TikTok, Roche Diagnostics, and Chinese Domestic IVD Enterprises

Special Statement: This article aims to present an authentic China and the people on this land who are unremittingly striving to rewrite their destinies. Without any political stance or tendency, it is hoped that this can help global professionals better understand their Chinese counterparts.        

The Spring Festival is approaching. With only one week left until the Chinese New Year, taking advantage of the recent bit of leisure time, I can write the third installment of this column.

Over twenty years ago, when I first entered the workplace, I was full of trepidation and completely confused about my interests. In the first two years after graduating from university, I shuttled between two different industries and experienced three job changes. Looking back now, the Internet and communication industries might have been better choices. However, at that time, I consulted a newly recruited colleague.

He told me, "In this industry, only people come in, and I've never seen anyone leave. Different from those industries in finance that can make you rich overnight, the medical industry is a long - term and promising track. No matter how the national economy fluctuates, people always need to see doctors and get treated."

These words made me deeply feel that the medical industry was quite suitable for me, so I decided to delve into it and grow slowly.

Entering the Medical Field: The Dance of Opportunities and Challenges

My first job was as a field service engineer in the Chinese branch of a well - known American company. I still remember that at that time, the monthly salary of senior engineers at the headquarters in a northern municipality was about 3,000 yuan, while we new employees with no experience had a basic salary of 4,000 yuan. This amount was almost enough to buy one square meter of real estate in Shanghai back then. Such treatment was quite attractive at that time and filled me with anticipation for this job.

The company's training system was extremely rigorous. First, I received a three - week training course at the headquarters, covering knowledge such as equipment principles, circuit structures, and basic maintenance skills, which gave me a preliminary understanding of medical equipment. Then, I participated in a two - week Asia - Pacific regional technical engineer training, further deepening my professional skills, especially focusing on the operation and maintenance of immunodiagnostic equipment. After that, experienced senior engineers led us to practice and take up positions in hospitals, allowing us to continuously accumulate experience in practice. Only after mastering various skills proficiently did, I start my independent visits.

For my first visit, I oversaw the routine maintenance of equipment. The task seemed easy, but the night before, in a hotel in a city in northern Jiangsu, I was as nervous as a student about to enter an exam, studying the maintenance manual for most of the night. Sure enough, during the maintenance process, the cleaning solution had an unexpected situation. Although the impact on the result was unclear, for me, this was undoubtedly a minor but significant accident. However, the attitude of the hospital staff was beyond my expectation. They didn't criticize me too much, which slightly relaxed my tense nerves.

In the following 18 months, due to a shortage of staff, overtime became a common occurrence. Sometimes, while I was still busy in a Shanghai hospital in the afternoon, I suddenly received a notice to rush to another place. At that time, high - speed rail was not yet popular, and railway transportation was very inconvenient. Several times, I bought temporary tickets, departed from Shanghai Railway Station at midnight, and stood in a crowded carriage all night until I arrived at the destination city in the early morning. The most memorable time was when I arrived at a small city 600 kilometers away from Shanghai at 3:30 am. The duty teacher, seeing my exhaustion, kindly advised me to rest first, but I declined.

There were two reasons for this. On the one hand, due to the punishment of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the company could only carry out direct sales business in China. Years later, I learned at an international conference that a Nordic company's pathology business in Italy had two different models. The areas including and north of Rome adopted a direct - sales model, while the areas south of Rome, all the way to Sicily, relied on agents.

At that time, it was extremely difficult for us to sell a chemiluminescence instrument. Roche and other foreign companies, with their strong brand influence, advanced technology, and excellent quality, often achieved sales results ten times or more than ours through their mature agent systems. In such a severe situation, providing good after - sales service was crucial for winning customer reputation. The sales side was under great pressure, and the after - sales department had to go all out to make up for the shortfall in sales with high - quality service, just like the rear - echelon fully guaranteeing the supply of materials to the front - line in a war.

On the other hand, putting myself in others' shoes, my accommodation standard for business trips was 300 yuan per night. This budget could afford a three - star hotel. However, in many areas where chemiluminescence testing had just been launched, once the hospital equipment malfunctioned, it would cause delays in patient diagnosis and treatment. Those rural patients who came from other places to seek medical treatment mostly chose guesthouses that cost only 20 yuan per night. For them, every extra day of waiting meant an additional significant expense. Thinking of this, how could I bear to let them bear more burdens? Repairing the equipment as soon as possible could not only help the customers but also relieve the burden on the patients.

