Pan Zhuonan, general manager of Seewill Intelligent Technology Co Ltd, had just finished an internal meeting in the new office building at the company's innovation industrial park in Zhongshan's Nantou Town on May 7. It was the post-95s' fourth year back at the family business founded by his father's generation. Before that, he had worked as a consultant in a multinational company.

The years 2023 and 2024 were a critical window for Pan's internal overhaul. With a finance degree from the University of Melbourne, he flattened the management hierarchy and streamlined the organizational structure after taking the helm, bringing in a more dynamic team to drive reform. The original supply chain was also reshaped, with a new screening mechanism built around services and value.

Pan forged a deep partnership with a design firm in Tokyo, giving the company's product aesthetics a youth-oriented upgrade. The product range has also been broadened, with kitchen appliances now accounting for nearly 30 percent of total production and sales.

The entire factory now runs on paperless operations and process-driven management, while the workshops have been automated and digitized to keep operations lean. Pan is also planning to launch an in-house brand, transitioning the company from a mere manufacturer to a brand operator.

This year, facing a complex international trade landscape, raw material price volatility and fierce competition in the home appliance market, Pan has chosen not to engage in a price war. Instead, he aims to transform this legacy factory into a "small but refined" model powered by both hardware and software.