At the mention of bean products, one might think of the traditional manual production modes. However, with the development of times, advanced automatic assembly lines have played an important role in bean products production. Shanghai Hankang Bean Food Co., Ltd. is a pioneer in this field. After 30 years of development, it has transformed the traditional experience-based operation mode for bean products and been awarded the Quality Innovation Award of the 2019 Baoshan 3rd Government Quality Award.

Entering into the plants of Hankang, one would notice that all automatic production lines were in full operation. The bean curd sheet production line can process 400kg bean curd sheet every hour and all the sheets are of the same quality as produced by automatic machines.

Spreading and airing are the key procedures affecting the quality of bean curd sheets. Before the introduction of this automatic production line, a skilled worker with at least one-year experience is required for spreading. But this still cannot guarantee the 100% yield of each sheet. Manager of the Hankang Production Department said, “If spreading is not well performed, there will be wrinkles at two ends of soybean milk and cloth, which is apt to produce an inferior-quality product. But this automatic mechanical arm is stable in spreading and the two ends can be fixed, thus greatly reducing the ratio of producing an inferior-quality product.”

In cooling and airing, the machines have replaced the previous manual hanging procedure. The cooling and airing time for bean curd sheets can be controlled at 20 minutes by the microcomputer and the cooling effect is accurate and controllable, thus reducing the defective percentage from 13% to 5%. The manager of the Hankang Production Department said, “As the variable factors affecting product quality are controlled, the process management can be guaranteed and the quality of our products can meet the expected goal. In this way, all our products are qualified and of the same standards and customers can enjoy them at ease.”

The bean curd sheet production is only a miniature of Hankang innovating technologies and improving product quality. Currently, it mainly produces some 120 products of 3 categories -- bean products, bean starch products and gluten products. Innovation and exploration have been integrated in the production and processing of each product.

In recent years, Hankang’s science innovation programs have changed the experience-based operation mode of this traditional industry and Hankang has realized the mechanical, standard and scientific management to ensure product quality and promote the industry development. In particular, the “unpowered bean curd heating and cooling glide sink” has been promoted in the whole industry; the “intelligent soybean soaking system” has filled the gap in this filed in China; and the “reclaimed water reuse” has effectively save water resource. Hankang President Zhou Hankang said, “We’ve adopted intelligent manufacturing concept in hardware and strengthened the efforts on standard and mechanical production to stabilize the quality of our products without the influence of personal factors. With regard to the software, we’ve cooperated with other units and joined hands with colleges and universities to carry out research and development. And we’ve recruited many graduates and postgraduates, intensified the independent innovation, and continued the research and development in every link to energize our company.”

Due to the continuous innovation in technologies and products and tenet of regarding quality as the lifeblood, Hankang has developed and expanded since its establishment in 1991. As one of the enterprises in the “Shanghai Shopping Basket Program”, Hankang has sold its products to all markets and supermarkets in Shanghai and the duet preparation centers of many enterprises and schools, and opened over 500 shops in the standard food markets in Shanghai. Its sales volume has ranked among the top 3 in the Shanghai bean products industry for three consecutive years. Besides, “Hankang” has been rated the “Shanghai Famous Brand”; its feature bean products have become the “Shanghai Brand Products”; and it has been cited the Shanghai Hi-tech Enterprise, the “China Famous Business Brand”, and the “Top 20 China Bean Products Enterprises”. “Quality is the eternal theme of a company. We regard quality as the lifeblood of our company and believe that only by guaranteeing the quality can we gain trust from the public and can the public enjoy safe products.” said Zhou Hankang.