Trains speeding on snowy plateaus, tunnels crisscrossing through towering mountains, bridges flying over rivers, lakes, and seas... Over the past decade, countless major construction projects have amazed people. These projects embody the unremitting efforts of independent innovation in China's construction industry. Major technological breakthroughs and breakthroughs in important equipment have propelled China Railway Group forward vigorously in this innovative team.
As a pioneer in China's construction industry, China Railway Group Limited has continuously deepened its scientific and technological innovation system and mechanism, vigorously carried out scientific and technological breakthroughs, and obtained a large number of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights, ensuring the smooth implementation of national key engineering projects and the leapfrog improvement of construction technology.
As of now, China Railway Group has won 91 National Science and Technology Progress Awards, 1252 Provincial and Ministerial Science and Technology Progress Awards, and 1977 authorized patents, becoming a leading enterprise in the construction industry. China Railway Group has been listed in the Fortune Global 500 for seven consecutive years, becoming the second largest engineering contractor in the world.
Build a platform and improve the innovation system
In the process of establishing technology research and development platforms of different levels and types, China Railway Group has formed a unique "two-level and four layer" technology innovation system
After years of exploration, China Railway Group has gradually established a "two-level, four layer" technological innovation system with enterprises as the main body, market-oriented, project-based, national level laboratories as the support, technology centers as the platform, and professional research and development centers as the backbone, jointly conducting research and development, and opening up scientific research, creating favorable conditions for technological innovation.
In this system, China Railway successfully applied for the National Engineering Laboratory of High speed Railway Construction Technology and the State Key Laboratory of Shield and Tunneling Technology, undertook major national science and technology projects, led the development of industry technology, and built an advanced research and development platform for enterprise scientific and technological innovation; Establishing six professional research and development centers for bridges, tunnels, electrification, tracks, engineering machinery, engineering materials, and testing technology, responsible for the research and centralized management of six core professional technologies. The centers have concentrated over 80% of the company's invention patents and utility model patents, as well as over 70% of its technology awards and construction methods, forming a comprehensive professional research and development platform; Having 6 nationally recognized enterprise technology centers and 19 provincial-level recognized enterprise technology centers, undertaking over 95% of the company's scientific research projects, it is a fundamental technology development platform for enterprises. The establishment of these platforms has laid a solid foundation for independent innovation of enterprises.
In the process of promoting technological innovation in enterprises, China Railway Group has actively explored and practiced a long-term mechanism for technological innovation with company characteristics, and has initially established a long-term mechanism for technological innovation that is conducive to the company's good and rapid development, ensuring the continuous development of enterprise technological innovation work. In terms of system, China Railway Group has formulated a series of institutional measures such as the Management Measures for Science and Technology Development, the Management Measures for the Use of Scientific Research Funds, the Reward Measures for Scientific and Technological Progress, the Management Measures for Construction Methods, and the Patent Management Measures to ensure the implementation of technological innovation. In terms of planning, China Railway Group insists on formulating an enterprise technology development plan every 5 years, clarifying strategic positioning, determining research and development goals, development directions, and key tasks; Develop an annual science and technology development plan to guide member enterprises in carrying out key technological breakthroughs. In terms of funding guarantee, China Railway Group sets aside a certain proportion of the previous year's total operating revenue as special funds for enterprise technology research and development, which are used for the company's scientific research projects. In 2011, China Railway Group's technology investment reached 9.7 billion yuan. In addition, China Railway Group has incorporated technological innovation into the performance evaluation of enterprise leaders, directly linking the evaluation results to the salaries of the leadership teams of each subsidiary, promoting the development of technological innovation in enterprises.
Seeking breakthroughs around key technologies
National awards for scientific and technological progress witness the continuous breakthroughs in key technologies of enterprises, and their core competitiveness has significantly improved in these breakthrough processes
China Railway Group attaches great importance to the innovation and breakthrough of key technologies in innovation. By continuously conquering key technologies in project construction, it improves the ability of enterprises to solve problems and construction level, and enhances the reputation and competitiveness of enterprises. In the process of participating in the construction of high-speed railways and passenger dedicated lines, China Railway Group continuously organizes scientific and technological breakthroughs to address the technical difficulties that arise in the projects. Through the introduction, digestion, absorption, and innovation, major breakthroughs are constantly achieved.
Combining with the first ballastless track railway in China - the Suiyu ballastless track test section, China Railway Group has developed various types of ballastless track structures, solved key technical problems such as foundation settlement control and line stiffness uniformity, created a world record for laying ballastless tracks on large-span bridges, and formed a complete set of ballastless track technologies with independent intellectual property rights, laying a solid foundation for the development of high-speed railways in China. The research and application of key technologies for ballastless track on Suiyu Line won the first prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award in 2010. Combining with high-speed railways such as Beijing Tianjin and Wuhan Guangzhou, China Railway Group has successively overcome key technical difficulties in the production, transportation, and installation of large tonnage box girders, as well as the design and manufacturing of ballastless tracks. It has independently developed key equipment such as large tonnage bridge erecting machines and CA mortar mixing trucks with international advanced levels, comprehensively and systematically mastered the construction technology of high-speed railways, and successfully built high-speed railways such as the Beijing Tianjin and Shanghai Nanjing intercity railways with a speed of 350 kilometers per hour. The successful completion of the Beijing Shanghai high-speed railway, with independent innovation technology as its core, marks that China Railway Group has the strength to lead the world's high-speed railway construction, and also lays a solid technical foundation for the company to implement the "going global" strategy.
