With the rapid development of new energy vehicles, local brake system companies in China have begun to develop their business in this area. Anti-lock Braking Systems (ABS), Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and parts for future brake systems, which are mandatory for new energy vehicles, are becoming more and more popular.
Growing together
The collaboration between Yilong Technology and Unisteel Technology China (UTC) made rapid progress and set an important milestone for innovation in the automotive industry. Efficiency is the motto of this partnership, from the introduction of the "local-for-local" strategy to fully automated mass production. Yilong, a leading force in automotive chassis electronic control systems, strategically chose UTC as partner. This shows that Yilong not only focuses on quality, but also considers a responsive supply chain to be important.
Fully automated, large-scale production
Jiangsu Yilong M.&E. Technology Co., Ltd., based in Nantong (China), was established in August 2019. The company specializes in the development, manufacture and distribution of electronic automotive chassis control systems; e.g. solenoid valves and valve modules. It is now a leading company in automotive brake systems for the Chinese market and is the first high-tech company in China to series manufacture a standardized design of automobile brake system. Moreover, Yilong is able to fully implement automated, large-scale production in China.
Specialization in different types of valves
Yilong has managed to build up state-of-the-art manufacturing level and independent equipment development. They focus on the design, development and manufacture of various generations of solenoid valves, Hybrid Control Units (HCU), and wire control systems, as well as ABS and ESC series.
Yilong is equipped with an ABS/ESC performance and endurance test bench, as well as other research and development test equipment. Few other manufacturers can claim this. The company also plans to build an industrialization base suitable for an annual output of 70 million solenoid valves and 5 million HCU sets.
Zhiqiang Wu, Vice President of Yilong Technology, describes the collaboration with UTC and why the newly established local company purchases ABS metal parts from us.
“First of all, thank you very much for your time, Mr. Wu. Yilong Technology is a leading high-tech company in Nantong City, and your products are very competitive. As we know, you have a lot of strong customers and partners; for example, BYD, Great Wall and SAIC. This is very impressive. Why did you choose UTC as your development and supply partner for ABS parts?”
“Thank you for inviting Yilong Technology to participate in this SFS success story.
SFS is the leader in this industry, so you are, of course, our first choice. In the braking system area, every component is critical and the requirements are high. We cannot afford for something to go wrong. The SFS Group has a lot of experience in this area and a lot of know-how in supply chain management, which helps enormously when it comes to delivery issues – which was also one of the factors we considered.
In addition, we know that Unisteel supplies billions of ABS parts to other customers with best-in-class quality performance. UTC has parallel production lines and has its headquarters in Switzerland, so there is continuous support from there. All these factors made us confident that you are the right partner for us.
Moreover, SFS has a production base in Nantong, which greatly reduces the supply cycle and pressure to have high inventory. Previously, we purchased ABS parts from Japan. Because of the quite long lead time, we needed to have enough stock in our warehouse. Now, we can order our goods from UTC on a weekly basis and they arrive at our company within an hour. That is another reason why we chose Unisteel as our supplier.”
“What do you think of the collaboration with UTC?”
“From engineering to project coordination and from sales to quality, SFS is very professional. We have a very fruitful partnership and the project is progressing very smoothly. Based on the first project’s success, we nominated Unisteel for the second ABS project in mid 2023. The ABS market in China is booming and we plan to cooperate in more new business in the near future.”
“Currently, the samples have completed the test phase and entered the mass production phase. What do you think of the performance our products?”
“According to our trials and tests, the quality performance of SFS products is very stable and the products fully meet our requirements. The current production and delivery situation is under control. Good quality comes from a good quality management system. We conducted an audit at Unisteel in July 2023 and the audit results achieved 95.2 out of 100 points; that is to say, level A. We are very satisfied with the quality and the overall quality system.”
“As we know, Yilong is a young company. What is its future development?”
“Yes, Yilong was established only a few years ago, but our annual sales are estimated to exceed RMB/CNY 150 million this year. With the rapid development of the vehicle market, we first focus on product quality in order to meet our customers’ requirements. Therefore, our suppliers must meet our requirements. We believe that the future market space in China’s drive-by-wire brake market is very large. What we need to do now is to lay a solid foundation, be well prepared and continuously develop our parts categories.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wu, for your very interesting insights.”
Unisteel is proud of the successful teamwork over the past year and looks forward to further cooperation with Yilong. Together, we will explore the Chinese market in-depth and create a better future.
