In the field of China's construction technology, Li Zike has been in the industry for nearly two decades.
Starting as a sales engineer for construction software, then rising to a senior executive in a listed company, and now becoming an entrepreneur in the field of construction robots, Li Zike's career has witnessed the development process of informatization in China's construction industry and has weathered the cycles of the construction industry. Today, as the founder of FulltimeRobotics, he is leading his team to embark on a new journey - re-empowering the construction industry with robotic technology.
As an enterprise invested in the angel round by Kunzhong Capital, FulltimeRobotics is a robotics R&D enterprise focusing on the field of intelligent construction. The company has gathered robotics technology experts from well-known enterprises such as former SUPCON, Country Garden-Pegasus Robotics, Nanjiang, and Wahaha Robotics. It is committed to deeply integrating cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics with engineering construction, aiming to become a leading provider of intelligent construction products and solutions in the industry and to promote the intelligent transformation and upgrading of the construction industry.
The company's product line covers indoor coating engineering construction robots, surveying robots, and safety inspection robots. Among them, the indoor coating engineering construction robot is the main product of FulltimeRobotics. It can complete a full set of processes such as putty spraying, scraping, grinding, dust collection, and latex paint spraying, achieving full-process coverage and full-scene coverage of indoor coating engineering construction in buildings.
Up to now, this product has been successfully applied in more than twenty domestic and foreign projects, including the Zhongyifeng Yangtze River Delta International R&D Community, the Zhangjiang Science Gate Project of Shanghai Construction Engineering Group, the Yingwang New Energy Project of Zhejiang Construction Engineering Group, the Fangshan Shantytown Renovation Project of Beijing Construction Engineering Group, and the C8 HDB Flats projects in Bishan and Tengah New Towns in Singapore. The cumulative construction area has exceeded 500,000 square meters. Currently, the business scope of FulltimeRobotics has been successfully expanded to overseas regions such as Singapore and Hungary.
In this issue of "Going Global N+1", we hope that through the sharing of Li Zike, the founder of FulltimeRobotics, we can jointly understand the "secrets of success" for construction robots to go global.
In 2007, Li Zike, who had just graduated from Nanjing Tech University majoring in marketing, boarded a train bound for Hangzhou. His destination was a construction software startup company that had been established for only two years. "At that time, I never expected that I would work for this company for fifteen years," Li Zike recalled.
In the first ten years of his career, Li Zike only did one thing: promoting self-developed construction software. Starting from a sales engineer, then becoming the deputy general manager of the business department, and later the general manager of the construction software division, Li Zike had been dedicated to popularizing construction software. "In the early days, customers didn't accept the software. Technicians used to calculate structural loads manually, and we had to keep proving the advantages of the software to customers," said Li Zike. From market education, competition with peers to national popularization, the construction software has now become the top brand in the country. The total number of users, including both genuine and pirated copies of the safety calculation software, is nearly 400,000.
In 2015, Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology began to rise in China's construction industry. Li Zike keenly grasped this trend and took the lead in planning the company's BIM product system from scratch.
In the following years, Li Zike led his team to continuously innovate, combining BIM technology with the company's original construction software product line, and developed several new products that were well-received by industry customers. He also established a national marketing system, and in the first year of commercialization, the company achieved an operating income of 22 million yuan. After several years of development, the company's BIM business has become a leading software supplier in China.
In the last few years, Li Zike served as the vice president of the company, responsible for the company's product research and development, the operation of the research institute, as well as the establishment of the brand building and market management system.
Fifteen years of focus on only one thing. This experience not only allowed Li Zike to accumulate profound product research and development experience but also laid the foundation for his future entrepreneurial path.
"These fifteen years have transformed me from an ignorant college student into a professional with a deep understanding of the construction industry. More importantly, they have enabled me to see the huge potential of the digital transformation of the construction industry and also ignited in me greater goals and visions," Li Zike summed up.
In 2021, after the company he worked for successfully went public, Li Zike made a decision that surprised many people: he left the company that had accompanied him for 15 years and founded FulltimeRobotics.
"I want to do something that can truly change the industry. Although BIM has solved some problems in information transfer and collaboration, it hasn't significantly improved the production efficiency of the construction industry. I believe that intelligent equipment and construction robots are a new path. Just like the change from a shovel to an excavator, the change of production tools can bring about a geometric increase in efficiency. Especially, the labor problem is not only a problem faced by China but also a global issue, and this is even more so for developed countries." This is the next development trend of the global construction industry and also the entrepreneurial direction that Li Zike has identified.
From a construction software sales engineer to a senior executive of a listed company and then to an entrepreneur, Li Zike has witnessed the digitalization process of China's construction industry in these 15 years. And this is just the first chapter of his career.
"Fulltime" is a transliteration of the English word "Full Time", and the naming reflects the company's global development vision established since its inception.
The international positioning is not just an empty slogan. Li Zike frankly stated that setting such a goal means that the company needs to set very high requirements in terms of resources, talents, technology, and even the market from the very beginning. This requires great determination and also means choosing a more difficult path for himself and the team. "This is a challenge for us, but it's also something difficult yet right."
