Among the world's top 500 companies, although there are not many large German companies, there are at least 1000 invisible champions in market segments that are German companies. In addition, the most noteworthy thing is that "Made in Germany" has numerous century-old stores, adhering to a consistent tradition, from excellence to excellence, and has become a model of lasting success. For example, the Shuangliren Company, established in 1731, initially launched the "Shuangliren Brand" of kitchen utensils and knives, as well as various Western food tableware, and later gradually extended to stainless steel desktop products, military knives, and nail enhancement products, becoming an industry leader and pioneer in manufacturing high-quality stainless steel products.

Let's understand the "craftsmanship spirit" behind German manufacturing.

Uncover Secret 1: In the face of the booming Chinese internet thinking, why don't German companies stir up?

Take Porsche as an example. Three founding philosophies:

The first is quality spirit. It only takes 9 hours to assemble a car here, 5 days for subsequent testing and adjustment, and several months to leave the factory. Porsche orders can take up to 3 months, and some highly configured vehicles even require a year's advance booking. Despite strong demand, the company is not in a hurry to expand. Porsche has a total of 7500 assembly workers and 6500 R&D and service personnel, which shows the importance of R&D and service in the company.

To ensure quality, Porsche is hand assembled except for glass and engine. The windshield is too heavy, the robot operates more accurately and rigorously, and the engine screws are tedious and laborious, which are also handled by a robot operator. Other processes are all manual assembly. The advantages of Industry 4.0 lie in order processing and production automation. In the Porsche factory, workers are responsible for assembly, robots are responsible for handling, and the entire site is controlled and contacted through WIFI in an orderly manner. Good workers are always more accurate and flexible than robots. This is the difference between a product and a work of art.

Second, not blindly expanding. Porsche maintains a continuous production rhythm: there has never been a so-called off-season, even during the financial crisis. The introduction explained that Porsche's demand will not be affected by the financial crisis because this group does not need money.

Due to factory constraints and being located in the urban area, Porsche can only produce 200 vehicles per day, with an annual output of no more than 60000 vehicles, with an output value of only 230 billion yuan, which cannot be compared to the output value of other automotive giants, which often exceeds 100 billion yuan. The reluctance to expand quickly and work overtime is not so much a characteristic of German family businesses as a common characteristic of German companies.

The third is the lean spirit. Although Porsche also has some production plants in other German cities, the most technologically advanced engines, as well as the assembly of the entire vehicle, are all completed in factories in Stuttgart. Among them, the skill of old skilled workers is the core competitiveness.

The reason why German manufacturing can become a quality symbol is that, in addition to the strong hands-on ability and the emphasis on lean spirit of the Germans, technical education is the key. In Germany, two-way education is implemented, and students begin to split up in junior high schools, most of them going to vocational and technical schools. In Germany, skilled workers are in demand. Due to this shortage, skilled workers have to be imported from southern Europe. Senior blue collar workers also earn higher salaries than ordinary white collar workers, and business leaders are often promoted from among blue collar workers.

The core competitiveness of German companies such as Porsche is the mentoring system of mentoring and mentoring, in which the skills are inherited; The long-term stability of family businesses has enabled the inheritance of corporate philosophy and culture. It is the iron triangle formed by the craftsman spirit, family heritage, and modern technology that has made German manufacturing invincible, yet it has never wavered due to the influence of the Internet.

The so-called internet thinking is nothing but a means, with the ultimate goal of enabling products to be marketed globally and the enterprise's foundation to be evergreen.

Uncover Secret 2: Why aren't German companies keen to go public?

Thomas Einsfelder, head of international affairs at Berlin Partner, a German consulting firm, gave the answer: "Because the German stock market is underdeveloped."

Einsfelder explained that 98% of German SMEs are small and medium-sized enterprises. Due to the underdevelopment of the German stock market (there are only 800 listed companies in Germany), it is difficult for them to go public immediately after completing the company and withdraw with money, so they have to make longer-term development plans. Many of these medium-sized enterprises are family owned. They are relatively "one minded" and believe in the business philosophy passed down from generation to generation - "survival" is more important than anything else. Therefore, they do not pursue pure profits, are not good at capital operation, and have never thought of going public. This has further exacerbated the underdevelopment of the German stock market. "However, due to the underdevelopment of the capital market, many German enterprises, especially family owned enterprises, will honestly achieve the best in their products and management, making the German real economy particularly strong."

