Zheng Mingyue
Development History
Rogers Corporation is a global supplier of new 5G chemical materials, aiming to provide electronics, protection and connectivity to the world New chemical materials. The company has more than 180 years of experience in materials science and mainly provides electronic system solutions for high-efficiency motor drives, new energy vehicles and renewable energy power for mobile equipment, transportation interiors, industrial equipment sealing, vibration and impact protection and Advanced connection and welding solutions for wireless infrastructure, automotive safety, and radar systems. The business is mainly used in new energy, 5G, security and other fields. Rogers' development layout in related fields is mainly divided into three stages:
The first stage (1832-1958) is the emergence and primary development stage. Rogers was founded in 1832 as a producer of materials for the textile industry. In the late 1950s, as fiber materials began to be used around the world, Rogers combined fibers (natural and synthetic, organic and inorganic) with polymers and chemicals to develop fiber composites. Fiber composite materials have the characteristics of high specific strength, large specific modulus, designable material properties, good corrosion resistance and durability, and a thermal expansion coefficient similar to that of concrete. In the later stage of development, it was widely used in various civil buildings, bridges, highways, oceans, hydraulic structures, underground structures and other fields.
The second stage (1958-2009) is the breakthrough development period of new materials. In 1958, Rogers launched PORON brand polyurethane foam materials and successfully entered Europe. In 1960, it was listed on the American Stock Exchange. In 1970, it opened the Lurie R&D Center. In 1988, it established a joint venture with 3M Company. In 1996, it acquired the American BISCO Silicone Company, and in 2009, it acquired part of the shares of MTI Global Silicone (silica gel), successfully laying out the silicone business. In addition, to meet customer demand for RO4000 high-frequency circuit board laminates, Rogers established a new factory in Europe (Ghent, Belgium). In 2009, the company acquired the silicone business of MTI Global Inc. and made strategic investment in Solicore. It launched 18 new products that year and successfully laid out the integrated circuit industry and new chemical materials industry, creating future growth opportunities in the next few years. laid the foundation.
The third stage (2009-present) is the new reform and development stage. After 2010, Rogers intensively acquired South Korea's SK Utis, Germany's Curamik, eSorba Urethanes (polyurethane) company, SK UTIS, Curamik Electronics GmbH and Arlon circuit materials and engineered silicones, and cooperated with the British company Himag Solutions Ltd. Signed a strategic agreement with Hitachi Chemical Company to successfully deploy direct copper bonding (DCB) ceramic substrate products, planar magnetic products, planar transformer technology and power distribution for polyurethane, intelligent power management equipment (such as insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules) technology, printed circuit board (PCB) materials for high-speed digital (HSD) applications, key chemical materials for communication equipment, etc., and exit the flexible circuit materials market where there is no competitive advantage. In 2010, the scale of the global printed circuit board industry was about US$510. Competition became fierce, and materials companies entered a stage of large-scale restructuring. Rogers took advantage of the situation, successfully entered relevant interests, and became a leading company. In 2019, the first year of 5G commercialization, industry-related companies have exploded, and the world's major economies have accelerated the implementation of 5G commercialization. Driven by policy support, technological progress and market demand, Rogers has also achieved good results in the field of chemical materials.
In 2019, Rogers had 3,600 employees. In its business, advanced connection materials and solutions accounted for 34.74%, elastic material solutions accounted for 39.79%, and power electronic materials and solutions accounted for 23.58%. The company is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, USA. It has a research and development innovation center in Chandler, Arizona, USA. It has production plants in Burlington, Massachusetts, USA, Eschenbach, Germany and Suzhou, China. It also has production plants in the United States and Belgium. manufacturing and sales offices and has additional sales offices throughout the world. Rogers' mission is to provide specialty materials solutions that meet the needs of customers around the world. Today, Rogers Corporation provides a broad range of specialty materials, including high-performance foams and advanced circuit materials, to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the 5G communications, power electronics, clean technology, consumer electronics and transportation markets.
Company development strategy analysis
(1) Market-driven organization
Market-oriented and focused on business growth. Capture the main growth points of the current market, which mainly include the increasing number of advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) in the automotive industry; the electrification of vehicles such as electric and hybrid electric vehicles (EV/HEV) and the adoption of new technologies in the automotive industry; the telecommunications industry Next-generation wireless infrastructure; portable electronics; connected devices; aerospace and defense; public transportation and renewable energy, and more.
