How to promote the practice of "craftsman spirit"

What is the spirit of craftsman

"Craftsman" is a word full of traditional colors. Various craftsmen have created countless miracles with their exquisite skills. Many people think that craftsmen are mechanical and repetitive workers. In fact, craftsmen have a more profound meaning. They represent the temperament of dedication, determination, steadiness, and excellence. "Craftsman spirit" refers to the spiritual concept of craftsmen carefully crafting their own products and striving for excellence.

The spirit of craftsmanship is a value of awe, perseverance and single-mindedness. The spirit of craftsman is the deep-rooted belief and determination to do things well, and it is a kind of persistence in the original intention. The spirit of craftsman is to inject the heart into the work. When the whole body is devoted, the subject and the object are integrated into the selfless work, the instinctive power can be mobilized, thus generating unlimited creativity.

Craftsman spirit is a calm, independent and down-to-earth work attitude. The spirit of craftsman encompasses qualities such as rigor, patience, concentration, dedication, and innovation. Don't be greedy for more and seek speed, don't aim too high, don't be dazzled, don't hesitate to use your strength, and don't be afraid of trouble. Even if there is no gain after all the hard work, I have no regrets. I don’t give up easily. I use the spirit of one step at a time to practice hard and keep improving my products and skills towards perfection.

The spirit of craftsman is a concept that is never satisfied and pursues excellence. The spirit of craftsman requires that one is never satisfied with the pursuit of product quality, is always improving, treats each product as a handicraft, carefully carves it, polishes it patiently, and tirelessly improves the product.

We all know that Germany is the country with the most craftsman spirit. Many of their companies are century-old businesses that have been producing certain products for a long time. Their workers have been doing the same type of work for many generations, and the craftsmanship has been passed down from generation to generation. They like it. Constantly carve out your own products, constantly improve your own craftsmanship, and enjoy the process of sublimating the products in your hands. Therefore, German machinery, chemicals, electrical appliances, optics, kitchen utensils, and sporting goods are among the highest quality products in the world and can easily be "lasted 100 years." "Made in Germany" has become synonymous with quality and credibility.

The spirit of craftsmanship can also be seen from Swiss watchmakers. Swiss watchmakers carefully polish and carve every part, every process, and every watch. Their attitude towards manufacturing products with heart is the thinking and concept of craftsmanship. In the eyes of craftsmen, there is only excellence in quality, meticulous manufacturing, and diligent pursuit of perfection, and nothing else. It is precisely because of this concentrated and dedicated craftsmanship that Swiss watches are famous and best-selling all over the world.

In Japan, the "God of Sushi" in Tokyo is also a typical representative of craftsmanship. In order to ensure the temperature, the hot towels before meals are twisted by apprentices' hands; to ensure the taste of the rice, the pressure on the rice cooker lid is so high that it requires both hands to open it; the seemingly simple task of frying eggs requires ten years of experience. The hands of experienced apprentices; in the past, the shrimps were cooked in the morning and put in the refrigerator until they were taken out before serving. Now, the shrimps are cooked until the guests arrive; the time for massaging the octopus has been increased from half an hour to 40 to 50 minutes. In order to soften the meat and bring out the flavor. Here, what diners eat is not sushi, but Jiro Ono’s craftsmanship—constantly repeated in the hope of reaching new peaks.

In 2015, an email sent by Ren Zhengfei to all Huawei employees - "Learn the spirit of Japanese craftsmanship and focus on one thing throughout your life" was once popular in the circle of friends. In this email, Ren Zhengfei clearly expressed his attitude towards the craftsman spirit. He believes that the core of the so-called "craftsman spirit" is: not only treating work as a tool to make money, but establishing a sense of persistence and respect for work. The spirit of excellence and meticulous craftsmanship in what we do and the products we produce.

The times call for the spirit of craftsman

A set of data has been circulated on the Internet: As of 2013, Japan has 3,146 companies with a life span of more than 200 years, the most in the world, and Germany has 837 , there are 222 in the Netherlands and 196 in France. Why longevity companies gather in these countries? Is it an accident? What's the secret to their longevity? The answer is: they all inherit a spirit-the spirit of craftsmanship.

