“Water is good at shaping; water is quiet and tolerant;

water is good at keeping promises; water is at peace while engaging in frenetic tasks;

water is good at using its abilities; water knows when to flow and when to freeze.”

Being like water has been the business philosophy of Weeson Tech for decades.

Chengdu Weeson Tech Co., Ltd, established in 1985, is the only domestic company that focuses on the R&D and production of sprinkler bulbs. The company, reconstructing from a state-owned enterprise in 2005, has been developing itself for years. Weeson Tech, following the philosophy of “being like water”, has grown steadily and becomes the leader of sprinkler bulb industry today.

As the author, I was attracted by the booth layout of Weeson Tech during the Tianjin Fire Safety Exhibition. The luminous colors and the crystal glass sprinkler model made me feel to be in an art exhibition hall. Under the explanation of Jian Chen, vice general manager of Weeson Tech, I have a deeper understanding of the sprinkler bulb industry and the development of the company.

 

Restructuring enterprise to join the torrent of market competition

The restructuring of state-owned enterprises is one of the most important themes of China's economic system reform in the past two decades. After restructuring, the enterprises have a complete modern enterprise system, and the government has transformed its functions. In 2005, Chengdu Glass Research Institute reformed into Chengdu Weeson Tech Co., Ltd.

Staffer: Hello Mr. Chen, could you please introduce yourself first?

Jian Chen: Hello, I am Jian Chen, the vice general manager of Chengdu Weeson Tech Co., Ltd., and I am mainly responsible for the marketing of products.

Staffer: How do you evaluate the current development of Weeson?

Jian Chen: Weeson Tech is one of world's two leading companies in sprinkler bulbs field, and the other is the JOB Gmbh in Germany. Weeson Tech has been focusing on the R&D and manufacture of sprinkler bulbs for decades. The main production equipment and testing equipment are based on independent researched and development. The production workshop area exceeds 10,000 m², and the annual production of sprinkler bulbs exceeds 120 million. I am optimistic about the current situation and the prospects of our company.

Staffer: Has your company been focusing only on sprinkler bulbs since its establishment?

Jian Chen: Our company was first established in 1975 and was restructured from Chengdu Glass Research Institute. The company also has other products related to glass, but in the fire industry, we have only specialized in R&D, production and manufacturing of sprinkler bulbs from 1975 to the present.

Staffer: CCC certification is currently an important certification for domestic enterprises, and we noticed that your company has obtained CCC certification in 2015. What impact do you think the certification has brought the company?

Jian Chen: Our sprinkler bulbs have obtained the 3C certification. This certification not only reflects the leading position of Weeson Tech in the sprinkler bulb industry, but also affirms the product quality and production capacity of Weeson Tech by the China Certification Center for Fire Products

 

Strictly control of raw materials to ensure the safety and stability of products

Staffer: Are our product mainly sold domestically or abroad? What are the company's sales plans in the future?

Jian Chen: Our products are mainly sold to the domestic market currently. However, our products have passed UL certification in 2010, and we are well-prepared to enter the overseas market now.

Staffer: How many manufacturers are currently producing sprinkler bulbs in China? What is the status quo of them?

Jian Chen: There are no more than 10 manufacturers in China, while only 4 to 5 of them have a certain scale. In fact, most of them are selling counterfeit products.

Staffer: What are the advantages of your company compared with other manufacturers?

Jian Chen: Firstly, our production and R&D technology is at the leading level in the industry. Secondly, we have a huge production scale and annual production capacity. Thirdly, we strictly control the raw materials of our products. Since the sprinkler bulbs are related to human’s safety, their quality must be guaranteed. Therefore, our raw materials of glass are all imported from SCHOTT, which can provide glasses with the best quality, to ensure our sprinkler bulbs are reliable. Thus, you can see that our selection of raw materials is different from other companies.

Staffer: What are the differences between domestic and foreign glass raw materials?

Jian Chen: As we mentioned before, the quality of sprinkler bulbs shall be guaranteed. Factors that can affect the product quality include the roundness and thickness of the glass tubes. If the thickness of glass tubes is inconsistent, the sprinkler bulbs made from those glass tubes will be “asymmetrical”, meaning that the axial load applied to the bulbs will be unevenly distributed. Such “asymmetrical” sprinkler bulbs are more fragile, and may operate at an inappropriate timing.

We choose SCHOTT because the roundness and thickness of the glass tubes produced by SCHOTT can be guaranteed, and therefore ensures the stability, reliability and safety of our products.

Staffer: Could you briefly introduce what the best-selling products of your company are?

Jian Chen: The best sales of Chengdu Weeson are sprinkler bulbs and CO₂ series laser tubes, of which the market share is more than 50% respectively. The CO₂ laser tubes are widely used, including printing, cutting, engraving, model making, The products are welcome among our customers due to its mature technology, and its high cost-performance ratio. Sprinkler bulbs’ sales are also considerable because of their own advantages.

 

Focusing on research and innovation makes us be the best in the industry

Staffer: Your company has more than 50 patented technologies and 40 years of professional R&D and manufacture experience, indicating that the company attaches great importance to technology research. What’s your company's strategy for recruiting talents?

Jian Chen: We pay more attention to experienced talents. We have a long-term career plan for our employees. Currently the R&D mainly relies on industry technology experts.

Staffer: What’s the proportion of the current R&D personnel in company?

Jian Chen: Weeson Tech is a production-intensive company, and the proportion of R&D personnel is around 15%, which is a relatively high comparing to companies in the same industry.

Staffer: Could you talk more about the company's R&D strength?

Jian Chen: Firstly, the company has an annual production capacity of 100,000 CO₂ laser tubes and 120 million sprinkler bulbs. The market share of our core products has been ranked at the top in the domestic market for many years. Secondly, the core production equipment and testing equipment are based on independent research and development. The advanced technology of Weeson Tech, with more than 50 national patents, has greatly increased production efficiency and reduced production costs. The company has 2 standardized producing workshops and 1 machining workshop, covering a total area of 10,800 m² and an experimental site of 800 m². The laboratory is also equipped with advanced R&D instruments:

The equipment used for the detection and analysis of CO₂ laser tube parameters, such as high voltage power supplies, infrared spectrometers, laser beam quality analyzers, UV - laser beam profilers, laser power detectors, laser parameter detection stations and other equipment; The equipment used for the detection and analysis of sprinkler bulbs, such as computer-controlled colorimeters, computer-controlled pressure instruments, thermostatic ovens, laser thickness detector of glass tubes, sensitivity test ovens, and the non-destructive testing equipment.

Staffer: What do you think of the future development of the fire sprinkler bulbs? What are the challenges?

Jian Chen: I think sprinkler bulbs cannot be replaced by other products for several reasons. The buildings where sprinkler bulbs are applied to usually have a lifetime of over 50 years. Sprinkler bulbs can withstand such a long period due to the corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance of their materials. Thus, we are confident to say that, sprinkler bulbs will always exist in the fire industry.