"Behind the Speed and Passion: The Story of Sailun, the World's Youngest Tire Giant"
2002 was the year when Sailun Group was founded. At that time, no one could have imagined that this private tire company located in Shandong Peninsula would enter the world's first echelon in just over 20 years, and compete with foreign-funded companies with a century-old history in the world's top ten.
How did Sailun do it?
Judging the situation and coming into being
Around 2000, China joined the WTO, and "Made in China" rose rapidly around the world. In Shandong, a group of tire companies are taking advantage of their years of deep experience in the rubber tire industry to take advantage of the east wind. Among them is Sailun.
However, at the beginning of its establishment, no one could have expected that this emerging company would become the industry leader. After all, there were too many tire companies established at that time. The most abundant thing in Shandong, where the advantages of rubber distribution centers, port transportation, talent accumulation, and manufacturing experience are gathered together, is tire companies. Many people thought that Sailun was no different from other companies at that time. This makes many people ignore the characteristics that Sailun has shown since its inception - assessing the situation and innovating technology. The group of people gathered in front of the Sailun Phase I project are somewhat different.
This group of rubber people with "lofty ambitions" keenly noticed the increase in market demand for radial tires and the reality that domestic manufacturing processes and technologies are constrained by foreign capital - starting from trends and needs, they will give full play to their own accumulated radial tire research and development technology advantages, truly manufacture good Chinese tires, and help China's rubber industry stand at a new height in the world. On December 18, 2003, Sailun's all-steel radial tire rolled off the assembly line, and the Sailun giant ship was officially launched!
From tire manufacturing to the light of domestic products
The tires rolled off the assembly line, the tires were exported, and Sailun expanded its production capacity and sales step by step, but this was not the entire original intention when Sailun was founded. Sailun, which has never forgotten its original intention of "helping China's rubber industry reach new heights in the world", knows that if tire companies only manufacture highly homogeneous products through cost dividends, they will not have lasting competitiveness - indulging in price wars in the low-end market will only lead to tragedy.
To achieve inheritance like an influential tire giant, the core is competitive technology and controllable full industrial chain processes. In 2009, the National Rubber and Tire Engineering Technology Research Center (National Rubber Center) was officially established, and a closed loop of the entire industrial chain from upstream chemical raw materials, natural rubber, synthetic rubber, intelligent equipment and software to downstream tire production, global sales of tires, and recycling of waste rubber was born. Sailun has also become the scientific research demonstration base of the National Rubber Center. Sailun has also officially embarked on the journey from product manufacturing to technology research and development. With the strong support of the synergistic advantages of the industrial chain, Sailun began to tap more industrial resources, develop the most cutting-edge manufacturing technology, and break through the global mid-to-high-end market through scientific research.
It was also from this moment that Sailun's development pressed the "fast forward button". Although it is called the "fast forward button", in fact, Sailun's scientific research breakthrough is like all "high-cost, high-risk, long-return cycle scientific research projects", which is a long "journey out of the cocoon" that requires a lot of experiments and countless failures. At least for Sailun's current star product, the liquid gold tire, its birth has gone through an extremely long time.
Liquid gold, stronger R&D strength
In 2011, the European Union promulgated the "Tire Labeling Regulation", requiring the grade labeling of various performance of tires. This also means that if there is no breakthrough in product performance, what awaits Chinese tires is mass elimination. From another perspective, if the performance reaches the highest level, this will also become an opportunity for Chinese tires to break into the global high-end market. Sailun has increased its investment in R&D, leveraging the National Rubber Center, and the Yiweiyi Rubber Research Institute was established. After numerous failures from 0 to 1, "chemical rubber refining", a technology that subverts the industry, finally emerged. In January 2013, the patent for continuous liquid phase mixing was officially applied for; in September 2014, this technology entered the engineering and industrialization work; in March 2015, the patent for continuous liquid phase mixing had its first authorization.
In March 2016, EVEC rubber prepared using "chemical rubber refining" technology was also praised as "Liquid Gold" for its subversive performance. The new material that triggered a huge technological revolution in the tire industry ushered in its "first year". Since then, EVEC rubber has been gradually applied to Sailun truck tires, passenger car tires and special tires. The liquid gold tire prepared using the world's first chemical rubber refining technology is a milestone technological innovation that breaks the "devil's triangle" problem in the history of tires - while reducing the rolling resistance of the tire, it improves the anti-slip performance and wear resistance. Its safer, energy-saving, comfortable and longer service life also brings more tire sales to Sailun.
