ASIMCO Camshaft Completes Expansion of Casting and Melting Capacity

On August 8, 2014, another memorable day for ASIMCO Camshaft, the company’s newly invested 4T dual-power one-to-two melting furnace was officially put into operation. The project was launched in February this year and arrived at the factory for installation and commissioning in July. The entire project comprises a dual-output power supply system, two 4T furnace units, and a total output power of 2,500 kW that can be continuously and flexibly allocated between the two furnaces. While one 4T furnace maintains the molten iron at 1,500°C, the other 4T furnace melts cold charge to ≥1,500°C. The implementation of this project will meet the company’s casting and smelting capacity needs for the next few years. Currently, the company operates two smelting furnaces purchased as complete lines from overseas in the early 1980s in 2006, which have been in continuous use ever since. Each furnace is equipped with its own control system, and the two furnaces cannot operate simultaneously. As a result, the smelting capacity has become the bottleneck process in the casting production line. With the introduction of the new one-to-two smelting furnace, waiting time for smelting has been significantly reduced, and the efficiency of the casting production line is expected to increase by nearly 30%. The next few years will be a period of rapid development for ASIMCO Camshaft, and equipment investment will be the top priority in the company’s technological upgrading efforts. We will always bear in mind the investment adage “No investment means waiting for death; reckless investment means seeking it,” conduct thorough research and meticulous cost analysis, and ensure that every penny is spent on equipment that best supports the company’s development, thereby providing a solid foundation for the company’s sustained and healthy growth.

Braving the Scorching Heat to Achieve High Output and Boost Morale — A Record of the Vibrant ASIMCO Camshaft Team

Jiangling Motors Conducts Fixed-Point Audit of Heavy-Truck Project at ASIMCO Camshaft (Yizheng) Co., Ltd.

From July 23 to 24, 2014, Guo Yongtian, Senior Chief Engineer of Jiangling Motors Corporation, led a four-person delegation from Jiangling Heavy Duty Truck STD on a two-day audit of ASIMCO Camshaft (Yizheng) Co., Ltd. This audit was conducted as a potential supplier assessment for the 13L engine project developed by Jiangling Heavy Duty Truck Co., Ltd., a joint venture between Jiangling Motors and Ford Motor Company. The audit was carried out strictly in accordance with Ford Motor Company’s supplier audit checklist, with a focus on the company’s quality assurance capabilities and production process control capabilities. A comprehensive evaluation was made of the company’s COP, SOP, and MOP processes, and a detailed on-site audit was conducted of the company’s IVECO C9 production line and steel shaft production line. At the closing meeting, Jiangling Motors expressed satisfaction with the company’s rigorous, efficient, and smoothly operating quality management system, commended the company’s rational and professional production line layout, and put forward suggestions for improvement in certain aspects of the company’s detailed management. Dai Hongxing, Director of Technology and Quality at ASIMCO Camshaft, provided the guests with a detailed overview of the company’s development history and future plans. Product development personnel from both sides also engaged in in-depth technical exchanges regarding the 13L engine camshaft that Jiangling Heavy Duty Truck is set to develop. This audit has laid a solid foundation for future good cooperation between the two parties.

Walking Together All the Way, Grateful for You – ASIMCO Camshaft (Yizheng) Co., Ltd. Celebrates its 10th Anniversary and Successfully Hosts the First Employee Fun Sports Meet

To enrich employees’ cultural life and further strengthen corporate culture, on May 31, ASIMCO Camshaft (Yizheng) Co., Ltd. organized its first Employee Fun Sports Meet through the trade union, with a total of 117 employees from the Metalworking Team, the Foundry Team, and the Department Teams taking part in the competition. This year’s Fun Sports Meet was themed “Work Happily, Live Healthily,” featuring highly entertaining and team-oriented events. The six events included “Two-Person Letter Delivery,” “Two-Person Three-Leg Race,” “Kangaroo Jump,” and “Crab Carrying Watermelon.” Unlike traditional competitive sports, this fun meet placed greater emphasis on cultivating employees’ physical coordination and teamwork skills, providing a platform for them to relax, showcase their talents, and fostering stronger bonds, better understanding, and deeper friendships. All employees participated with great enthusiasm. The competition not only demonstrated technical proficiency but also reinforced the spirit of unity and collaboration, further inspiring a positive attitude and a proactive, enterprising work ethic. Through this event, our employees have come to realize that whether on the playing field or in the workplace, only by embracing team spirit and working together wholeheartedly can we achieve success in all endeavors. The successful organization of this Fun Sports Meet is both a practical implementation of the “Work Happily, Live Healthily” philosophy and an important step in strengthening and promoting corporate culture. At the same time, May 31 was also a special day for every member of ASIMCO Camshaft. We celebrated the company’s 10th anniversary, and employees who have grown alongside the camshaft company over the years were filled with deep emotions. As the lyrics go: “How can you see the rainbow without weathering the storm? No one achieves success effortlessly.” The same holds true for any enterprise. Looking back over the past decade, we have experienced the exhilaration of rapid progress as well as the challenges of forging ahead against the current. Behind every successful project and every customer’s recognition lie countless touching stories of selfless dedication by ASIMCO Camshaft employees. Ten years may be but a fleeting moment in the long course of human history, yet only those who truly experience it can fully appreciate its bittersweet flavors. In today’s rapidly changing world, to keep steering the ship in the right direction, we need not only the collective efforts of all ASIMCO Camshaft employees, but also the exceptional market insight and keen foresight of the company’s leadership team, which has been guiding ASIMCO Camshaft to achieve one leap after another. The year 2014 will mark a significant milestone in our company’s journey, as we stride confidently into the ranks of billion-dollar enterprises. With renewed vigor and passion, ASIMCO Camshaft employees will embark once again on a new journey, tirelessly striving for the company’s development and growth, and jointly pursuing the “Chinese Dream” of ASIMCO Camshaft!

