Essay on "Entrepreneurial Story Behind Qinggang"

When a British journalist asked ostrovsky why the title was How Steel was Tempered, he said, "Steel was cast in fire and sudden cooling. Only in this way can we become hard and not afraid of anything. Our generation was also tempered in such struggles and arduous tests and learned not to be decadent in front of life. "

Under the background that manufacturing industry, especially heavy chemical industry, has been mentioned to the national strategic height, steel has become the focus of people's attention. China has long been the largest steel producer in the world, but it is still far from being a powerful country. The reason is that there are few durable and high-quality steel products in China, which cannot support the high-end and sustainable development of China's industry. The scale-oriented steel industry will face the choice of transformation in the future. Hebei Province is the first steel producing area in China and the fourth in the world. It has become the epitome of China's steel development and has its own bright color, that is Delong Steel.

You may say that the development of Delong Steel is full of luck and smooth sailing. In fact, there are still difficult choices, hard running, continuous learning, unlimited enthusiasm for work, a sense of urgency to seize strategic opportunities, and help each other in the same boat. Delong Iron and Steel takes "revitalizing the national iron and steel industry" as its own responsibility, and under the leadership of its head Ding, it has embarked on a road of "real king kong" for private iron and steel enterprises in China. Luo Bingsheng, executive vice president of China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said: "It is a model of private iron and steel enterprises."

Profession is the foundation of everything.

Ding's road to entrepreneurship is not without detours. He once entered the real estate industry ambitiously and planned to build a landmark building-Guo Li Tower in Tangshan. Originally, the building was planned to cover the18th floor, but it could not be added bit by bit until it was added to the 28th floor, which not only exhausted all the idle funds of the enterprise, but also led to the sudden break of the enterprise capital chain. This diversified attempt made Ding Wei suddenly wake up: only by doing a good job in his familiar industry can he grow steadily; Blind expansion and blind diversification can only drag enterprises into danger. He reconsidered the development planning and positioning of the enterprise, gave up the real estate and medicine he was running, and concentrated on making steel, determined to make the company the king of steel in China and a century-old enterprise.

Looking at China enterprises, there are not many successful examples of diversification, but the attempt of diversification has never stopped, which has objective reasons. After ten years, decades or even years of development, China enterprises will face multinational enterprises for hundreds of years, and their risks are obvious. However, China's financing, venture capital, industrial support and other aspects can't be compared with international ones, and diversification has become the only way for China enterprises, especially private enterprises. Moreover, GE's diversified "Don't put your eggs in one basket" is often regarded as the Bible, but it ignores GE's powerful capital scale, smart business screening strategy, efficient business operation management system, corporate strategy beyond specific business, strong corporate culture and good capital environment in the United States, which are beyond the reach of private enterprises in China.

Under such circumstances, what should private steel enterprises in China do? It's obviously not good to sit back and wait. Ding's prescription is: "Be refined, stronger and longer" on the professional basis, and make the whole industrial chain wider, deeper and better. Ding Delong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. achieved today's achievements by practicing this prescription. He said: "Steel is an industry that can last for a lifetime. Give up if you can't get it, and the big house will get it. "

Race against the times

The development history of Delong Iron and Steel Company in 16 years almost followed the road taken by foreign iron and steel enterprises in 100. This reflects the spirit of Delong people racing against the times-"fast fish eat slow fish".

