The upgrading of the wire and cable industry focuses on soft power

At present, China is the world's largest producer of wires and cables, ranking first globally, with an annual output value of approximately 700 billion yuan. The wire and cable industry is developing rapidly, and its supporting role in the industrial economy is becoming increasingly prominent. According to relevant data, in the past decade or so, the annual growth rate of the output value of the wire and cable industry has exceeded 15%. Due to the impact of the financial crisis, the rapid growth of the wire and cable industry has been slowed down. The overheated investment in some emerging industries, such as polysilicon, has also sounded the alarm for the repetitive construction of the wire and cable industry. The transformation and upgrading of the industry is imperative. So, what does the transformation and upgrading of the wire and cable industry rely on? Emphasizing the enhancement of "soft power" is the key. "Soft power" has become the soul of an enterprise's competitiveness and is its true core competitiveness.

Standards are the weak point of an industry

Standards are not only the comprehensive manifestation of product technology but also the technical means of competitive strategies. When we are on an equal footing with the world's manufacturing powerhouses, when our focus begins to turn to the global economy, and when there is a structural overcapacity in domestic production and manufacturing capacity and numerous large-scale enterprises start to enter foreign markets, we find that in addition to a series of trade protection barriers, foreign economic systems often set up technical barriers through the formulation of technical standards. Technical barriers also require us to bear sufficient production and marketing costs. In the end, what we earn is still the hard work of the labor force.

To enter the US market, one needs to obtain UL certification. To go to Europe, one must comply with EU standards. Even a certain industrial standards body in Europe revises its standards every two years and then releases a new version. The purpose is very clear: to make you revolve around the standards they have formulated. This is a lesson from another mountain.

Unlike China, Western countries are completely privately-owned nations, and the predecessor of the "IEC" standard was initially born in the territory of a single business owner. It's just that they had the strategic awareness of market competition and international competition relatively early. The awakening of consciousness is one of the important factors contributing to ethnic and regional differences. We are not opposed to multinational companies competing in China, but we also need to learn the technical strategies to compete with them. If China's own large-scale international bidding projects also set technical terms in line with "GB", its competitive edge in the market will be clearly demonstrated in the future.

The crux of the matter is that our standards are far from keeping up with the changing demands of emerging industries and markets. A large number of cutting-edge products with promising industrial development prospects, such as wind power, nuclear power, photovoltaic composite, and smart grid, have not had the early intervention of the "GB" standard. The relationship between the market and enterprises is like that between water and fish. Although we are well aware of the possibility of the market changing standards, we do not need to complain about whether "GB" can keep up with the pace of China's economic development. For the huge market of wires and cables and to lay a solid foundation for China's cable economy to integrate into the global market, we need more awareness of standard competition and a sense of responsibility for national commitment.

Emphasize independent innovation and strengthen patent awareness

Patents and innovative consciousness are concrete manifestations of soft power. China is still in the middle stage of industrialization at present and is facing new tests in terms of innovation capacity.

At present, domestic enterprises have relatively few high-value invention patents and a large number of utility model patents. The patents that multinational groups often apply for are generally invention patents, which shows the gap between domestic companies and multinational groups. Moreover, data shows that if calculated per capita, the number of patents in China is only about 14% of that in developed countries. From this, it can be seen that it is very necessary for us to increase the application of patents.

Under normal circumstances, the leading backbone enterprises in the industry have a relatively fast increase in patent data and their technological advantages are also more prominent. On the contrary, in the course of operation, enterprises that do not attach importance to the protection of intellectual property rights will encounter many difficulties in terms of rights protection and other aspects. It is worth noting that enterprises should, in light of the current status of products in the cable industry, broaden their open technological vision, pay attention to the innovative sources of independent technologies in the global wire and cable industry, integrate information resources, and spare no effort to promote technological innovation, thereby possessing more patent technologies and products of independent significance.

At the same time, by organically integrating patent technology with production, the conversion rate of patent achievements is enhanced. Eventually, patent technology is transformed into productive forces, effectively boosting the competitiveness of enterprises.

The development of wire and cable enterprises is supported by science and technology and hinges on talent. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of an innovative talent team through the integration of industry, academia and research. Only by taking science and technology as the core driving force and an important handle can we effectively transform the mode of economic development and gain the initiative in future development. If technological innovation is the lifeblood of an enterprise's development, then talent is the original driving force of technological innovation.