Through key technological breakthroughs, China Railway Group has achieved a large number of core technologies with independent intellectual property rights in high-speed railways, large-span bridges, energy conservation and emission reduction, significantly enhancing the core competitiveness of the enterprise and supporting its development. When overcoming project difficulties, China Railway Group insisted on independent innovation and significantly improved equipment manufacturing technology. New breakthroughs have been made in manufacturing technologies such as high-speed railway turnouts, specialized equipment for extra large bridge construction, and specialized equipment for tunnel construction. In terms of high-speed turnout manufacturing technology, we have successfully developed a series of high-speed turnouts, speed-up turnouts, and GLC (Federation of Trade Unions) series turnouts. We have also developed a high manganese steel and steel rail welding intermediate medium with independent intellectual property rights, filling multiple gaps in China; In terms of bridge construction equipment manufacturing technology, we have successively developed the "Tianyi" crane ship with a lifting capacity of 3000 tons, which is at the world's leading level, the offshore pile driving ship that can accommodate piles up to 95 meters long, the specialized equipment for large-scale steel truss girder erection with a lifting capacity of 700 tons, and the climbing gantry crane for large-span steel truss arch erection. The improvement in equipment manufacturing technology has greatly enhanced China Railway's international competitiveness.
Responsible Editor: Alley
China Railway Group: Leading the way in independent innovation of engineering construction
Integrating resources to promote the transformation of achievements
Adhering to the role of the enterprise as the innovation subject, and working together to tackle challenges, while accelerating the transformation of new technologies, the enterprise has gained a continuous source of development momentum
In the process of independent innovation for many years, China Railway Group has always insisted that enterprises are the main body of scientific and technological innovation, adhering to the joint development model of "industry, academia, research, and application", and strengthening cooperation with universities, research institutes, and world-renowned enterprises in accordance with the principles of "strong alliance, complementary advantages, and shared interests", widely absorbing social scientific and technological resources.
In recent years, China Railway Group has leveraged its "four in one" resource advantages and collaborated with some research institutes and enterprises to carry out technical cooperation around high-speed railway construction, focusing on theoretical foundations, design standards, construction verification, and complete equipment development. It has successively overcome key technical challenges in the construction of high-speed railways such as settlement and deformation control in collapsible loess and soft soil areas, large tonnage box girder fabrication and transportation, complex bridge construction across large rivers, and high-speed train reconnection operation contact networks. While ensuring the smooth progress of high-speed railway construction such as Beijing Shanghai, it has effectively improved the enterprise's independent innovation capabilities.
China Railway Group's independently developed products and related control technologies, such as earth pressure balance shield machines, hard rock shield machines, hard rock tunneling machines, and specialized equipment for tunnel construction, have been successfully applied in high-speed railway, subway, municipal, water conservancy, nuclear power, and mountain tunnel projects in China. Over 50 sets of various types of TBMs and shield machines have been produced and manufactured; We have independently developed a complete set of equipment for manufacturing, transporting, and erecting large tonnage box girders, with nearly 100 units sold, achieving an output value of over 1 billion yuan and profits and taxes exceeding 100 million yuan; Movable point rail single turnout and high-speed turnout, accounting for over 70% of the turnout market share in China, and exported to multiple countries and regions on various continents; The series of products, including high-strength and high conductivity contact wire for high-speed railways, new alloy contact wire power supply tools, and gas insulated large capacity switchgear, have reached the international advanced level in terms of reliability and safety, realizing the localization of similar products and breaking the monopoly of foreign products. The transformation of these achievements is beneficial for enterprises to adjust their structure and promote transformation, providing the driving force for their development.
Innovation knows no bounds. Under new development conditions, China Railway Group will continue to improve its innovation system, further increase investment in science and technology, enhance its core competitiveness, accelerate the transformation of its development mode, and make greater contributions to China's economic and social development.
Without progress in transformation and innovation, one will fall behind
The construction industry is usually considered a labor-intensive enterprise that deals with cement and sand all day long, with low technological content.
China Railway Group has provided a different answer. They adhere to the "industry university research application" model by building systems and platforms, continuously increasing research investment, enhancing their own technological strength, achieving breakthroughs in key projects and technologies, and becoming influential construction enterprises nationwide and even globally. The experience of China Railway Group shows that in the current economic environment, construction enterprises need more independent innovation, transformation and upgrading to occupy a favorable position in market competition.
Firstly, with the progress of the times, the construction industry has undergone significant changes. The scale of the project is getting larger and the technical difficulty is increasing. All of these require construction companies to have more advanced technology, materials, and equipment. Many engineering technologies are not available in previous projects and cannot be purchased externally. Therefore, enterprises must overcome difficulties in engineering construction through independent innovation in order to complete project construction in a qualified manner, otherwise they will be eliminated by the market.
Secondly, in the current trend of globalization, foreign companies are optimistic about the vast domestic market, while domestic companies also need to "go out" to find a bigger stage, and competition is becoming increasingly fierce. In the construction industry, foreign companies have developed for many years and have a very strong scale. Domestic companies must form core competitiveness through independent innovation in order to compete with foreign companies on the same stage. Taking construction equipment manufacturing as an example, in the past, this type of equipment was basically monopolized by foreign countries, and domestic enterprises were restricted in product purchasing and engineering bidding. With the rapid expansion of engineering scale and increasingly complex technical requirements, the development of equipment manufacturing has become crucial. China Railway Group focuses on achieving breakthroughs in equipment manufacturing in technological innovation, breaking foreign monopolies and not only exporting equipment, but also gaining advantages in foreign engineering bidding.
Thirdly, the current sluggish international economic situation forces enterprises to continuously innovate, transform and upgrade. Construction enterprises play a significant role in the national economy, providing more employment opportunities and having a significant impact on stabilizing growth. Construction enterprises should seize the opportunity to achieve structural adjustment, enhance competitiveness through technological innovation, achieve stable development, and contribute to ensuring stable growth of the national economy.
Responsible Editor: Alley