Rebirth 99 to become a car giant.

Chapter 665: I also want to pick up the pearl in the industrial crown

Before the birth of CAD software in the last century, designers' daily life was to complete all drawings by hand.

There was a popular saying in that era: One criterion for judging whether a person is a designer is whether there is a mark on his stomach where a table has been pressed.

The design efficiency of that era was very inefficient.

However, since the emergence of industrial software in the 1980s, designers finally no longer need to complete drawings by hand drawing, but instead complete them on computers, greatly improving design efficiency.

Nowadays, industrial software has become an indispensable software in the industrial industry, and it is indispensable for the research and development of aviation, ships, automobiles and other products.

Many people may not know much about the industrial software industry. In fact, industrial software can be divided into three major categories according to its functions: CAD (computer-aided design), CAE (computer-aided engineering), and CAM (computer-aided manufacturing).

These three software are indispensable software in today's industrial industry, and they are indispensable for the research and development of aviation, ships, automobiles and other products.

Saying it is the crown jewel of industry, surely no one has any objection.

Currently, these three major categories of software commonly used by enterprises are basically monopolized by the United States, France, and Germany. Especially in the field of CAE, the United States is the dominant country.

In the field of CAD, CATIA owned by Dassault France and UG owned by Siemens are thresholds that the automotive industry cannot bypass!

Nanshan Group uses CATIA extensively for the design of auto parts and complete vehicles.

Boeing, Airbus, Ford, Volkswagen, Decker, BMW, Volvo, Peugeot Citroën, Toyota, Honda, Renault, Fiat, Mitsubishi Motors, Bosch, Hyundai, Kia and other automotive industry companies are also using CATIA.

The price of genuine CATIA is very expensive. Not to mention the purchase cost, the annual maintenance fee is not cheap.

Many engineers at Nanshan Group need to use this software, and the annual software fee contributed to Dassault is over 100 million.

In China, as long as it is paid software, there must be a corresponding market for pirated software.

Especially before 2011, it was relatively convenient to download many pirated software.

Although Nanshan Group has never encouraged the use of pirated software, some business departments sometimes use some pirated software after purchasing some genuine software in order to save money.

The bad news this time is related to pirated software.

"Mr. Cao, Dassault sued us, saying that some of our employees used pirated versions of CATIA, requiring us to claim for economic losses of 1334 million yuan, and required us to complete the payment within a month, otherwise it will affect other genuine versions. Use of software.”

Liu Youmei was a little depressed and came over with Xiang Wei, the Minister of Legal Affairs, to report to Cao Yang a new problem they had just encountered.

It’s not like Nanshan Group hasn’t been involved in lawsuits over the years, and it’s even still arguing with people in the United States.

But in past lawsuits, even if there is no guarantee of victory, at least we can still try hard.

This time it's a little different.

She consulted with the legal department and found that she had no chance of winning.

"Aren't we always using genuine CATIA?"

The company is so big, it is obviously impossible for Cao Yang to worry about everything.

But he had the impression that the company's budget included the purchase expenses for various software.

That's why I ask.

"There are indeed people using genuine CATIA, and most of them are genuine."

"However, because our R&D personnel have increased very rapidly in the past two years, our software expenses have also increased significantly."

"So there are cases where individual employees in some business units use pirated software."

"In particular, some business units allow employees to use their own computers for work, which makes the use of pirated CATIA even more obvious."

In front of Cao Yang, it is natural to explain the situation truthfully, otherwise it will be bad if he misjudges.

Therefore, Liu Youmei did not hide anything and told the actual situation.

"Does that mean Dassault didn't accuse us wrongly this time?"

Cao Yang's face was uncertain.

Domestic industrial software is not good, so it's not like he has no impression of this matter.

However, there are too many pain points, and Cao Yang’s focus was not here before.

Now that something happened, the situation will naturally be different.

"Mr. Cao, if we go to court, there is no hope of winning."

"And when the time comes, public opinion will be very unfavorable to us, and the potential losses will be much greater than these claims."

Xiang Wei said her prediction very directly.

This actually made Cao Yang stop worrying about it.

"Let's find a way to reconcile with them."

After Cao Yang said this, he asked Mi Ying to call Rao Yongxiang and others over.

I have no choice but to suffer this loss now.

However, this kind of loss cannot be sustained forever.

Industrial software is an area that is easily overlooked and has not received much attention. He wants to challenge it.

Soon, a special meeting was held within Nanshan Group.

"Mr. Cao, can't we develop industrial software ourselves? Countless Chinese engineers have asked this question in their hearts."

"It is possible, but it cannot be accomplished in a few years, or even surpassed in more than ten years."

"If you just develop an APP like Penguin, or develop an enterprise-level software for financial management like Kingdee, it is at best an application for network programming and database interaction, and does not require programmers to master other Knowledge."

"But this is not the case for industrial-grade software. Programmers not only need to master the most basic programming skills, but more importantly, they need to integrate multiple disciplines."

"Many people may think that the development of industrial software is a matter for the computer major, but in fact it is really not a matter for the computer major."

