My story of the 20th anniversary of dongfeng’s restructuring (part 1)

The happiest Dongfeng dream

Time flies, it has been 20 years since Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery was restructured from August 2003 to present. This is the golden 20 years of rapid development in the agricultural machinery industry, the 20 years of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery’s leapfrog development into a leading domestic tractor brand, and the 20 years of the development and growth of a group of dealers who have experienced Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery’s restructuring and shared the benefits of the restructuring.

Xinjiang is a major province for agricultural machinery that Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery entered earlier. There are currently five or six regional distributors in Xinjiang who have maintained nearly 20 years of cooperation with Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery since the early stage of restructuring. Among them are those who started their own businesses from county agricultural machinery companies, those who produced and operated small agricultural machinery locally earlier, and those who are new to the industry. Let’s take a look at their story of the 20th anniversary of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery’s restructuring.

Kashgar, the westernmost city in China, has always been a specialized customer of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery, despite several name changes by its agent, Kashgar Guande Company. When it comes to the 20 years that Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery has grown together with the restructuring, Mr. Liu has a wide range of feelings and frankly states that Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery has given him and his family a second spring.

In 2004, as a novice in agricultural machinery, Mr. Liu began to be exposed to Dongfeng products as a secondary distributor. In the early stages of entrepreneurship, the harsh border environment, scarce financial resources, and unknown career prospects constantly tested Mr. Liu’s perseverance and resilience. As a distributor of Dongfeng agricultural machinery, it is undoubtedly fortunate that Kashgar Guande Company sold 12 units in the first year and over 970 units in 2010, with the highest sales reaching nearly 40 million yuan, becoming one of the top large distributors in the local area.

When it comes to the topic of classic products boosting the market after the restructuring of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery, these old dealers are all familiar with it. The classic products 300A and 404B launched have achieved Dongfeng’s reputation and deeply imprinted in the memory of a generation. With the gradual segmentation of the market and products, the internet famous products 804-9, 1204-6, and 2004-5A have been created, which have enhanced the market position of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Tractors and benefited numerous distributors.

Gratitude, hardship, and perseverance “are the words they mention most frequently and emotionally. Never forget their original intention, only then can they stay true. Looking back on the most wonderful twenty years of their lives, meeting Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery is undoubtedly their happiest Dongfeng dream!

Ding Xiangyao from Xinjiang Marketing Company

Forge ahead, cultivate deeply, and practice to achieve great success

In 2023, Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery will celebrate its 20th anniversary of restructuring. 20 years is a fleeting moment in the long river of history, passing by in the blink of an eye. However, for Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery, everyone who works here or has worked here before can find that line of footprints, leaving endless feelings of satisfaction or sighs.

Time goes back to 2003, when Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Group was in a state of turmoil. The company’s production and operation were extremely difficult at that time, with a broken capital chain, insolvency, anxious employees, continuous talent loss, and the company on the brink of bankruptcy. At that time, during the wave of state-owned enterprise restructuring, Xuan Bihua, the chairman of Donghua Chain, realized that although Donghua Chain had become the leader in China’s chain industry, the chain was only a component of the entire manufacturing industry. Although there was still some room for improvement, the ceiling of the entire industry was not far away, so a larger mainframe manufacturing platform was needed. Therefore, he decided to join Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Group.

After the restructuring, Chairman Xuan chose a different path from ordinary enterprises. Generally, the restructuring of enterprises first involves layoffs. However, Chairman Xuan emphasized that the personnel of state-owned enterprises are all talents, and the key lies in how to manage them, whether there is a good mechanism to promote the initiative and enthusiasm of talents, and creatively proposed the concept of “dual leaders”.

One is to take product development as the leader and market orientation, accelerate the structural adjustment of products, and gradually develop agricultural machinery enterprises mainly focusing on large and medium-sized wheeled tractors from the Dongfeng 12 hand-held tractor before the restructuring. At that time, I worked at Dongfeng Design Office and often worked overtime to improve and innovate products. After the development of the new products DF30 and DF40, not only did they meet the market demand at that time, but they also helped Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Tractors establish a firm foothold in the market and make a name for themselves in just a few years, achieving another leap in the development process. The production and sales performance of the tractors continued to soar.

The second is to focus on sales as the leader, adopting a model where the income of business personnel is linked to sales volume. There is no upper limit on income, and the settlement is in place, greatly improving the enthusiasm of sales personnel. Sales volume and revenue have been increasing year by year.

In the second year after Dongfeng’s restructuring in 2005, it achieved sales of 600 million yuan and finally turned losses into profits. At this time, under the leadership of Chairman Xuan, Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery was like an old tree sprouting new shoots in spring. Who said Dongfeng couldn’t be called back. In the same year, Chairman Xuan proposed a development layout of “one main and two wings”. The “one main” refers to the production of complete tractors, while the “two wings” include the production of transmission components. In addition to chain production, new gear production has also been developed. The second is the development of machinery products, such as digging devices, lawn mowers, wood crushers, loaders, etc. Under the leadership of the chairman, Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery has also begun to take shape and has a place in the market. The comprehensive development of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery has entered the fast lane.

