Keyson Moment丨Zhongshan manufacturing depends on Xiaolan, and Xiaolan manufacturing depends on lock making

In the past, merchants from the United States, Germany, the Middle East and Southeast Asia were all customers of Xiaolan, and Xiaolan lock cylinders were sold to more than 50 countries and regions. At its peak, more than 70% of the locks in the country were made by Xiaolan, which was known as the “Southern Lock City”.

Although the lock industry is fragmented and has low added value, it is difficult for large-scale enterprises to emerge, but there is no shortage of “hidden champions” in Xiaolan lock companies. They have focused on niche areas for decades and have become industry leaders with hundreds of millions of yuan in revenue from selling just one lock.

For example, Keyson is a provincial manufacturing champion in the field of lock cylinders, with more than 4,000 lock cylinder products, and its models and types are far ahead of the same industry in the world. In the early years, Keyson’s lathes, drilling machines, and cutting tools were all handmade by workers. The technology could not keep up, and the products did not meet the standards of customers. For this reason, Keyson spent several years to automate all production lines. The “big change” of equipment finally made Keyson lock cylinders widely recognized by European merchants, opening the prelude to decades of cooperation. Now, Keyson Company has an annual production of 15 million sets of lock cylinders and 600,000 sets of smart locks, and its products are exported overseas.

At present, the output value of locks in Xiaolan Town has exceeded 10 billion yuan, and it is the “China Lock Export Base”, with lock exports accounting for nearly 30% of the country. The perfect smart lock industry cluster has made Xiaolan the “Huangpu Military Academy” of the national lock industry.