Guest Profile

Qi Haoquan: Yes. From traditional logistics more than a decade ago to today’s intelligent whole plant logistics, China’s manufacturing industry is undergoing accelerated transformation and upgrading. Market competition grows increasingly fierce. Conventional material handling systems can no longer satisfy current competitive requirements, and comprehensive, intelligent whole plant logistics has moved to centre stage.

Interviewer ：

As we all know, influenced by the general economic climate, domestic market demand has shrunk and competition has turned cut throat.

Against such a red ocean market backdrop, what are Crown Way’s competitive strengths?

Qi Haoquan ：

First of all, planning lies at the very core of whole plant logistics. Each customer and each factory differs in order volume, production capacity, workshop footprint, floor geometry and delivery radius. Precise layout planning must be completed with all these factors taken into consideration before constructing whole plant logistics systems.

Interviewer: Mr. Song, as Deputy General Manager of the company, how do you manage product quality control?

Song Jinsheng: Crown Way regards product quality as the foundation of corporate survival. For quality management, we believe problems must be addressed at the source. We maintain extremely strict standards for supplier selection and management. First, our procurement department screens alternative suppliers and submits applications. Then I organise four departments — Procurement, R&D, Process Engineering and Quality Control — to conduct comprehensive on site supplier audits. We also perform monthly supplier performance reviews; any under qualified suppliers are replaced immediately.

Furthermore, we enforce strict standards for incoming goods inspection, in process inspection and pre shipment inspection. One hundred percent full inspection applies for all incoming materials. QC engineers follow the whole production workflow, verifying that every process complies with production specifications. Power on testing is conducted before shipment as the final checkpoint for quality assurance.

Lastly, with regard to materials and craftsmanship, as Mr. Qi just mentioned, our paper feed rails adopt one piece bend forming. This process consumes more time and labour than ordinary welding, yet it yields stronger, more stable rails. Our modular belts combine wear resistant strips and carbonised bamboo boards; compared with ordinary wood modular belts sold on the market, they offer higher load bearing capacity and resist rotting over long term service.

 Interviewer ：

Here is a somewhat sensitive question. You two once invested in another enterprise specialising in whole plant logistics. After founding the new “Crown Way” brand, industry insiders claim you poached the original team. Is this true?

Song Jinsheng: I actually do not see this as a sensitive issue, and there was no “poaching” whatsoever. Much like job hunting and corporate recruitment today, workers and companies make two way choices. Employees evaluate corporate culture, values and sense of belonging when selecting employers. Enterprises assess candidates on professional competence and loyalty. Members of the former team chose to join our new venture of their own free will. It was a choice between two employers, demonstrating their higher recognition of Crown Way’s corporate culture and values and their greater sense of belonging here. I am deeply grateful to these colleagues. They boast many years of industry experience and have served major corrugated board manufacturers including Guangzhou Jinjun, Hefei Dansheng, Hefei Daqun, Hubei Hexing and Dongguan Xinpu Paper. Their rich practical experience enables them to serve our customers far better than newly hired recruits.

Therefore I would correct that statement: the former team was attracted to join Crown Way.

Qi Haoquan: As you rightly pointed out, Chinese industry is undergoing accelerated transformation, and “smart factories” are an inevitable outcome of this shift. The corrugated industry is no exception; smart factories will become one of the basic thresholds for customers to maintain market competitiveness. Building smart factories is no simple task. For whole plant logistics projects, different customers require different solutions. For high speed corrugator lines, we typically recommend 10 turret or 20 turret paper roll logistics together with full modular board logistics. For medium speed corrugator lines, we generally recommend 5 turret or 5 point paper feeding paper roll logistics paired with hybrid modular belt plus power roller board logistics solutions.

Alongside the above mentioned options, Crown Way offers many other solutions, such as 10 point rail type paper feeding, fully automatic board logistics and semi automatic board logistics, to satisfy diverse customer requirements.

Nevertheless, as your question suggests, customers differ in order volume, production capacity, factory footprint and other parameters, hence their requirements vary accordingly. Ultimately, comprehensive whole plant planning is essential to genuinely satisfy production side demands.

Crown Way can deliver complete plant wide planning covering paper roll warehouse, corrugator line layout, paper roll conveying, board sorting zone, warehousing sorting area, loading zone, production offices, supporting production utility zones and staff living quarters.

 Interviewer ：Mr. Qi, as General Manager, what are your medium and long term corporate plans?

Qi Haoquan: Crown Way is a vibrant, young and dynamic enterprise. Our workforce is relatively young, which fosters our bold, innovative mindset. Consequently, we hold more ambitious and creative ideas for the whole plant logistics sector. Continuous innovation is indispensable for any enterprise if it is to keep up with market changes and avoid elimination. At present we are developing several new generation products under R&D and testing. They will be formally launched once fully mature. Exploring additional new type whole plant logistics products represents Crown Way’s key priorities for the period ahead.