A company that initially produced hair ribbons is now involved in cutting-edge “space and deep-sea” technology.—— Qingdao Haili Group
At 7:18 AM on May 15th 2021, China’s first Mars exploration mission, the “Tianwen-1” probe, successfully landed on Mars. For this project, Qingdao Haili Group Co., Ltd. not only provided the landing parachute rope connection technology but also supplied special elastic rope equipment for the lander’s impact resistance tests. Previously, it had also provided a 9,000-meter-long safety rope for China’s independently developed manned submersible, the “Jiaolong”. How has Qingdao Haili Group perfected the craft of rope-making?
Building R&D Capability from Scratch
Founded in 1922 in Qingdao, Shandong, this nearly century-old company started by producing women’s hair ribbons. “After I took over as factory director in 1998, I realized these products were low-tech and had no future, so I began considering a transformation,” Zhang Xuming, Chairwoman of Qingdao Haili Group, told reporters. During an overseas trip, she saw yachts moored in a Norwegian fjord and became interested in yacht ropes. Upon returning, Zhang conducted market research. “I felt I had found our new direction: special-purpose ropes,” she said.They acted immediately. Initially, Haili produced imitations based on client samples, successively developing products like yacht floating ropes, special tow ropes, trampoline ropes, and fitness resistance bands for export. “Back then, we had technicians but no dedicated R&D department. This OEM model wasn’t sustainable; we needed independent R&D capability for long-term development,” Zhang said. In 2003, Haili established an R&D center.
Their first independently developed product was a climbing rope. “The only reference we had was the EU standard; we knew nothing about the specific processes or materials,” said Huang Tao, Deputy General Manager and Director of the Technical Center. This climbing rope was far more technically advanced than their previous OEM products. They bought and analyzed existing products, spending nearly three years meeting all EU standards. During this period, Haili gradually built a professional R&D team for special ropes, establishing a solid technical foundation. Later, China’s strategic focus on developing the marine industry revealed a new market direction. “We contacted oceanographic research institutes and companies to research the market,” Chairwoman Ms.Zhang said. Haili even provided their marine ropes to the research vessel “Dayang Yihao” for free trial use.
After several trials, the vessel recognized Haili’s product quality. “They first entrusted us with making the flagpole rope for ‘Dayang Yihao’. Regardless of the storm, this rope remained incredibly tough,” Chairwoman Ms.Zhang said. After the flagpole rope validated their quality, Haili gradually became the R&D and production supplier for all ropes needed by “Dayang Yihao”. “We can now produce dozens of types of special marine ropes, including deep-sea exploration high-strength ropes, subsurface buoy cables, surface buoy cables, and umbilical cables, overcoming numerous technical challenges,” Xu Lianlong, Deputy Director of Haili’s Technical Center, told reporters. Taking deep-sea exploration high-strength ropes as an example, they must be corrosion-resistant, resistant to high and low temperatures, high-strength, lightweight, and have a toughness 5 to 6 times greater than steel cables of the same diameter. To tackle these challenges, Haili established technical collaborations with nearly 100 marine research institutes across China and specifically hired academicians in textiles, marine science, and other fields to form a technical alliance for tackling difficult problems.
Supporting National Megaprojects In the summer of 2009, as China’s independently developed “Jiaolong” manned submersible prepared for sea trials, Haili received the task of producing its 9,000-meter safety rope. “This was our first major national scientific project. We were both excited and nervous,” Huang Tao said. “This rope is coiled in a special device on the ‘Jiaolong’. If it cannot surface automatically, this safety rope is released to float to the surface, enabling the submQingdao Haili Group: Mastering the Craft of Ropes for “Space and Deep-Sea” Missions Qingdao Haili Group: Mastering the Craft of Ropes for “Space and Deep-Sea” Missions A company that initially produced hair ribbons is now involved in cutting-edge “space and deep-sea” technology.—— Qingdao Haili Group At 7:18 AM on May 15th 2021, China’s first Mars exploration mission, the “Tianwen-1” probe, successfully landed on Mars. For this project, Qingdao Haili Group Co., Ltd. not only provided the landing parachute rope connection technology but also supplied special elastic rope equipment for the lander’s impact resistance tests. Previously, it had also provided a 9,000-meter-long safety rope for China’sindependently developed manned submersible, the “Jiaolong”. How has Qingdao Haili Group perfected the craft of rope-making?