Tech giants start by disassembling systems

Chapter 44 Professor's Article

In early February, Su Chen received an email from Chen Hongyuan.

The attached document is a preprint of a paper that will soon be published in the Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering.

The title is "Accuracy Verification of Agricultural Drones in Irregular Fields Based on Self-Developed Flight Control Platform".

There are three authors: Chen Hongyuan, Su Chen, and Zhang Lei. Su Chen's name is listed second.

He read it carefully once.

The core content is based on the field test data from the South China Agricultural University seminar, which rigorously verified the spraying accuracy and coverage of the HY-AG route planning algorithm on irregular fields. The conclusion is clear: the spraying uniformity exceeds 95%, and the boundary conformity rate exceeds 98%—far surpassing all commercially available solutions.

The paper concludes by stating, "The flight control platform's adaptability to irregular field conditions provides a feasible technical path for the large-scale application of agricultural drones in the hilly areas of southern China. Industry attention is recommended."

Su Chen stared at the phrase "recommended for industry attention" for a long time. Given Chen Hongyuan's level of expertise, this was a formal endorsement from an academic perspective.

The Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering is one of the most prestigious academic journals in the field of agricultural machinery in China. Once a paper is published, everyone who pays attention to the field of plant protection will see it—including agricultural machinery companies that are currently observing the market.

Su Chen replied with a short thank-you email. Then he opened another message that had been sitting in his inbox for two days—from Liu Gang in Xiangtian.

The title consisted of only four words: "Shipped."

The main text is a picture—ten brand-new HY-AG agricultural drones, wrapped in vinylon, are loaded onto a truck and ready to be dispatched.

Xiangtian's first batch of commercial products has been officially delivered. Ten complete aircraft, all equipped with Hongyuan Flight Control.

The buyers were large-scale growers from Guangxi and Hunan—people who had witnessed the flight demonstration at the seminar.

Su Chen's lips curled up slightly.

The first domino has been set up.

But he didn't wait for word-of-mouth to spread naturally. That would be too slow. He needed to take the initiative.

The next person Su Chen contacted was Shen Yumeng.

"Mr. Shen, I need your help with something. Do you have any contacts in your network of large agricultural input distribution systems in southern China? I need to find a channel partner with a sales network in rural areas."

Shen Yumeng thought for two seconds: "I know someone. Mr. Ding from Toyota Agricultural Supplies. One of the largest agricultural supplies distributors in South China, with over 300 stores covering four provinces. They've been keeping an eye on agricultural drones, but haven't found a suitable product yet."

Three days later, Su Chen sat in the reception room of Toyota Agricultural Supplies' Guangzhou headquarters.

Ding De'an—the founder of Toyota—was fifty-seven years old, with a round face and a stocky build, wearing a white polo shirt with the company logo. Beside him was a young man with glasses, whose notebook was filled with numbers—for finance or procurement.

Ding Dean started directly: "President Su, we've been paying attention to agricultural drones for a long time, but we haven't found a suitable product. DJI is too expensive, and the flight controllers from other smaller manufacturers aren't up to par."

"Mr. Ding, I'm not here to sell machines," Su Chen said. "I'm here to discuss a business model."

He turned on his computer and used graphics to compare the two paths:

DJI's model: Flight controller + hardware are bundled together in a closed system, priced at 2.5 yuan, making it a one-man company that dominates the entire market.

Hongyuan Model: Flight controllers are sold as independent products to N hardware manufacturers, and the N manufacturers work together to support one manufacturer.

"There are hundreds of agricultural machinery factories across the country that can make frames and spray systems, but they can't make flight control systems. We package the flight control system as a modular product, which they buy and install on their own machines, selling them under their own brand. Toyota's role is that of a distribution channel—over 300 stores directly reach farmers."

Ding De'an did not respond immediately. He turned and exchanged a glance with the young man next to him.

"Do you have actual field operation data? I need to see real data."

Su Chen took out a preprint of Chen Hongyuan's paper from his bag.

Ding Dean turned to the first page and saw the author. "Chen Hongyuan? Chen Hongyuan from Huazhong Agricultural University?"

"Yes. The actual measurement data from the day of the seminar."

Ding De'an read the document for ten minutes, then closed it and said, "I trust Professor Chen's name. But I'd like to see the actual object. Could you arrange a live demonstration?"

"You specify the time and location."

"Next Wednesday. There's an experimental field in Qingyuan specifically for testing new agricultural machinery. The conditions are much worse than in a laboratory."

"The worse the conditions, the better."

A hint of interest flashed in Ding De'an's eyes.