In 2012, Chairman Xuan assessed the situation and carried out a flat restructuring of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery, innovatively establishing four main engine business units, two component business units, and four functional departments with one center. In this way, each business unit can be closer to the market, develop new products and make adaptive improvements as soon as possible according to market demand, accelerate the pace of product updates and structural adjustments, and the Zhongtuo Greenhouse King model has also emerged. The development of narrow wheelbase tractors has greatly adapted to the market, and the horsepower range of the company’s wheeled tractors has increased from a maximum of 65 horsepower before the restructuring of the business unit to over 200 horsepower. Various chassis platforms, multiple product lines, and rich configuration options fully meet the needs of users. In this situation, the enterprise market quickly opens up, market share gradually increases, and the enterprise’s visibility greatly improves. At the same time, the business unit focuses on quality control internally, carefully analyzes quality issues based on market feedback, takes practical measures to improve product quality, adapts to market demand, and quickly responds positively to the market, achieving good market results. Medium horsepower wheel trailers have gradually become the market leader.

In terms of marketing, it is required to go horizontally to the edges and vertically to the bottom, with channels sinking to the bottom. We are no longer satisfied with the agricultural machinery market at the city and county levels, but should also reach out to rural areas, towns, large-scale farmers, and cooperatives. We should adopt a policy of “one place, one product, one strategy” in terms of price, seize the market, and grab orders. Under various favorable factors, Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery’s production and sales are booming, and its market share is gradually increasing, laying the foundation for its position in the top three domestic agricultural machinery wheel trailers.

Although Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery has achieved impressive performance since its restructuring, Chairman Xuan has not been arrogant or complacent. Instead, he has maintained a clear mind and put forward higher requirements: intelligent agricultural machinery and new energy agricultural machinery. At present, intelligent agricultural machinery is conducting technical research and product implementation around autonomous driving, electronic control elevators, power shifting, CVT, and new energy power around hybrid, pure electric, and extended range. In this process, although it is difficult and challenging, looking back at the exploration and practice of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery in the past 20 years, it can still develop rapidly on the road of intelligence and new energy.

Lu Zhibiao from Zhongtuo Business Unit

I am proud to be a Dongfeng agricultural machinery worker

Twenty years of hard work and perseverance. Unconsciously, we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the restructuring of Changzhou Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Group.

We measure the distance of growth with countless footprints of struggle. When the 20-year growth picture opens, we see the transformation of Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery beyond its limits. From 2003 to 2023, we filled the time scale with countless moments of hard work. Looking back on the past, time flies by, and I have been fighting hard with my colleagues all the way, working overtime and overtime without any regrets. Let’s make a joke when we’re tired, encourage both sides together, sing and laugh together, uplift our spirits, and continue to fight. These memories, condensed over twenty years, are still vivid and memorable.

Over the past twenty years, we have gone from relying solely on manual labor to lift the tires one by one before and after assembly, which was time-consuming and laborious, to now using robotic arms for assembly, greatly reducing personnel and making it fast and effective. Previously, the chassis running in was done without load, but now four more machines have been added for loading and running in. The computer records real-time data and uses intelligent detection to ensure the qualification rate of each finished product after production. We have undergone a magnificent transformation from the small horsepower 454 series, 554 series, 704-G3 series, 854-1 series, 1004-2 series, to the current 1004-9 series, 1204-6 series, 2004-5A series, 2104-C series, 2404-DP. These are also a brand new posture that we have experienced through vicissitudes and earned through labor and hard work.

Starting from here, Mercedes Benz trucks are driving on fertile fields in different provinces and regions across the country. Depart from here. Dongfeng trucks drove out of the country one by one, becoming shining business cards of “Made in China”. Dongfeng tractor has achieved a timeless myth standing tall in the Chinese agricultural machinery market. Nowadays, our production accounts for 25% of the domestic market sales, which is the result of the hard work of countless Dongfeng employees behind the scenes.

Over the past 20 years of restructuring, under the guidance of our chairman, we have kept pace with industry changes, worked hard without fear of market changes, and forged a team full of passion and enthusiasm, daring to tackle challenges, and willing to contribute. We have always resonated with the development of the country and always remembered our responsibility to serve agriculture. I remember a few years ago when I went to the cafeteria for dinner, I saw a news article in Dongfeng Daily: donating multiple tractors of various horsepower and models to poverty-stricken mountainous areas to support project construction in these areas. Seeing these news, I was greatly inspired and instantly felt how great our agricultural machinery products are, and how we can make such contributions to society in such a vast country. As a Dongfeng person, I am also very proud.

Over the past 20 years of restructuring, we have always worked together and shared the fruits of development. Our love is condensed here, our ideals bloom here, our youth rushes here, we fight side by side, merging into one. Time has left its mark on our faces. Although many colleagues, like me, have already started their careers, our enthusiasm remains undiminished and our original intentions remain unchanged. Many colleagues choose Dongfeng as their first stop when they first enter society, leaving their best years at Dongfeng. There are also some retired colleagues who still miss the days of working and living in Dongfeng after leaving the company. That is a unique and irreplaceable beautiful memory. We are grateful and concerned for every colleague who has left footprints and made achievements in the 20-year development history of Dongfeng’s restructuring, and look forward to meeting again. Many colleagues still stick here, never abandoning each other. Here, we dedicate our youth and talents, hoping that everyone will continue to struggle in Dongfeng, shine brightly, realize value, and harvest beauty. Looking forward to traveling with you for the next ten, twenty years

Finally, I sincerely wish Dongfeng Agricultural Machinery Group a happy 20th anniversary of its restructuring!

Huang Xin from Da Tuo Business Unit