ASIMCO Camshaft Donates to Families of Employees Affected by Fire to Help Them Through Tough Times

On the evening of April 7, 2014, a tragic fire broke out at the home of our employee Dai Dehui, destroying almost all the household furnishings, cracking the walls and even snapping the roof beams, rendering the house essentially uninhabitable. To this day, his family of six is still living with relatives. The sudden blaze was like a nightmare that shattered the once-peaceful life of the Dai family, adding insult to injury for this ordinary household. Fire is merciless, but people are compassionate; when one suffers, support comes from all directions. Upon learning of Dai Dehui’s situation, the company sprang into action. The trade union launched a donation drive among all employees, urging everyone to extend a helping hand to their unfortunate colleague. The campaign received overwhelming support from every member of the workforce, who demonstrated the spirit of unity, friendship, mutual assistance, and solidarity by generously contributing and lending a hand to this distressed family. In just two days, more than RMB 17,600 was raised. Although this amount may seem insignificant compared with the losses suffered by the Dai family, it carries the heartfelt care of all employees and conveys their sincere encouragement and best wishes. On April 25, Zhou Quan, Director and Chairman of the company’s trade union, on behalf of all employees, personally handed over the donated funds to Dai Dehui, asking him to convey the company’s concern and condolences to his family. He also encouraged Dai to regain his confidence, work hard, and strive to rebuild his home as soon as possible. Dai Dehui was deeply moved by the company’s care and encouragement and repeatedly expressed his profound gratitude for everyone’s help! The company’s care and the employees’ kind deeds exemplify the cohesion and centripetal force of the Camshaft family. While bringing warmth, they also offered Dai Dehui and his family immense comfort and hope. Through concrete actions, all employees have once again fully demonstrated that Camshaft is not only a harmonious and warm family, but also a strong backing and source of strength for every employee.

ASIMCO Camshaft Successfully Visits French FPT

On March 24–25, 2014, Zhou Quan, Sales Director of ASIMCO Camshaft (Yizheng) Co., Ltd., and Du Wenwen, Head of the Quality Department, together with staff from the FPT Shanghai office, paid their first dedicated visit to the FPT Bourbon-Lancy plant in France. During the visit, the two sides engaged in in-depth and friendly exchanges on quality, packaging, logistics, third-party services, testing methods, and other related matters. The FPT Bourbon-Lancy plant, located in southern France, currently employs more than 1,000 people and primarily manufactures C8, C9, C10, C11, and C13 engines. The company also produces engine blocks, cylinder heads, crankshafts, connecting rods, and Camshafts. Since the start of production (SOP) of the C8 and C9 series Camshafts in 2006, ASIMCO Camshaft has been the exclusive supplier. FPT has expressed satisfaction with our company’s performance in product delivery and quality. The ASIMCO Camshaft team visited Mr. FASANO Marco, Director of Quality; Mr. Dupla, Quality Manager; Mr. Duge and Mr. Russo, Quality Engineers; and Mr. Didier from the Logistics Department. The ASIMCO Camshaft team presented improvements and control methods for Camshaft heat treatment. The FPT quality team expressed satisfaction with ASIMCO Camshaft’s work and accompanied the group on a tour of FPT’s laboratory, testing center, and production floor. At the testing center, they communicated with FPT’s quality engineers and agreed on a standardized method for testing the hardened layer. In the FPT Logistics Department, the two sides confirmed the supply plan for C8 and C9 in 2014. At the same time, FPT put forward improvement requirements for ASIMCO Camshaft’s current packaging methods. ASIMCO Camshaft pledged to submit an improvement proposal and a detailed implementation plan as soon as possible to meet customer needs. Through this successful visit, ASIMCO Camshaft gained direct insight into customer feedback, laying a solid foundation for stabilizing and enhancing product quality and for providing even better service to customers in the future.

