Aiming at customized running gear systems for semi-trailers and heavy duty vehicles, Yonglitai(L1) has been deeply engaged in customized axles and suspensions for more than 60 years. With users at the center and customized axles at the core, we continue to stride forward on the road of innovation.
The story began with Shiwan Hardware Machinery Repair Factory in 1957, but the real legend began with the restructuring and separation in 2005…
Following the trend of transforming handicrafts and capitalist industry and commerce, Shiwan Hardware Machinery Repair Factory, which was established on the basis of Shiwan Daily Miscellaneous Products Society, the predecessor of Yonglitai(L1), broke ground, and the 67-year journey started from here.
During the 40 years from 1957 to 1997, from ship nails and simple equipment repairs to the production of large equipment such as mud cutters, ball mills, crushers, and mud screeners, Yonglitai(L1) has been continuously carrying out institutional reforms and independent technological explorations in the special historical period. The company has also been moving forward in innovation and exploration together with the country and the times.
Precisely because of the hardships of this special era, Yonglitai(L1) faced a situation with diverse product types and complex customized demands at the beginning of its establishment, which also laid a good foundation for the company to adapt to a more flexible and changeable external environment and customized market demands.
In the late 1990s, when transporting large equipment and precision instruments such as hydraulic automatic brick presses and automatic brick turning machines produced by Foshan Litai Ceramic Machinery, they often faced problems such as broken axles and poor stability of transport vehicles. In order to better improve service efficiency, it was urgent to develop an axle that was more suitable for heavy and precision instrument transport vehicles.
In June 2001, Litai Ceramic Machinery was renamed Litai Machinery; in July of the same year, the “Engineering Technology Research and Development Center” was established, and the directional research and development of axles was officially put on track.
At the beginning of 2000, most of the axles for transporting precision instruments and heavy equipment in China were imported. In order to further break the technology monopoly, Litai Machinery took the transportation of its own equipment as the starting point, conducted in-depth research on various transportation conditions, and carried out targeted research in combination with the concentrated force of goods. It has successively carried out road tests on the transportation of heavy goods such as Litai Machinery’s largest beam-column structure automatic brick press and polishing machine. After six years of repeated experiments and technical demonstrations, Litai Machinery’s axles were officially put into production and passed the authoritative certification of the National Quality Supervision and Inspection Agency in March 2002.
With high product quality, Litai’s LT series axles became a hit as soon as they were launched on the market. In 2004, the daily output of Litai Machinery’s axles increased from 30 pieces at the beginning to 100 pieces at the end of the year, and the annual output exceeded 16,000 pieces. We obtained the first batch of foreign trade business licenses. The products began to be gradually sold to markets such as Southeast Asia, North America, the Middle East and Australia.
In order to better develop professionally, the first shareholders’ meeting of Yonglitai(L1) was held in Foshan in November 2005. On December 1 of the same year, Foshan Yonglitai(L1) Axle Co., Ltd. officially operated independently.
In May 2005, Yonglitai(L1)’s new generation of axles overcame difficulties such as large equipment size and complex road conditions and successfully transported the Litai YP7200 brick press to the 19th China International Ceramic Industry Expo. The brick press exhibited in the exhibition and attracted much attention in the industry.
In the second half of 2005, the competition pattern of the transportation market in Daqing Oilfield suddenly changed, and lightweight axles became the “new favorite” of the market. Safety is the top priority of hazardous chemicals transportation. How to reduce costs while taking into account safety has become a dilemma faced by all trailer axle companies. Yonglitai(L1) took the lead in delivering the answer.
At that time, the brake system specifications of all 13-ton drum brake axles on the market were 420×180mm. Yonglitai(L1) made bold innovations. While fully considering the weight reduction of the axle, it further optimized the core configurations such as the axle tube material and brake linings. Yonglitai(L1) has upgraded the brake system specifications of the 13-ton drum brake axle to 420×220mm, which is only available on the 16-ton drum brake axle.
