We have all seen traditional welding scenes in our daily lives. The welder wears a heavy protective face mask and holds the welding gun tightly in his hand. The tip of the welding gun sprays a bright blue flame, making a "hissing" sound when in contact with the metal, accompanied by the brightness of the metal melting and sparks splashing in all directions.

Have you ever thought about how to achieve welding of everyday items such as car power batteries, computers, and mobile phones? Lianying Laser, a listed company in Shenzhen specializing in laser welding, has been using lasers for welding since 19 years ago.

Laser welding, to put it simply, is fast! accurate Damn it! A straight beam of light shines on the metal, reaching a temperature of over 1300 degrees, and the metal instantly melts. What is the concept of its accuracy reaching several micrometers? A hair strand is about 0.5 millimeters, which means that reducing the hair strand by 500 times is necessary to achieve the precision of laser welding.

Laser welding startups are ahead of the market

Lianying Laser, established in September 2005, is one of the earliest companies in China to engage in laser welding. It specializes in the research and development, production, and sales of precision laser welding machines and complete sets of laser welding automation equipment. It is a leading supplier of precision laser welding equipment and automation solutions in China.

Xie Qiang, the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Lianying Laser, recalled that in 2007, a laser welding machine developed by the company encountered sales difficulties, mainly due to the limited knowledge of laser welding technology in China. Once, a set of laser welding equipment was sold to a domestic American company, and Lianying Laser had to build a workbench for it before the company could use the laser welding equipment. It can be said that Lianying Laser has been ahead of the market since its inception.

When the domestic new energy market experiences a major outbreak, the market will naturally open up, and the technology of Lianying Laser will almost become a standard configuration for well-known enterprise production lines. In 2015, Lianying Laser was listed on the New Third Board, and in June 2020, it was listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, becoming the first stock in laser welding. At present, the clients served by the company mainly include well-known enterprises in the industry such as CATL, Xinwangda, EVE Energy, SAIC Times, Guoxuan High tech, and Honeycomb Energy. The product is mainly used in downstream manufacturing industries such as new energy batteries, automobile manufacturing, consumer electronics, photovoltaic industry, semiconductors, optical communication, hardware and home appliances, medical equipment, electronic components, etc.

After years of development, the company has become a leading enterprise in the domestic laser welding industry, serving numerous internationally renowned enterprises in the lithium battery and consumer electronics industries with leading technology and products.

In 2023, the sales revenue of China's laser welding equipment market is about 11.52 billion yuan, and Lianying Laser has a market share of about 30% in the laser welding equipment market, maintaining its leading position in the industry.

Craftsmanship spirit focuses on independent research and innovation

As a leading player in the industry, Lianying Laser's laser welding technology is constantly innovating. The applicable power of laser welding joints ranges from 5W to 6000W, and the wavelength ranges from UV 266nm to 2000nm. Behind the data, the research team adheres to the spirit of craftsmanship, strives for excellence, and is brave in innovation, with each technological innovation lasting for several years.

For example, during the laser welding process of new energy power batteries, there is often a certain amount of metal splashing, especially evident during high-speed welding. Splashing metal shavings may affect the safety performance of the battery if they fall into its interior.

In order to overcome this technological challenge, Lianying Laser has formed an interdisciplinary research team, bringing together engineers in optics, materials, automation, electrical, and process engineering, totaling fifty to sixty people. In repeated experiments, the research team realized that the reason for metal splashing during welding was due to the instantaneous high temperature. For example, when we stir fry dishes, if the pot is too hot, oil and water will splash out. At this time, we need to turn off the heat and slowly heat it up, which can greatly reduce the splashing of oil and water. After two years of research, the research team finally developed the multi wavelength laser coaxial composite welding technology, which is the first domestic multi composite welding technology of fiber laser and semiconductor laser. Compared with single beam laser welding, it reduces welding spatter by more than 90% in power battery processing. At the same time, it also overcomes process problems such as porosity and cracks, and is in a leading position in the industry.

Lianying Laser spares no effort in scientific research investment. The company has established extensive technology research and development cooperation with universities such as Shenzhen University, South China Normal University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and South China University of Technology. It has developed leading core technologies in the industry, including laser energy control technology, real-time image processing technology, intelligent production line information management technology, industrial cloud platform technology, multi wavelength laser coaxial composite welding technology, laser welding processing technology, etc. It has delivered more than 650 sets of non-standard customized automated laser welding systems, meeting the welding requirements of more than 1400 parts.

