[Servo and Motion Control Magazine] STEP is an outstanding enterprise that has expanded from the elevator control industry into the fields of intelligent drive control, robotics, and smart manufacturing. As the founder and president of the company, Ji Defa, who is nearing seventy years old, remains a key leader within the group. He describes STEP development in the industrial automation sector as the company’s “second” entrepreneurial journey. As it embarks on this new chapter, despite ever-changing markets and rapidly advancing technology, STEP unwavering commitment to product and technology R&D has remained unchanged. In particular, regarding the group’s internal motion control business segment, after a period of integration, Gathering around its core brand “STEP (STEP)” and its subsidiary brands—including “Xinglinna,” “Zhongweixing,” and “Zhi Shan Zhikong”—a brand-new “STEP” is rising in China’s motion control industry, striving to become a significant force in the sector.

Ji Defa, Founder and President of Shanghai STEP Electric Co., Ltd.

01 Inheriting the “gene” of automation

Ji Defa, a graduate of Shandong University, seized the opportunity during the wave of quality-enhancing reforms sweeping China’s elevator industry in the early 1990s and founded the company STEP. Starting with the retrofitting of older elevator technologies, the company has steadily grown to become a leading player in China’s elevator control industry. The elevator control systems produced by STEP have consistently been at the forefront of the industry in terms of innovative technology. Several independently developed elevator safety control technologies pioneered by STEP have become industry benchmarks, making outstanding contributions to the development of China’s elevator industry.

While achieving these results, In 2012, seizing the opportunity presented by China’s manufacturing sector transformation and upgrade, STEP quickly entered the industrial robotics and intelligent manufacturing markets. Speaking about the company’s original decision, Ji Defa said: “Development is the top priority for any enterprise. My undergraduate major was automation, and during my graduate studies, my research focused on modern control theory and its applications—covering a wide range of fields, including elevator control, robotics, and Internet of Things/IoT technologies. STEP has already invested years of deep expertise and accumulated substantial experience in the development of automation technologies. In fact, automation is STEP’s most fundamental ‘genetic code.’ Moreover, robotics, as an electromechanical integration product within the realm of automation, is something we’ve long been thoroughly familiar with. Therefore, given the right conditions—namely, industry relevance, market demand, and strong technological capabilities—we naturally entered the industrial robotics market. It’s inevitable that we’ll embark on a new round of entrepreneurship in the field of intelligent manufacturing.”

In fact, STEP is one of the earliest local companies to enter the robotics manufacturing sector. However, in recent years, China’s sustained rapid economic growth has sparked a boom in the robotics industry. STEP also encountered some setbacks along the way, resulting in substantial investments in robotics without achieving profitability.

Calmly reflecting, Ji Defa conducted an in-depth analysis of the future development of STEP Robotics. He found that, with the rapid evolution of the domestic market in recent years, users’ demand characteristics have undergone significant changes. In the past, supply was insufficient, and the primary focus was on meeting demand; but now, As we enter a stage where supply exceeds demand, meeting basic needs is no longer the primary focus. Only products that offer high quality, high reliability, and high value can gain a foothold in the market.

Looking back on our entrepreneurial journey in the elevator industry, it was precisely because STEP chose the distinctive path of independent R&D—providing the market with safe, high-quality, and reliable controller products—that we’ve been able to contribute to the vigorous development of China’s elevator industry today and support the growth of China’s real estate market. Now, nowadays, Facing the emerging robotics market, Ji Defa’s goal is equally clear—to fully leverage STEP’ inherent automation “genes,” strengthen its core technological foundation, and forge a path that firmly embraces innovation. “We’ve already achieved success in the elevator industry, but there’s still a long way to go in the industrial automation sector. That’s why we internally refer to the company’s development in the industrial automation industry as a ‘second’ entrepreneurial journey. In this process, STEP must truly strengthen and expand itself through technological innovation,” he said.

02 Integrated Development of High-Quality Operations and Control

Extending from elevator control to智能制造 fields such as robotics and intelligent production lines, this expansion poses new challenges for STEP in the development of automation technologies. In particular, motion control technology—directly impacting the speed, positioning accuracy, and torque control capabilities of robots and intelligent manufacturing equipment—requires in-depth research if we are to achieve high-quality, highly reliable system performance. To this end, after successfully listing on the SME Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2010, STEP has undertaken a series of capital transactions, acquiring companies such as Shenzhen Zhongweixing Technology Co., Ltd. and Hangzhou Zhi Shan Intelligent Control Technology Co., Ltd., thereby gradually completing its strategic layout in the motion control industry.

