Wu Bilei, Deputy General Manager of faw liberation, President of Commercial Vehicle Development Research Institute and Party Secretary, will never forget the scene when he first arrived at Changchun Automobile Research Institute more than 20 years ago.
1992 Changchun in winter, it dawned very late in the morning, and it was surprisingly cold. When we arrive at the proving ground, we must warm up the car first. After ten minutes, the car was hot, and the people in the cab were cold to the bone, even though they were wearing military coats.
Wu Bilei still misses the hardships of her early career. "Nothing, I will be young and strong." He said it was nothing to work hard, and he learned a lot from the old people who developed it.
With his passion for technology and motivation to study hard, he quickly stood out from his peers.
Today, the name of faw liberation Commercial Vehicle Development Institute has been changed several times. 20 17 to 20 19 is called "Commercial Vehicle Development Research Institute of Jiefang Headquarters", and 1995 to 20 17 is called "FAW Technology Center", later called "Changchun Automobile Research Institute".
No matter how the name changes, it always exists as the only research and development base of FAW commercial vehicles, and Wu Bilei has experienced all these changes. 1992 graduated from Jilin University of Technology and was assigned to Changchun Automobile Research Institute. He has been the dean for more than 20 years and has never "moved". He rose from the grassroots level and is an expert and project development talent trained by FAW Commercial Vehicle.
It can be said that Wu Bilei spent her whole career here, and tasted the ups and downs. Although he is a "young reserve cadre" after the 1970s, his R&D experience is very deep, and few colleagues can match him.
Wu Bilei said that she was very lucky and caught up with a good era. Many older "R&D people" may never catch up with a big project. CA 10 stopped production for 30 years. He participated in the planning of JBOY3 and J4, presided over the development of J6 and J7, and experienced the research and development of four generations of commercial vehicles, all of which grew with every step of liberation.
Open cooperation and independent innovation
On July 5, 20 19, the 1 10,000 Jiefang J6 truck rolled off the assembly line. Wu Bilei, always a tough guy, has a little red eyes. From the first car to the 654.38+00000 car, he always online. The setbacks and failures experienced in the middle are like the scars of warriors, which can only make the victory look more brilliant and convincing.
In Wu Bilei's career, no commercial vehicle can be compared with J6. At the end of 20 19, at the annual business meeting in Nanchang, 66 products were lined up, which shocked the onlookers and fascinated the participants. After the stumbling of R&D, Wu Bilei said: "The liberation of J6 is of great significance to me personally, to liberation and even to the commercial vehicle industry in China." Hearing this, others felt J6' s position, but in Wu Bilei's mind, it contained his youth and memories of the past. He experienced Qian Fan, so he had a special taste.
J6 is a new generation of heavy trucks with complete intellectual property rights. The project team led by Wu Bilei solved more than 500 technical problems 1500, realized more than 300 technical innovations, and obtained more than 300 patents 1000, of which 46 innovations were first applied to domestic trucks, and the development of five platforms, 12 series and more than 300 models of J6 products was completed at one time.
Faw liberation has won a team that has been defeated repeatedly, can win the battle and unite as one, with a very different level and vision. Wu Bilei, on the other hand, has grown into the head of research and development of a top household.
Before J6, there was little demand for high-end heavy trucks in China. Guangdong has T850 heavy trucks imported from Japan. For high-end heavy trucks, domestic R&D personnel not only have no relevant design experience, but even rarely see it.
In 2000, FAW was talking about commercial vehicle cooperation with Mercedes-Benz, and FAW's own new generation commercial vehicle project (later J6) has also been established. Someone proposed the merger of the two lines, but it was immediately rejected. Li Jun, then deputy chief engineer of FAW Group and director of FAW Technology Center, believed that the core technology should be mastered by himself. This decision seems very wise after 20 years, but the dilemma I faced at that time was that I didn't know how to design it, and I didn't know how to verify and produce it.
According to Wu Bilei, the Mercedes-Benz cooperation project has broadened the vision of R&D personnel and greatly improved the target selection. To put it bluntly, it is to understand where the target value is and how to do it. At the same time, Mercedes-Benz has a set of evaluation system, which is only a reference for upgrading products.
In 2000, Shen, the former deputy chief engineer of FAW Technology Center, led various professional technicians and put forward the planning scheme. They have the design experience of the second and third generation products, and their basic skills are also profound. What they lack is a little inspiration. It can be said that J6 got off to a smooth start.
The earliest design of J6 was undertaken by IDG Company of Italy, and both Italy and China participated in the engineering design, which was mainly completed by FAW team.