This was my bounden duty as an engineer.

破界?共生：IVD 行业的全球竞合之路

TikTok 罗氏诊断 以及中国本土的 IVD 企业们

特别声明：本文意在展现一个真实的中国，以及这片土地上为改写命运而不懈拼搏的人们。文中不掺杂任何政治立场与倾向性，期望借此助力全球职场人士深入了解他们的中国伙伴。        

新春佳节将至，距离春节仅一周时间，趁着近来稍有闲暇，我得以续写第三个专栏文章。

二十多年前，初入职场的我满怀忐忑，对自身兴趣所在一片迷茫。大学毕业的头两年，我辗转于两个不同行业，历经三次工作变动。如今回望，互联网和通讯行业或许是更优之选，但彼时，我向一位新入职的同事请教。他告知我：“这行业，只有往里进的人，从没见谁出去过。与金融那些能一夜暴富的行业不同，医疗行业是长坡厚雪的赛道，无论国家经济如何起伏，人总得看病就医。” 这番话令我深感医疗行业与自己颇为契合，便决心在此深耕，慢慢成长。

初入医海：机遇与挑战共舞

我的首份工作是在美国一家知名公司的中国分公司担任维修工程师（field service engineer）。犹记得当时，总部位于北方某直辖市的资深工程师月薪约三千元，而我们这些毫无经验的新入职员工，基本工资竟有四千块，这笔钱在当年差不多能购置上海一平方米的房产。这般待遇在当时颇具吸引力，也让我对这份工作满怀憧憬。

公司的培训体系极为严谨。先是在总部接受为期三周的培训，课程内容涵盖设备原理、电路结构、基础维修技巧等知识，让我对医疗设备有了初步认知。紧接着，参加亚太区技术工程师培训，为期两周，进一步深化专业技能，重点涉及免疫诊断设备的操作与维护要点等。此后，由经验丰富的老工程师带领我们深入医院实地实习上岗，让我们在实践中不断积累经验，直至熟练掌握各项技能后，才开启独立出访之旅。

首次出访，我负责常规设备的保养维护工作，任务看似轻松简单，可前一晚，身处江苏北部某城市酒店的我，紧张得如同即将踏入考场的学生，捧着维护手册研读了大半夜。果不其然，在保养过程中，清洗液突发状况，虽说对最终结果的影响尚不明确，但对我而言，这无疑是一场不大不小的事故。然而，医院工作人员的态度却出乎我的意料，他们并未对我过多苛责，这让我紧绷的神经稍稍放松了些。

在随后的 18 个月里，由于人手紧张，加班成了家常便饭。有时下午还在上海的医院忙碌，突然就接到通知要奔赴外地。那时高铁尚未普及，铁路交通极为不便，好几次我买到临时车票，半夜从上海站出发，在拥挤的车厢中站立一整晚，直至凌晨才抵达目的地城市。印象最深的一次，凌晨三点半才抵达距离上海六百公里的一座小城市，值班老师见我疲惫不堪，好心劝我先休息，我却婉言谢绝。

这其中有两个缘由。一方面，公司因受美国反海外贿赂法 FCPA 的惩处，只能在中国开展直销业务。多年后，我在国际会议上了解到，一家北欧企业在意大利的病理业务布局，罗马及以北区域采用直销模式，以南则依靠代理商拓展业务。当时，我们销售一台化学发光仪器的难度极大，而罗氏等外企凭借其强大的品牌影响力、先进的技术和过硬的质量优势，通过成熟的代理商系统，其销售成果往往是我们的十倍以上。在这种严峻形势下，做好售后服务对于赢得客户口碑至关重要。销售端承受着巨大压力，售后部门必须全力以赴，以优质服务弥补销售的不足，恰似战争中后方全力保障前方物资供应一般。

另一方面，将心比心，我出差的住宿标准为每晚三百元，这样的预算能入住一家三星级酒店。但在不少刚刚开展化学发光检测的地区，医院设备一旦出现故障，就会导致病人诊疗延迟。那些从外地赶来就医的农村病人，大多选择每晚仅二十元的招待所，对他们而言，每多等待一天，便意味着增添一笔不小的开支。想到这些，我又怎能忍心让他们承受更多的负担？尽快修复好设备，既能助力客户，又能为病患减轻负担，这是我作为工程师义不容辞的责任。