Recently, the Department of Economy and Information Technology, the Department of Construction, the Department of Water Resources, and the Office for Water Conservation of Zhejiang Province jointly released the list of water-saving enterprises in Zhejiang Province for 2021. Zhejiang Wanxiang Marelli Shock Absorber Co., Ltd. and Wanxiang Qianchao Driveshaft Co., Ltd. were included on the list. Last year, Wanxiang Qianchao Co., Ltd. and Zhejiang Wanxiang Systems Co., Ltd. were listed as water-saving enterprises in Zhejiang Province for 2020.

PART01

To implement the "Opinions of the State Council on Establishing the Strictest Water Resource Management System" and promote the construction of a resource-conserving society, the Zhejiang Provincial Commission of Economy and Information Technology, the Department of Construction, the Department of Water Resources, and the Office for Water Conservation have jointly issued the "Notice on Launching the Construction of Water-Saving Enterprises," outlining the deployment of water-saving enterprise development across the province. The notice calls for taking the Scientific Outlook on Development as guidance and following the water management principles of "prioritizing water conservation, ensuring spatial balance, adopting systematic governance, and leveraging both market and government forces." It emphasizes that enterprises should be the main actors, with improving water-use efficiency at the core, and urges the promotion of water-saving enterprise development in key water-intensive industries. By identifying a group of model water-saving enterprises, the notice aims to encourage businesses to strengthen water conservation management and technological innovation, accelerate the transformation of industrial water-use practices, and advance the "Five-Water Co-Governance" initiative.

Wanxiang Qianchao has consistently practiced thrift and actively responded to the calls of Party committees and governments at all levels, proactively implementing and promoting the construction of water-saving enterprises. It has strengthened basic management for water conservation, tightened quotas for water intake per unit of product in enterprises, improved the rate of industrial water reuse, metering accuracy of water meters, recovery rate of cooling water, comprehensive leakage rate of enterprise water use, and utilization of unconventional water resources. These efforts have driven enterprises to meet and exceed standards, reduce water consumption per unit of product, and enhance the efficiency of water resource utilization.

PART02

In terms of specific measures, all companies under Wanxiang Qianchao have consistently adhered to “green operations” as their guiding principle, managed all business activities in accordance with the principle of ecological sustainability, enhanced management through scientific, lean, and digital approaches, optimized energy consumption performance across the board, established and improved environmental management systems, implemented comprehensive process control over energy consumption, built green supply chains and ecological industrial chains, and earnestly assumed responsibility for environmental protection.

To this end, each company under Wanxiang Qianchao has introduced detailed energy management systems, closely linking various energy consumption and management indicators with the assessment of the enterprise’s economic responsibility system. They have set stringent annual reduction targets of at least 5% for evaluation purposes, thereby establishing a water-saving mechanism primarily driven by economic incentives. This approach fosters a habit of conserving water among everyone, at all times, and in every location, thus promoting energy savings across the company. To effectively manage water resources, each company has strengthened organizational leadership by setting up a three-tier management structure at the company, department, and team levels. The general manager, department heads, and team leaders serve as the leaders of this organizational network. Based on the actual conditions of their enterprises, they have formulated specific implementation plans for energy management. A sound system of leadership accountability has been established, with fixed quotas and responsibility agreements for water and energy conservation signed hierarchically between departments, workshops, and teams. Teams then further assign these targets to individual employees, ensuring full participation and vigorous implementation. Complementary, rigorous assessment guidelines have also been developed, incorporating measures such as "daily inspections, end-of-month assessments, and immediate rewards and penalties." As a result, strong leadership, clear objectives, appropriate measures, and tangible results have been achieved, establishing a long-term, efficient, and resource-conserving working mechanism.

PART03

In addition to strictly enforcing energy management systems, various companies have also adopted a range of measures to reduce costs and increase efficiency. For example, the Universal Joint Factory, in order to achieve the company’s energy-saving targets, conducts monthly statistical analysis and performance evaluations of electricity, water, and gas consumption per 10,000 yuan of output value across all manufacturing departments, implementing a comprehensive management system and carrying out a series of energy-saving upgrades. One such upgrade involves using a rainwater collection and treatment system to recycle rainwater for replenishing cooling water, saving approximately 10,000 cubic meters of tap water per day annually. The Transmission Shaft Company purifies both production wastewater and domestic sewage from each workshop and reuses the treated water for diluting chemicals at the wastewater treatment plant and flushing plate-and-frame filters. Marelli Shock Absorbers continuously improves its facilities to enhance the rate of water reuse and the utilization of non-conventional water resources. By converting cooling towers into closed-loop systems, the company has reduced its intake of tap water by 2,400 cubic meters per year; furthermore, by upgrading its paint-spraying workshop, it has cut its tap water consumption by 5,190 cubic meters per year. The Universal Systems Company consumes large amounts of purified water and generates significant volumes of wastewater (concentrated brine). To reduce its reliance on fresh water, the company now uses its discharged wastewater—whose water quality is relatively good—to meet daily hygiene needs such as ground cleaning and toilet flushing, thereby saving 5,544 cubic meters of tap water annually. In addition, all companies have stepped up water conservation education among employees through special meetings and posting slogans, thus strengthening everyone’s awareness of water conservation.

Water is the source of life—and it is also a finite resource. In their daily production and operations, all companies under Wanxiang Qianchao have consistently placed planned water use and water conservation at the forefront of their work, carrying out various initiatives to recycle water resources and improve water-use efficiency. Moving forward, each company will continue to prioritize resource conservation, promote and share water-saving experiences, and make positive contributions to advancing the green, sustainable, and high-quality development of their enterprises.