We congratulate our company on being awarded the Second Prize in the Yangzhou Association for Science and Technology’s Golden Bridge Project for the 2012–2013 period.

We warmly congratulate our company on winning the Second Prize of the Yangzhou Science and Technology Association’s Golden Bridge Project for the 2012–2013 period for our project “Application of Truss-Type Robots for Rough Turning on Line C9.” Our company has the highest employee turnover rate on the upstream section of Line C9, mainly due to the extremely high labor intensity. Currently, one worker operates two machines, each weighing over 30 kilograms, with a total handling load of nearly 10 tons per shift. We have previously used balance hoists, but they suffered from instability, tool collisions, and low efficiency, making operators reluctant to use them. Moreover, the equipment varies in size and shape, so a single balance hoist cannot accommodate multiple machines, resulting in considerable operational inconvenience. The truss-type robot is a fully automated loading and unloading mechanism that completes each cycle in under 10 seconds, requiring no human intervention throughout the process—making it the ideal solution to the staffing challenges in this operation. The widespread adoption of robots in manufacturing is the future trend, and choosing the upstream section of Line C9 for this pilot project is aimed at accumulating experience for the company’s subsequent full-scale rollout. Most truss-type robots currently available are small, with a payload of around 10 kilograms, whereas our company requires a robot that is 16 meters long and can handle a payload of 100 kilograms, posing significant challenges to the robot’s mechanical components. In addition, most robotic control systems on the market are imported from Japan and Germany, making them expensive. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop robots that offer excellent performance-to-price ratios, possess independent intellectual property rights, and are specifically tailored to our needs. Leveraging Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s technological strengths in robotics research, our company has partnered with the university to develop a truss robot at about one-third the cost of comparable imported products, while achieving nearly equivalent operational reliability. The introduction of this robot will significantly reduce workers’ physical exertion, lower the risks associated with heavy lifting, eliminate safety hazards related to such tasks, and mitigate the enterprise’s employment risks. The application of automation is the future trend in mechanical manufacturing, as it can effectively improve working conditions, reduce operating costs, and enhance corporate competitiveness. In March, ASIMCO Camshaft (Yizheng) Co., Ltd. achieved a historic output value exceeding RMB 9.5 million, with per capita annual output approaching RMB 400,000. These remarkable results were attained through optimized human resource management, technological improvements, and continuous equipment upgrades. Moving forward, our company will continue to accelerate its development, comprehensively promoting the application of various suitable robots. As hardware continues to improve, the company’s business performance will undoubtedly maintain steady growth.

Welcoming the Peak Sales Season and Ensuring On-Time Delivery — A Report on the Establishment of a Reinforcement Team in the Metal Processing Workshop

Since the end of last year, ASIMCO’s Camshaft division has experienced a small surge in demand, with monthly orders for both steel and ductile iron camshafts increasing by more than 20%. Steel camshafts such as the 112 and 310 models have also moved from trial production and small-batch runs into full-scale mass production and supply. Around this year’s Spring Festival, several customers called and emailed to place larger orders: some ductile iron camshafts saw demand double compared with last year, while orders for certain steel camshafts were about 40% above normal levels. Ensuring product quality, quantity, and timely delivery is the responsibility of the company’s production system. To cope with the rapid growth in market demand and to uphold the company’s commitment of “not losing a single camshaft,” the production system promptly organized discussions and sought solutions. If the previous work arrangements—such as the “three shifts with two rotations” and the standard three-shift system—were maintained, there would be a significant shortage of operators. Even with emergency hiring, the time required for recruitment, training, and on-the-job proficiency would still be insufficient to meet immediate needs; moreover, once market demand returns to normal levels, there would be an excess of staff that could not be accommodated. Director Ji Youqun, who oversees production, proposed drawing on last year’s “Enhanced Shift” initiative implemented in the casting workshop: establish a dedicated shift that rotates weekly to cover two shifts on each of the three production lines. This way, production lines with heavier order volumes can keep their equipment running continuously, operators can enjoy regular weekly rest, and both personnel and equipment utilization are maximized. Following the proposal, the machining workshop held a mobilization meeting. However, given differences in equipment, process routes, and product characteristics across the various production lines, not all employees could meet the requirements. Therefore, the workshop selected highly skilled and physically fit personnel to form the “Enhanced Shift,” while also identifying safety, quality, and equipment risk points on each line and developing corresponding mitigation measures. After providing short-term training to these assigned workers in unfamiliar roles, the machining workshop first implemented the scheme on two production lines in January and expanded it to all three lines in February, achieving excellent results. Despite having fewer than 20 working days in January and February, output levels matched those of typical months. The implementation of the “Enhanced Shift” ensured timely product delivery during peak market demand, significantly boosted employee incomes, and eliminated the pressure of workforce surplus during off-peak periods. Throughout the implementation process, we continuously summarized our experiences and applied FMEA principles to identify and control potential risks, enabling ongoing optimization of the scheme to achieve optimal operational performance.