From 200/kloc-0 to 2002, several sub-projects of commercial vehicle project (engine, gearbox, transmission shaft, front and rear axle) started at the same time. FAW also invested a lot of money in the final assembly process. In September 2003, the first batch of three A-type vehicles were put into trial operation.
During this period, Wu Bilei succeeded Zhu Qixin as the general manager of the project.
However, the verification time of J6 is actually longer than the design and trial production time. The third generation verification method adopted by J6 team is an international practice. With the efforts of Wu Bilei's team, the J6 heavy-duty vehicle successfully passed the European standard certification of Rheinland TV in Germany, the durability test of Magna 100000 km in Austria, the export certification of Russia and Iran, and the first prize of 20 10 National Science and Technology Progress Award.
The success of the liberation of J6 made the liberation regain the confidence of independent research and development, and also made Wu Bilei see the importance of foreign cooperation. If we don't jointly develop with overseas design companies and learn the advanced technology of European manufacturers, we can't develop the highest level products in China. Of course, the purpose of opening up is to make good use of resources, and ultimately to return to autonomy.
The success of liberating J6 shows the importance of autonomy. It takes time and technology to develop products that can withstand loneliness. Wu Bilei recalled the problem of J6' s "road choice". He said that he admired the older generation of policy makers for their long-term vision and neglect of short-term interests. Along the way, liberation has been passed down from generation to generation, which is not only the technical inheritance, but also the road confidence. If you go the right way, your efforts will be rewarded. It seems that Wu Bilei is also quite confident in the road to liberation of R&D Trams Company.
A warrior's scar
However, the growth of J6 is not so smooth. Wu Bilei said that J6 only sold 654.38+0.7 million vehicles in the first two years of listing, and the sales volume was not good. He said that not only the marketing department, but also the entire R&D team are rethinking. J6 product positioning is relatively high, and domestic purchasing power has not kept up at that time. J6 looks a little premature.
Moreover, the premise of J6 design is "standard load transportation", but the market is helping customers to make overloaded cars. In transportation management, the phenomenon of escrow by penalty and lack of law is more serious. In this way, it seems awkward for Wu Bilei's team to pursue technology closer to Europe.
Wu Bilei played down the process of finding problems. It took J6 just over a year to quickly adjust its configuration, and achieved a sales explosion in 2009, when 64,000 vehicles were sold. It is a complete success that a single-model commercial vehicle can come to this step.
Subsequently, the regulations became stricter and stricter, and the overload phenomenon was curbed. Customers also gradually have greater demand for high-end models. Because high-end models have long life, fuel economy, high reliability, comfortable driving and wide application scenarios, they are still cost-effective in the whole life cycle.
Wu Bilei concluded that the commercial vehicle market in this period was a combination of policy and market forces. His feeling is that the right product is the right technology at the right time.
In the eyes of colleagues, Wu Bilei doesn't talk about the difficulties in the world or the difficulties outside. It is said that the market is the gold standard, but is the market always correct? Wu Bilei thought a lot during that time. "At that time, the hair turned white the fastest." Wu Bilei admits.
It is certainly painful to predict what will happen in a few years. We should balance the current market demand after three to five years. Wu Bilei said that she has been walking a tightrope. The key is that he has to bear the responsibility of inaccurate prediction, and it is a heavyweight product of liberation. In fact, he can't lose it.
In the process of adjustment, the advantages of independent research and development are highlighted. Because the power of R&D is in your own hands, you can react quickly when you see it. J6' s iteration speed is fast, and it gradually accumulates word of mouth. This laid the foundation for J6 to become the king of commercial vehicles.
What is iteration? Wu Bilei explained that users have used J6 and know everything. Every year, we inherit the advantages and improve the disadvantages of our products. In a few years, word of mouth will naturally be established. So far, J6 is still an evergreen tree in the commercial vehicle market.
The success of the liberation of J6 shows to the outside world that the liberation of J6 not only has first-class R&D capability, but more importantly, it has found the password to effectively combine R&D with market operation.
Joint working system
J6 succeeded, but in the future, facing the international market and intelligence, we must develop new future models. If the original intention of J6 is to catch up with international standards, then J7 is born entirely for transcendence.
Therefore, it is logical for faw liberation to invest more money, time and resources in J7. In fact, it took J7 three years to plan and establish the project, and the modeling design was one year longer than that of J6. Because of the success of J6, it also bought time for J7.
Wu Bilei told the development team at that time that if the workmanship, quality and performance of J7 could not reach the international high-end level, it would be better not to come out, and we should unswervingly stick to this goal. This is not a slap decision. Faw liberation sees that the domestic market is very different from that before 10, and the demand for high-end commercial vehicles is increasing year by year.
