NMS Chairman Li Shunshan: Three shortcomings of the industry

Recently, during the 7th China International Aggregates Conference, the Integrated Media Center of China Aggregates Association took an exclusive interview with Li Shunshan, Chairman of NMS. The two sides discussed about enterprise planning and management, development of manufactured aggregates, industry shortcomings and enterprise development concept.

Question: Based on current market situation of aggregates industry, please share your experience in enterprise planning and management.

Chairman Li Shunshan: For aggregates production enterprises, they should take advantages of good market conditions and abundant funds to do things right internally and externally. Internally, improve the management of enterprises, and make up for the shortcomings in various aspects, such as technical transformation, and do a good job in planning and design; externally, extend the industrial chain and build a win-win system. We should know that with the recession of the upsurge, the competition will become fierce. Enterprises with poor foundation, single industrial chain and few partners are very difficult to survive.

For the aggregates equipment manufacturing industry, enterprises should not blindly expand the scale of investment and try not to do EPC projects. Instead, they should focus on product quality and internal management, improve efficiency and reduce production costs. On this basis, enterprises should increase R&D investment, find the right direction and make innovation. In this way, the profitability of the enterprises and the market competitiveness of new products are enhanced, which will ensure the stable development of enterprises and they will not rise and fall sharply even when the market demand falls.

Eight years ago, NMS put forward the mission of enterprise development which is “pursue innovation and excellence; be committed to healthy, eco-friendly, sustainable development and maximum value of resources in mining industry”, and the vision of “quality benchmark of the industry, model of happiness enterprise, international well-known brand”. They are in line with the “supply-side structural reform” formulated by CPC and the government, which requires the development change from the pursuit of “quantity” in the past to the pursuit of “quality” now, and the concept of ecological civilization that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets”. It is because we have established the correct enterprise mission and vision and put “quality” in the top priority that NMS has won the reputation of high-end brand in today’s industry. We believe that as long as NMS continues to go on like this, we can respond to any changes in the market, that is, to cope with shifting events by sticking to a fundamental principle.

Question: At present, the trend of replacing natural aggregates with manufactured aggregates is more and more obvious. How do you think about the future development of manufactured aggregates?

Chairman Li Shunshan: After years of large-scale mining, natural aggregates resources are indeed gradually reduced, which is one of the reasons why the government vigorously promotes manufactured aggregates. On the premise that the utilization ratio of manufactured aggregates is gradually increased, the natural aggregates will not be cut off, but the utilization of it will be gradually reduced.

With the continuous development of manufactured aggregates processing technology, and the continuous improvement of equipment and technology level, manufactured aggregates can even do better than natural aggregates, so manufactured aggregates can completely replace natural aggregates, and even have more advantages in the applications of high-performance concrete. In the next ten years, the market demand of manufactured aggregates will be very high and the future will be very prosperous.

Of course, there are still many problems in the development and utilization of manufactured aggregates, such as the lack of unified industry access standards, vicious competition caused by low-cost and poor quality aggregates disrupting the market; the investment in R&D of manufactured aggregates technology needs to be increased, the detection ability needs to be improved, and the quality of the aggregates can’t be guaranteed. All of these problems need to be explored and solved by colleagues inside and outside the industry together.

Question: At present, there are some shortcomings in the aggregates industry. How do you think enterprises should face these shortcomings?

Chairman Li Shunshan: NMS is quite aware of the industry’s shortcomings and is committed to solving them. They are the triggers of all innovative ideas. At present, there’re several shortcomings in the industry.

The first is the lack of comprehensive knowledge of the characteristics of the mother rock of manufactured aggregates. We have accurate measurements of the chemical and physical properties of the mother rock, but we do not master the processing characteristics of the mother rock, which leads to unreasonable selection of the manufacturing process and equipment to manufacture aggregates. In order to eliminate the shortcoming, NMS has developed crushing power index testing machine and abrasion index testing machine, which have solved the problem that has troubled the industry for many years.

The second is the calculation of process. Our traditional method is manual calculation, which requires a lot of work and is difficult to check and verify the accuracy of the results. Only three overseas companies have developed process calculation software, and NMS is currently the only one in China which has process calculation software with independent intellectual property rights.

The third is the manufactured aggregates. Manufactured aggregates have the requirements of gradation, shape and capacity. The shape of aggregates manufactured by vertical shaft impact crusher is good, but the production rate of the traditional one is low, the gradation is not ideal, and there is no good method for sand screening. The VSD1450 double chamber vertical shaft impact crusher and HFS1857 high-frequency screening machine developed by NMS can solve these problems well. The sand-making tower which was developed from VSD1450 and HFS1857 has outstanding advantages. In addition, NMS has also developed high-performance GC series gyratory crusher in recent years, which has reached the international advanced level, and has been successfully applied in projects in Yunfu, Guangdong Province and Lingshui, Hainan Province. The CC series single cylinder cone crusher developed by us is the first set in China. The CC800 was successfully applied in Gucheng Quarry. Compared with the original equipment, the capacity of CC800 increases by 258.4t/h and the rate reaches 35% under the condition of almost constant motor power.

Question: What is the development concept of the enterprise? What are the competitive advantages?

Chairman Li Shunshan: NMS is very different from other equipment manufacturing enterprises. Our senior management team have good experience of state-owned enterprises, overseas-funded enterprises and large scientific research institutes. It is precise for this reason that our mission, vision and core values are highly consistent with the ideas advocated by the CPC and the government. Our enterprise mission is “pursue innovation and excellence; be committed to healthy, eco-friendly, sustainable development and maximum value of resources in mining industry”, and our vision is “quality benchmark of the industry, model of happiness enterprise, international well-known brand”. On this basis, we have established out target of the market, customer and products, put forward the management concept of “superior quality meets high requirements”, “professional leading, integrity first” and the value of “conscience in mind and responsibility in behavior”.

When it comes to competitive advantage, the competitiveness of an enterprise is determined by the overall elements of the enterprise, including management level, excellent talents, scientific research strength, manufacturing ability, marketing ability and so on. From my perspective, the best thing we have done in NMS is scientific research. We have a R&D center in Sweden, which makes us the only company in China with high-level research and development institution overseas. In addition, the management team of NMS is full of aspiration, innovation and diligence. And our enterprise culture is our “soft power”, which is the foundation of enterprise development and the soil for growth, the source of human potential and scientific and technological development. The core competitiveness of NMS is derived from constant cultivation of enterprise culture.

Question: Next year is the 40th anniversary of China Aggregates Association. As an important participant in the aggregates industry, what do you want to say or hope for?

Chairman Li Shunshan: Next year is the 40th anniversary of China Aggregates Association, and this year is the 50th anniversary of NMS. I wrote in foreword of the company memorial book: “This year is the 50th anniversary of NMS. In the long river of time, this is only a moment, but for an enterprise, after 50 years it is still full of vitality, which is very rare and worthy of celebration. It is often said that an enterprise is always looking forward to living for a century, will NMS strive to live for another 50 years? Can we? How? The answer is what we need to look for today.” I have been together with China Aggregates Association for more than 20 years. Today, I also hope to say to China Aggregates Association: How did we survive for 40 years? How can we ensure that we can do well in the next 40 years? Let’s think about it together!