My dream in childhood was to become a general, were I 18 years old, I would join the army and strive to be a general. Yan Ping, national model worker and chairman of Yuchai Group, remained as passionate as a soldier.
      He, aged 50, cannot turn the dream into a reality, but he, just like a general in the business circles, led Yuchai Group against a pack of wolves
      Organizational restructuring and workforce downsizing, cost reduction and benefit increase, human orientation and generous rewardYan Pings tactics lay a solid foundation for the accomplishment of the objective of RMB 100 billion and boosts the soft competitive strength of Yuchai.
       Yuchai rewards top talents generously with a sum of over RMB 10 million. At the commending conference of Yuchai Group on high-tech talents this March 29, Yuchai appropriated a large amount of RMB 1 million to reward high-tech talents, and stipulated that the annual reward for high-tech talents would be not less than RMB 1 million. From 2005, the company appropriated RMB 5 million a year as an option incentive fund, so far, 42 key scientific & technological talents have enjoyed the incentive. From 2008, the company rewarded top technicians, so far, 16 top technicians have been rewarded amply.
      Yans treasuring of talents motivates the staff to achieve one success after another for Yuchai.

                                         Building a new Yuchai in three years

       It is easy to find from Yuchais development trail that thinking of danger in times of safety is toughness from inside Yuchais staff, because Yuchai also experience low ebb in the brilliant history. For example, the year 2005 was of remarkable significance to Yan Ping and Yuchai Group.
        Affected by factors such as national macro-control and gas price soaring, the auto industry and the truck market plunged. The heavy truck and sub-heavy truck market dropped by 32%, making the engine market remain sluggish. The internal combustion engine industry saw an unprecedented negative growth over the years.
       In May the same year, Yan Ping, then director of Yulin Development and Reform Commission, took up the post of chairman and Party secretary of Yuchai Group. Taking up the post of new boss of the worlds largest independent diesel engine manufacturer with annual sales of over RMB 10 billion against the background was both an opportunity and a challenge for Yan Ping.
       He had never dabbled at any auto-related industry before, and was 45 years old when joining the enterprise. Where will he lead over 10,000 employees? Yuchais staff was expecting but anxious.
       Facing doubt and challenges, can the new chairman, who had watched the TV series Drawing Sword for a dozen times, make Yuchai through the close siege?
        Yan went to the grass-roots level, held seminars, consulted experts, and discovered a number of system and management problems behind Yuchais fast growth after a period of investigation and survey.
       After having found the cruxes, he resolved to reform and took three measures.
      Organizational restructuring and workforce downsizing is the first measure taken by Yan Ping after he had took up the post.
      After July 2005, Yuchai progressively combined relevant departments, and established strategic, financing, cost control, information and cultural centers to enhance the groups overall planning and accomplish the internal integration and sharing of corporate resources in the group. The number of the groups officers reduced from over 70 to 42 by 37%. By late 2006, the group and the company had reduced over 100 employees, and all cadres should take up posts through competition. The group progressively shifted its function from administration to resource integration.
       Im afraid that the manufacturing cost of Yuchais engines is highest in the industry, Yan said frankly. Therefore, cost reduction and benefit increase naturally became the second measure taken by Yan. On the basis of the procedures of assessment incentive and supervision, the cost control center of Yuchai linked cost index to leadership responsibility. No matter who went beyond the index but made no explanation, the group would start up the procedures for assessment and punishment, and even dismissed the person involved if the situation was serious. At the same time, the group deepened the reform of the labor, personnel and distributions systems, strictly controlled budget and compressed the management chain. Besides, the group intensified order management, made the sales department and production department work closely and made clear the quantity of each order to eliminate the phenomenon of waste that thousands of returned engines was unattended.
        Human orientation and generous reward was the third measure taken by Yan.
        In November 2008, Yan decided to appropriate RMB 4 million to reward the collectives and individuals that had made remarkable contributions in key technical projects. The highest bonuses for individuals and collectives were up to RMB 300,000 and RMB 700,000 respectively. Yan values Yuchais talents and calls them treasure of Yuchai.
       At the commending conference of Yuchai Group on high-tech talents this March 29, Yan said, I think the most important reason why Yuchai has remained invincible in recent six decades is that we have an outstanding work team and a great number of devoted, conscientious, meticulous, silent and down-to-earth workers.
       We should not only offer talents good benefit and platforms, but also pay full respect to them. As chairman of Yuchai, Yan would give a dinner for corporate technical backbone such as professors and doctors every quarter not matter how busy he was, which has become an unwritten rule in the group.
       In 2005, Yuchai went against the situation that the engine market and internal combustion engine industry remained sluggish, with an annual operating income of RMB 12 billion, sales of 267,500 diesel engines and exports of USD 17 million, up 12.3%, 16% and 96% year on year respectively. It was ranked first in single-plant production and selling scale in the field of middle & heavy commercial vehicle in the world for five years in a row.
        It is acclaimed as Yuchai Phenomenon in the industry and the most powerful reply to the effect of Yans three measures.

