KAIAO is Celebrating Its 20th Anniversary

SHENZHEN, December 26, 2014 (Newswire.com) - On December 29th, we are celebrating our 20th anniversary. I spent quality time thinking about what forces have shaped KAIAO into what it is today.

After working for six years as an engineer in government material research service, I was recruited to KAIAO as technical advisers. That was 1995 and KAIAO was still named YINHUA. It didn’t change name until 2009 when I took over. 

Back in the 1990s, most products were still designed in 2D and prototypes were machined and fabricated largely by hand. We made some halting steps to modernize, including, eventually, a three axis milling machine and CAM software.

One day in 1997 I got a call from the municipal science and technology department office at Shenzhen. “Congratulations on the enrollment of national key project plans” the sectary announced, “We are helping you introduce Stereolithography”.

I’ve heard a little bit about this technology before. I did some research on its working principle and costs. Thanks to government support, we managed to bring in our first 3D System machine in the next spring.

While novel, the early machines were slow and limited to material options. But the biggest barrier was not many customers were able to provide 3D digital files to us to make prototypes because they were using 2D CAD! To conquer that barrier, I started surveying people I knew in industry. They suggested CADKEY, a capable 3D wire-frame modeler that ran well on PC. That software cost us a big fortune. But it turned out worthy.

In 1998 we debut our laser printed automobile engine cylinder at the Second China International Exhibition on Die & Mould Technology and Equipment, causing a sensation in nationwide, which conjured some high qualification certification in subsequent two years.

With such a background in novel manufacturing, we soon gripped upon many more things that hadn’t been tried on CNC machine before, like complex coring and multi-shot tools, thin-walled enclosures, to name a few.

Like most business start-ups, we’ve been through ruffles. The most critical moment fell upon 2008 when deviance happened between shareholders, causing huge capital turmoil and personnel changes. In 2009 Aug., YINHUA Molding was official changed into KAIAO RPRT.(Rapid Prototyping and Rapid Tooling), turning a new page.

In the next five years, we’ve sailed with the wind. What forces have shaped KAIAO into what it is today? I believed there are three of them. There was the best timing. Our group was established on the edge of China’s first “Five-Year Plan” launched by the highest leadership, so the government support was very strong. Simultaneously SLA technology was springing up, providing us the chance to stand out. By ourselves, we have built up a benign corporate culture. There might be other reasons that haven’t occurred to me yet, but all in all, we feel so grateful to be blessed all the way. 21st, here we come!