"1992, it was a spring. An old man drew a circle on the South China Sea in China ... "Ding also miraculously drew a circle for his future steel empire at 1992. 1In August, 1992, Ding, who worked in Shenzhen and accumulated some steel experience, returned to Tangshan, China Iron and Steel Base. He first rented a rolling mill and founded Tangshan Great Wall Rolling Mill. With advanced thinking, the "Shenzhen Speed" influenced in Shenzhen, plus his good management mind and the concept of winning by virtue, he dug the first bucket of gold this year-a profit of 30 million yuan, and completed the first capital accumulation in his entrepreneurial history. After several years of dullness, on April 8, 2000, Ding led 150 elites from all walks of life to settle in a new steel plant in Xingtai, which was heavily indebted and acquired by them, and invested 60 million yuan in start-up capital. It took only 8 months to turn losses into profits, and 600,000 tax was paid in that year. Xingtai xinmou steel plant1998 stopped production in may, with accumulated losses of113.83 million yuan, liabilities of 240 million yuan and asset-liability ratio of 122%. This has also become the prototype of Delong Steel.

Since the tax payment of 600,000 yuan in 2000, Delong Iron and Steel has achieved amazing growth for four consecutive years: 200 1 year 6 million yuan, 2002 60 million yuan, 2003 sales revenue of 2.4 billion yuan, and tax payment of 65.438+89 million yuan, which is more than 300 times higher than that in 2000. In 2004, the state stepped up macro-control, and Delong Iron and Steel showed great vitality against the trend. Its sales revenue reached 3.78 billion yuan, with an average daily benefit of more than 3 million yuan, and its tax paid was close to 300 million yuan. In just five years, Delong Steel has steadily developed into a large private steel enterprise with 3,300 employees and assets of 654.38+0.8 billion yuan. In just over two years, it has completed the development course of similar state-owned iron and steel enterprises 10 years. (continued to the sixth edition)

(Continued from the fifth edition)

On March 9, 2005, Delong Steel acquired Qunyu, a listed company in Singapore, and Delong Holdings was listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange. This is the first time that domestic private steel enterprises have achieved overseas backdoor listing. At that time, Ding said that the success of listing was only the first step of the Long March. In the future, he will take advantage of Dongfeng's listing to introduce international capital and management, participate in the integration and property right transformation of domestic and provincial superior steel industries through reorganization, merger or equity participation, and realize the rapid expansion of Delong through the construction of new companies such as Beijing headquarters, Tianjin company, Shanghai company, Hong Kong and overseas companies.

In 2007, after successfully entering Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and other countries, Delong Steel sponsored the Perth Light Team in Australia with a long-term vision, which accelerated the internationalization process.

Ding's life is surprisingly simple: his greatest hobby is reading, and he dabbles in business management, politics and economy, ideology and morality, literature and history, and also studies Buddhism. He said that the current market competition is not only a problem of "big fish eat small fish", but also a problem of "quick fish eat slow fish". The fundamental problem is learning and re-engineering. To be a century-old shop in the steel industry requires continuous learning. Only in this way can we stay in the first phalanx of the steel industry.

Industrial chain * * * wins.

Delong Iron and Steel has formed a good competitive relationship with other enterprises, and finally achieved a win-win situation in the industrial chain.

Combined with the national market demand, the company's technical equipment level and its own advantages, Delong Steel has established the enterprise orientation of high-quality professional strip steel production, and formed a series of supporting and complementary products with large-scale products such as Handan Iron and Steel and Tangshan Iron and Steel in the surrounding areas, and continuously developed some new varieties with few domestic manufacturers and huge market potential.

Delong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. and Xu Yang Coking Group signed a strategic partnership agreement, which marked another solid step in strengthening the construction of upstream and downstream supply chain resources and creating a win-win and multi-win new customer relationship. Delong Holdings has formed a strategic alliance with Handan Iron and Steel Company and Hebei Wenfeng Iron and Steel Company. The three parties will cooperate in fuel market procurement, product sales, talent and human resources development and exchange, production, operation, management and new product research and development, so as to build Hebei Province into an important steel production base in China. Ding revealed that on the one hand, Delong is negotiating to acquire Indian mines, and eventually becomes a holding company through equity participation, extending to the upstream business (iron ore and coke); On the other hand, we will step up the acquisition and integration business in China, expand the current scale of production and operation, and strive to develop downstream businesses such as cold rolled steel. The rapid rise of Delong Steel has also strongly promoted the development of building materials, minerals, coking, steel rolling, transportation, service and other industries in the surrounding areas.