Gide Law stated: Servo drive and motion control technologies play a crucial role in modern manufacturing, and these areas themselves represent a key focus for STEP R&D efforts. As a key component of robotic systems, motion control takes ‘position’ as its primary control objective, requiring the system to quickly execute specified motions and reach a predetermined target position. From a mathematical modeling perspective, a motion control system adds an additional position loop compared to conventional transmission control systems, making it technically more complex and involving a greater number of variable parameters. Consequently, the development of the entire software architecture is significantly more challenging. Only those with a strong foundation in mathematics and modern control theory can create truly sophisticated and highly refined motion-control products. For robots, in addition to position control, coordinated control in dynamics and kinematics is also required, further increasing the level of difficulty. No matter how you look at it—whether it’s elevators, motion control systems, or robots—they all rely heavily on mathematics, automatic control theory, modern control theory, and computer control technology.

The newly established STEP Transportation Control Division takes “STEP (STEP)” as its core leading brand. Its subsidiary brands—“Xinglinna,” “Zhongweixing,” and “ZhiShan Zhikong”—are respectively responsible for the business operations and market expansion of different product lines. STEP Headquarters is a well-known domestic brand in intelligent control and a leading enterprise offering comprehensive smart manufacturing solutions. Zhongweixing is an outstanding domestic provider of motion control solutions, and its SCARA robots—designed for applications such as electronic product assembly—enjoy a relatively clear competitive edge in the market. ZhiShan Zhikong, on the other hand, focuses exclusively on the R&D of fully digital, intelligent servo technology, with the capability to provide tailored, customized motion control solutions for smart factories and intelligent equipment. The synergy of these strong players is poised to deliver premium-quality products. STEP development goal for its motion control business segment is to gradually establish “STEP (STEP)” as one of the top-tier brands in China’s motion control industry by achieving seamless integration among its core brand and various sub-brands. At this stage, by leveraging the complementary strengths of each brand, STEP continues to pursue excellence in quality across multiple areas—including algorithms, software, mechanics, and electrical systems. On the one hand, this ensures robust technological support for the Group’s other businesses, such as robotics and intelligent production lines; on the other hand, it opens up new avenues for business growth in the vast industrial automation market.

03 Step by step, dreams come true

In the blink of an eye, STEP has already journeyed through 25 years of development—from a small company initially housed in an ordinary residential building, gradually growing to become the top tax-paying industrial enterprise in Jiading District, Shanghai, and later successfully going public. Ji Defa has served as Chairman of the Federation of Industry and Commerce in Jiading District and Vice President of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, among other positions. As a result, the company’s value has earned wide recognition from society. Looking back on his journey, Ji Defa, as the founder of the company, has gained a profound insight: STEP success has been built step by step. A company’s development must be fueled by dreams—but merely dreaming without taking action will never lead to success. If you hold dreams and at the same time remain down-to-earth and take concrete steps toward realizing them, you might just find yourself with a chance of achieving success. Step by step, dreams come true—step by step, dreams become reality! —This is precisely a summary of STEP development and also the core embodiment of the company’s spirit.

China is already recognized worldwide as a major manufacturing power. However, due to insufficient innovation capabilities and manufacturing methods that remain at a relatively low level, it cannot yet be considered a true manufacturing powerhouse. Realizing the “Chinese Manufacturing Dream” of becoming a global manufacturing superpower is a shared aspiration of all industry professionals. Standing at a new starting point, STEP is also given a fresh vision and grand blueprint for its own corporate development.

Drawing on the severe impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the overall industrial chain in the first half of this year, Ji Defa has come to recognize even more urgently the need for manufacturing to undergo transformation and upgrading. “The globally spreading pandemic is both a disaster and a war, prompting people to reflect deeply. In today’s context of an integrated global industrial chain, the role of human beings in every stage of production and distribution remains critically important. By leveraging emerging technologies such as big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and smart manufacturing, we can gradually reduce our reliance on human labor, ensure the resilience of the industrial chain, and steer manufacturing toward higher-end, higher-quality development—a trend that is here to stay. Human society is rapidly moving toward digitalization, networking, and intelligentization, and under this trend, STEP—representing the integration of these ‘three transformations’—will undoubtedly move forward with unwavering determination,” said Ji Defa.

In the “318 Corporate Development Strategy” recently outlined by STEP, the group has positioned its future development as a leading supplier of core products and comprehensive solutions in the specialized field of intelligent drive control. In particular, the group places high expectations on the motion control segment. Aligned with the group’s unified goals, the STEP Motion Control division will remain committed to innovating servo drive and control technologies, combining vertical industry applications with parallel market operations. To bring an exceptional quality experience and cutting-edge solutions to the industrial automation market, and to establish “Xin Shida (STEP)” as a renowned domestic brand in intelligent control and drive systems.

Email:
market@stepelectric.com

Address:
No. 1560, Siyi Road, Jiading District, Shanghai Municipality