Driving force of Chinese manufacturing

DMEGC MAGNETICS CO LTD I PROFILE

Driving force of CHINESE

MANUFACTURING

DMEGC Germany GmbH is the European arm of Chinese company Hengdian Group DMEGC Magnetics Co Ltd, a leading manufacturer of magnetic material and components, and renewable energy products. Vice President Xiaodong Guo shared the story with Phil Nicholls.

DMEGC Germany GmbH was formed in 2008, while the parent company was established in 1980 and listed on the Shenzhen exchange market in 2006.

“DMEGC is the largest magnet manufacturer in the world,” said Vice President Xiaodong Guo. “We set up an automation department in 2005 equipped with robots to perform different processes.”

DEMGC Magnetics expanded into solar in 2009, another production line which now features full automation. Mr Xiaodong Guo explained the qualities of DMEGC solar units: “The unit power consumption is 50% lower than the industry norm; the unit water consumption is 60% lower than the industry norm.”

The range grew again in 2015 when DEMGC Magnetics started producing lithium-ion batteries. DMEGC’s Li-ion battery capacity expanded to 8GWh this year, with a focus on supplying units for power tools and the booming two-wheel vehicle market.

DEMGC Magnetics has over 70 factories across eight divisions, structured in eight manufacturing bases in China and one each in India and Vietnam. The group employs 15,000 staff worldwide. Alongside DMEGC Germany, the group has branch companies in the US, Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Award-winning products

Mr Xiaodong Guo highlighted the many awards received by the DMEGC Group as proof of its innovation, quality, and service: DMEGC Magnetics won the Panasonic Appliances Refrigeration Devices Singapore Outstanding Vendor Award for 2016 and the Bosch Global Supplier Award 2017/18 for “superior quality and excellent performance as a supplier”.

In 2019, Solarwatt recognised DMEGC Magnetics as an “outstanding premium supplier” with “excellent technical competence” and “first class customer service”. PVEL, the leading independent solar bankability testing lab, awarded DMEGC Solar “Top Performer Status” in the 2021 PV Module Reliability Scorecard, citing “the quality, high performance and reliability” of DMEGC products.

DMEGC MAGNETICS CO LTD I PROFILE

In today’s competitive market, DMEGC believes in the pioneering and enterprising spirit of its staff.

“We focus on technological innovation,” explained Mr Xiaodong Guo. “Including product innovation, process innovation, equipment innovation; this also covers every aspect of our carbon footprint from the very beginning until the end of life of our products.

“DMEGC solar cells and modules are among the top brands in the French and Benelux markets for three consecutive years. Our black module and double-glass module are very popular due to their aesthetics. DMEGC magnets have been supplied to all the Tier 1 customers worldwide for over three decades. Most of the cars on the road use some magnets made by DMEGC.”

DMEGC suffered little impact from the Covid pandemic thanks to Chinese government policy. The production line continued running throughout, ensuring there were no supply problems for DMEGC customers. “We donated masks and antiseptic to some of our customers who suffered shortages at the beginning of the pandemic,” said Mr Xiaodong Guo.

Sustainable solar

Sustainability is an ongoing project at DMEGC Magnetics, Mr Xiaodong Guo explained: “We set up a department focusing on carbon footprint calculation, monitoring and reduction.” A 20MW solar panel installation on the roofs of DMEGC factories was completed in 2013. This project used DMEGC solar panels and delivers 28 million kwh to the company’s production lines annually.

“The biggest DMEGC contribution to the worldwide magnet industry,” said Mr Xiaodong Guo, “is that we changed from coal to gas as the main fuel for our sintering process since 2009 which helped to reduce 680,000 tons of CO2 over 10 years.”

This switch meant DMEGC achieved a 66.79% decrease in CO2 emissions compared with 2009, based on the same yield. “These new working methods changed the model for magnet production, which has always been labour-intensive with high energy consumption and poor air quality.”

“In addition,” Mr Xiaodong Guo continued, “DMEGC is working with Hengdian Group, our largest shareholder; we are both committed to improving the community. We are investing in improved living and working environments. While providing more jobs, DMEGC also ensures the sustainable development of the community. We invest in community infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, and public transportation facilities.” Further afield, DMEGC works with partners worldwide on the recycling of its products, such as magnets, batteries, and solar modules.

DMEGC works hard to strengthen relationships with suppliers and clients. Mr Xiaodong Guo emphasised: “Maintaining good communications, we try to strengthen our cooperation with upstream and downstream partners, including logistics services providers, in the face of various unstable market factors ahead.”

Mr Xiaodong Guo highlighted the global price of raw materials and ongoing disruptions to sea freight as two factors impacting the industry. DMEGC benefitted from long-term partnerships with raw material suppliers and freight companies to avoid significant supply problems. The company thus continued without interruption to fulfil its global supplier strategy and optimization of logistics.

“Over the past four decades,” Mr Xiaodong Guo continued, “DMEGC has been the beneficiary of economic globalisation. We expect to integrate further into globalisation in the future and provide our customers worldwide with better service and excellent products.”

A positive force for the future

Looking to the future of the market, Mr Xiaodong Guo had a clear vision for the industry.

“Greener, smaller, more power, higher efficiency and smarter has always been the trend of our industry, whether the product line is magnet, solar or battery.” While the lingering effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine continue to impact world trade, Mr Xiaodong Guo is certain the global economy will pick up again from 2024/25.

“DMEGC has been increasing its sales revenue 30% per year over the past three years,” he said, “And we will gain more in the coming years. We are the positive force in the global trend of sustainability.”

DMEGC expects to continue working closely with clients to focus on technological innovation, adding value to its product lines for the ongoing benefit of its customers. The company continues a programme of production upgrades, enhancing productivity and energy efficiency.

In conclusion, Mr Xiaodong Guo said he is optimistic for the future of DMEGC Group.

“4 billion RMB investment is planned over the next two years to expand our production capacity of magnetic materials, solar PV and Li-ion batteries. These two big categories of our products are like two wheels driving us forward to the bright future: our products help to create a more sustainable world.” n