The current market competition is no longer the competition between individual enterprises, but the competition between enterprises and the supply chain formed by their suppliers, sellers or end users. Only by seeking win-win or multi-win and becoming a strategic partner of benefit sharing can this supply chain be more stable and competitive, and enterprises in this powerful supply chain can occupy more market share and get higher profits from it.

Six aspects of Delong people

Respect for morality, talents, innovation, dreams, environment and society, Delong people summarized the harmonious development of enterprises and related environment in six aspects.

Song Shunxiang, a steel worker, gave his seat to an elderly passenger on the bus when he visited Jinan Iron and Steel Company. When Ding was informed, he immediately decided to reward Song Shunxiang with 2000 yuan. Ding said: Delong's development not only pursues the development of enterprises, but also pays more attention to cultivating Delong people with ideals and morality. In 2004, Delong Iron & Steel was recruiting a qualified and skilled person. I heard that this person was not filial to his parents. The result was as rumored. Ding said: Even if he is a doctor, we don't want him because he is not filial to his parents. "If you want to achieve something, you must put virtue first. My whole life is to do something to revitalize the national steel industry. "

"Let every employee take the company as their home, and let the company become every employee's home" is the realm that Ding strives to pursue. Ding said: "steel is cold, but people's hearts are hot." He invested hundreds of millions of yuan to build and improve living, training and entertainment facilities for employees. There is also an episode in the life of employees. In May, 2003, a letter from two employees of the rolling mill reflecting the canteen problem was placed on Ding's desk. After reading this letter, he pondered for a long time, and wrote at the end of this letter: "What Delong Company is today is the result of the dedication of its employees. There is only one kind of people in the world-people who need to care. We have no reason not to care about such a good ordinary employee. " In order to help employees with difficulties get timely assistance, Ding also took the lead in donating money to set up the "Employee Mutual Aid Foundation". Delong Steel invests one million yuan to train employees every year, and Delong employees train as many as tens of thousands of times every year. Ding Guoli proudly said, "I have a very good management team now. As the chairman of the board, I only ask about the company's major policies and key personnel, and never interfere with other specific production and operation. "

With variety, cost and quality as the main line, Delong Iron and Steel has established an all-round management system in the company, including sales, supply, corporate culture and party-mass work. In order to strengthen the consciousness of management innovation, Ding also clearly pointed out that innovation should be the theme of enterprise management. Thanks to the rapid economic growth and industry opportunities in China in recent years, Delong Iron and Steel has always adhered to technological innovation, system innovation and management innovation, and achieved the leading edge in production and operation, with the continuous reduction of costs and gradual improvement of economic benefits.

Iron and steel enterprises are big users of water. From the perspective of protecting water resources, preventing water pollution, improving water environment and further improving the recycling rate of water, Delong Steel regards water saving as the strategic task of sustainable development of enterprises. Therefore, the construction of sewage treatment plants can protect the local ecological environment and water environment, improve the economic benefits of enterprises and reduce environmental pollution. In addition, in the whole production process, we always put scientific and technological progress, energy saving and consumption reduction, efficiency improvement and environmental protection in the same important position, strictly abide by the principle of "three simultaneities of environmental protection", take ISO 1400 1 environmental certification standard as the criterion, and put the environmental protection concept throughout the whole production process, forming a circular economy development model.

Ding actively participated in various social welfare undertakings: donating money to build primary schools, subsidizing poor college students, and setting up scholarships for poor students in universities; Concerned about social progress and stability, and funding the legal aid foundation for socially disadvantaged groups; Build electric power and water conservancy, and build roads and bridges for rural areas. In the past 10 years, Ding has donated 20 million yuan to various social welfare undertakings such as Project Hope and poverty alleviation.