"Industrial software is based on mathematics and runs through interdisciplinary subjects in many fields such as physics, chemistry, mechanics, and materials science."

As soon as Rao Yongxiang heard that Cao Yang was going to discuss his own development of industrial software with everyone, he immediately became confused.

This is a huge pit!

A huge pit that requires huge investment but may not produce results!

The key now is to develop industrial software similar to CATIA, and this is just the beginning.

If all the industrial software that Nanshan Group needs to use is developed by itself, it would be unrealistic at all.

So many central and state-owned enterprises in China are afraid to touch the big pitfall of industrial software, but a private enterprise of Nanshan Group has to hit the wall head-on. Rao Yongxiang obviously does not support it.

"What Mr. Rao said does make sense. Let's take software such as CATIA as an example, because the software is used by engineers who are professional in drawing engineering drawings."

"So programmers who develop industrial software must understand engineering graphics."

"For example, basic projection knowledge, to integrate this knowledge into the code and display it on the screen through the computer, requires knowledge of computer graphics."

·“Take CAE software again, you want the software to be able to calculate the fatigue limit and life of the designed parts, which requires knowledge of material mechanics.”

"If you perform airflow analysis on a designed car, this involves knowledge of fluid mechanics. Of course, the software must also calculate various parameters of fluid mechanics, which requires solving a large number of partial differential equations, which also involves mathematics. knowledge."

"The essence of industrial software is to write formulas from various disciplines such as mechanics and mathematics into codes in the form of algorithms."

"If there is currently no specific formula in academia, then developers will need to derive the formula themselves."

"This is a bottomless pit, and we don't know when the results will come out."

"Any industrial software is no less difficult than the HONOR system we developed."

Dai Hanbiao is also a little worried about independently developing industrial software.

No one dares to step into this trap.

Of course he hopes that all industrial software can be domestically produced, but few people think this is an achievable goal.

“One characteristic of the professional software industry is that the first comers get the meat, while the latecomers don’t even get the soup.”

"Industrial software is different from ordinary mobile software. It requires no errors. Once there is a problem in any link, the losses will be incalculable."

“But as long as there are software, there will definitely be bugs. To eliminate these bugs, a large number of users must act as ‘guinea pigs’ for feedback testing.”

“But if a software itself has very few users, how can software manufacturers get user feedback to fix vulnerabilities?”

"So, this creates a phenomenon where the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker."

Rao Yongxiang said a little sadly.

This is a winner-takes-all market, and it is very difficult for Nanshan Group to get admission tickets.

"What everyone said makes sense. It is precisely because industrial software has these problems that domestic software has always been very weak."

"But someone has to do it."

“There are actually many talents in basic disciplines in China, but these talents often cannot find a stage to display their abilities.”

"Our group now has a large number of engineers, many of whom have computer backgrounds."

"The number of software developers at the Intelligent Network Center is about to exceed 10,000."

"I plan to set up a new business department in the intelligent network center to be responsible for the development of industrial software."

"When we first started, we started with our own needs and aimed at five years to develop a usable CAD software and a usable CAE software."

"This division is called the Industrial Software Division. In the early days of its establishment, 1000 people were transferred from various places."

<divclass="contentadv">"We can continue to recruit people according to the plan, and there is no cap!"

When Cao Yang said this, Rao Yongxiang, Dai Hanbiao and others opened their mouths, but in the end they did not express any objections.

The bosses are not afraid of spending money. If they object to such a meaningful thing, they will not be able to justify it.

When engaging in software development, the most important investment is labor cost.

If you are really willing to spend money, it is not impossible to develop a working CAD software and a working CAE software in five years.

But after this software is developed, how to make it truly usable will be a problem.

"Mr. Cao, if you start everything from scratch, it may take a lot of time."

“I think we can consider acquiring and recruiting some domestic teams engaged in industrial software.”

"Although there are not many impressive results in this area in China, there are still people in some universities who are engaged in industrial software."

"There is even a company called Yangcheng Zhongwang in Yangcheng, which specializes in CAD software and is relatively well-known in the industry."

"I think you just arranged for someone to acquire them?"

Since the boss wants to develop industrial software, everyone naturally has to brainstorm and start thinking about how to implement it.

Dai Hanbiao, who had always not supported the development of industrial software, also began to change his tone.

This is not to say that he is really that soft-hearted and changes his attitude casually.

I can only talk about the discussion process and implementation process of one thing. Everyone’s views are different.

"I have also heard of the company Yangcheng Zhongwang. It has been established for many years. It is indeed possible to consider acquiring it."

"In addition, Huazhong University of Science and Technology has relatively in-depth research on mold forming software. You can consider cooperating with their team or even recruiting some people."

Rao Yongxiang also put forward some suggestions of his own.

"I heard a statement when I was chatting with a customer before, but I don't know if it is accurate."

Although Zeng Tingting is not a technical person, Cao Yang also called her over for a meeting today.

Everyone was brainstorming ideas, so naturally she couldn't remain silent.

"If you ask which company has the most code in the world, many people may answer Microsoft, IBM or Google, but in fact it is none of these."