Look at two sets of statistics: First, the average life span of small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe and Japan is 12.5 years. Competition in the United States is relatively fierce, and the average life span of small and medium-sized enterprises is also 8.2 years. In China, the average life span of small and medium-sized enterprises is only 3.7 years, among which small and micro enterprises are less than 3 years. Secondly, in Forbes’ “2016 World’s Most Valuable Brands Ranking” (***100 brands), none of the Chinese companies were on the list, while in another list—“Forbes Global Brands 2015” Among the "Top 2000 Enterprises", more than a dozen Chinese companies have entered the top 100.

From these two sets of data, it can be seen that there are many Chinese companies, but their life cycles are short, and there are very few companies that can become stronger and bigger. There are many powerful Chinese companies, but only a handful of them can make a name for themselves globally. So, why can’t Chinese companies live long? Why can’t Chinese companies create a world-renowned reputation? One of the reasons is: Chinese companies lack the spirit of craftsmanship.

There is also a set of data. According to the Japan Tourism Agency, in 2015, the total amount of Chinese tourists spending in Japan was 1,417.4 billion yen (82.2 billion yuan). Among the top five tourists from all over the world in total spending in Japan, the total spending by tourists from mainland China is 151.8 billion yen (8.8 billion yuan) more than the total spending by tourists from South Korea, the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Amid the sluggishness of China's physical consumer market, the crazy behavior of Chinese people going to Japan to buy toilet seats, cold medicine, rice cookers, sanitary napkins, stockings, condoms, nail clippers, thermos cups, electric toothbrushes, pens and other products is really irritating. It hurts the nerves of most Chinese people. Because of the lack of craftsmanship and the bad impression of cheap and low-quality products, Chinese companies are constantly losing their own consumer groups.

It is true that in the past thirty years, China has experienced rapid development that has attracted the attention of the world and has accumulated sufficient production and supply. However, in an era where speed and efficiency are emphasized and faced with a large number of opportunities, people become impatient and eager for quick success. While developing rapidly and creating sufficient supply, most Chinese companies have lost focus and guarantee on supply quality.

Today, China’s social consumption demand side is becoming increasingly mature. Although the inequality between rich and poor still exists, the consumption level of most people has been greatly improved, especially the rapid rise of the middle class, which has begun to have the ability to purchase better quality products and services. They are paying more and more attention to the quality of life. and details. In the past few years, the products that Chinese people have been crazy about buying abroad, whether they are high-end luxury goods or ordinary daily necessities, are of significantly higher quality than domestic products, and behind the quality is the ultimate pursuit of craftsmanship and humanization of products. The result of this pursuit is a wonderful user experience that people cannot refuse. As long as they use this product full of "artisan spirit", consumers will become its loyal fans.

A quality-first era is coming. It’s time for Chinese companies to slow down, bend down, meditate, and focus on improving supply quality. They need to continuously improve through R&D, technological innovation, quality management, etc. Product quality, better meeting customer needs, and building brand influence, all of which require the guidance of craftsmanship. The spirit of craftsmanship is the spiritual driving force that supports "Made in China" from "qualified manufacturing" to "high-quality manufacturing" and "premium manufacturing", and is a supporting factor for China's supply-side reform.

The times call for the spirit of craftsmanship.

Let the spirit of craftsman help the development of enterprises

The spirit of craftsman not only represents a new production concept, but also the transformation direction of China's manufacturing industry, getting out of the quagmire of low-end manufacturing and eliminating The ultimate goal of reducing backward and repetitive production capacity and strengthening technological innovation is to "increase varieties, improve quality, and create brands" and enhance the overall level and image of Chinese enterprises. However, craftsman spirit is not enough just to shout slogans. More importantly, enterprises must put craftsman spirit into practice and "unify knowledge and action" so that craftsman spirit can truly help the development of enterprises.

