[Reporter: Du Lin, STEP] Ji Defa, a 1986 graduate with a master’s degree from Shandong University’s School of Control, is the chairman of the Shandong University Shanghai Alumni Entrepreneur Club. He is also the founder of STEP, a global hidden champion in elevator control systems and a leading Chinese enterprise in intelligent manufacturing.

Jinan and Shandong University are places that Ji Defa will never forget and for which he feels deeply grateful. Ji Defa often says that it was his university education that truly opened his eyes to the world. Although many years have passed since he left Jinan, Ji Defa, now an alumnus, still fondly remembers his time studying there—on the STEP Expert Building, there’s a clear spring bubbling forth; that’s the Baotu Spring, which has been constantly in Ji Defa’s heart. Among the STEP staff, more than 50 Shandong University alumni have had the chance to meet Ji Defa, and they affectionately call him “Senior Brother.”

Upon receiving the notification about the Shandong University alumni event in Jinan, Ji Defa felt deeply moved. “Jinan was the place where I received my higher education years ago. Although I’ve been away from Jinan for many years, I’ve always kept a close eye on Jinan’s and Shandong’s development. In recent years, Shandong has been steadily stepping up its efforts to pursue high-quality development, and Jinan’s development momentum has also been very promising. As a Shandong University graduate, it is both our responsibility and our duty to remember where we came from and to give back to our alma mater. Xindat will actively respond to our alma mater’s strategy of serving Shandong, and contribute our part to elevating the level of intelligent manufacturing in both Jinan and Shandong.”

Since starting his entrepreneurial journey in 1995, Ji Defa has placed great emphasis on technological R&D, adhering to the strategy of "benchmarking against imports and surpassing them." As a result, STEP, which has been steadily advancing on the path of import substitution, has consistently remained at the forefront of technology and positioned itself at the high end of the market. From the very beginning of its establishment, STEP chose to focus on the development of elevator control systems. Consciously adopting the CAN bus communication protocol—then still cutting-edge and exclusively used in the automotive industry—Ji Defa creatively addressed the longstanding challenges of difficult and time-consuming elevator control system debugging. Thanks to this innovative approach, STEP quickly gained recognition from the global “Big Four” elevator manufacturers—ThyssenKrupp, Otis, Schindler, and KONE—and its systems began to be widely adopted around the world. With its technologically advanced solutions, sound management practices, and the rapid growth of China’s real estate market, STEP’s performance soared, enabling it to become a publicly listed company in 2010.

Today, STEPeng has become the hidden champion in the global elevator control systems market. After its IPO in 2010, Ji Defa clearly recognized that it would be difficult for a company to grow and thrive by relying solely on a single industry. Thus, he initiated a strategic transformation, shifting the company’s focus toward robotics and intelligent manufacturing—fields closely related to elevator control systems in terms of technology. In fact, this move came five years ahead of the central government’s “Made in China 2025” national strategy proposed in 2015, enabling STEPeng once again to seize an early market advantage. From building an independently R&D team to pursuing strategic capital acquisitions, Ji Defa has consistently upheld the high standard of putting technology first. After ten years of relentless effort, STEPeng has now emerged as a standout player in the robotics and intelligent manufacturing sectors: it ranks tenth in China’s robot market share, making it the top domestic manufacturer; and in the SCARA robot segment, it holds the third-largest global market share, also ranking first among domestic brands.

In gratitude for the nurturing he received from his alma mater and the city of Quancheng, Ji Defa has consistently demonstrated his support for Shandong University and Shandong Province through concrete actions. Ji Defa has made numerous donations to Shandong University, selflessly supporting the development of its control science discipline as well as the construction of its Qingdao campus. In 2019, on the occasion of Shandong University’s 120th anniversary, Ji Defa once again donated 10 million yuan to the university. President Fan Liming commented that alumnus Ji Defa is not only an entrepreneur endowed with humanistic concern and a spirit of innovation, but also an outstanding representative of the 600,000 Shandong University alumni. In him, we see the Shandong University ethos of “pursuing truth and embracing innovation” and the profound sense of responsibility toward family, country, and the world.

STEP has contributed its expertise to the development of Shandong Province. At enterprises such as Qingdao Jianqiu, Yantai Linglong, Qingdao Haier, Jinan Meide, and Binzhou Yuyang, STEP product lineup—including elevator control systems, variable-frequency drives, servos, and robots—is widely deployed. Among these, at Qingdao Haier Jiaozhou Factory, which is hailed as an “Industry 4.0 Lighthouse Factory,” the intelligent manufacturing production line for air-conditioner baseplates—delivered by STEP robots this year—represents Haier’s first domestically produced robotic assembly line, thereby further endorsing the STEP robotics brand.

Looking ahead, Shandong—a province committed to high-quality development—sees a continuously growing demand for intelligent manufacturing. The aging population and labor shortages will push intelligent manufacturing into deeper waters. An increasing number of manufacturing enterprises are facing the transition from manual operations to automation, and from sporadic robot usage to full-scale implementation of intelligent manufacturing. This transformation calls for cross-sector technological integration and even more importantly, collaborative efforts across multiple industries. Ji Defa stated that STEP will contribute its part to intelligent manufacturing in Jinan and throughout Shandong Province, and he is full of anticipation for Jinan’s future development. (Editor: Han Luying)

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