"Made in China 2025" proposes the basic policy of "quality first", which determines that quality and brand should run through the entire process of building a manufacturing powerhouse, and become the starting point and important content for deploying and implementing various tasks.
Quality and brand are made in China
The important connotation of new competitive advantages
In the era of economic globalization, quality and brand have become symbols of manufacturing and even national core competitiveness, representing the reputation and image of the country. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to shift the focus of promoting development to improving quality and efficiency, and to promote the formation of new competitive advantages centered on technology, brand, quality, and service. Quality and brand represent the degree to which products meet customer needs and represent market competitiveness. "Quality first" essentially means putting customer needs first and market competitiveness first, reflecting the important idea that "the market determines resource allocation".
In the new round of global industrialization and division of labor, China's manufacturing industry is facing a "double squeeze". On the one hand, the international financial crisis has led developed countries and regions such as the United States and the European Union to re emphasize the development of the real economy, accelerating "re industrialization" and "manufacturing industry return". On the other hand, due to factors such as rising labor costs and appreciation of the RMB exchange rate, China's price advantage in exporting low value-added products has weakened, and other developing countries are also accelerating the transfer of labor-intensive industries at lower labor costs. The comparative advantage of low labor costs, high resource and energy consumption, and even sacrificing the environment in China's past is difficult to sustain. In this situation, in order for China to seize the commanding heights of a new round of competition in the manufacturing industry, it is necessary to reshape the core competitive advantages of China's manufacturing industry. From the competitive attributes of quality and brand, as well as the development practices of major manufacturing powers such as the United States, Germany, and Japan, the important connotations of this core competitive advantage are quality and brand.
With the development of China's economy and society, whether it is industrial products, consumer goods, or national defense equipment, the demand for product functional characteristics, quality safety, quality stability, and other aspects is constantly increasing. At the same time, the personalization, diversification, and branding characteristics of demand are becoming increasingly evident. Stimulating and meeting domestic demand is not only an important measure to adapt to the new normal, but also the foundation of building a strong manufacturing country. Quality and brand building have a good interaction with driving domestic demand. Upgrading domestic demand provides endogenous impetus for quality and brand building, while quality and brand building provide solid guarantees for expanding domestic demand.
The new round of technological revolution provides development opportunities for China to build quality brand competitiveness. The widespread penetration of new generation information technology promotes continuous breakthroughs, integration, and accelerated application of key field technologies, triggering significant changes in the development concept, technological system, manufacturing mode, and value chain of the manufacturing industry. The concepts of intelligence, green, collaboration, and service continue to enrich the quality values of the manufacturing industry; Ubiquitous connection, virtualization technology, 3D printing, industrial Internet, big data and other technologies give new space for quality and brand development; The forms of production organization such as intelligent manufacturing, collaborative design, personalized customization, and precise supply chain management also provide new means for quality and brand building. Especially, the opportunities brought about by these changes to break through existing standards, technologies, and market barriers have become a good opportunity for quality and brand innovation breakthroughs in China's manufacturing industry.
Quality and Brand Building
The task is important and urgent
Since the 12th Five Year Plan period, the quality level of China's manufacturing industry has significantly improved, with a group of well-known brands standing out. Quality and brand competitiveness have continued to strengthen, playing an increasingly important role in meeting domestic demand and participating in international competition.
