At the end of last year, Songshan Lake International Robot industry base was inaugurated. Professor Li Zexiang explained the unmanned aerial vehicle to mayor Yuan Baocheng.
2015 Dongguan enterprises survival report machine substitutions policy and team
Less than a year after Dongguan started "machine substitution", capital binge and factory change are booming. And all this behind the scenes push and elite team is little known. In the frenzy, governments, banks, Finance Companies, and the "most brain" scholars are helping.
Talk about Li Zexiang, ordinary people or a little strange. But in Xinjiang innovation across the global UAV market, the valuation of billions of dollars level, this low-key scholars as Xinjiang innovation CEO Wang Tao teacher, have been repeatedly mentioned. From the Hong Kong University Science & Technology robotclassroom to the production line, the capital market, he led the students one by one out of the ivory tower, the beginning of the "Academism" counter attack in the robot industry: he and his students has established solid high-tech, Xinjiang innovation and Li Qun automation and many other robot enterprises.
According to the official statistics of Dongguan, 2014 Dongguan equipment manufacturing industrial robot is about 40, the total industrial output value of about 1 billion 453 million yuan. Among them, 9 Chengdu is the downstream system integrators, that is, from abroad batch purchase robot whole machine, according to customer demand design information management system and other auxiliary equipment to form a production station or production line.
However, there are still a few enterprises cut into the upper and middle reaches to develop the core components and ontology of robots, such as robot control system, servo drive and so on. Hi tech and Li Qun automation are the few representatives in Dongguan.
Late last year, Li Zexiang team responsible for investment, construction and operation of the Songshan Lake International Robot Industry Base officially launched. In July this year, they will set up robot high-end talents training class, the United States Berkeley University and other prestigious schools already have talent registration.
He taught a lot of cattle students
In March 27th, the Hongkong youth Industrialists Association, more than 30 Hongkong bosses and executives made a special trip to Songshan Lake to communicate with the team. Luo Kaiguang, chief executive of the world's largest Chinese fast food group, is also among them. With the aging of the urban population, the "clean" aunt and food packing workers who are "happy" can begin to grow old. They are eager to reduce the burden on workers, improve personnel efficiency and food safety.
"We are still dissatisfied, there is a gap in employment". Luo Kaiguang bluntly. For example, to push a cart full of dishes from the dining place to the kitchen, very heavy, everyone happy to use lighter steel to replace, directly to the cart weight loss half. "But if you don't push yourself, you'll move better!" Luo Kaiguang laughed. He wanted to find a robot that could carry the dishes automatically.
Others came to Hong Kong in Dongguan, Foshan, Panyu and the Pearl River Delta area to start building a factory, with labor benefit shortage, they are eager to find the automation scheme. Throughout the visit, Li Zexiang was surrounded by entrepreneurs wherever he went.
The 54 year old scholar nose on a pair of glasses, a gentle face. More than 10 years ago, he was a professor at Hong Kong University Science & Technology. He began to indulge in robotics research from the University, and founded the automation research center in 1992.
It began in 1999. Find Li Zexiang in Shunde opened in Hong Kong: spent millions of HK from Japan bought a tin shear equipment, took a long time please debugging, can not put the machine up and running, great economic losses. For the sake of emergency, the Hong Kong businessman opened a blank cheque to Li Zexiang and asked him to do so. "I can only write articles and do research in the lab.!" Li Zexiang wry smile, finally arranged the center researcher Wu Hong to try: Wu Hong directly pulled out a controller of laboratory control robot, to Shunde factory for a month, for the set of Japanese equipment for "brain", and finally let the machine start.
The scholar saw the market, and Wu Hong set up a solid high-tech (Shenzhen) company, research and development of machinery and equipment sales controller. At present, the fixed height is the most influential motion control company in China, occupying 50% of the domestic market, and cutting into the robot control system market.
In 2006, in his support, student Wang Tao founded the Xinjiang innovation. 9 years later, the company's Phantom unmanned aerial vehicle swept the global market, with a share of up to 7. Even Bill Gate bought the first iPhone in order to play Phan-tom. In 2011, another student Shi Jinbo also encouraged Li Zexiang to start his own business, and established Li Qun automation, the main food and 3C industry of industrial robots, this year has won Sequoia Capital and Ming potential capital first round of 30 million yuan investment. In 2013, 90 graduate Tao Shizheng didn't get the Hong Kong University Science & Technology diploma, broke into the lake venture, his research on water "Tesla" project -- environmental protection electric outboard machine.
Leading global companies valued up to tens of billions of dollars
Li Zexiang provided them with all kinds of support. The most important thing is how to make students brainstorm (brain storming), so that they can dream in an international environment." He and Wang Tao, Shi doctor.kin until all around the world, go to the Silicon Valley, and the chiefs of the dialogue, went to Japan and the famous robotic company Yaskawa, FANUC dialogue.
Once, Google investor John Doerr, one of Silicon Valley's most strong color of venture capitalists, the group of teachers and students but also at home, next door is the apple co-founder Jobs home. At the John Doerr house, photos hung on the walls of the living room: Obama, Jobs and Zuckerberg were sitting at the same table.
