LOPO’s “Invisible Champion” Road
From a single brick to the national Terracotta Panel Wall
Recently, China Building Sanitary Ceramics Association and Fujian Quanzhou Ceramic Industrial Park signed the “Ceramic Industry Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement”. On this basis, the country’s first “China Building Sanitary Ceramic Industry Terracotta Panel and Terracotta Panel Curtain Wall Research and Development Center” was settled in Jiangsu LOPO Ecological Environment Materials Co., Ltd.
LOPO Terracotta Corporation is a modern, new three-board listed company specializing in the production, development and sales of high-grade ceramic slab curtain walls, cubic ceramics and exterior walls. Since its establishment in 2003, the company has always adhered to the development of “specialized innovation” with the spirit of artisans. At present, the company has more than 300 employees, 4 advanced production lines, annual production capacity of 2 million square meters, and annual output value of over 100 million yuan. It has firmly occupied half of the Chinese Terracotta Panel curtain wall industry and has become the “invisible champion” of the sub-sector.
Into the LOPO Terracotta Corporation’s showroom, long, square, round, shaped; red, yellow, blue; metal glaze, art glaze, glaze… a variety of Terracotta Panels, more than 200 square meters The space is full of stuff. “Our pottery and curtain wall products have hundreds of varieties.” Peng Xinghua, chairman of the company, like a few Jane, said he pointed to a few Terracotta Panels. “Don’t look down on these pottery plates, including the Japanese national treasure design master Kengo Kuma, the Swedish design master Mali. Designed by O. Berta and others.” The company’s products are sold not only throughout the country, but also exported to Canada, India, Russia, New Zealand and other countries, Shenzhen Bay No. 1, Eastern Airlines Group Headquarters, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Russia Yekaterin. Many well-known projects such as Nabao have the figure of LOPO Terracotta Panel.
In the face of today’s achievements, Peng Xinghua admits that the process is quite tough. A factory, a production line, and more than 100 employees, this is all the “home” when he first started a business in Dingshu Town. From the beginning of a single brick business, to the later Terracotta Panel business, to today’s Terracotta Panel curtain wall, the company has experienced a “triple jump.”
In 2005, it was an important turning point for LOPO. At that time, companies that produced bricks and bricks were facing a situation in which the market was saturated and the old technology was eliminated. How to transform and upgrade has become Peng Xinghua’s “things”. That year, Peng Xinghua attended a building materials expo in Pudong New Area of Shanghai and saw a Terracotta Panel from France. His novel craftsmanship, fashionable appearance and excellent quality made Peng Xinghua open his mind. In that year, he led the backbone team to Europe to inspect the Terracotta Panel market and production equipment. After returning, he immediately invested nearly 50 million yuan to introduce advanced equipment and technology from Germany and Italy. In 2007, the company’s first Terracotta Panel production line was officially launched. The production line adopts robotic automatic production, and the whole process is operated by computer precision. When the labor cost is saved, the output ratio is increased by nearly 50%. To make this a possibility, specialized automated equipment is needed to ensure that this happens smoothly. Websites such as https://www.materialshandling.com.au/product-category/packaging-cubing-weighing/ can be incorporated in providing this machinery leading to a boost in productivity.
Since then, LOPO has begun to emerge in the ceramic tile curtain wall industry. Since 2010, the company has successively added three production lines, and has attracted more than 10 related enterprises to settle in Dingshu Town. The industrial agglomeration effect has gradually formed.
LOPO really “a hit” in the industry, or participated in the Guangzhou East Tower – Chow Tai Fook Financial Center project in 2014. As the world’s tallest Terracotta Panel project, Guangzhou East Tower is located in the center of the CBD of Zhujiang New Town, with a height of 530 meters. The use of Terracotta Panels to decorate the outer walls of ultra-high buildings has strict requirements on the strength, wind resistance and aesthetics of the products. And this is also the biggest difficulty of this project. So far, Peng Xinghua is still very proud of the details of the participation at the time.
In order to make the strength of the Terracotta Panel reach the standard of use, Peng Xinghua led the R&D team to continuously improve the formula, and successively tested the sample more than 30 times, eventually increasing the damage strength to 14400N, far exceeding the European standard of 4500N. In addition, how to let the pottery plate withstand strong wind pressure in the height of 530 meters is also a difficult point. In order to verify the product’s superior wind pressure resistance performance, the company sent the product to a base in Mianyang, Sichuan for wind tunnel test, blowing to the Terracotta Panel at a wind speed of 50 meters per second (equivalent to 15 typhoons), and finally passed the wind tunnel test. This product is supplemented by optimized Terracotta Panel body and installation system. It can repeatedly hit the same point at different heights with 50kg lead block, without falling off, becoming the world’s first Terracotta Panel product to pass the 50m/s super typhoon wind tunnel experiment. At present, the Chow Tai Fook Financial Center project is applying for the Guinness World Record with the highest height of the global terracotta façade.
An excellent enterprise must be based on technology and innovation. LOPO’s development strategy is to continuously break through in the technical field and achieve the cornering in the sub-sector. At present, the company has applied for more than 50 patent products.
In the future, there are still many good visions waiting to be realized. Standing in the factory of LOPO, Peng Xinghua confidently said the next development direction: relying on R&D and innovation, developing the production and application of Terracotta Panel, the development and application of art Terracotta Panels, the development and development of fabricated Terracotta Panels, The board introduces large-scale high-end interior decoration, leading the innovation and development of Quanzhou and even the national Terracotta Panel industry.
