JD, Suning, etc., which has already achieved obvious results. It is sparing no efforts to build the cross-border integrated “New Format” with Haier, Zhengxing, Qilu E-commerce, etc. “Sale of Kilometers” and S2C “New Model” are being fully implemented by it along with Jufeng, Huitongda, etc. At the same time, Doublestar has invested heavily to integrate a world-class R&D and quality team. And the world-leading truck and bus tires and passenger car tires it developed will be available soon. New product, new retail, new format, and new model are important guarantees for Doublestar to build the first brand of passenger car safety tire and the first brand of special tire for trucks and buses.
“Sample Project” strategy of intelligent equipment sector is to take use of the experience in the first full-process “industry 4.0” intelligent factory in global tire industry established by Doublestar, mature system solutions and intelligent equipment capabilities to build it into a sample for “digital transformation and intelligent upgrade” in other different industries, providing a model for traditional enterprises to develop with high quality.
“Bellwether” strategy of the waste rubber and plastics recycling sector refers to cooperate with various industry bellwethers in rubber industry on the environmentally friendly pyrolysis carbon black from waste tire to jointly develop and promote the application to truly achieve the high-quality utilization and harmless treatment of waste tires, especially passenger car tires
Turning from “Sweat-based” to “Intelligence-based” by Second Startup
On January 16, 2014, Doublestar started a new journey of “Second Startup, Creating a World Famous Tire Brand.”
In the past five years, Doublestar seized the opportunity of “Internet+” and environmental relocation in Qingdao, closed all nine old factories, eliminated more than 90% of backward production capacity and products, and established the first full-process “Industry 4.0” factory in global tire industry and international leading laboratory. It has nurtured three new industries including industrial robot, intelligent equipment and waste rubber recycling, and held and acquired Korean Kumho Tire, once ranking top ten in the world and Hengyu Technology as well, striving to create “Industry 4.0 + R&D 4.0 + Service 4.0” IoT ecosystem. Doublestar Group’s assets and revenue have increased by more than five times. For several successive years, Doublestar tire brand have ranked among the top three in tire industry in Top 500 Asia Brand and top in China tire list.
For more than five years, Doublestar has done a lot of things that the industry is afraid to do, cannot do, or unwilling to do. If we did not do these, there may not be the Doublestar today. Although some of these jobs have not yet achieved the expected results, and there are even many difficulties and customer complaints, if all of these jobs are in place, it can enable Doublestar to achieve a geometric multiple growth.
Creating a World Class Enterprise by Third Startup
On January 16, 2020, Doublestar comprehensively started a new journey of “Third Startup, Creating a World Class Enterprise.”
Doublestar will focus on three main businesses and model innovations of rubber tire, artificial intelligence & high-end equipment, and waste rubber and plastic recycling, and implement the strategy of “Three Intelligent and One New”, striving to make Doublestar a unique, 100-billion-level world-class enterprise in around five years.
“Three Intelligent and One New” refers to intelligent system, intelligent tire, intelligent equipment and new material.
“Intelligent system” is to provide services for the intelligent transformation of traditional factories on the basis of continuing to optimize and perfect Doublestar’s industrial Internet system.
“Intelligent tire” is mainly to accelerate the commercial application and promotion of Doublestar’s “Internet of Tires” system. Doublestar is China’s first enterprise to realize the commercial application of “Internet of Tires”. The use of “Internet of Tires” and intelligent tire can not only remotely monitor tire pressure, temperature, speed, and wear, enabling users to choose and use tires correctly, and reducing the cost of use, but also make upgrading and iteration according to users’ usage characteristics to meet more personalized needs. More importantly, it can change from selling tires to “selling kilometers”, then to selling all products in automotive aftermarket.
“Intelligent equipment” is mainly to use Doublestar’s intelligent equipment manufacturing platform to develop intelligent car washing robots, intelligent mine transportation robots, etc.
“New material” is mainly to use Doublestar’s waste rubber and plastic recycling technology and equipment to develop more environmentally friendly new materials.
“Mix” and “Reform”, Both for Being Superior and Strong
The mixed ownership reform of Doublestar not only adheres to problem-orientation, but also adheres to goal-orientation. Through mixed ownership reform, on the one hand, the corporate governance structure can be improved, including shareholders’ meeting, the board of directors, the board of general manager, and the board of supervisors, returning the company’s operating rights to the board of directors, and establishing a new development model of “state-owned system with market mechanism”. On the other hand, through the implementation of employee stock ownership, the integration of performance and salary can be achieved, and a long-term incentive and constraint mechanism of “sharing benefits and risks” can be established to stimulate internal vitality. More importantly, through mixed ownership reform, strategic investors with key resources needed to support the rapid development of Doublestar will be introduced to solve development bottle-necks and achieve the goal of creating a world-class enterprise. Therefore, the most important thing for Doublestar to introduce strategic investors is not the amount of money, but the amount of resources.
The mixed ownership reform of Doublestar was officially listed on April 27, and its main work is expected to end in the first half of this year.