"The feeling is completely different," Li Zexiang mentions this experience confidently smiled: "perhaps more than two decades later, our group of young people will have the same effect." Is not far from this goal, the student Wang Tao of UAV development Phantom to the international capital market excited, the Xinjiang innovation valuation of up to tens of billions of dollars. It's an incredible figure, and few people foresaw that such a company could be ahead of the world.
The entrepreneurial Corps turns academic research and students into the economic battlefield
By the end of 2014, the Songshan Lake International Robot industry base was established, and the Li Zexiang team was responsible for investment, construction and operation management. The team includes the Clear Water Bay venture Angel Fund (invested by Li Zexiang and many other robotics experts), solid high-tech, Xinjiang innovation, and Li Qun automation. There was a strong capital support: in addition to Clear Water Bay venture angel fund $10 million, Sequoia Capital and capital involved, each contributed $10 million, together with the establishment of the robot industry fund, to support the base of high-quality entrepreneurial projects.
In March 27th, the Hongkong youth Industrialists Association visited Hong kong. Li Zexiang took a group of Hong Kong businessmen to visit the great Xinjiang of Shenzhen, and then returned to Songshan Lake to visit Li Qun automation. A group of people gathered around the robot to watch: the conveyor belt of the production line was started, and the arm of the robot waved quickly, and the top 170 cakes could be sorted into the box every minute. The guests praise, even more amazing is that behind the market in Dongguan: the food industry as an example, a gathering of beauty, Xu Fuji and a large number of enterprises, preliminary estimates there are millions of industrial workers, as labor costs rising year by year, machine substitutions of the demand will be further released.
On this day, Li Zexiang delivered a speech for 1 hours for the guests, once again stressed his view: the future of the world's economic structure of the United States and China, and the two countries the most important driving force of the economy is entrepreneurs. Looking back over the past 30 years, the United States has grassroots entrepreneurs founded Amazon, apple, there are also academic entrepreneurial corps, such as Google, YAHOO. Over the past 10 years, Sina, Tencent, Alibaba and other grassroots entrepreneurship rise, but absorbed a large number of national research funding institutes have been quietly eliminated. "We've been thinking about how the University's Research Institute turned students into the main force in the economic battlefield".
Interview with Li Zexiang
As long as the pool is big enough, you can find excellent talents"
Introducing talents: to interact with Hong Kong drift group
Reporter: Songshan Lake International Robot industry base of the current progress? What is the most important?
Li Zexiang: Li Qun automation and Tao Shizheng's mobility technology are already in Songshan Lake, Xinjiang innovation and solid technology also set up a laboratory here. Now the most important thing is how to attract high-end robot talents, so that all students around the world want to start the industry to Songshan Lake robot industrial base, and Hongkong, the mainland students together to collide, produce new ideas.
Reporter: how to introduce outside talent?
Li Zexiang: in July, we have a robot high-end talent training class, to find more than 100 high-end robots in the world come in, and now the United States Berkeley University and other prestigious schools have been signed up. We have combined and talent high-end robot in the world, and Hong Kong drift group, is the student in Hongkong interaction, this group of 200 thousand, and the new floating group (Singapore students) 300 thousand; in addition, we in the United States there are 1 million students, these are our high-end talent pool.
In China, we will also organize college students and middle school students to play robot games. They are interested in robots and gathered together with talented people in this field. Like the American DARPAGrand Challenge and the FIR ST robot contest, it attracts a large number of college students and even middle school students to participate. As long as the pool is big enough, we can find talented people.
Reporter: commented, compared with Shenzhen, Dongguan, talent, capital and other aspects of resources is still very limited?
Li Zexiang: money is much better. We talked about more than 100 VC before, but there's little understanding of this business, and we've lost it. Now, Sequoia Capital and capital have come in, the next investment will increase. In my office, there are two VCs waiting every week. For us, the Songshan Lake in Dongguan has its unique advantages, the development of space is great, the environment is good, but also need time to cultivate.
Dongguan Market: need to work hard in various industries
Reporter: what do you think of the robot industry and market in Dongguan now?
Li Zexiang: the enterprises that do the core parts and ontologies are too few. But the market is very big, especially the demand of manufacturing enterprises is very urgent. Now Dongguan need to do is an industry, an industry to sink down, work hard to understand the industry is now what the state and the specific needs of the enterprise.
At present, most of the manufacturing industry is mainly manual, the machine substitutions can not be in place, it may change the key jobs, and then gradually expand to fully automatic. Next, use big data to make the machine smarter. Now the robot is still very stupid, not flexible to adapt to the production of enterprises.
Reporter: what will be the industry with relatively large growth potential?
Li Zexiang: the market will be very large in the 3C industry. So many years of international research and development of robot are used in the automotive industry, very heavy, very difficult for the production of electronic products. But the domestic 3C industry in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta is very large, is four to five times the automotive industry, it can be said that 70% of the world's products are produced here.
For example, out from Foxconn employees have a rich community will light the community, there are 20 million people, they opened the company has two or three million, are used in artificial assembly such as mobile phone, need a new generation of industrial robots. So, this is the mission and location of Li Qun automation.