Currently, the biggest impact on Chinese enterprises can be divided into the American model and the Japanese German model. The American model is mainly based on the chain model and the Internet model, with the goal of quickly expanding and listing, and capturing more market share as soon as possible. The means are price wars, marketing wars, and capital operations. In contrast, the Japanese-German model is highly related to its family business and national identity. It is characterized by responsibility, persistence, technological control, and perfectionism, which are different from the high-speed expansion model and listing model of the United States. Therefore, there are few super Internet companies born in Japan and Germany.

The American model has a significant impact on Chinese companies. The concentrated expression is "only listing theory", resulting in hidden worries that are becoming a problem. It seems that once the company goes public, its problems will be solved. Compared to the current impetuous trend of listing, the step-by-step approach of Japanese and German family enterprises is more meaningful for reference.

Why aren't German companies keen to go public? Because 92% of German enterprises are family owned, some are industry leaders, some are "invisible champions", such as Bayer, Henkel, Merck, which are well known in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. A common feature of family owned enterprises is "nostalgia".

Is it important to go public, or is it important to build the company into a community of shared destiny? Can money sustain a community of shared destiny for a long time? The phenomenon of money gathering and people dispersing is not uncommon in Chinese enterprises.

Uncover Secret 3: Why Can Made in Germany Sell Globally?

The German version of Industry 4.0 is based on its lean manufacturing. In other words, "+Internet" is made in Germany, not "Internet plus". Industry 4.0 first requires that your 2.0 and 3.0 have a solid industrial foundation, a solid enterprise system, and a solid skilled workforce.

"Made in Germany" has become a synonym for quality and reputation, and its process is most worthy of being used as a synonym for cheap "Made in China". "Until the beginning of the last century," Made in Germany "was still known as copying other countries. Today, Germany's machinery, chemicals, electrical appliances, optics, and even kitchen utensils and sporting goods have become the world's most high-quality products. In this counterattack process, the spirit of quality and craftsmanship is indispensable, and the inheritance of family businesses is indispensable.".

The crazy stock market ultimately needs a solid industry to support it. If the share price of "demon stock" rises again, it must also return to the fundamentals of enterprise competitiveness. The structural transformation and upgrading of China's economy require fundamental changes, which are the intellectualization and lean manufacturing of China. Among them, qualitarianism and craftsmanship are the essence that need to be maintained.

Uncover Secrets 4: Germany's Enlightenment to Chinese Family Enterprises?

Germany is dominated by family businesses, but only 10% of family businesses can reach the fourth generation. It seems that the law of "being rich for no more than three generations" also holds in Germany. However, the accumulation of 10% of successfully inherited enterprises is also considerable.

German family businesses also emphasize the importance of inheriting family traditions. Each well-known family business has its own museum. Sincere employees are another important element of a company's "long term success.". Enterprise competitiveness comes from creating value for customers. Who creates value? Is an employee. You may as well treat employees as internal customers and take good care of them.

For young Chinese family businesses, the problem is that there are too few successors or the second generation is unwilling to take over. Due to the lack of a professional manager system, Chinese family businesses have only passed on to the next generation. However, the premise is that the enterprise must first manage its own family, which is the foundation of all businesses. As long as this "family tree" is still in existence and the career is not in the second generation, it may be possible to have the "Son of God" in the third and fourth generations. Of course, the first thing to do is to ensure the security of wealth, otherwise everything will be impossible.

"The spirit of craftsmanship" is low-key, endures loneliness, does not seek favor from the public, looks on coldly, and is loyal to the heart.. The core of the so-called "craftsman spirit" is not only to regard work as a tool for making money, but also to establish a spirit of dedication to work, excellence in what we do and the products we produce. In many Japanese enterprises, the "craftsmanship spirit" has formed a common cultural and ideological value between enterprise leaders and employees, and thus fostered the endogenous power of the enterprise.

In this era of rampant "merchant spirit". Both individuals and businesses face enormous survival challenges. For example, some enterprises that focus on counterfeit products can survive when the external environment is good, but once the external environment becomes harsh, it is easy for the enterprise to immediately close down.

The core factor of an enterprise is people, and the way out of this dilemma is to cultivate the "craftsman spirit" of the enterprise. Craftsmen constantly carve their products and improve their craftsmanship. They are enjoying the process of sublimation of products in their hands. Other companies are keen on "circling money - killing a product - creating a new product - circling money". "Enterprises that create the" craftsman spirit "are on the other hand meeting their spiritual needs, watching their products continuously improve and improve, and ultimately exist in a form that meets their strict requirements.".

A craftsman gains money by working, but a craftsman does not work for it. The work a person does is a manifestation of others' attitudes, and a lifelong career is a manifestation of their aspirations and ideals.