In recent years, the transmission shaft company has been focusing its efforts on research in the “four new” areas—new structures, new processes, new materials, and new technologies—around its corporate vision of “growing into a specialized automotive components company with core competitiveness and core values.” This focus has enabled the company to continuously enhance its core competitiveness and value. R&D personnel closely monitor cutting-edge industry knowledge and technological advancements, diligently studying and practicing with great perseverance and deep expertise. Throughout project development, they overcome numerous challenges, leveraging advanced technologies to lead the market and earning customer trust through superior product quality, thereby fully embodying the new-era characteristics of the model worker spirit.

01

As a joint venture between a well-known Japanese automaker and a major domestic automotive group, R-brand vehicles currently rank third in China’s pickup truck segment. Due to frequent after-sales failures with their original supplier, Company X, customers urgently need to find another reliable partner within China. Seizing this opportunity, the driveshaft company passed the customer system access audit in December 2020 and obtained a global supplier code. In January 2021, the company began developing its first pickup truck project. The project’s design and validation standards fully adopted Japanese technical requirements, placing high demands on the production process. Strict controls were implemented on part tolerances and mating accuracy. The company’s R&D team employed a brand-new fourth-generation large-pickup truck structural design, which deviated from traditional designs, eliminating one component and reducing weight by approximately 5%. This innovation completely resolved the issues of abnormal noises during start-up and reverse driving that had been caused by the conventional structure. Early in the project, vibration problems emerged. The R&D team responded proactively, conducting multiple analyses, optimizations, and improvements on key components, followed by rigorous vehicle-mounted verification. Ultimately, they identified critical control parameters and successfully solved the issue. After nearly half a year of road testing, one model under this project has now successfully entered mass production, and development of other configured models is actively underway. The company anticipates an annual sales increase of approximately 30 million yuan.

02

The J-brand pickup truck currently ranks second in market share within China. As a benchmark for light commercial vehicles in China, its light commercial vehicle segment holds the No. 1 market share in the industry, and its vehicle development process adheres to extremely stringent standards. In particular, the P-pickup project has exceptionally high requirements for strength, NVH performance, and waterproofing. Achieving towing capability under full-load conditions, as well as passing an 800mm wading test—both of which are unprecedented among domestic pickup trucks—pose enormous development challenges. As the designated development partner for this project, the Transmission Shaft Company optimized components to meet customer performance demands, replacing larger-sized parts with smaller ones. Over a period of six months, the company continuously enhanced the strength and sealing performance of key components. Ultimately, thanks to its dual advantages in weight reduction and cost savings, the company secured this project. Currently, the first batch of prototypes has been completed and is undergoing full-vehicle road testing.

03

Meanwhile, the company has also secured the supply contract for another high-end light commercial vehicle model, L, under the J brand. Due to its structural design, the transmission shaft is relatively heavy and places exceptionally high demands on NVH performance, making development extremely challenging. The project took three years from initial research and development through to completion. Through extensive CAE analysis and bench testing, the technical team achieved a significant breakthrough, successfully enhancing the vehicle’s overall NVH performance. They increased the component’s static torsional stiffness from 3,500 N·m to 4,000 N·m, fully meeting customer standards and securing the designated development contract for Project L. This breakthrough has broken the industry leader N Company’s monopoly on exclusive supply.

Based on the new stage of development, implementing the new development philosophy, and establishing a new development pattern to promote high-quality development place even higher demands on the quality of the workforce. We encourage hardworking and honest labor, and we also advocate creative labor. The R&D team at the Transmission Shaft Company will continue to embody the spirit of model workers—remaining down-to-earth, pioneering, and innovative—and strive to build a large contingent of workers who are knowledgeable, skilled, and innovative, thereby further enhancing the company’s core competitiveness and value.