Amazing! The privately-owned enterprise (Nantong Liwei) has filled an international gap and embarked on a path to success!

    Huawei's 5G battle has attracted worldwide attention, and this war without gunpowder has made people realize the importance of product technology standard competition.

     Recently, in another field equally crucial to communications—marine engineering—our company (Nantong Liwei Machinery Co., Ltd.)'s formulated international standard, "Ships and Ocean Technology—Anchor Chain Wheels for Seagoing Vessels," has been approved and published by the ISO International Technical Committee in Sweden.

  The anchor chain wheel is a core component of the offshore mooring system. This breakthrough by our company is an important step for China in the field of marine engineering, and it is of great significance to the implementation of national strategies such as Made in China 2025 and the Maritime Silk Road. At the same time, this also marks the Nantong privately-owned enterprise's leading compilation and approval of an international standard, achieving a breakthrough from zero.

1000 days and nights, more than 100 tests

Just to verify a tooth shape

As the saying goes, "Steel is forged through repeated tempering." This perfectly describes the process of producing Liwei Machinery's international standard, "Ships and Ocean Technology—Anchor Chain Wheels for Seagoing Vessels."

The design and manufacturing of anchor chain wheels, at first glance, seems to involve almost no technology, but it is the first step that needs to be overcome in offshore operations, especially deep-sea operations. In the words of our company's chief engineer, Ge Yangyuan, it's like a person; if you can't even stand steadily, how can you talk about doing work?

Currently, with the accelerated implementation of national strategies such as Made in China 2025 and the Belt and Road Initiative, China's expansion from shallow seas to deep seas is accelerating, and the mooring positioning technology for offshore operation platforms and marine engineering vessels that meet the requirements of deep-water operations has become a bottleneck that must be overcome. In 2015, Liwei Machinery accepted a critical mission, undertaking a national marine semi-submersible platform supporting project. The selection of anchor chain wheel materials, strength determination, and anchor shape optimization were all urgent tasks to be completed.

  However, at that time, the design of marine anchor chain wheels at home and abroad was based on the standards for inland river anchor chain wheels, and there were huge hidden dangers in terms of universality, safety, and durability. What lay before the Liwei people was almost an entirely new field," For just one tooth shape, we designed eight test samples, the largest with a diameter of 156 centimeters and the smallest with a diameter of 50 centimeters. Over three years, a total of more than 100 factory tests were conducted. Ge Yangyuan said.

13 trips to the South China Sea, 600,000 words of data

Just to practice a truth
 

"True standards are never on paper or on an office desk; they are in the factory workshop, in the hands of frontline workers." In 2008, these words from a leader of the China Standardization Association have been practiced by our company's general manager, Lou Xingjian, for 10 years. He said, "Since then, Liwei Machinery has had no technicians sitting in the office reading books; the entire factory is a laboratory. Today, I can proudly say that Liwei Machinery's best technical R&D personnel have all grown from frontline workers." It is worth mentioning that in the same year, our company established a specialized standardization committee and comprehensively promoted the construction of a standardization system.

       After undertaking the national marine semi-submersible platform supporting project, our company quickly formed a technical team led by Ge Yangyuan. "The marine environment is very complex. Any small factor, such as temperature, humidity, ocean currents, and salinity, can have a huge impact on the original design, and many times it even needs to be overturned and started again. This is a great test of a person's perseverance." Ge Yangyuan said that in technical R&D, especially standard revision, one must be able to sit on a "cold bench" and remain calm.

In February 2017, our company completed the standard "Ships and Ocean Technology—Anchor Chain Wheels for Seagoing Vessels" and received the approval of the Standardization Administration of China. This standard regulates the production of anchor chain wheels, ensuring the stability of the anchor machine operation and the reliability of mooring positioning. The SSCV150 marine semi-submersible oil drilling platform delivered to Yantai Raffles Offshore Engineering Co., Ltd. was the first to adopt this technical standard. To evaluate the application effect of the standard, our company 13 scientific research teams were sent to conduct on-site observations of offshore anchoring in the South China Sea, accumulating a total of 600,000 words of first-hand data, ultimately verifying the scientific nature of this standard.

　The approval and publication of the international standard "Ships and Ocean Technology—Anchor Chain Wheels for Seagoing Vessels" by the ISO International Technical Committee in Sweden is an important milestone in Liwei Machinery's development history, marking another important step forward in the company's standardization management path. In the field of marine engineering supporting equipment, our company it has become the first domestic unit to produce marine semi-submersible platform positioning systems and is the only domestic enterprise with independent brand product performance. This technology has also filled an international gap.
 

10 years of struggle, 3 cross-domain achievements

Just to achieve a dream
 

Currently, China's shipbuilding capacity ranks first in the world, but there is still a long way to go from being a shipbuilding power to a shipbuilding strong nation.

"This is a road of continuous pursuit and continuous surpassing." Lou Xingjian said that currently, the core technologies of shipbuilding and marine engineering are mainly held by countries such as the Netherlands, Norway, and Germany. We all know that Rolls-Royce is a high-end brand in the automotive field, but what we don't know is that Rolls-Royce is also the "big brother" in the marine engineering field." Over the past 10 years, from embarking on the path of standardization innovation, to being qualified to provide OEM services for Rolls-Royce, and now being able to formulate international standards and participate in international bidding, this dedication, this effort, and this pride cannot be expressed in a few words. Lou Xingjian said with emotion.

Years of sharpening the sword, a moment of brilliance. From formulating industry standards such as "Movable Marine Platform Mooring Positioning Device" to national standards such as "General Technical Conditions for Bridge Cranes," and now to the international standard "Ships and Ocean Technology—Anchor Chain Wheels for Seagoing Vessels," our company has completed a three-level jump in 10 years.

Zhang Ye, deputy director of the Municipal Market Supervision Bureau, said that standards are an integration of technology, a link between technology and the market, and a passport for participating in international and domestic competition. " The formulation of this standard means that China's anchor chain wheel industry has occupied the international commanding heights, Liwei Machinery has followed a path of technology patent, patent standardization, and quasi-internationalization over these years."

Before the interview ended, Lou Xingjian said, Liwei Machinery's second international standard, "Offshore Structures—Offshore Mobile Platforms—Anchor Windlasses," is also expected to be released this year. For so many years, we have been working towards one goal, that is, through continuous technological innovation, to complete more import substitution in the marine engineering field. This is an inescapable responsibility for Liwei as a national enterprise.