After two years of sluggish growth in the global automation industry, the sector has finally begun to rebound this year. As the saying goes, "It is in times of strong winds that tough grasses prove their strength; it is against the tide that heroes are forged." While many companies were struggling desperately in the downturn, Mr. Zhang Haijie, Chairman of Dalian Putian Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Putian Technology), led his company forward with unwavering determination through the turbulent waves of the variable-frequency drive industry, firmly establishing Putian Technology’s brand as a pioneering force in the field of electrical drive and control.

Since 1984, when the State Economic Commission approved Dalian Electric Motor Factory’s first collaboration with Toshiba to introduce variable-frequency drives for local production in China, and in 1994 when Powtran Technology began selling VFDs in China, Dalian Powtran Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2001. To date, the company has journeyed through 33 years of development. Drawing on the strengths of both Japanese Toshiba and Taiwanese technologies, and leveraging the robust R&D capabilities of Tsinghua University and other institutions as well as its own internal R&D team, Powtran Technology provides customers with a wide range of products featuring diverse functionalities and varying levels of sophistication—such as AC variable-frequency drives, motor soft starters, servo motors and power supplies, motor eco-friendly energy-saving devices, and automated control systems for production lines. Its products are exported far and wide to countries in Europe, the U.S., and Southeast Asia. Looking back at the fluctuating fortunes of the VFD industry in recent years, how has Powtran Technology managed to maintain a steady growth trajectory? To find out, gongkong interviewed Mr. Zhang Haijie, Chairman of Powtran Technology, who provided us with a detailed explanation.

(Zhang Haijie, Chairman of Powtran Technology)

Thirty years of steady progress, committed to a sustainable development strategy.

“As the core region of the Pearl River Delta (Greater Bay Area) base, Shenzhen boasts a unique market environment and policy advantages, making it a particularly concentrated hub for small- and medium-sized inverter companies. In recent years, emerging brands have been developing rapidly and have demonstrated exceptionally strong market performance,” pointed out Mr. Zhang Haijie. As a pioneering brand from the 1980s, Powtran Technology has cultivated a distinctive, steady style—a confidence born of having weathered numerous challenges. As a result, in the inverter industry, Powtran Technology plays a role akin to a guiding compass, providing stability and direction even when the industry faces obstacles. Whenever the industry’s development encounters hurdles, Powtran Technology consistently adjusts its strategies in a timely manner, seizing opportunities and moving with the tide.

“Being able to consistently stay true to our development direction and maintain our competitive edge in the face of a new competitive environment is largely attributable to our company’s spirit of craftsmanship. Simply put, for over 30 years, we’ve focused solely on one thing: making high-quality variable-frequency drives.” During the interview, Gongkong noticed that even in today’s rapidly evolving automation industry, Mr. Zhang Haijie—then chief engineer at the former Dalian Electric Motor Factory—has remained steadfast in his commitment to the quality of domestically produced variable-frequency drives. After three decades of navigating both smooth waters and turbulent storms, Mr. Zhang Haijie has come to deeply understand the key principles behind the steady growth of a variable-frequency-drive enterprise: only by continuously building up expertise through a spirit of craftsmanship—in areas such as technology, product development, talent cultivation, and corporate culture—can a company ensure its operations remain relevant and keep pace with the times.

As a specialized manufacturer of variable-frequency drives with a strong foundation in motor design and manufacturing, Powtran Technology has accumulated over 30 years of experience and expertise. Whether it comes to cultural heritage, technological innovation, or market experience, the company has developed a comprehensive and self-sufficient system. Domestically, Powtran Technology has integrated its resources to establish two major centers—in Dalian and Shenzhen. Looking at China’s VFD industry as a whole, only Powtran Technology possesses a research-and-development, production, and service backbone that spans both the south (Shenzhen) and the north (Dalian). This geographical advantage enables the company to efficiently allocate resources, respond swiftly, and promptly and conveniently meet customer needs. Moreover, centered around these two bases, Powtran Technology has established offices in Guangzhou, Wuxi, Qingdao, Chengdu, Wuhan, Zhengzhou, Shenyang, and other cities, along with a nationwide marketing and service network, thereby maximizing resource integration and leveraging the strengths of each region.

Accurate and clear positioning to create “championship-level” inverters.

“Powtran Technology primarily focuses on six major product categories: variable-frequency drives, integrated variable-frequency units, soft starters, integrated soft-start units, servo drives, and servo control systems. In short, developing intelligent products and devices related to motor drive and control remains Powtran Technology’s unwavering development direction,” said Mr. Zhang Haijie. Among these, the PI500 series high-performance vector variable-frequency drives—featured prominently at the 122nd Canton Fair—are this year’s brand-new flagship products.