Adventure foresight

During 1999, friends of Hebei Agricultural Bank recommended Xingtai Xinmou Steel Plant to Ding. Due to poor management, China Agricultural Bank hopes that powerful enterprises will take over. Joining the steel industry instead of going to state-owned enterprises was Ding's first major choice, and this time it became his second major choice. Because this project does have risks, if it is not done well, the consequences will be unimaginable. Due to the market downturn and extensive management for several years in a row, this steel mill has fallen into a vicious circle. 122% when production stopped in 1998. After careful analysis, he decided to take over a new steel plant in Xingtai. At that time, the steel industry was depressed. Ding believes that the steel industry is regular and the industry will not be soft to the end. He said at least three accounts could be calculated. First, the financial accounts are definitely not worth it. Second, the development account, enterprises can have more room for development by strengthening management; Third, the market opportunity account, a new round of rapid economic development in China has started. Counting three accounts, the chances outweigh the risks. As a result, in just eight months, he turned losses into profits and paid 600,000 yuan in taxes that year. Ding transformed the enterprise for three consecutive years, with a cumulative investment of 65.438+0.3 billion yuan, which increased the production capacity of the enterprise from the original annual output of 6.5438+0.5 million tons to the annual output of 6.5438+0.2 million tons in 2002. This year, Xinmou Steel Plant was officially renamed Xingtai Delong Steel.

Whether it is soft or not, there will be a phenomenon that steel prices deviate from the law of value. 1September 1993, he made a decision that puzzled many people at that time: the rolling mill stopped production, Tangshan Great Wall Trading Company was established, and trade was transformed. A boss Xue, who is engaged in steel trade in Shanxi, advised Ding to start work again and not to give up this opportunity to make a fortune. Ding said to boss Xue: I think the price of steel will come down and we can't produce any more. A few days later, the situation in the steel market changed greatly, and steel prices plummeted and fell again and again. The ideological differences have caused many bosses who once made a fortune in steel to "return to poverty" overnight and get into debt. And Ding's forward thinking helped him.

Technology determines the future development direction of the industry. The third phase transformation of Delong Iron and Steel has caused a debate among enterprise management: one view is that the national steel price is still rising recently, and expanding production can bring more profits. Ding believes that the steel industry cannot be short-sighted. If the industry is overheated, it will always be cold. The state supports high-tech steel enterprises. In the end, the company decided to invest all the 500 million yuan originally used to expand the scale into the high-tech value-added medium and wide-band steel production line. On the question of how to locate the enterprise, Ding said: Just like the cars running on the expressway, there are luxury cars, trucks and buses. We found a point in it and positioned Delong Steel as a professional plate and strip production enterprise with high technology content and obvious regional advantages. Delong Steel is the leading medium and wide band steel mill in China, which can affect the domestic medium and wide band steel price. They are not big but sophisticated, and first developed high-end products supported by national policies. In 2003, Delong Iron and Steel became one of the few domestic plate and strip manufacturers with high technical difficulty, and its products were exported to internationally renowned enterprises such as South Korea's Pohang and LG. In 2004, when the country strengthened macro-control, Delong Steel still showed great vitality. With the development goal of leading the same industry in technology and equipment, Delong Steel actively adopts domestic advanced metallurgical technology and equipment to realize the innovation of the company's production process and the upgrading of production equipment. The company's main production equipment and related supporting facilities have reached the leading level in the same industry.

By strengthening management, the market risk of raw and auxiliary materials procurement has been successfully avoided. Affected by the international market, the raw material supply market of domestic iron and steel enterprises was turbulent in 2005, and the prices of main raw materials climbed all the way. Facing the change of market situation, the company accurately grasps the market dynamics and effectively controls the purchase price of raw and auxiliary materials in bulk, which plays a key role in reducing the overall cost of the company. The company has also reached cooperation intentions and cooperation years for iron ore procurement with mining groups in Australia, South Africa, Russia and other countries. At the same time, it has closer cooperation forms with mining groups in Inner Mongolia, Hebei and other places, laying the foundation for greatly reducing procurement costs.

