Tonghui Equipment's Zhao Huidong: Deeply Cultivating the Coating Equipment Field to Empower High-Quality Industry Development

 Source: Huizheng Information 2024-06-20 10:16

Huizheng Information: Over the past year, the coating industry has been in a critical period of transformation and rapid development, impacted by the pandemic, rising raw material prices, and stricter environmental policies. The constantly changing market demand has significantly affected coating companies, causing many small and medium-sized coating enterprises to either shut down or suspend operations. Even large coating companies have started to see shrinking profit margins in their performance reports.

The turbulence in the coating industry is bound to greatly impact coating production equipment manufacturers. Coupled with the already intense competitive environment, how can coating equipment manufacturing companies find a breakthrough path amidst these changing circumstances? Recently, Huizheng Information had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Zhao Huidong, Chairman of Suzhou Tonghui New Material Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as 'Tonghui'), to discuss the company's innovative development strategies in the post-pandemic era.

Focus on the Coating Field and Reject Unfair Competition

 Since entering the workforce, Zhao Huidong has been engaged in mechanical design and manufacturing. With over 40 years of industry experience, Zhao Huidong has gained extensive expertise in product design, technical research and development, and sales management. In 2002, he founded Suzhou Tonghui New Material Equipment Co., Ltd., focusing on research and innovation in wet grinding, nano grinding, mixing, and dispersion. Committed to providing customers with high-quality, efficient dispersion and grinding equipment, and satisfactory solutions, Tonghui quickly established a comprehensive product matrix.

Over more than 20 years, Zhao Huidong has fully embodied a system thinking approach centered on "pursuing high-quality development" and a pursuit of perfection through craftsmanship at Tonghui. This has paved a broad path for the company's rapid growth, leading to annual sales surpassing 100 million yuan. Tonghui has passed the ISO9001:2008 international quality system certification and has obtained CE certification, compliant with EU safety standards. The product quality has been universally recognized within the industry and is exported overseas.

"Major production equipment from Tonghui has been ordered by influential clients in both domestic and international markets. Our products are exported to the United States, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Spain, Russia, Egypt, Namibia, Tunisia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Lebanon, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Jordan, the UAE, Taiwan, and other countries and regions," Zhao Huidong proudly stated.

Given the significant number of manufacturers in the coating machinery industry, standing out in such a competitive field is evidently not an easy task. Zhao Huidong believes that Tonghui's success can be attributed to "focus." To avoid getting caught in price wars with competitors over similar products, Tonghui has thoroughly understood the characteristics of the industry market and adopted a differentiated, high-end product strategy. This approach has minimized internal competition with peers, fully leveraged the company's market and resource advantages, and set a clear direction for the company's sustainable development.

"Automation and intelligence in equipment are important foundations for promoting high-quality development in equipment manufacturing. We have long focused on the field of coating equipment and have actively promoted the upgrading of our products' intelligence, automation, and green environmental performance. This seeks to save subsequent paint companies a significant amount of time and labor, achieving the goal of cost reduction and efficiency improvement.

Mastering Core Technologies to Embrace Post-Pandemic Opportunities and Challenges

Over the past year, due to the pandemic, the coating industry has faced multiple difficulties, including soaring raw material prices, disrupted transportation, and rising shipping costs. This has greatly affected Tonghui's sales and delivery. With the relaxation of pandemic policies, the gradually recovering market has brought hope to the industry.

When asked about this year's sales situation, Zhao Huidong stated that the order volume has increased compared to previous years. However, the company's profit margin has been somewhat affected by intense price wars."

In the face of the complex market environment post-pandemic, Tonghui has fully leveraged its accumulated technical expertise to focus on product strength, precisely identifying pain points and challenges in the paint production process. The company continuously improves production techniques and meets users' diverse needs with a multidimensional product matrix. According to Zhao Huidong, without mastering core technologies, a company can only achieve temporary gains and will find it difficult to establish a solid brand. Since its inception, Tonghui has pursued independent research and development, forming its own R&D team, and proactively venturing into emerging fields with a forward-looking strategic vision.

Zhao Huidong believes that "differentiation" is the key to achieving a breakthrough in performance for coating companies in 2023 and is essential for seeking high-quality development. From the product perspective, Tonghui has led the industry in the innovation of processes and equipment for mixing high-viscosity materials. A series of products, such as the wet dispersion powder absorption system, high-viscosity solid-liquid mixing and dispersion system, and the barrel washing system, effectively address current pain points in the production processes of paint companies, showcasing Tonghui's differentiation advantage.

As the company continues to grow, Tonghui prioritizes high-quality development without pursuing scale or speed excessively. The company focuses on meticulous craftsmanship and product refinement, aiming to achieve internal improvement and strengthen its core competencies. "Only in this way can Tonghui go further, with more stability and solidity in its steps."

"We are focusing on our original fields while also intensifying our research and exploration in new energy and new materials. We believe that in the near future, we can bring more innovative coating solutions to the paint industry. Additionally, we now have the capability to offer 'turnkey projects,' providing customers with one-stop services that include preliminary design and complete equipment packages. This capability has already secured a place for us in the industry," said Zhao Huidong.

Breakthroughs in new fields have also brought new growth points for Tonghui, positioning the company to seize the opportunity for corporate transformation and upgrading.