Shift to military products transforms Paike

Workers of Wuxi Paike New Material Technology Co Ltd move a sizzling hot metal part for forging. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

While the process of industrial transformation and upgrading is quite painstaking for privately owned manufacturing enterprises, it is a must given that China is looking for more added value.

Wuxi Paike New Material Technology Co Ltd has come to realize this ahead of its peers - and its earlier start in terms of industrial transformation is turning out to be just in time.

Established in 2006, Paike took off as a forging company specializing in products for wind power generation, petrochemical engineering, power station and maritime projects.

However, competition intensified after more companies started to provide similar products. As a result, Paike shifted its focus to military products in 2012, including aerospace engineering products and nuclear power turbines, according to Li Yaojun, executive vice-president of Paike.

"Military products entail more added value and they stand for the development direction of industries. If we can reach into this sector, we can largely improve our technology level and enhance our competitiveness," he said.

According to Li, the transformation has been quite successful so far, with the fiscal results being the best proof. Paike reported a revenue of 390 million yuan in 2016. That number increased to 540 million yuan in 2017, with one-third of it coming from high value-added products.

As Li expected, the company will see more than half of the revenue coming from high value-added products this year.

"For privately owned enterprises, technology breakthroughs are quite often the most difficult target to meet. Paike has stood out from the peers simply because we have put much of our efforts in this area," he said.

Although Paike is a privately owned company, it has always aimed high. The standards to enter the Fortune 500 company list are the measurement for Paike.

Over the past few years, Paike has invested 15 million yuan every year in research and development. It has also sought cooperation with a number of universities and academic institutions such as Central South University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Northwest Polytechnical University. Ever since it started its transformation, Paike has applied for 70 technology patents.

According to Li, few Chinese companies of the same kind have made such an attempt so far, for their products are not standardized most of the time.