Automotive “Rearview Mirror” Market Sales Rank First Nationwide! This Jimo Company is Remarkable
2023-09-05 19:53
The rearview mirror, an essential safety component for every vehicle composed of a small piece of mirror glass, has achieved the top national sales ranking. Qingdao Jidong Auto Parts Co., Ltd. has stood out in this niche field of auto parts through innovation and strength, leading the way and becoming an industry leader.
On August 29, a reporter visited Qingdao Jidong Auto Parts Co., Ltd., experiencing not only the vitality and energy of the enterprise but also the details of its progress along the path of intelligent development in step with the times. A series of positive news has made Jidong a rising force in the industry this year: nearly 300,000 units supplied for heavy-duty commercial vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 35%, achieving sales of nearly 300 million RMB, outperforming the market average by over 15%; in May, achieving breakthrough growth with Jiangling Ford and successfully supplying the streaming media interior mirror for Ford’s global Ranger pickup model, filling a gap in Qingdao’s automotive electronics supply chain; newly applied for 2 invention patents and 1 utility model patent, all having received authorization notices…
In the electronics workshop, workers are performing camera focus adjustment inspections.
Refining and Perfecting: Rearview Mirrors Hold 41.3% Domestic Market Share
“For many years, Qingdao Jidong has continuously refined and perfected its products, and has now become a well-known manufacturer of commercial vehicle rearview mirrors,” said General Manager Ma Zhengzheng during a tour of the company’s exhibition hall. He introduced key development milestones, noting the company was founded in 1985, initially engaging in hardware parts processing. It officially entered the auto parts sector in 1993 when it began supplying rearview mirror arms to FAW Jiefang.
“In 2007, the company established the development philosophy of ‘Being Down-to-Earth and Aiming High,’ strategically planning products vertically and markets horizontally, leading to rapid development,” Ma said. Between 2008 and 2017, the company sequentially laid out its four major product segments: automotive rearview mirrors, steering columns, cooling modules, and automotive electronics. Starting in 2013, it entered the supply systems of customers like BAIC, Shacman, Dongfeng, and Foton. “Previously, the domestic commercial vehicle rearview mirror market was dominated by foreign brands. After 2013, Jidong gradually became a major brand in this market.”
After nearly 40 years of development, Qingdao Jidong is now a core supplier for 24 vehicle manufacturers including Jiefang, Shacman, Dongfeng, and Foton, establishing itself as a leader in the domestic industry. In the medium and heavy-duty truck sector, all four of its product lines rank among the top in the industry, with rearview mirrors holding a 41.3% market share, maintaining its position as the leading enterprise in commercial vehicle rearview mirrors for five consecutive years.
Technological Innovation: Holds 160 Patent Technologies
“Jidong’s rapid market capture is closely tied to the company’s emphasis on technological R&D,” Ma Zhengzheng stated.
In the achievement display center, the latest series of electronic rearview mirror products were displayed, with technical staff researching related issues. Ma introduced that the company currently employs 92 engineering technicians. Its technical center is recognized as a provincial-level technical center, and its testing center obtained CNAS (China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment) accreditation in 2021. The company collaborates with Jilin University Qingdao Automotive Research Institute on industry-academia-research projects, establishing expert workstations for “NVH Research on Automotive Rearview Mirrors” and “Intelligent Automotive Electronic Rearview Mirrors.” It has also signed strategic cooperation agreements with Wuhan University of Technology for technological innovation, building a “produce one generation, reserve one generation, research one generation” R&D system. It holds 160 patents and participates in product design with vehicle manufacturers, entering the front end of the industrial chain.
Leveraging this strong R&D system and focusing on future electronic technology trends, the company independently began developing electronic rearview mirrors in 2017. It has now developed three generations of products, which have completed vehicle installation tests with all indicators performing well.
In December 2022, the new national standard for automotive rearview mirrors was released, allowing electronic rearview mirrors to replace traditional optical mirrors for standalone use on vehicles. “Aligned with the new national standard, Jidong’s smart rearview mirror production workshop was among the first to enter product testing, seizing the new industry track,” said Liu Dajian, Dean of the company’s research institute. “We now have our own electronic rearview mirror laboratory and production line. The third-generation product we developed complies with the new national standard, while its functionality and service life also meet vehicle requirements.”
Furthermore, due to breakthroughs in over 10 technological and process innovations, the output value of electronic rearview mirrors is about 10 times that of traditional optical mirrors. It is estimated that upon successful mass production, the company’s market scale could expand from the original 400 million RMB to 3 billion RMB.
Workers inspect core steering components.
Transformation and Upgrading: Intelligent Manufacturing Delivers Results
Currently, as traditional manufacturing faces transformation, intelligent manufacturing has become a key trend. Qingdao Jidong, based on its own characteristics and focusing on “cost reduction, inventory control, quality improvement, and efficiency enhancement,” is actively driving its transformation and upgrading, achieving comprehensive intelligentization of production line equipment.
In the company’s metal workshop, the reporter saw a vast intelligent workshop with only a dozen or so workers, where one worker can operate multiple machines simultaneously—a result of the company’s intelligent transformation. Ma Zhengzheng said that keeping pace with the times, the company has invested over 40 million RMB in intelligently transforming its equipment production lines. “After the transformation, the workforce in the production workshop was reduced by two-thirds, while the number of processes decreased from 14 to 4. Product stability significantly improved, and production efficiency increased by 30%,” Ma said.
In the adjacent electronics workshop, automated equipment was busy operating. Ma introduced that this is a “10,000-class” clean room, with an investment of 38 million RMB. It houses four production lines: SMT, AA, testing, and assembly. Through an integrated PDM, ERP, and MES platform, it links information, procurement, sales, production, operations, storage/transportation, and finance, achieving synchronization of product information, order plans, BOM information, and quality information. This enables a parallel management model integrating production and sales. Simultaneously, it automates and digitizes the production and testing processes, greatly enhancing product consistency and achieving high-quality development for the enterprise.
In the corporate exhibition hall, honorary titles and 160 patent certificates adorning the walls—such as “National High-Tech Enterprise,” “CNAS Accredited Laboratory,” “Shandong Provincial Enterprise Technology Center,” “Shandong Provincial Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and New ‘Little Giant’ Enterprise,” and “Shandong Provincial Gazelle Enterprise”—deeply impressed the reporter with the rise of a world-class supplier of automotive vision systems.