"In terms of the number of codes alone, the largest software company in the world is the American arms dealer giant Lockheed Martin."

"And most of the software they make is only for their own use and not for external sale."

"So I think Mr. Cao has established an industrial software division. With the platform of our entire Nanshan Group, even if these software are not sold externally in the future, it can actually support the development of these software."

"After more than ten years, these software will be very mature, and the initiative will be completely in our own hands as to what promotion measures we need to take."

Zeng Tingting's words made everyone's eyes brighten.

Although what she was talking about was not a technical issue, it was more important than a technical issue.

She gives everyone confidence in the development of industrial software!

When facing a huge pit, confidence is sometimes more important than anything else.

"Industrial software is the programmatic encapsulation and reuse of industrial technology and knowledge, and is the top product of industrialization."

"In the future, when our various business divisions recruit R&D engineers, test engineers, and quality engineers, they can consciously lean toward software engineering and computer-related majors."

"After these people have worked in other industrial fields for several years, if they are arranged to develop industrial software, they can often achieve better results than directly recruiting IT personnel to develop software."

Whatever Cao Yang wants to do, it must be done.

So far, no exceptions have occurred.

To a certain extent, this is also related to Cao Yang's prestige in Nanshan Group.

Now that the Industrial Software Division has been established, software that can replace CAD/CAE such as CATIA and ANSYS in the future must be developed.

This time can be longer, he can still afford to wait.

After all, it's only 2011.

Although industrial software is as important as chips, it has received much less attention.

Therefore, the time left for Nanshan Group to develop industrial software is still relatively long.

As long as a similar version is produced within five years, it will take another five years to continuously improve it.

In the end, if you sharpen your sword for ten years, you will definitely be able to give everyone an unexpected surprise.

"The biggest cost of developing software is labor cost. In this regard, China has a very big advantage."

"For those industrial software giants in Europe and the United States, their labor costs may be five or ten times that of ours."

"Even if our industrial software division has 10,000 employees, with an average annual salary of several hundred thousand yuan, that's an investment of several billion a year."

"According to the group's current profitability, freeing up billions every year is not a problem at all."

Finance Minister Dong Shengnan also stood up and expressed his opinions.

Although she is not a software professional, the things that Cao Yang values ​​​​are the same things that she values.

The more everyone feels difficulties and worries, the more she has to stand up and express her confidence.

Otherwise, how could she have been so stable in her position as the Minister of Finance?

"Minister Dong is right. The number of college graduates last year has reached 630 million."

"Basic human resources are not a problem for us. Although the development of industrial software cannot be solved simply by using human sea tactics."

"But an experienced veteran engineer and several programmers formed development teams together, and finally brought out everyone's strengths."

“I think it’s not impossible to develop several industrial software.”

"If it can't be done with 10 billion, just 100 billion. If it still can't be done, then 200 billion."

"If you invest a few more years, it will definitely be effective."

Cao Yang's words are really not bragging.

There has been no industrial software available in China for so many years. The main reason is that the input-output is not proportional.

When you don't have it, people may get stuck.

But once you have it, people will immediately jump out to suppress you.

It is certainly impossible for a newly developed software of yours to surpass someone else's.

The result is that a lot of industrial software has died just after it was born.

But the Nanshan Group is different.

The boss is determined to do it, and he is not afraid of spending money or worrying that no one will use it.

After all, Nanshan Group’s own usage needs are very wide.

By the time the software is developed, the number of engineers who need to use software similar to CATIA must have reached tens of thousands.

With so many people using it, all kinds of bugs are easy to find.

After a few years of accumulation, even if there is still a gap between you and seniors such as CATIA and UG, you can still take it for a walk.

As long as the price is attractive enough, it will not be very difficult to get suppliers in the industry chain to follow suit.

At that time, we can even use administrative power to let all state-owned enterprises follow suit.

Cao Yang believes that this is not impossible.

Following this meeting of Nanshan Group, various departments immediately took action.

The initial team of 1000 people in the Industrial Software Division was quickly formed.

The acquisition of Yangcheng Zhongwang is also progressing very quickly.

Becoming a member of the Nanshan Group is an existence that most workers cannot refuse.

The boss of Yangcheng Zhongwang is naturally aware of this.

If he didn't agree to the acquisition, Nanshan Group would directly arrange headhunters to poach the employees below, and there would be nothing he could do.

This method of operation is even more cost-effective than direct acquisition.

Therefore, after the initial contact with Nanshan Group, Yangcheng Zhongwang simply threw itself into the arms of Nanshan Group and became a subsidiary of Nanshan Group.

After gaining a deeper understanding of Yangcheng Zhongwang, Cao Yang directly merged the industrial software division under the Intelligent Network Center into Yangcheng Zhongwang.

China's largest industrial software manufacturer is officially born.

More than ten years later, this series of actions has even become an important node in China's industrial software development industry and will be remembered in history.

Of course, these are all things for later.

Naturally, these actions of the Nanshan Group cannot be hidden, and there is no need to hide them.