On December 11, 2012, the symposium themed Management beyond Business Schools: Integration of Management with Mechanical Engineering was held at Tsinghua SEM, jointly hosted by Tsinghua School of Economics and Management (SEM) and School of Mechanical Engineering (SME),.

Professor QIAN Yingyi, Dean of SEM, and Professor YOU Zheng, Dean of SME, delivered opening speeches respectively. Professor GAO Jian, Associate Dean of SEM, presided over the symposium.

Professor QIAN Yingyi, Dean of SEM

 Professor YOU Zheng, Dean of SME

The first panel discussed revitalization of China's manufacturing industry. Panelists included Professor YOU Zheng, Professor LIU Liwen, from the Department of Management Science and Engineering, Tsinghua SEM, and Mr. GUAN Xiyou, Chairman of the Board of Shenyang Machine Tool (Group) Co., Ltd. Professor YOU delivered a speech under the title of Seizing the Opportunity and Following the Trend of Development to introduce the Micro-nano mechanical manufacturing and the development of micro-nano mechanic. He pointed out that these cutting-edge technologies all face the problem of management. Professor LIU believed that, manufacturing is the core of our national competitiveness, and lean management can promote the efficiency of wealth creation, therefore we should combine manufacturing with management through integration of industrialization and informatization, and explore a novel way with Chinese characteristics. Mr. GUAN traced back the revitalization of China's machine tool industry and forecasted the future trend of the world machine tool industry. He argued that traditional manufacturing industry should meet the challenges of higher demand of consumers, intensified competition of internationalization and homogenization and the era of low profit margins by transforming traditional manufacturing industry into modern industrial services.

The second panel concerned international competitiveness of the manufacturing industry. JU Jiandong, Professor of Economics from Tsinghua SEM and director of the International Economics Research Center, RONG Yiming, distinguished professor of the Thousand Talents Program in the Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanology and director of Manufacturing Engineering Institute and Academic Committee, and ZHU Wenkui, general manager of Sanyi Heavy Machinery Co. Ltd. took part in the discussion. JU Jiandong said that China has grown into a power house from a small trading nation and the opening-up of China has stepped into a new period. To achieve the goal of promoting domestic economic growth and structural adjustment and establishing a new international economic system, a China-dominated East Asian economic alliance should be built so as to form a tripartite framework of the world economy among North America, EU and East Asia and consequently a new international economic landscape. Also, a Chinese manufacturing market should be formed, dominated by Chinese enterprises, Chinese products, Chinese technologies and Chinese standards. RONG Yiming argued that engineering education is facing huge challenges, because engineering is developing in the scientific and innovative (management) direction and the diversity of social demands for professionals provides unlimited opportunities for engineers. Using Sanyi as an example, ZHU Wenkui believed that, in order to improve the international competitiveness of China's manufacturing industry, firms need to formulate well-planned global strategy, reinforce local market competitiveness, enhance innovation capabilities, cultivate international talents, balance the relationship between risks and opportunities and foster world-class Chinese brands.

The last panel focused on upgrading the manufacturing industry by service and design innovations.  The two discussants were WU Guisheng, Professor of Management from SEM and director of the Technology Innovation Research Center, and JI Linhong, Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Precision Instruments and Mechanology. WU Guisheng analyzed the necessity and possibility of using services to enhance manufacturing. He emphasized the importance of outsourcing services to others, as well as developing our own services, improving research and development abilities and design abilities, and developing services for others to provide more value to customers. JI Linhong thought that the knacks of a successful design lie in  mastering market trend and technology frontiers, optimizing decision-making, adopting unique perspectives and choosing an appropriate technology development route.