It is necessary to integrate the spirit of craftsman into the construction of corporate culture and vigorously promote it

Corporate culture is the cornerstone of an everlasting business. It can inherit the spirit of craftsmanship for hundreds of years, and it is the enterprise that carries this spirit. culture.

In companies with a craftsman spirit, employees are bathed in an atmosphere of rigor and excellence as soon as they come in. They strive to be the best in everything they do. In fact, this is a kind of corporate culture. Under the influence of this culture, it is natural to pursue perfection and reject mediocrity, and there is no need to deliberately require it.

Therefore, if an enterprise wants to practice the spirit of craftsman, it must first integrate the spirit of craftsman into the construction of corporate culture, incorporate it into the core concept of corporate culture, and promote and educate employees through various methods. Through corporate culture, employees can establish "craftsman consciousness" and internalize the spirit of craftsmanship into the spiritual quality of all employees, so that employees can have a rigorous, meticulous, focused and responsible work attitude and a sense of professional identity, responsibility, honor and mission. The sense of dedication, down-to-earth, and excellence becomes the pursuit of corporate values, and the soil for the spirit of craftsmanship is deeply planted.

In fact, the culture of many time-honored enterprises in China embodies a strong spirit of craftsmanship. For example, Tongrentang’s couplet says, “No matter how complicated the preparation, we dare not save labor; no matter how expensive the taste is, we do not dare to save material resources.” , deeply rooted in the hearts of the people and admirable. Within Huawei, there are often some very interesting slogans, such as "Don't let Lei Feng suffer", "The bird that cannot be burned to death is the phoenix", "You have to sit on the bench for ten years", etc., which are all used in the "brigade training" for new employees. "(Huawei's post-employment off-the-job corporate culture training) tells employees, and appears in various study manuals, requiring employees to discuss, learn and think. These simple, easy-to-understand and catchy slogans tell employees to put an end to impatience and work hard.

Of course, there are also many companies that can still see placards like this in their workshops and offices: "Perseverance in the pursuit of perfection - our core values", "Producing products without quality is equivalent to creating useless products." of garbage” etc. It is hoped that more and more companies will integrate this craftsmanship spirit into the sub-cultures of corporate culture such as product culture, quality culture, production culture, and R&D culture.

It is necessary to embed the spirit of craftsman into every aspect of operation and management, and make comprehensive improvements

Enterprises must be guided by the spirit of craftsman, integrate it into every aspect of production and management, and truly invest in people. , finance, and materials, so that the company's software and hardware environment in production, research and development, technology, craftsmanship and other aspects can be improved, and it will continue to absorb cutting-edge technologies, create products that can stand the test of time, and build brands.

Lead R&D and innovation with the spirit of craftsmanship. Innovation is an important connotation of craftsmanship. The innovation of original technology and the application of new technologies will better meet customer needs, enhance user experience, and bring higher value to customers. The spirit of craftsmanship not only embodies the concept and pursuit of precision production, but also actively absorbs cutting-edge technology, makes better products through the application of new technologies, and promotes continuous progress of enterprises.

Led by the spirit of craftsmanship, R&D and innovation need to consider whether they are willing to truly bring value to customers, whether they are willing to tirelessly persist in R&D after experiencing a large number of failures, and whether they are willing to produce hundreds of solutions. And select the best among the best, whether they focus on improving performance, whether they dare to overturn the results of their hard work and pursue new heights, and finally make products that surprise consumers.

In addition, the inheritance and innovation of technology must pay attention to meticulous craftsmanship and excellence. It must not only inherit the original good technology, but also improve and innovate. The ultimate goal is to improve quality. The constant pursuit of perfection and extremeness to bring a better experience to users is an insistence on the spirit of craftsmanship.

Huawei insists on investing more than 10% of its sales revenue in research and development every year. It has obtained more than 38,000 technology patents and its products are sold to more than 170 countries and regions around the world. Huawei's core value of "customer-centric" well explains the connotation of craftsmanship and is the best spokesperson for Chinese quality.