                                           Aiming high to globalize Yuchai

         As the leader of Yuchai Group, Yan has a higher strategic objective.
        In 2006, the year after Yan joined Yuchai, as a responsible entrepreneur, Yan proposed the core concept of green development, all win in harmony, and set the objective of being the pioneer of Chinese green power, Chinas largest mobile pollution source controller, pacemaker in dieseling of Chinese cars and contributor to material and energy conservation in China.
       As a manufacturer, even we turn out quality products, they will have no vitality if they cause pollution to the society. Yuchai is an enterprise centering on engines, if we cannot set a good example in environmental protection and emission reduction, how can we talk about Chinas largest internal combustion engine manufacturing base or industrial leader. If an enterprise deviates from national and social responsibility, you will never grow in China, let alone in the world. Said Yan.

        Yuchai has successively developed Chinas first engines up to National -3, 4 and 5 exhaust emission standards, three to five years ahead of the implementation of the national mandatory emission standards; has successfully developed Chinas first and the worlds smallest 1.2L and 1.3L mini car diesel engine, filling a domestic manufacturing gap; and has successfully developed urban bus hybrid power, pioneering the tide of next-generation new power technology.
       Beijings buses were first equipped with National-4 diesel engines during the Beijing Olympics, 70% of which were manufactured by Yuchai. Yuchai made a due contribution to Green Olympics.
         In 2007, globalization came into the view of Yan. At the marketing service conference in 2008, Yuchai sounded the bugle of Excellent Quality & Globalized Yuchai.
        In the overseas market, Yuchai has established and perfected 13 overseas offices, and sold products to over 80 countries and regions such as Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, East Europe and Africa. The number of engines possessed abroad has topped 100,000, and grew against the crisis by 25% in Southeast Asia in 2009.
        Led by Yan, Yuchai mapped out a globalized route: making key breakthrough, developing in depth and becoming strong. We aim to increase the export proportion of Yuchais products, especially engines, to 30% in three to five years, said Yan, Globalization involves not only overseas expansion and export increase, but also the globalization of industrial distribution, capital operation, management innovation, product R & D and talent training.
       This June 28, the construction of the billion industrial R & D center with annual sales of RMB 100 billion and key scientific and technological projects in Guangxi was launched in Nanning. Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd. is the exclusive constructor of Guangxi Internal Combustion Engine R & D Center, Yan took the plaque of Guangxi Internal Combustion Engine R & D Center from Ma Biao, chairman of Guangxi Autonomous Region. After the establishment of the first corporate engineering research institute in the industry in 2007, Yuchais product R & D strength was further boosted. The center is committed to researching and developing advanced new series such as auto engine and high-standard off-road diesel engine, and has contributed to improving the capacity for the technical innovation of Chinese internal combustion engines and Chinas energy conservation, emission reduction and low carbon economy.

                                          100 billion is not a dream for Yuchai

       Affected by the overall global economic slump in 2009, under the leadership of Yan Ping, Yuchais staff worked hard, forged ahead, faced up to hardships, responded fast, flexibly used the scientific outlook on development, developed an innovative edge through internal and external building, resisted the severe impact of the international financial crisis, achieved sales of RMB 27.1 billion, up 29.58% year on year, and created a miracle of fast growth for five years in a row.
        In 2010, the group maintained a strong momentum, with total tax-including sales of RMB 19.756 billion in the first half of this year, up 52.64% year on year and close to the annual sales of 2008.
        To date, only the engine sector has achieved annual sales of over RMB 10 billion, by 2015, construction machinery, logistics and vehicle trading, and energy and chemical will also become sectors with annual sales of over RMB 10 billion, and some incremental sectors will achieve annual sales of billions of RMB. The group must pay close attention and instruct the formulation of strategies of business sectors and have a good control of strategies. Yuchais boss is always so ambitious and wise.
       The group should hold fast to strategic planning and conduct scientific verification of projects to make clear the mainline, lay emphasis on enterprises with annual sales of over 10 billion, optimize resources and provide services. The group must do whatever subsidiaries are unable to do, for example, building financing platforms is beyond the ability of subsidiaries now, the group should spare no efforts to do the work instead; what support is needed from the group to achieve annual sales of over RMB 10 billion for sectors of heavy industry, logistics, and energy and chemical? How to help rather than constraint it? What policies are needed when subsidiaries introduce talents? What policies are yet to be adjusted? All these issues should advance with the times under the guidance of the strategy of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
       The year 2011 will see the 60th birthday of Yuchai and mark the beginning of Yuchais Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
        On the morning of this June 30, Yuchai Group held a conference in celebration of the 89th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China at the cultural center. At the conference, Yan Ping proposed Yuchais strategic positioning of two product chains, several industry clusters, namely, enhancing the groups industry chains and clusters, developing the promising industries and forming the core industry through vertical and horizontal extension of the groups existing six industrial sectors to ensure the sustainable, healthy and coordinated development of the group. Yan confidently portrayed the groups strategic blueprint under the Twelfth Five-Year Plan: Yuchai will achieve annual sales of RMB 80 billion to 100 billion and accomplish the common growth of the total profit and sales by the end of the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, namely 2015, thus 100 billion is not a dream for Yuchai.

      (Source: Guangxi Workers Daily Huang Wenjuan, Hu Xiongbo, Li Chunmei, Chen Xinghua)