Sailun Liquid Gold Tire has truly moved from the laboratory to the market. It is reported that in the more than three years since its launch, the sales of Sailun Liquid Gold Tire has accounted for about 10% of its total sales. Like Sailun's special tires, Liquid Gold Tire has not only brought Sailun more sales breakthroughs, but also brought continuous growth in brand power through technological upgrades and innovations. With the support of special tires and star products such as Liquid Gold, which is "unique and first and only", Sailun has achieved a surge in market share in various "tracks" in the global tire market - in 2024, Sailun will be among the top ten tire companies in the world, and its brand value will exceed 100 billion yuan. Of course, "gold" can shine on the tire track, which is inseparable from the trust and support of channels.
Channel sinking, broadening global layout
Sailun's sales have been rising year by year, and the continuous increase in the market share of Liquid Gold Tire is inseparable from the support of the channel network. And this support comes from the trust of channel dealers in Sailun's products, brands and channel services. From innovating channel models and launching the "production and sales integration" strategy; to opening up the "last mile" of the industrial chain with dealers and retailers - Sailun has been committed to creating value and sharing value with channel dealers. On June 11, 2020, Sailun launched the world's first rubber industrial Internet platform, "Rubber Chain Cloud", which for the first time upgraded the scope of intelligent manufacturing to the full value chain optimization closed loop, completed the global optimal resource allocation of the industrial chain, and empowered the entire industrial chain of the rubber tire industry.
As of 2023, "Rubber Chain Cloud" has now connected more than 3,200 suppliers, more than 2,000 dealers and nearly 60,000 stores, and connected OEMs and fleets, etc., which can effectively promote the aggregation and integration of upstream and downstream enterprises in the rubber tire industry chain and help the digital transformation of the rubber tire industry chain. Among them, the professional and accurate forecast of tire production and transportation by the "Rubber Chain Cloud" platform effectively helps dealers and retailers to book and sell products. Under the construction of a new channel ecology, Sailun's global sales and market share continue to rise.
In fact, the power of the "Rubber Chain Cloud" platform is far more than just helping sales. The biggest advantage of the "Rubber Chain Cloud" platform is that it has the ability to quickly promote and replicate modular, standardized, and platform-based platforms, as well as helping enterprises to further optimize quality, cost, and efficiency.
A more complete industrial chain, a stronger Sailun gene
In November 2020, using the "Rubber Chain Cloud" platform, Sailun Shenyang's high-performance intelligent all-steel load-bearing radial tire project with an annual output of 3 million sets took only more than 200 days from construction to production. The intelligent and unmanned level of the factory's equipment has also become a new benchmark for intelligent factories in the industry.
In addition to technological innovation, "bold change" is also a "gene" engraved in Sailun's bones and blood. In fact, it is not just the development of information technology. In some transformation moments that determine the development of the industry, Sailun is also at the forefront of the industry. In 2012, Sailun became the first Chinese tire company to build a factory overseas, opening the journey of China's tire going overseas 2.0-"brand internationalization, manufacturing globalization". In 2024, Sailun became the first Chinese tire company to build a factory in North America, and a larger "manufacturing globalization" map was opened.
Almighty Sailun, opening a new golden journey
As the youngest tire giant in the top ten tires in the world, Sailun has experienced difficult trials that we can hardly imagine. However, no matter how many hardships and setbacks it has experienced, Sailun still insists on putting technological innovation first, constantly improving its innovative ecological chain of "basic research + technical breakthroughs + achievement transformation", and creating one miracle after another in difficult situations.
Sailun Group has currently built tire production bases in Qingdao, Dongying, Shenyang, Weifang in China, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and plans to build tire production bases in Dongjiakou, Qingdao, Mexico, and Indonesia. As of now, the company has planned to build an annual production capacity of 26 million all-steel radial tires, 103 million semi-steel radial tires, and 447,000 tons of off-road tires. Sailun's product sales cover more than 180 countries and regions around the world, including China, North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The slogan of "making a good tire" has now resounded around the world.
