We recently analyzed why many newly hired employees at New Hongji resign within the first month. The top two reasons stood out: the work pace is too fast and the processes are too complicated. This made me reflect: Are we falling behind the times, or are we simply aligned with them? Is a fast work pace a strength or a weakness? Do high process standards help or hinder production management?

If we were to hold a forum on this topic, I believe both sides of the debate could argue from morning to night without reaching a consensus. But after 30 years of entrepreneurship, I’ve developed my own perspective on the balance between “fast” and “slow,” which I continue to implement and refine in our daily operations. Today, I’d like to share my thoughts on the art of “fast” and “slow” in the workplace.

A Hiring Story That Reflects My Belief

In interviews for CNC programming engineers, I always ask one key question:
“What’s the biggest difference between a programmer earning 20,000 RMB per month and one earning 8,000?”

Most candidates focus on tool path selection, cutting time, or programming speed. If that’s their answer, I won’t hire them. But if someone replies, “It’s the stability of the program and the ability to get it right the first time,” I immediately give them a thumbs up—and a job offer.

At New Hongji, we don’t prioritize cutting time or programming speed. We want thorough, stable, and right-the-first-time programs. That’s what defines a top-tier programmer.

Some may ask why. Let me take you back to September, when I visited Europe to study automated manufacturing. Our FMS flexible production line had been in operation for nearly a year, but we were struggling to hit our 75% OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) target—reaching just 65% felt exhausting. So I traveled to Finland and Germany with Vice General Manager Chen and our colleague Wang Lei, to understand how Kanfu factories achieve 92% OEE and to learn about the automation philosophy of our line supplier, Fastems.

In just four days, I had a breakthrough realization about automation: continuous production only works when everything is calculated and prepared in advance.

Even 2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War emphasized this in the chapter “Waging War”:

“Those who win make many calculations before the battle; those who lose make but few. Thus, most planning leads to victory, and little planning leads to defeat. How much more so with no planning at all!”

This wisdom struck me hard. “Fast” without planning leads to failure. “Slow,” which appears time-consuming due to extensive planning and calculating, is actually what secures victory. That’s what we got wrong with our automation line: we chased speed—fast process decisions, fast programming, fast machine setup, fast output. It looked fast on the surface, but lacked the most crucial element: success probability.

Without thorough planning, post-launch problems pile up, turning all that early “fast” into endless delays. At Fastems, their engineers stressed this principle: Let problems occur before machine setup. Once the part hits the machine, there must be zero issues.

After returning to China, Wang Lei and I restructured our automation process. We turned the “fast” pre-production into “slow” preparation: holding technical reviews, carefully evaluating process plans, programs, tool paths, and fixturing strategies. Programming engineers were assigned to live machine tests, and trial cuts became an integral part of the production schedule. The result? In just over a month, our OEE easily exceeded 75%.

Quality Front-Loading

Another strong example is our five-year effort to shift quality control to the front-end. For any precision machining company, the biggest headache is discovering out-of-tolerance products or receiving customer rejections just before shipment.

But how could that happen when we already had good processes: first-piece inspections, in-process checks, and full dimension checks before surface treatment? The truth is, quality should be controlled upfront—not caught at the end.

That’s why we implemented “Quality Front-Loading,” which mirrors the DFMA (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly) methodology. At New Hongji, this means placing more quality resources at the earliest stages. For example, during DFM, we thoroughly discuss measurement tools, methods, and details with customers. We write detailed inspection SOPs, build full traceability records for each part, and treat every corrective or preventive action seriously.

We face quality issues directly and invest heavily in frontline resources—people, materials, and systems—to eliminate defects before they grow. This might seem exhausting, but the results speak volumes: our in-warehouse product acceptance rate rose from 94.85% five years ago to 99.95% today—an outstanding improvement!

Think Before You Act

I believe deeply in the philosophy of planning before action. In company management and production, I prioritize thinking, planning, and process design over rushing in. I’d rather spend 60% of the time on preparation to ensure the remaining 40%—execution—is flawless, controlled, and meets expectations.

You can see this mindset throughout New Hongji’s operations. In work—and even in life—“slow” doesn’t always mean inefficient, and “fast” doesn’t always mean effective. Mastering the rhythm and art of speed versus slowness may take a lifetime to perfect.

In the past 40 years of reform and opening-up, China transformed from a planned to a market economy through hard work and ingenuity. We succeeded by leveraging speed. But in today’s internet era, pure speed is no longer enough to win. Instead, “craftsmanship” and the value of doing things slowly and meticulously are making a comeback.

As the old saying goes, “Sharpening the axe will not delay the job of cutting firewood.” Only by mastering the art of slowness can we truly achieve speed and excellence.

May you all learn the balance between fast and slow in your work, find your rhythm, and compose a wonderful life with both high-speed breakthroughs and steady progress.

Li Jian