One is the steady improvement of product quality level. The quality of raw materials and equipment products has significantly improved. The quality level of major equipment such as aerospace, power generation, and rail transit has entered the forefront of the world. The technical standards and physical quality of major products such as steel, non-ferrous metals, petrochemicals, and building materials have been in line with international standards. The quality and reliability level of engineering machinery and general equipment are constantly improving, and the gap with international advanced levels is further narrowing. The quality and grade of consumer products have significantly improved, with textiles, household appliances, and other products reaching international advanced levels. The main functions and performance of information technology products such as mobile communication and basic software have reached or approached the level of similar international products. From the results of national supervision and spot checks, the qualification rates of national supervision and spot checks from 2011 to 2014 were 87.5%, 89.8%, 88.9%, and 92.3%, respectively, and the overall quality level showed a steady upward trend. Secondly, the level of quality management has significantly improved. According to a survey conducted in 2013, 82.2% of general equipment enterprises and 68% of food enterprises have obtained international quality management system certification. The average loss rate of enterprise quality has decreased from 2.79% in 2009 to 2.43%. The average time between failures (MTBF) of construction machinery products has generally increased by 2-3 times, and high-end CNC machine tools have also increased by more than 1.6 times. A number of advanced quality management methods, such as Six Sigma management, excellent performance model, and lean production, have been widely applied in enterprises, leading to the emergence of successful quality management practices originating from Chinese enterprises, such as "double zeroing of quality problems" and "daily clearing and daily high". During the 12th Five Year Plan period, over 2 million enterprise employees nationwide participated in quality and brand training and education, improving the level of enterprise quality and brand management. The third is the continuous enhancement of brand influence. In the domestic consumer goods market, independent brands occupy a large market share, with products such as color TVs, air conditioners, refrigerators, clothing, and home textiles reaching over 80%. Products with significant ethnic cultural characteristics such as silk and ceramics have absolute market advantages. In the industrial product market, the domestic self-sufficiency rate of major products continues to increase. The self-sufficiency rate of products such as machinery and fine chemicals has reached over 80%, ethylene self-sufficiency rate has exceeded 90%, and the self-sufficiency rate of most varieties of steel products has reached 100%. In the international market, the influence of independent brands is constantly increasing. High speed rail, nuclear power and other products have become international brands made in China, and a number of independent brands such as Huawei, ZTE, and Haier have become truly international brands. The brand awareness and brand cultivation ability of enterprises have been continuously enhanced, and more than 4000 enterprises have established brand cultivation management systems. A group of enterprises have achieved a leap from OEM manufacturing to cultivating independent brands.
Despite these achievements, there are still some prominent problems in the development of industrial quality and brand in China due to the long-term impact of traditional extensive development methods. One is the uneven development of product quality, with some products having low quality grades and still having a significant gap compared to international advanced levels, particularly in terms of product quality safety, stability, and consistency. Secondly, the standard structure is unreasonable, with some technical standards having low levels, poor applicability, and inadequate implementation. Product standards and testing method standards in some fields cannot keep up with the speed of new product research and development. Key technical standards for high-tech and high value-added products are lacking, making it difficult to meet the needs of quality brand competition and development. Thirdly, brand construction lags behind, with 1.7 million independent brands in China's manufacturing industry, but there is a contradiction between a large number of brands and low market recognition. Compared with internationally renowned brands, brand added value is low, competitiveness is weak, and customer reputation and loyalty need to be improved. The fourth issue is that the role of enterprise entities is not fully utilized, and some enterprises have weak quality awareness, low quality reputation, weak systematic quality and brand management, and low efficiency. The fifth issue is that the quality and safety assurance system is not yet perfect, and some products have insufficient quality testing capabilities and inadequate supervision and inspection. Product quality and safety incidents occur frequently, which damages the quality image and consumer confidence of China's manufacturing industry. Sixth, there is insufficient investment in basic capacity building. The basic quality capabilities such as quality inspection, quality control, and technical evaluation are lagging behind, and a number of key and common technical problems that affect quality have not been solved for a long time. There is also a significant gap between the quality and brand public service capabilities and the needs of enterprises.
In the process of building a manufacturing powerhouse, the tasks of quality and brand building are significant, and there are still many problems that need to be solved. We need to accelerate our pace, closely focus on the strategic mainline of quality first, with a focus on enhancing the quality improvement and brand cultivation capabilities of enterprises, comprehensively promote quality and brand building, and achieve the strategic goal of becoming a manufacturing powerhouse.