Yonglitai(L1) named this newly customized lightweight axle for hazardous chemicals tank trucks the LTD14F11 series. Once it was launched, it attracted great attention from the industry and established Yonglitai(L1)’s market position in the field of lightweight axles. The LTD14F11 series became famous, and a leading domestic large-scale transport company took the initiative to extend.
At that time, the vehicles used in Shanghai Port had high load requirements that conventional axles could not meet, so all imported rigid suspensions were used, which were not only expensive but also had unsatisfactory after-sales service.
In early 2006, the transport company sought cooperation with a try-it attitude to jointly explore the localization solution of rigid suspension. After half a year of joint technical research, Yonglitai(L1) rigid suspension was officially launched, which not only broke the overseas technology monopoly in one fell swoop, but also had a compact structure, simple maintenance, strong load-bearing capacity, and was specially customized for the low load-bearing surface and low center of gravity of port terminal transportation vehicles.
Taking the opportunity of solving different transportation scenarios, Yonglitai(L1) has been deeply cultivating the domestic and international markets since 2006 and has continuously explored new technologies and new ways to apply trailer axles. The products cover bogie suspension, rigid suspension and mechanical suspension, and we has accumulated rich experience in the application of German and American axles.
In 2007, in response to the needs of export to the European market, Yonglitai(L1) became one of the first domestic axle brands in the Chinese market to study disc brake air suspension.
In 2010, Yonglitai(L1) successfully developed the first generation of air suspension disc brakes. After years of actual verification in overseas markets, Yonglitai(L1)’s air suspension had completed five generations of product iterations and upgrades before the implementation of the new version of GB7258 in 2017. The products have evolved from the initial improved series, heavy series, and light series to the latest generation of new beam series, achieving more than 30 independent patent technologies, leading the drafting of standards such as DB44 “Technical Conditions for Trailer Air Suspension Assembly”, and constantly leading the innovation of domestic air suspension technology.
With “customization + technology” as the capability base, relying on the vertical integration and efficient coordination capabilities of forging, casting and system solutions, Yonglitai(L1) has worked hard to improve its internal strength and actively seek change. On the one hand, it actively introduces capital to integrate resources, and on the other hand, it strengthens the lean management of the enterprise to improve operating efficiency.
In 2012 and 2013, Yonglitai(L1) won the bid for major national export projects for two consecutive years. It took only one month from receiving the order to completing the installation. In order to complete the mission, Yonglitai(L1) coordinated multiple departments, packing the components and sent special personnel to the site for assembly, and finally successfully completed the delivery.
In 2018, the first self-developed automated production line in the domestic axle industry was built in Yonglitai(L1). The newly invested automated axle tube extrusion line, intelligent step-by-step heat treatment production line and axle tube automatic machining and welding line not only subverted the production process of traditional axles, realized the efficient combination of production processes and online automatic detection, but also effectively connected with ERP, MES and WMS systems in the intelligent transformation four years later, completing the perfect transformation to intelligent manufacturing.
With axle customization as the core, Yonglitai(L1) has now established a full-process service system from design and development, production and manufacturing, testing and verification to after-market maintenance throughout the product life, and has established a rare first-class testing and testing capability in the industry, covering axle fatigue test, axle braking performance test, trailer chassis test bench, spectrum analyzer and other types of testing capabilities, and has reached strategic cooperation with the industry’s mainstream liquid tank trucks, warehouse rail trucks, flatbed trucks, engineering vehicles and other special vehicle leading enterprises to achieve joint development and modular supply.
In 2023, with the official production of Hubei Yonglitai(L1) Factory, Yonglitai(L1) has the ability to independently process all processes from material modification, extrusion molding, heat treatment, machining, surface treatment to assembly, realizing the customized research and development and manufacturing of a full range of wheel hubs, brake drums, axle tubes, etc.
Adhering to the product concept of “Intelligence and Customization in the Axle”, Yonglitai(L1) is one of witness, participant and leader of the Chinese semi-trailer axle industry.
67 years later, Yonglitai(L1) continues to take craftsmanship to create fine products and customization to win a good reputation as our mission, constantly deepening efforts in the three major customization areas of products, working conditions and services, and striving to achieve its corporate vision of becoming “the world leader in trailer running gear systems solution.”
