Excl Interview with Dr. You Song, Bystronic Group Pres China & Asia-Pacific
source：Sheet metal Forming
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Time：2025-09-05
Source: Sheet metal Forming 19th August 2025
At present, China's manufacturing industry is at a crossroads of transformation and upgrading, accelerating towards high-end, intelligent and green development. In this process, Bystronic has been highly favored by the market with its mature and comprehensive smart factory automation solutions. Since entering the Chinese market in 1992, Bystronic, a Swiss company, has always adhered to the development concept of "Swiss technology, Chinese manufacturing", deeply integrating into the manufacturing ecosystem of China. Recently, Dr. You Song, President of Bystronic Group in China and the Asia-Pacific region, was interviewed by Sheet metal Forming, discussing the strategic transformation, technological frontiers and future vision of Bystronic in the Chinese market.
Q: Dr. You, thank you for accepting our interview. Could you please briefly introduce Bystronic's development process in China and its current overall layout?
Dr. You Song: Since Bystronic entered the Chinese market in 1992, it has consistently adhered to a localization development strategy, achieving a leapfrog growth from market expansion to the upgrade of a regional headquarters. Initially, it conducted business through an agency model. In 1997, it established its first office in Beijing. In 2001, it officially founded Bystronic (Shanghai) Precision Machinery Co., Ltd., establishing a complete local operation system. Subsequently, through significant measures such as the acquisition of the Tianjin factory in 2002 and the assembly of the first domestically produced laser cutting machine in 2005, it successfully implemented the development concept of "Swiss technology, Chinese manufacturing". After the acquisition of Shenzhen Dine Laser in 2016, the company innovatively launched a "Bystronic + Bystronic Dine" dual-brand strategy to meet the diverse demands from high-end to mid-range markets. Over the years, Bystronic has actively integrated into the wave of China's economic development, closely following the pace of national industrial upgrading, and deeply engaged in local business, providing high-quality sheet metal equipment and innovative smart factory solutions for multiple fields including agricultural machinery, construction machinery, transportation, telecommunications, construction, automobiles, kitchen equipment, aerospace, and new energy, earning wide recognition from the industry and high trust from customers.
After nearly three decades of in-depth development, Bystronic has established a network of three major R&D and production bases in China, centered around Shanghai, Tianjin, and Shenzhen. Notably, in June 2025, Bystronic (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. was officially recognized by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce as a "Headquarters of Multinational Corporations in the Asia-Pacific Region". This important recognition not only made the company the first enterprise in Dongjing Town, Songjiang District to receive this honor but also marked the successful upgrade of the China headquarters to an Asia-Pacific headquarters, fully demonstrating Bystronic's high regard for the Chinese market and its firm confidence in the continuous development of the Chinese economy.
As a global important commercial and innovation center, Shanghai provides an excellent development environment and broad opportunities for multinational enterprises. With the approval of this headquarters recognition, Bystronic will continue to deepen its localization strategy, fully leverage the geographical advantages and innovative momentum of the Shanghai Asia-Pacific headquarters, further consolidate its leading position in the Chinese and Asia-Pacific markets, create greater value for customers, and make greater contributions to regional economic development.
Bystronic Asia-Pacific Headquarters
Q: Against the backdrop of the accelerated intelligence of the manufacturing industry, how does Bystronic provide key value to its customers?
Dr. You Song: Against the backdrop of the accelerated intelligence of the manufacturing industry, Bystronic provides key value to customers through multi-dimensional measures: On the one hand, it optimizes production management with intelligent software systems. Its Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Warehouse Control System (WCS) enable real-time inventory monitoring and dynamic scheduling. The production management system (BySoft Plant Manager) automatically schedules and precisely issues tasks. The programming and design system (BySoft CAM) intelligently converts processing instructions and simulates paths. The enterprise resource management system (ERP + MES) integrates multiple modules to achieve information interconnection, laying the foundation for scientific decision-making and efficient delivery. On the other hand, it launches automated production lines such as laser loading and unloading and multi-column libraries, as well as a series of solutions such as bending automation. Through modular design and flexible configuration, it reduces labor input, improves production efficiency, and meets the needs of different batch production modes. At the same time, Bystronic operates driven by orders, providing highly personalized industry customization solutions from hardware to services, independently developed based on specific customer needs, to assist in the construction of smart factories. It also equips devices with universal intelligent interfaces to achieve interconnection between internal and external devices, building an open intelligent manufacturing ecosystem. Through supply chain standard systems, industrial alliances, and other means, it deepens industrial chain collaboration. Coupled with continuous technological innovation to enhance product performance, it comprehensively helps customers improve production efficiency, product quality, and market competitiveness, promoting their value growth in the process of intelligent transformation.