At present, there is a severe shortage of technical and comprehensive talents with good overall quality in the cable industry. The reason for this is that many enterprises want their talents to be put to good use as soon as they are recruited, but they seldom pay attention to the cultivation of talents. The loss of talents has seriously affected the pace of the wire and cable industry's march into the international market. For fresh graduates majoring in cable engineering, they have indeed learned a considerable amount of theoretical knowledge. However, due to their limited practical experience, when they enter factories and deal with practical problems, they often feel flustered and powerless, making many wrong analyses and judgments. This might cause certain losses to the company artificially. At this point, the company feels that this person is not competent and has limited skills. It is very detrimental to the growth of talents to no longer provide them with room for promotion and no longer let them take up important positions as potential trainees. There are also some technical personnel whose capabilities cannot be freely exerted on the job, with excessive interference from leaders. As a result, their enthusiasm and creativity for technological innovation have significantly weakened. There are many similar situations in the industry. There is often a gap in technical talents. In particular, there are very few subject leaders with high practical capabilities in technological research and development, as well as scientific research management talents who not only possess scientific research and development capabilities but also have strong organizational and coordination skills.

In the course of business operation, it is found that the disconnection between scientific research and production is a common problem for enterprises. The fundamental reason lies in the inconsistent interest orientations of the research and development and production departments, which leads to a lack of common language between R&D units and enterprises. They often have the feeling of "playing the lute to a cow", which is essentially a test of the communication skills of comprehensive talents. If everyone communicates well, the goal is actually the same: to develop new products. It is evident that the exertion of a talent's ability is reflected in every detail, and how crucial the comprehensive quality of a talent is.

It is particularly important to aim at the market, strengthen the construction of the industry-university-research cooperation system and accelerate the industrialization process of major projects. Enterprises should cooperate with well-known industry research institutes, scientific research institutions and other units, adopt a deep integration mechanism, and establish a mechanism for sharing scientific and technological resources. In this way, research institutes and enterprises can leverage their respective advantages, collaborate with each other, build core R&D teams, fully absorb and utilize international innovation resources, make product technology more competitive in the international market, and add new impetus to the technological development of enterprises. Take new steps in adjusting the industrial structure and promote China's cable science and technology industry to catch up with and surpass the world's advanced level.

Advocate the reuse of green and environmentally friendly cable materials

The concept of "green production" is advocated. The green concept is not only deeply rooted in the minds of the majority of entrepreneurs, but also put into action. Strict green production standards are implemented, and the concepts of greenness, environmental protection and safety are integrated into every link of product research and development, production and marketing. Resources are limited, but we should also develop a circular economy to contribute to building a conservation-minded society. In the wire and cable industry, the amount of waste generated during the production process worldwide amounts to 5 million tons each year. There are also cable products that have been stored for a long time. 10% of the piled-up quantity will be turned into waste, which not only causes pollution to the environment but also greatly wastes natural resources. The once proud and rapidly growing GDP of mankind has been greatly discounted due to environmental pollution and climate change. Countries have called for a development model and statistical method of "green GDP". Currently, the recycling rate of cable materials, such as copper and aluminum, is over 95%, while the recycling rate of polyvinyl chloride and polyethylene is only 3%.

A few years ago, the wire and cable industry, with the theme of "resource-conserving, environment-friendly, and contributing to society", conducted an argumentation from the perspectives of circular economy, energy conservation and consumption reduction, and green product design. Through the company's own efforts over the past two years, certain achievements have been made in resource conservation. Low smoke zero halogen environmentally friendly cables have been widely applied, but there is still a long way to go in the future.

We should focus on technological innovation, pay more attention to the sustainable utilization of raw materials, and reduce environmental pollution, so as to effectively improve the utilization rate of resources and lower costs. This will enable the healthy development of the recycling and utilization of renewable resources in our country and promote the development of a low-carbon economy. It can be predicted that the enterprise that performs well in this aspect will become the leader in the wire and cable industry in no time.

Transformation and the Social Responsibility of Private Enterprises

From a global perspective, corporate values have gone through three development stages: high-profit values, management and operation values, and corporate social values. Today, the traditional value of maximizing profits is gradually being replaced by the modern corporate value of achieving win-win cooperation with the enterprise and society. Actively assume social responsibilities, shifting from merely focusing on prosperity and economic growth to paying attention to the overall harmony and prosperity of society.

A company's sense of social responsibility is not merely about charity. It is manifested in many aspects such as providing better products and services to society, reducing energy consumption, promoting environmental protection, expanding employment opportunities, and jointly building a harmonious society. The connection between entrepreneurs and society is just like that between China and the world. Enterprises that shift from realizing wealth dreams to leading social trends will be widely recognized by society. Establishing the public image of entrepreneurs is conducive to fostering and promoting the cultural concepts and core values of enterprises, and is beneficial for attracting talents and facilitating the sustainable development of enterprises. Taking on social responsibilities is also a kind of "soft power" for enterprises.