Scientist's hi-tech dreams come true

The headquarters of SIASUN Robot & Automation Co, Ltd in Shenyang. Company photo

They can teach kids English and clean houses when the host is not at home. They can help fix cars and set up the wind power equipment in dangerous situations you wouldn't send a worker to. They can carry heavy goods and fix tiny chips in a vacuum.

All of this can be done by robots made in China. If you want to see an example of how China is moving from a world factory to a hi-tech producer, you can pay a visit to the workshop of SIASUN Robot & Automation Co Ltd in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province.

The real stars of this factory are the robots. Some of them have giant crane-like claws, which look like massive metal monsters in a science fiction movie on a mission to kidnap humans.

But some of them are tiny, around 60 cm high, with the intelligence of a two-year-old child, greeting you and asking for your name.

"Is it like a scene from the film Terminator?"said Qu Daokui, the firm's 48-year-old president.

Robotic prowess

Before establishing the company, Qu, a senior scientist, had already notched up a number of achievements in robotics and automation. He is also the deputy director of the National Engineering Research Center on Robotics, a professor and a doctoral tutor.

When it comes to the robotics industry in China, Qu's company is where the magic happens.

Established in 2000, SIASUN Robot & Automation is the only national robotics engineering research center possessing independent intellectual property rights and key technology.

Affiliated to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the company has a 90 percent share of the domestic robot market with sales of 880 million yuan in 2008, and a 50 percent increase in its profit margin year-on-year.

SIASUN also occupies 30 percent of the industrial robot market in China and the trend is growing.

The company was ratified by the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology as a "National Robot Engineering Research Center", a "National '863' Program Intellectual Robot Industrialization Base", and a "National High-tech Research Result Industrialization Base".

Lucky break

SIASUN was the first robotics enterprise to pass the ISO9001 International Quality Assurance System verification in China and was ranked 48th in the "Chinese Top 100 Potentials" by Forbes in 2005.

Qu became CEO of SIASUN in 2000 at the age of 39 after studying robotics for almost 20 years.

"SIASUN's strategic goal is to take advanced manufacturing technology as the core to develop into an internationally advanced equipment supplier and hi-tech industry group with strong competitiveness," Qu said.

Born in a coastal city in east China's Shandong province, Qu used to dream of becoming a scientist.

In 1982, after undergraduate studies in Jilin University in Changchun, he continued his studies at Shenyang Institute of Automation (SIA) with Jiang Xinsong, who is regarded as "the father of robotics in China".

"It is a great pleasure to do what I am always interested in," Qu said. "I started to study it because I love robots."

Qu spent the early 1990s in the lab of Universitaet des Saarlandes in Germany studying automation and robot science.

As the winner of the National Award for Excellent Young Researchers in China and a recipient of the Young Scientist Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he expected to devote his life to science.

Still, Qu saw signs of a blossoming industry as Germany, Japan and other countries invested in the robotics industry.

After he returned to China in 1993, he made up his mind to commercially develop robotics and automation technology in China.

"To commercialize the new technology, we needed to seize the right time," said Qu, chuckling at what he says was a rise marked by lucky breaks and good timing.

Before 2000, the domestic market was dominated by multinational robot and automation companies like ABB Robotics from Switzerland, FANUC and Yaskawa from Japan and other firms from Germany and USA, and China's leaders were eager to reduce the country's dependence on imported robots.

In addition, some imported robotic equipment failed to fully meet the needs of Chinese manufacturing companies, which provided another opportunity for the domestic robotics industry.

Business challenge

In the early 1990s, Qu seized an opportunity when Shenyang Brilliance Jinbei Automobile Company encountered a technical problem that slowed down the installation of engines on its assembly line.

To solve this problem, Qu adapted a development AGV assembly system. In addition to moving forward, backward, left, right and turning, the system can also lift an engine and install it in a car in less than two minutes.

Last year, the company's independently-developed AGV system for automobile assembly line won the GM global procurement bid and was exported to Mexico, India, Russia and Canada.

"GM still contacts us regarding the further application of our products since our system is indispensable in making cars," Qu said, reaffirming that the company is not feeling the impact of the global economic slowdown.

Qu, a fan of travel and photography who enjoys playing PS2 computer games with his son, likes making like-minded friends and discussing trends in the robotics industry with his counterparts worldwide.

He has invited world famous partners and experts in the robotics and automation industry to the company to exchange ideas and experiences on research and development.

Despite his science background, Qu talks like a hardheaded businessman, and people in the industry say he is an able entrepreneur who quickly responds to the market and the worlds of technology and finance.

"We have realized that by utilizing each resource, we have achieved more," Qu said.

As a smart businessman, Qu doesn't put all of his eggs in one basket.

SIASUN's 600-strong workforce at four branches and four research centers has developed logistics and storage automation systems, clean room automation equipment, rail transit automation and energy equipment.

Now, they serve thousands of customers in the engineering, electronics, electrical appliance, tobacco, and chemical industries, with all of the firm's technology developed in-house.

As a seasoned CEO, Qu exudes confidence. He never gives any sign that he is concerned that he might not make it. "I just need to prioritize the tasks and delegate the right person to do the job."

(China Daily 02/16/2009 page12)