Q: In recent years, the global economic environment has undergone significant changes. How has Bystronic maintained steady growth in China?
Dr. You Song: On the one hand, fierce market competition and an uncertain market environment prompt enterprises to constantly innovate and open up new competitive tracks. On the other hand, with the emergence of innovative technologies such as AI and robots, enterprises must keep up with the times and enhance the intelligence level of their products, as well as the efficiency of production lines and factories, in order to firmly establish their positions in their respective niche markets.
Innovation not only represents the application of technology, but also the transformation of business models driven by technology and the evolution of ecosystems. This is the foundation for technology to generate value. based on technological innovation, Bystronic successfully transformed from a equipment seller to a provider of overall solutions, establishing a more sticky cooperative relationship with its customers. The company not only continuously innovates in products, technologies and services, but also explores "meaningful innovations" in multiple aspects such as organizational structure and the application of new technologies. Bystronic has connected the three key links of "market insight - R&D investment - solution implementation", forming a closed loop and achieving a virtuous cycle, and is committed to creating more commercial value for customers throughout the process and helping customers grow together with Bystronic.
The vigorous development of China's manufacturing industry is attributed to its well-established industrial chain. Actively integrating into the ecosystem has become an inevitable choice for enterprises to survive and thrive amid industrial and market changes. By establishing a supply chain standard system, joining high-end industrial alliances, and building strategic partnerships, Bystronic has reached a high degree of consensus with the industrial chain on strategic directions such as green development and cost reduction and efficiency improvement. Bystronic has deeply integrated into the industrial chain, collaborated with upstream enterprises to carry out reverse innovation, and assisted Chinese products in achieving localization in overseas markets. At the same time, it has deeply cooperated with downstream enterprises, allowing downstream partners to be involved in project planning at an early stage, building strategic partnerships, and promoting the value enhancement of the entire industrial chain to create a new situation in industrial development. Against the backdrop of rapid changes in the international trade environment and increasing market uncertainties, Bystronic, as a globally multi-pointed enterprise, adheres to the dual-track mechanism of "global layout and local in-depth development", and implements a dual-brand operation to facilitate close cooperation between the supply chain system and industrial chain partners, achieving complementary advantages and common development. only by focusing on technological innovation and jointly building a strategic ecosystem can enterprises help "Made in China" continue to take root in the global market and achieve a leap from single-point innovation to the value of the entire industrial chain.
These technological innovation priorities are expected to bring significant changes to Bystronic's business model. In terms of product and service offerings, we will shift from providing standardized equipment and solutions to highly customized and intelligent "turnkey" projects. What customers purchase will no longer be just a piece of equipment or a system, but a complete smart manufacturing solution that perfectly fits their business processes, integrates cutting-edge technologies, and has self-optimization capabilities. This will greatly enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction. In terms of the profit model, the proportion of revenue from after-market services such as software subscriptions, data services, and remote operation and maintenance will gradually increase, forming a dual drive with traditional equipment sales and creating more sustainable and diverse profit growth points for the company. Moreover, as technological innovation enhances product competitiveness, we will further expand our market territory and venture into more emerging industries and high-end application fields.
Q: How does Bystronic integrate the "Swiss DNA" with "Chinese characteristics" in talent development and corporate culture?
Dr. You Song: Bystronic adheres to the Swiss craftsmanship spirit, emphasizing vocational education and long-term talent cultivation. In China, we have launched the "Red Blood Training Camp" leadership program, which stresses spirit, professionalism, responsibility, and excellence, aiming to cultivate coach-type managers with "Red Blood DNA".
On the cultural level, we uphold the core values of "people-oriented, integrity, result-oriented, and common growth", and combine the inclusiveness and flexibility of Chinese local culture to form the cultural concept of "delving into the essence and embracing diversity". We encourage employees to be innovative and flexible, which is also the foundation for us to deeply co-create smart factories and joint laboratories with local customers.
Q: Looking at the next five years, how do you plan the vision and goals of Bystronic in China?
Dr. You Song: In the next five years, China's manufacturing will continue to develop towards "high-end, intelligent and green". We hope Bystronic will not only be a supplier of equipment, but also a collaborator and enabler for our customers' industrial upgrading.
We will continue to invest in technology, building a more open and intelligent software and hardware platform; deepen the dual brand strategy in the market end, improving local adaptation and service capabilities; and in the organizational end, we will further improve the local R&D system, expand industrial chain cooperation, and enhance the resilience and response speed of the entire value chain.
I believe that Bystronic will lead with stronger technology, have a more stable local foundation and deeper customer connections, and together with China's manufacturing industry, enter the "fast lane" of intelligent manufacturing.
Reprint Statement: The interview content in this article is sourced from MFC metal Forming Home. This is hereby declared.
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