Comen: Hard work, innovation behind success

A big company with over 3,000 employees around the globe and an output value of nearly 2 billion yuan (US$282.65 million), Comen’s success lies in the hard work and innovation of its people, according to Yi Mingsheng, president of the company.

From a small workshop with several employees to a big company with over 3,000 employees around the globe and an output value of nearly 2 billion yuan (US$282.65 million), Comen’s success lies in the hard work and innovation of its people, according to Yi Mingsheng, president of the company.

Yi Mingsheng gives a thumbs-up in the office building of Comen in Guangming District.

Comen, a medical device manufacturer founded in Shenzhen in 2002, is headquartered in Guangming District. Its products are sold to over 190 countries worldwide, with over 40 branches set up. Comen is one of the few Chinese firms to possess comprehensive core technologies in manufacturing monitors and medical diagnostic products.

Pioneer of special-use monitors

When talking about the company’s success, Yi mentioned two key words – hard work and innovation. He joined the company in 2004, starting from the bottom as a salesman and worked his way up to an executive.

Employees work in the factory of Comen.

“First, our people have been working really hard, including our founder Yi Yong who came from a rural area. Most of our senior executives have a rural background and they all started as frontline employees. We cherish every opportunity, so I think the top element for our success is hard work,” Yi said.

The company started as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and is now taking the lead in its field nationally and internationally.

“Medical devices are high technology. In the beginning, we had limited resources including manpower, capital and technology, so we started from OEM. We did product processing, we imitated others, but later we kept innovating and now, many of our products are leading the world, which can be attributed to our innovation,” Yi said.

Yi Mingsheng communicates with an employee.

“When we worked as an OEM, we needed to compete on the price. Later, we found that there were many OEM companies in this field so it was hard to survive. Our first innovation — the creation of special-use monitors — is key to our success,” Yi said.

In the past, there were only general-use monitors in the market, so the company innovated and created the neonatal monitor. From there, they started manufacturing special-use monitors such as emergency and transport patient monitors, specialized cardiovascular monitors, and specialized fetal and maternal monitors. “We are the first in the world to produce special-use monitors,” Yi proudly said.

A scene of the exhibition hall of Comen.

Comen started its research and development (R&D) on special-use monitors in 2007, with their products entering the market in 2009. “Later, our neonatal monitors took the largest market share,” Yi said, adding that last year, the company ranked fifth among medical device companies in Shenzhen in terms of total industrial output value.

According to Yi, about one-third of their over 3,000 employees work on R&D. “Most of our R&D staffers hold a master’s degree. We cooperate with different universities, targeting master’s degree students in biomedical engineering.”

Some of the certificates of patents of the company. Selling well overseas

Comen produces three major types of products, namely devices for life support, in vitro diagnostic medical devices, and devices for medical image.

Comen's anaesthesia machines.

The company has positioned its products as medium- and high-end products. "Domestically, our main customers are top Grade-A and large-scale hospitals. Internationally, we sell a large quantity of products to Europe, South America and Southeast Asia. Our sales in Western countries including Germany, the U.K. and France are quite good. Most of the pediatric hospitals in Paris are using our neonatal products," Yi introduced, adding that the company's neonatal ventilators occupy over 50% of the domestic market share.

The company's overseas sales have been growing. Last year, over 40% of their products were sold overseas and the rest in China. “About 50% of the products we sold overseas were to Europe and the rest to Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia,” Yi said.

A scene of Comen's exhibition hall, showing its medical devices being used in other countries. Chen Xiaochun

The company has branches in India, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, France, Russia, and other countries. "Since last year, we have been speeding up the establishment of overseas branches. Currently we have over 20 branches in China and over 10 branches overseas."

Made in SZ, an endorsement for high-tech firms

Before Comen was set up in Shenzhen, the company’s founder actually started the business in Yunnan Province. Later, he moved to Shenzhen as the city was known for high-tech products.