(The entire product line of Powtran Technology)

Powtran Technology has always placed great emphasis on product R&D, and each year its newly launched products attract close attention from industry professionals. This year, the company is particularly proud to introduce the PI500 series high-performance vector frequency converters. Compared with Powtran Technology’s previous products, the new series features the most optimized structural design currently available on the market, achieving a superior power-to-volume ratio. The new models are more than 30% smaller in size than their predecessors, making the PI500 series highly competitive in terms of stability, reliability, and price.

(Product: PI500 Series High-Performance Vector Inverter)

Compared with similar products on the market, the PI500 series high-performance vector frequency converters not only offer advantages in size and price, but also feature imported core components, an independent air-flow design, and high-speed DC fans, ensuring excellent heat dissipation performance. Equipped with an LED dual-display membrane keypad, the interface design is more user-friendly. In terms of installation, the unit supports multiple mounting options—including flange mounting, wall mounting, and floor-standing—while low-power models can be installed on rails, making them suitable for a wide range of site conditions. Additionally, the PI500 series high-performance vector frequency converters come with a built-in communication module and a GPRS card, enabling seamless connectivity with PCs and allowing for remote positioning and monitoring.

With a forward-looking vision, we firmly remain at the forefront of industry leadership.

In recent years, the market for variable frequency drives (VFDs) has continued to expand, and the VFD industry itself has maintained a relatively steady growth rate. The industry’s average growth rate has been around 15%. With the support and promotion of energy-saving and emission-reduction initiatives under the 13th Five-Year Plan, the VFD industry—acting as a key gateway for these industries—has also seized new opportunities in 2016-2017. In 2017, Powtran Technology embraced emerging development trends and took advantage of these opportunities to gradually broaden its market reach. In the first half of this year, the company demonstrated outstanding performance in the domestic market, achieving a growth rate of 25%. On the international front, as Powtran Technology continues its journey toward globalization, it has consistently absorbed new cultural and market insights from regions around the world, enabling the company to achieve greater integration and innovation while maintaining a steady pace in its ongoing expansion into international markets. Overall, thanks to various relatively favorable industry conditions, Powtran Technology’s performance in the domestic market this year has outperformed its performance in the international market.

Mr. Zhang Haijie revealed to us that the current inverter market is essentially a “red ocean” market. To achieve breakthroughs in such a competitive environment, it’s crucial to adopt a higher-level perspective when looking at the market. Currently, Putian Technology’s product applications are primarily focused on the mid-range market and industries derived from the eight main axes of the traditional market—such as fans, pumps, machine tools, injection molding, wire drawing and winding, lifting and positioning, and more. In addition, Mr. Zhang Haijie pointed out that today’s inverter market is vastly different from what it was thirty years ago. To carve out a solid foothold in this market, in addition to carefully planning intelligent motor-drive products and conducting thorough analysis of both our own products and those of competitors, we must also significantly increase R&D investment in target products. This will enable these products to complement and mutually reinforce specialized markets, ultimately allowing us to tap into the vast, untapped blue ocean of widely applicable, high-volume general-purpose products and effectively translate them into market success.

Continuously inheriting and innovating, striving toward becoming a century-old renowned enterprise.

Since the 1980s, Powtran Technology has undergone more than three decades of inheritance and innovation, remaining fully up-to-date and in no way inferior to any emerging brand. “A brand is the transformation of accumulated practice into a focal point of attention—it is the embodiment of time itself.” Regarding the introduction of new concepts such as “Made in China 2025” and Industry 4.0, Mr. Zhang Haijie, who has witnessed the evolution of variable-frequency drives, believes that after several years of development, the industrial system has broadly evolved into five major categories: big-data software industry, IoT enterprises, intelligent manufacturing, smart products, and basic-component products. Based on this perspective, Powtran Technology has remained steadfast for ten years, consistently delivering high-quality, intelligent motor-drive products. At the same time, it actively leverages its own resources to engage in deep integration with both upstream and downstream enterprises, pooling market insights and resources.

The rapid development of the internet has accelerated the swift flow of enterprise resources. Powtran Technology focuses on addressing industry pain points and tapping into potential opportunities through internal planning and training, thereby deepening the development of its talent pipeline and corporate culture. Building on the foundations of the 6S and ISO9000 quality management systems, Powtran Technology is refining its MMSSN management framework, paying close attention to the allocation of internal and external resources across markets, manufacturing, business operations, and services. Moreover, the company actively participates in the revision and formulation of domestic and international motor-drive standards as well as related certification efforts. By collaborating closely with major industry clients, Powtran Technology strives for mutual growth and continuous innovation, ultimately establishing a strong brand identity and positioning itself for long-term success as a century-old enterprise.

Opportunities usually go to those who are well-prepared. We believe that as information technology and intelligent technologies continue to converge deeply, they will bring even more exciting breakthroughs to modern industrial manufacturing. We also look forward to the leading domestic variable-frequency drive manufacturers building up their strengths steadily and achieving even greater career aspirations.

Contributed by: China Industrial Control Network http://www.gongkong.com/news/201711/371064.html