The tide is surging. On the intelligent manufacturing map of Taizhou, a set of data is refreshing industry perceptions: In 2024, the output value exceeded 1 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 147%; in the first quarter of 2025, the output value exceeded 300 million yuan, with growth reaching a new high of 150%—this is the "counter-cyclical" answer sheet submitted by Zhejiang Juyue Gear Co., Ltd.

Since its establishment in 2012, this privately-owned enterprise rooted in Wenling has transformed from a traditional gear factory with an annual output value of less than 20 million yuan into an industry leader that occupies two-thirds of the market share of Chery's new energy vehicle gearboxes and holds orders from nine Fortune 500 companies, achieving an astonishing leap from "manufacturing" to "intelligent manufacturing".

What is the secret behind the continuous explosive growth?

Seven years of dormancy to seize a new track

In 2019, when the industry was still observing the new energy sector, our gears were already installed in test vehicles. Standing in the production workshop of Zhejiang Juyue Gear Co., Ltd., General Manager Wu Duobing pointed to a Swiss Liebherr gear grinding machine, saying that this 20 million yuan equipment was the company's key investment in the new energy sector in 2018. At that time, the traditional fuel vehicle market was still a comfortable zone for most gear companies, but Juyue had already sensed the opportunity for change.

The rotational speed of new energy vehicle gears reaches 20,000 revolutions per minute, six to seven times that of fuel vehicle gears, and the precision requirements are three times higher than traditional products, with noise control needing to reach a 'silent' level. In the face of this technological gap, Juyue chose to 'break through in reverse'—investing first, then taking orders. In 2018, Juyue invested over 100 million yuan to introduce equipment such as the German Klingelnberg testing instrument and established a research and development team of nearly 100 people, overcoming the technical bottleneck of high-speed gears in just one year.

Behind the dormancy was strategic determination. In 2019, the gears of fate began to turn. The little-known Juyue took the risk of bearing the cost of development failure and won the first international order from the European automotive giant Stellantis. After four years of joint research and development, this gamble paid off in 2023. During this period, the company successively broke through the ranks of leading automakers such as Chery and Leapmotor, and now Juyue has become a "hot commodity" for many automakers.

Large customers will not easily change suppliers, but the prerequisite is that you can seize the opportunities they give you. Taking the Chery project as an example: In the initial stage of cooperation in 2020, only a single component was supplied. As the technology was verified, the order volume increased by three times in 2023, and currently, it steadily occupies two-thirds of the market share of its gearbox gears.

Nanometer-level precision forges industry barriers

On March 31, in Juyue's intelligent production workshop, a gear testing instrument was scanning the gearbox gears of new energy commercial vehicles with nanometer-level precision. The development of domestic new energy commercial vehicle gears only started last year, and we invested in it two years ago. Currently, we have completed the product development, with precision reaching levels four to six, and we are preparing for mass production. Company technical director Tang Zhangbing pointed to the detection screen and said.

Based on the successful development of high-speed gears for new energy vehicles, Juyue Gear has not stopped its technological innovation efforts and is actively expanding its product research and development fields. Figures demonstrate substantial investment: R&D investment has exceeded 30 million yuan for three consecutive years, with imported equipment accounting for over 50%; 60% of the 100-person R&D team comes from industry enterprises.

More importantly, there is a "stubborn spirit." In 2023, when developing gear products for new energy commercial vehicles, due to the large size of the gears for this vehicle model, the team encountered precision problems. More than ten people repeatedly tested six sets of solutions, taking two years to produce a satisfactory product for the client.

The direct effect of the technological leap is a surge in customer trust. This year, our order value has exceeded 2 billion yuan, and it will continue to grow during the industry's peak season in the second half of the year. Wu Duobing said that the company's strength has also boosted its industry influence.

From March 19 to 21, Juyue and the Mechanical Transmission Branch of the China Electromechanical Equipment Repair and Modification Technology Association jointly held the 7th High-Precision Gear Manufacturing Technology Seminar in Wenling. The number of participants doubled compared to previous years, and even with an expansion to over 700 seats, it was still full.

With the rapid expansion of the company and the continuous release of production capacity, Juyue's demand for factory buildings has become increasingly urgent. With the coordination and support of the Wenling Economic Development Zone Management Committee, the company put a new 18,000-square-meter factory building into use at the end of last year. We invested more than 200 million yuan in workshop renovation and equipment upgrades, and in just over three months, the factory building is about to be filled again, and we need to continue looking for new space to lay a more solid foundation for undertaking large international orders.

The confidence in proactive layout stems from the prediction of the industry cycle. Juyue's current 50 projects and more than 200 products under development have secured orders of 2 billion yuan for the next three years. Each new energy production line has a construction cycle of six months, but we cannot wait for the market to mature. Wu Duobing said that when the output value was less than 200 million yuan in 2019, the company had already configured personnel and equipment for a scale of 1 billion yuan.

This "counter-cyclical" investment, which was ahead of the curve, helped Juyue seamlessly connect its production capacity during the explosive growth of new energy vehicles in 2021. Currently, the proportion of its new energy business has jumped from 5% in 2018 to 78%, becoming a powerful engine of growth.