Gree is the only air-conditioning company in China that masters "variable frequency compression technology". More than 8,000 R&D personnel were recruited by Dong Mingzhu from universities and trained step by step. Their investment in R&D and core control The persistence of technology fully reflects Gree’s craftsmanship spirit.

Lead quality management with the spirit of craftsmanship. Quality management requires quality culture guidance and quality management system guarantees, as well as ideological construction and system construction.

Quality culture requires the entire company to form a consistent quality concept and create a spirit of pursuing the ultimate quality among all employees. The quality system has rigid requirements to strengthen and improve product quality standards and promote the implementation of quality concepts in all aspects. In terms of quality management, Huawei has a lot of good experience that domestic companies can learn from.

Huawei regards quality as the life of the enterprise, strives to improve the quality of products and services, and wins the trust of customers, which has also contributed to Huawei's success today. Huawei not only advocates the spirit of craftsmanship in measuring products, but also builds a solid quality system to support the implementation of "quality first". "The most precious thing about Huawei is its 'inanimate management system', which uses the certainty of rules and systems to deal with uncertainty." Ren Zhengfei once pointed out that Huawei's most important foundation is quality, which must be centered on products and engineering. Quality management extends to a large quality management system covering all aspects of the company. Quality management pursues "zero defects" to the extreme. In order to solve the quality defects of mobile phone cameras, Huawei will invest millions of yuan in testing. In order to solve the minor defects of "Honor" products, Huawei once shut down the production line for rectification.

Lead brand building with the spirit of craftsmanship. The development of an enterprise requires the promotion of the brand, and the quality of the brand determines whether the enterprise can gain a foothold in the market. The competition of brands is the competition of product quality, and the spirit of craftsmanship is the intrinsic value of the brand. Craftsmanship means the brand's long-term and continuous commitment to customers in terms of quality, experience, service, etc. Good brand building is based on continuous breakthroughs and innovations in technology and careful research and improvement of product quality. This is a concentrated expression of the brand's craftsmanship spirit.

It is necessary to build a guarantee mechanism and scientific incentive for the craftsman spirit

First of all, the construction of organizational mechanism. Whether the spirit of craftsmanship can be effectively implemented depends on whether the organizational mechanism is set up in accordance with the spiritual concepts and requirements of the spirit of craftsmanship. The establishment of the organization and mechanism should focus on the performance of functions such as quality management, research and development, and technological innovation. It is required to give "craftsmen" more responsibilities and powers. Each department must perform its duties, and the mechanism ensures that all employees can focus on their work. to quality improvement and excellence.

Secondly, the construction of the system. The essence of craftsmanship is supported by the system. To a certain extent, the craftsman system is more important than the craftsman spirit. The craftsman spirit affects people more from the spiritual level. The craftsman system not only leads spiritually, but more importantly, it guides us on how to do it.

Third, the establishment of a reward and punishment mechanism. Enterprise development cannot blindly encourage competition and simply determine rewards based on performance. Those who truly practice the spirit of craftsman must receive the rewards they deserve. It is necessary to strengthen the incentive mechanism for technical talents and attach great importance to the upward path of front-line workers so that they have a full sense of achievement, gain and motivation to keep moving forward.

Fourth, the construction of training mechanism. At present, many enterprises do not lack technology, but they lack masters with true craftsman spirit. It takes time to cultivate craftsmen in a big country. If we do not cultivate them now, we will be in trouble. Therefore, enterprises must establish a scientific craftsman training mechanism, increase investment in training, and select a group of "intelligent manufacturing stars" and "technical model workers" so that craftsmen can stand out and become stars in the enterprise, society, and An honor.

The spirit of craftsmanship should be reflected in the personal behavior of employees and the unity of knowledge and action

The spirit of craftsmanship should be reflected at the personal level, which is the spirit of seriousness, dedication and study. Without reverence for the profession, persistence in work, a responsible attitude towards brand culture, and without the innovation vitality of striving for excellence and pursuing perfection, it is impossible to make breakthroughs in work and bring forth new ideas in the field of innovation.