As of the end of 2023, the company has obtained 368 patents, including 36 invention patents, and also owns 219 software copyrights. There are 1954 R&D personnel, accounting for 40.16% of the total number of employees. In 2023, R&D investment reached 241 million yuan, accounting for 6.87% of the annual revenue.

Focusing on "smart manufacturing" and joining hands with "financial confidants" to add momentum to building a strong manufacturing country

The research and development of high-precision and cutting-edge technology in this field requires a significant amount of upfront investment, including purchasing equipment, raw materials, and paying R&D personnel salaries. The financial industry can provide various forms of financial support such as loans, venture capital, and government subsidies.

Among the banks that cooperate with Lianying Laser, the cooperation with Hangzhou Bank is like meeting close friends, appreciating and trusting each other, and achieving win-win cooperation. Lianying Laser has been deeply involved in the field of laser welding for many years. In 2017, the company was already on the fast lane and is seeking to go public. At that time, the Hangzhou Bank Shenzhen Bay Branch had just been established and was not well-known in the local banking circle in Shenzhen. However, compared to other large banks, Shenzhen Bay Branch focuses on serving science and technology innovation enterprises and, like Lianying Laser, explores niche markets. When the two sides met, Lianying Technology talked about laser welding and had a good conversation, while Hangzhou Bank also focused on the development of science and technology innovation enterprises. The two sides hit it off immediately.

Xie Qiang, the Secretary of the Board of Directors of Lianying Laser, recalled, "We thought it was a good fit. Hangzhou Bank has a deeper understanding of science and technology innovation enterprises than ordinary banks, because science and technology innovation enterprises have their uniqueness, such as small scale, large R&D investment, and may not have high current income and profits, but they have relatively high growth potential in the future. So the Science and Technology Innovation Division is willing to spend this time and energy to deeply understand your company's technology and future market. It can be said that they are different from other banks, and we are also attracted to his profession

The customer manager of Hangzhou Bank Shenzhen Bay Branch expressed encouragement and emotion towards this: "Because of our expertise, we successfully achieved cooperation, which was both reasonable and unexpected. At that time, the Shenzhen Bay Branch had just been established and was able to cooperate with local large enterprises, which was really exciting

Through credit cooperation, in August 2017, Lianying Laser opened its first account at Hangzhou Bank Shenzhen Bay Branch and became one of the first key cornerstone customers in the early establishment of Shenzhen Bay Branch. Both parties began a 7-year business cooperation. Hangzhou Bank is one of the designated collection banks for the fundraising of the 2020 Lianying Laser Science and Technology Innovation Board IPO and the 2023 private placement.

Standing at a new starting point, Lianying Laser firmly promotes digital construction, deeply cultivates the fields of laser welding and intelligent manufacturing, and strengthens investment in intelligent manufacturing construction. The company has established an intelligent software research and development center to coordinate the construction of intelligent manufacturing, guided by the needs of various departments, with data as the core, focusing on areas such as research and development, manufacturing, marketing, management, and supply chain. A clear plan for intelligent manufacturing construction and implementation goals and paths have been formulated. In October 2023, according to the evaluation standard GB/T 39116-2020 "Intelligent Manufacturing Capability Maturity Model", the National Intelligent Manufacturing Capability Maturity Assessment (CMMM) evaluation team conducted a comprehensive evaluation of 18 capability sub domains of the Shenzhen Lianying Intelligent Manufacturing Maturity Model. Lianying Laser has successfully passed the evaluation and obtained the Level 3 certification for intelligent manufacturing capability maturity, setting a benchmark for the development of intelligent manufacturing in the laser industry. The cooperation between banks and enterprises has further deepened. Hangzhou Bank continues to innovate its development ideas, adopting the service concept of "professionalism, focus, specialization, and innovation", implementing "one enterprise, one policy" for Lianying Laser, continuously optimizing products and services, and continuously strengthening financial support for advanced manufacturing enterprises in new technologies, new tracks, and new markets, promoting the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry.