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From "Made in China" to "Smart Manufacturing in China", Foton Cummins ignites the road to "Lighthouse"

Moving from a manufacturing power to a manufacturing powerhouse is not just a matter of "talking on paper". It requires joint efforts from many aspects. Especially for manufacturing companies themselves, how to truly "transform" the manufacturing industry requires returning to the roots: production capacity, process, technology, procedures, etc. In this regard, Foton Cummins has set an example and is accelerating the transformation from "Made in China" to "Smart Manufacturing in China".

Standing on the shoulders of giants and resonating with the development of the industry

Foton Cummins was established in 2008. It is a 50:50 joint venture between Cummins, a global leading power solution provider, and Beijing Foton, a leading Chinese commercial vehicle company, to produce light, medium and heavy engines. Rooted in Cummins' century-old innovation experience and Beijing Foton's strength in commercial vehicles, Foton Cummins is like standing on the shoulders of giants under the strong combination of the two parties, and is invincible in the market.

According to data, Cummins started its business in the Chinese market in 1975 and was one of the earliest multinational companies to come to China. Cummins has long insisted on forming strategic alliances with large Chinese companies to achieve common development. So far, Cummins has more than 30 institutions in China, including 16 joint ventures.

As a century-old company, Cummins has been deeply rooted in China for nearly 50 years and has become a part of China's automobile industry, witnessing the rapid development of China's commercial vehicles. From the initial introduction of technology and products to tailor-made products according to the Chinese market and customers; from technology import to joint research and development innovation; from power system matching to the expansion of all-round cooperation in new energy vehicles and power chains. Cummins is meeting the needs of China's commercial vehicles for continuous iteration and upgrading with its constantly innovative power technology. Today, Cummins' partners in the Chinese market include many mainstream commercial vehicle companies including Dongfeng, Shaanxi Automobile, Foton and JAC.

Foton Cummins is the joint venture with the widest product range and the largest total scale. Its product range has been extended from the original 2.8L to 13L to 15L and 2.5L, covering light, medium and heavy diesel engine types, serving more than 100 countries and more than 2.2 million users. The sales volume of Foton Cummins accounts for nearly 50% of Cummins' sales volume in the Chinese market, which not only proves the excellent reliability of Foton Cummins engines, but also confirms the trust and favor of users for Foton Cummins.

Time has witnessed the unremitting efforts of the strivers, and also witnessed the continuous improvement of products and quality of Foton Cummins. Over the years, inspired by Cummins' "Century of Craftsmanship" spirit, Foton Cummins has made outstanding contributions to the future development and exploration of the commercial vehicle industry with its excellent performance.

Especially in the process of Chinese manufacturing going global, taking Foton Cummins as an example, on the one hand, the engine is exported to North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia (bare machine export); on the other hand, Foton Cummins helps Chinese vehicle companies enter the global market and sings a new chapter of Chinese manufacturing going overseas.

Accelerate the development of new quality productivity with the "lighthouse" effect

At present, driven by the trend of digitalization, the manufacturing industry is also undergoing a profound transformation - from traditional manual paper processes to digital and intelligent processes, which not only improves efficiency, but also brings new business models and management methods.

For Foton Cummins, the company's sales volume and market share are both "No. 1", which is inseparable from the support of users, the continuous improvement of product strength, and the digital transformation of the company. In the development of Foton Cummins, digital transformation is not an "optional question", but a "compulsory course" related to survival and long-term development.

In particular, Foton Cumming has been adhering to Cummins' advanced manufacturing system management philosophy since its inception, adopting efficient modern digital factory operation methods, and relying on its advantages in the four major systems of manufacturing execution system, hardware facilities, supply chain system and quality control to provide customers with power products that meet Cummins' global unified quality standards.

In 2020, Foton Cummins was named the 2020 Global Advanced Manufacturing "Lighthouse Factory" for its all-round application of digitalization in supply chain, manufacturing and customer management. It is reported that this modern digital factory is based on Cummins COS management concept and CMES manufacturing execution system. Through digital technology, the entire supply chain process including engine design, order, planning, production, logistics, quality, etc. is connected to the cloud, creating a model for a new round of manufacturing upgrades in the industry.

The construction of smart factories and lighthouse factories is not just about single advanced equipment and technology, but the only way to transform to a new model and digital transformation. In terms of meeting the personalized needs of products and services, digitalization has brought disruptive effects. First, digitalization has greatly accelerated the process of product design improvement and, to a certain extent, broken empiricism, and data can speak in every aspect of product design. Secondly, digitalization allows after-sales service to no longer rely too much on traditional diagnostic methods and maintenance methods, becoming faster, more convenient, and smarter, and problems can be discovered, diagnosed, and even solved online.

At present, Foton Cummins uses digital tools such as working condition analysis, driving behavior analysis, fuel consumption anomaly analysis, and fleet operation analysis to identify fuel consumption problems of users' vehicles, and helps users reduce fuel consumption by about 5% through customized calibration, training, warnings, and other methods. Through fault code analysis, maintenance inspection and other analysis methods, Foton Cummins customizes maintenance cycles for users, replacing repairs with maintenance, which can save users maintenance time and repair and maintenance costs.

Importantly, through the construction of a digital system, Foton Cummins' manufacturing cycle has been shortened by 40%, customer satisfaction has increased by 40%, the cost of claims per unit has been reduced by 40%, inventory turnover has increased by 30%, hourly output has increased by 42%, the quality problem discovery cycle has been reduced by 90%, the data collection cycle required for product development and improvement has been reduced by 95%, and the annual enterprise cost has been reduced by approximately RMB 50 million.

As a supporting manufacturer in the industrial chain, Foton Cummins's practice is of reference significance for how to promote digital transformation and build a global benchmark enterprise for Industry 4.0. In the future, Foton Cummins will continue to create engine products with excellent quality and leading performance, and use the "lighthouse" effect to "illuminate" more sub-sectors and polish the business card of "Made in China".

A promising future: Diversified forces are driving the development of efficient logistics in China

Grasp the development trend of the industry and gain in-depth insights into market demand. At present, the global call for carbon reduction is growing, and the commercial vehicle market is facing tremendous pressure. At the same time, reducing pollutant emissions and carbon emissions has become the focus of the industry. The market is becoming more and more segmented, which brings segmented demands for vehicle model development and differentiated demands for power solutions. Foton Cummins relies on its deep technical accumulation and can comprehensively consider different working conditions and differentiated demands of OEMs to meet the different needs of the local market, and provide customers with "order-based" technology development solutions, thereby helping users to take a step further on the road of efficient operation and energy conservation and emission reduction.

It is reported that in the past decade, Foton Cummins products have undergone four iterations and continuous optimization, creating classic and reliable products. In 2014, Foton Cummins launched lightweight, modular, and electronically controlled diesel power products; three years later, it launched the X SERIES super truck power products, ushering in an era of efficient logistics and transportation in China. As the "dual carbon" emission process accelerates, Foton Cummins has also implemented the era of low-carbon emission reduction in product research and development. In 2019, the A SERIES series of products, as the first certified National VI A diesel power, ushered in the sixth-stage emission era. By 2023, Foton Cummins products will be upgraded again and the A Pro series of products that meet the National VI B emission standards will be launched.

At the same time, Foton Cummins continues to launch new products in the fields of natural gas, hybrid power, new energy, etc., providing commercial vehicle customers with more diversified low-carbon to zero-carbon power solutions.