Enterprises must ultimately implement the practice of craftsmanship into the actions of each employee through cultural guidance and institutional guarantees. Every employee must deeply understand the requirements of the craftsman spirit, and must not be impetuous, uncompromising, work quietly, and be down-to-earth. Everyone must uphold this spirit.

If every employee can treat their work with the spirit of craftsmanship, be strict with themselves, strive for excellence in products and services, be willing to spend more time studying, work hard, take the initiative to learn, update knowledge in a timely manner, and have the courage to Innovate, treat your work as a kind of art, pursue perfection, and enjoy it, then every employee will become an expert in his or her work.

When the author was working for CRRC, a Chinese high-speed rail manufacturing company, I was deeply impressed by its "clear words, precise skills, real-name system", and this is the rigor of high-speed EMUs The best embodiment of the craftsmanship spirit of manufacturing and "standards are king". The so-called "clear knowledge" means that during the pre-shift meeting of production workers, an employee is randomly selected to stand 6 meters away and recite his process documents and operating procedures loudly. "First-hand excellence" is an inspection of employees' strict implementation of standards. In the past few years, in the random inspection test of 40,000 people, the first-time pass rate of employees has reached 99.99. The "real-name system" means that each employee will put his or her name on the company after completing each process and be responsible for it for life, making every action "pure gold" and ultimately forging a "pure gold" product.

The spirit of craftsman must keep pace with the times and continue to innovate

The spirit of craftsman in different eras has strong characteristics of the times. With the changes of the times and the development of technology, the spirit of craftsman is constantly integrated into New elements, but the essence remains the same. The rigor, concentration, and professionalism possessed by early craftsmen are called craftsmanship. In the era of industry and information technology, the rigor, concentration, and professionalism required of us remain unchanged. On this basis, we pay more attention to innovation, precision, and quality. The more advanced science and technology becomes, the more important craftsmanship becomes. Our essential pursuit of craftsmanship has not changed.

In today's era, enterprises practicing craftsman spirit do not need to engage in handicrafts, but how to integrate craftsman spirit into large-scale production and enterprise-oriented production and management practices to promote the improvement of the quality of production and supply. The craftsmanship spirit of today's era requires more characteristics of the times. For example, the Internet field requires the pursuit of innovation, shortening the research and development cycle, pushing products to users earlier, and rapid iteration. The continuous iteration of products required by Internet thinking means that we are constantly pursuing leanness and perfection.

In the process of practicing craftsman spirit, enterprises must combine the requirements of the times in their industry, advance with the times on the basis of understanding the essential connotation of craftsman spirit, and find a path to realize craftsman spirit that is suitable for the industry and the enterprise itself. and methods, so as to improve the quality of enterprise supply and realize the everlasting foundation of the enterprise.

Some people say that the past 10 years have been the era of businessmen, and the next 10 years will be the era of craftsmen. The core issue for Chinese companies in the future is no longer the pursuit of business expansion, but how to build themselves into a "craftsman" who always pursues the ultimate perfection of products and services. Every worker, every producer, and every enterprise will uphold this spirit: abandon those opportunistic thinking and impetuous mentality, produce "artisan products", create a resounding Chinese brand, and truly promote economic transformation. , industrial upgrading, putting those seemingly empty spiritual slogans into practice, not only making good products, but also making money.

Such a spirit is by no means achieved overnight, nor can it be copied mechanically like knowledge from books. Instead, it needs to be cultivated systematically and patiently, and passed on from generation to generation in the enterprise. The good news is that during our country's rapid development for more than 30 years, there are still many companies such as Huawei, Gree, and Tencent that are practicing the spirit of craftsmanship with practical actions and have achieved excellent results. I believe that with the advancement of supply-side reform, more and more companies will value and practice the spirit of craftsmanship, and there will be more and more "artisan talents" to conquer the world with more "artisan products". Let Chinese enterprises truly go global.

(Source: China Industrial Review)