In fact, J7, which was introduced to the market in 20 18, has also achieved the goal of high-end positioning to compete with imported cars.
Looking back on the development of J7, the design standard was set very high from the beginning, and the traction manufacturing standard and supplier standard must also keep up. Chassis painting, invisible to customers, is much higher than previous products. Moreover, the front and rear axles and gearbox are also specially developed for J7. After the experience of high-end commercial vehicles, the experience and ability of the whole team have also reached a higher level.
Not only that, Wu Bilei said that at the beginning of the project, J7 formed a joint team with the strength of the whole company. Manufacturing technology team, manufacturing process team, design team, marketing team and supplier management team participate at the same time. When J6 was developed, the latter two were only involved in the later period. The research and development of J7 has played a key role in promoting the formation of the concept of "joint development" of the Development Institute.
In a sense, the success of J6 and J7 also benefited from the liberation movement of JBOY3 and J4 launched more than 20 years ago. Although there is still a gap according to the current quality standards, from the perspective of liberating the growth of R&D system, these two generations of products are of great significance. It is through the practical practice of JBOY3 and J4 that the liberated R&D system has taken a big step towards marketization.
Especially when J4 developed, the liberation market was at a low point. Wu Bilei is very sensitive to this. He went to North China with Wang Zhicai, general manager and party secretary of faw liberation Sales Company. They walked for more than ten days and visited markets in Hebei, Tianjin, Henan and Shanxi. This visit helped him to do product design later.
This sensitivity to the market continued until he led the development of J5, J6 and J7. The close combination of R&D system and sales system, deep penetration into the market and deep understanding of users' needs are also the reasons why Jiefang products have been able to lead the trend of commercial vehicles.
Restraint and achievement
J7 is still very restrained in the application of technology in the face of the goal of future intelligence, and immature technology can't get on the bus directly. L5-level automatic driving is the goal of J7, and now J7 has L2-level auxiliary driving ability. In April, 20 17, L3 and L4 autopilot demonstrations have been made in FAW Nongan Intelligent Test Site. Wu Bilei called it "product formation" rather than "product maturity".
Wu Bilei is optimistic about the application prospect of high-level autonomous driving in specific scenes. In ports and mines, this demand is clear, and liberation has long had this ability, but he also fully estimated the difficulties, technical imperfections, and doubts about commercialization.
The "Columbus Plan" issued by faw liberation aims to provide a full chain solution from product end to service end. But how to build the industrial chain is not something that one person can do. Therefore, it is necessary to open cooperation, "each family takes out what they are good at." Wu Bilei believes that as a host enterprise, it is necessary to do a good job of traction.
Wu Bilei said that the R&D liberation of autonomous driving and car networking is different from that of startups. The latter may be technically calibrated successfully, even if it is made; The liberation of these technologies on products must conform to business logic. To put it bluntly, it is to provide value to customers and make money by yourself.
Wu Bilei is very honest, and even rarely mentions the technical achievements made by J7. In fact, Wu Bilei's team put forward the reliability prediction curve of heavy truck models, and combined with the actual development system, established the working conditions of 95% users. Through experimental verification, it ensured that the three major assemblies of the whole vehicle reached the world advanced level.
"The core technologies can't all be owned by others. If you spend money on it, you have no control over them and it is not good for the long-term development of the enterprise. " Wu Bilei told the autobots. His summary of this period of time, the conclusion is still on his own, this is just the guiding ideology, how to do it specifically? Can commercial vehicles pursue advanced scientific and technological strength on the basis of improving traditional technical indicators? In the application of technology, can commercial vehicles be bolder than passenger cars? Caution is no reason for timidity. "When the needs of users force you to do technology, it is too late." Wu Bilei said.
In 20 19, L2 intelligent driving J7 has been put on the market, and in 2020, L3 J7 overweight card has also been released. Wu Bilei said that this is only the beginning, and faw liberation still has a long way to go in terms of intelligent commercial vehicles.
Referring to his professional experience, Wu Bilei said that he used to focus on technology research and development, but now he has spent a lot of time combing the process at the management level. Always build and optimize the process around the product line, which is the "multiplier" of R&D capability.
He doesn't think R&D is bitter, but he feels very happy, especially when a product is successfully listed and received favorable comments. It is enough to do only one thing well in your life. (Text/"Autobot" Sharla Cheung) Copyright statement This article is an exclusive original manuscript of Autobot, and the copyright belongs to Autobot.
This article comes from car home, the author of the car manufacturer, and does not represent car home's position.