Dong Zhihong, director of the marketing department of China Iron and Steel Industry Association, said that the competition in China's iron and steel industry is shifting from price competition to brand competition such as variety, quality and service, and the cost pressure is increasing. The relationship between enterprises and upstream and downstream supply chains has changed from a simple transaction relationship to a long-term strategic cooperation relationship. Therefore, corresponding measures should be taken: production should be transformed from quantitative expansion to quality and efficiency, and products and industries should be upgraded through scientific and technological innovation; The economic benefit of enterprises changes from price benefit to cost reduction; Vigorously develop circular economy. For these, Delong Steel has already taken precautions.

March into the industrial empire

When it comes to industrial empire, we may think of Intel, Nokia, Coca-Cola and so on. They have done their best in one field, but Microsoft and others are often subject to antitrust investigations. Their influence can affect the development direction of the whole industry, product prices and even people's consumption trends. There is no need for any violence or brainwashing because you have no choice. This is a description of the industrial empire, which many China enterprises dream of. So, how did they achieve the imperial level? One word: expert.

The development concept of Delong Iron and Steel is "specialization, precision, strength and distance". Only by focusing on one thing can an enterprise have long-term development. This private enterprise, which has developed for 16 years, is building its own iron and steel empire, from raw material processing in the downstream, medium and wide band steel in the middle reaches, to iron ore and coke in the upstream. Ding, the person in charge of Delong Steel, said: "To expand the whole steel industry, we must extend to the equipment industry, and rollers are only the breakthrough." In fact, rollers also serve the steel industry. When Delong Iron and Steel established its empire, it made great efforts to achieve several targets: it could control the price of broadband steel in high-end products; Integrate the upper, middle and lower reaches of steel resources to achieve a win-win situation; Continue to invest in the research and development of core technologies, focusing on value rather than scale; Comprehensively control costs and implement circular economy, etc. Although Delong Steel does not occupy the scale advantage in front of state-owned steel enterprises, its total assets contribution rate, return on capital, social contribution rate and return on net assets rank first among 70 key steel enterprises in China, which proves the professional value of its development.

Ding's wish is to become a steel king and a century-old shop in China. This king is not from the scale, but from the industrial value. Only by mastering the direction of industrial development can we establish an industrial empire in the future and become the most influential enterprise in the global steel industry. This may be a realistic choice for many domestic enterprises.

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Ding, born in June, 1970, master, graduated from Hebei Polytechnic University, majoring in mechanical manufacturing. He is currently the chairman of Xingtai Delong Holdings Co., Ltd. and the chairman of Delong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd.

Tangshan Great Wall Rolling Mill was established in 1992. In 2000, Xinmou Steel Plant in Xingtai, which stopped production for two years and had a debt of 240 million yuan, was acquired to form Delong Iron and Steel Co., Ltd. In 2005, Delong Holdings Co., Ltd. was established.

Main positions include: Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce directly under the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Standing Committee of the All-China Youth Federation, Executive Committee of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Director of the China Young Entrepreneurs Association, Vice President of the Hebei Guangcai Promotion Association, Vice President of the Chamber of Commerce directly under the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, Vice President of the Korea-China Economic Development Association, and Adjunct Professor of Enterprise Management at the School of Business Administration of Hebei University of Economics and Business.

He was awarded the "May 1st Labor Medal" in Hebei Province, "Top Ten Outstanding Young People in Hebei Province", the first-class merit awarded by the provincial government, the 6th Top Ten Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs in Hebei Province, the model worker in Hebei Province, the outstanding private entrepreneur who cares for employees in China and the outstanding entrepreneur in Xingtai City. From June 5438 to February 65438, 2005, he was elected as the 16th "Top Ten Outstanding Youth in China".