(2) Innovation leads development
The company devotes a large amount of resources to research and development and meets the needs of downstream customers for new products in order to improve the company's operational and financial performance. The company promptly evaluates strategic choices and operating conditions, and continuously improves the business structure to keep the company's business consistent with the changing demand trends of customers. After the reorganization of the company is completed, it will enter a new material field, requiring the company to focus on improving the R&D capabilities and innovative spirit of engineers from existing companies to adapt to the rapid development of the company and occupy the commanding heights of the market.
(3) Collaborative M&A strategy
We have expanded our capabilities through internal investments and acquisitions, and strive to ensure that we provide high-quality solutions to our customers. We continue to review and realign our manufacturing and engineering footprint to pursue a leading competitive position globally. The company's business expansion mainly relies on independent research and development and collaborative mergers and acquisitions. During the merger and acquisition process, it successfully transformed into a 5G new chemical materials company, with business layout in wireless infrastructure (such as power amplifiers, antennas and small cells), automobiles (such as ADAS, remote Applications in information processing and heat dissipation), aerospace and defense (such as antenna systems, communication systems and phased array radar systems), connected devices (such as mobile Internet devices and heat dissipation solutions) solutions) and wired infrastructure (such as computing and IP infrastructure) markets, and achieve global R&D, production and sales layout.
(4) Excellent Operations Management
The company’s sales and marketing methods are based on market trends, and the strategy focuses on meeting the core elements of being a manufacturer of engineering materials and components: high performance , high quality, full-service, cost control, high efficiency, active innovation and advanced technology. Enterprises have established or expanded operational management capabilities in various regions to meet the growth needs of customers.
Experience and Enlightenment
(1) Customer priority, tailor-made
As a manufacturer and supplier of engineering materials and components, the success of an enterprise depends on Depends on product innovation and sales services, including expanding customer development, manufacturing and sales capabilities. Rogers is committed to interacting with customers and designing materials and components as part of their product development processes, thereby making the company's products more competitive and ensuring customer stickiness. The value of product development depends largely on the extent of downstream demand from customers. Failure to continuously develop new products for downstream customers, failure to design products in accordance with downstream customer requirements and gain market recognition will have a negative impact on business operations.
(2) Predict the direction of the industry and actively deploy production capacity
During the development process, enterprises aim at the forefront of the market, predict the direction of the industry, and continue to transform and develop. The transformation from traditional manufacturing enterprises to cutting-edge new materials enterprises is currently a difficult problem faced by most enterprises. First of all, we must base ourselves on our own foundation, transform from a textile enterprise to a fiber material enterprise, and become a priority enterprise in fiber composite materials. Then accumulate market prestige and financial resources, expand business scope, develop into polyurethane foam materials and silicone industries, and achieve diversified layout. When the printed circuit board and integrated circuit industries were emerging, they were unable to plan in advance, but they seized the opportunity of market integration, predicted the development direction, and carried out mergers and reorganizations to become a leading enterprise. With the rise of the 5G market, the company has become a global new materials group. It has appropriately modified and expanded its existing products. Due to stable customers and smooth sales channels, it has become a major global supplier of new chemical materials for 5G.
(3) Incentives for outstanding employees and employee welfare protection
First, the equity compensation mechanism. The company gives equity incentives to all employees based on their actual contributions and is distributed according to a three-year evaluation period. Employees whose employment is terminated due to death, disability or retirement in some cases during the evaluation period will be awarded based on the number of days they were employed during the evaluation period. Prorated compensation. The second is employee welfare protection. Sponsor a variety of defined benefit pension plans that cover certain employees. Funding for defined benefit pension plans has increased significantly to provide a hedge against inflationary factors related to global economic trends and financial market conditions. The third is to provide various defined benefit pension plans for American employees, and sponsor multiple fully insured or self-paid medical plans and fully life insurance plans for retirees. Fourth, other postretirement benefit plans, including several fully insured or self-funded health plans and certain retiree life insurance plans.
(4) Intellectual property rights first, legal protection
(Author’s unit: Materials Industry Research Institute of China Electronics and Information Industry Development Research Institute)