In May 2022, FulltimeRobotics was officially established. Li Zike led the team to act quickly. Just 3 months later, they completed the research and development of the first-generation prototype and successfully verified it in a pilot project in December 2022. In the first half of 2023, the company focused on the research and development of products for large-scale scenarios of 4.6 meters. In June 2023, it completed the product finalization verification and small batch trial sales. In the following 5 months, FulltimeRobotics completed the research and development and delivery of the third-generation machine.
The product positioning of FulltimeRobotics focuses on indoor coating engineering construction robots. Up to now, the cumulative construction area of its spraying robots has exceeded 500,000 square meters, and product iterations mainly revolve around the adaptability to different scenarios and the enhancement of engineering application capabilities. Li Zike said that the current goal is to further improve the interactivity and convenience of the robots, simplify the engineering application process, and achieve "foolproof" operation.
丰坦机器人应用于北京建工房山区棚户区改造项目
This July, FulltimeRobotics will officially launch four new products, including a 3.2-meter fully automatic putty and latex paint spraying robot for residential scenarios, a 3.2-meter fully automatic putty scraping and grinding robot, a 6-meter putty and latex paint spraying robot, and the latest robot collaborative management platform.
While the products are iterating rapidly, the international layout of FulltimeRobotics is gradually expanding. In November 2023, the company had delivered the first batch of spraying robot products, which were improved for the traditional putty process, to local customers in Singapore. This achievement fully demonstrates FulltimeRobotics' ability to respond quickly to the demands of the overseas market.
Li Zike believes that two major advantages of FulltimeRobotics will gradually emerge in the future: Firstly, it is the profound understanding of the construction industry, which stems from the founding team's years of deep cultivation in the industry. Secondly, it is the keen judgment and decisive decision-making ability derived from this, which enables the company to grasp the right direction and opportunities more accurately.
In addition, FulltimeRobotics also has strong organizational capabilities. The founding team of FulltimeRobotics has successfully managed a listed company and a team of thousands of people. When facing potential opportunities, they can quickly integrate internal and external resources to achieve their goals. Li Zike emphasized that many details of enterprise operation, such as personnel employment, organizational structure, incentive mechanism, and the control of operation rhythm, all need to be carefully considered.
Facing the long-cycle characteristics of the construction robot industry, Li Zike always maintains a clear understanding. He believes that at the current stage, there should be no blind pursuit of rapid growth. Instead, it is necessary to control the rhythm well, gradually iterate products, integrate technology and innovative models, and patiently wait for the arrival of the time node when the industry truly experiences a significant expansion. This stable and practical development concept may precisely be the key for FulltimeRobotics, a robot company "naturally with international genes", to stand out in the fierce market competition.
In the field of construction robots, achieving a global layout is no easy task. There are significant differences in construction techniques, materials, and specifications among different countries and regions, which requires robotic products to have extremely strong adaptability and flexibility. The exploration and practice of FulltimeRobotics in the face of this challenge have provided us with valuable experience.
Li Zike deeply understands that to achieve true internationalization, it is necessary to have an in-depth understanding of and meet the special needs of various local markets. He gave an example: "For instance, in the Singaporean market, the putty used in coating engineering construction is generally produced in Malaysia, rather than the commonly used putty materials in China. This kind of putty has a higher viscosity, and the control requirements for the spraying process are completely different from those of putty construction in China."
In order to adapt to this difference, FulltimeRobotics carried out targeted research and development and made targeted improvements in many aspects such as the spray head, spray gun, pressure control, and spraying motion. The ability to quickly respond to local demands enables the products of FulltimeRobotics to better meet the actual needs of overseas markets.
In addition to material differences, differences in building types and construction habits are also important factors to be considered. Li Zike pointed out: "There are a large number of HDB flat construction projects in Singapore. This kind of standard housing type is very suitable for the automated operation of robots, which is different from the mainstream demands in China." In response to this characteristic, FulltimeRobotics has developed a system that can automatically collect room data and intelligently optimize the operation path in terms of automated construction, and complete the automated construction of residential projects through positioning and navigation. "In April this year, the company's second batch of products has been delivered to Singaporean customers, mainly focusing on the needs of residential automated construction," Li Zike added.
In terms of compliance, FulltimeRobotics also faces severe challenges from the regulations and standards of different countries and regions. Li Zike shared: "In Singapore, various certifications from the HDB are required for product access, and the requirements are relatively strict. For example, the product's safety, emergency response plans, etc., need to be very rigorous, professional, and detailed, down to the safety risks of key components. Currently, we are one of the earlier construction robot enterprises to obtain the access certification in Singapore. In Europe, robots need to undergo the EU CE certification for the whole machine and special certification testing for batteries. In addition, during the process of going global, network transmission and data security are also common problems. Many international regions require that data should not leave the local area and must be stored locally, which requires targeted adjustments to the communication module and cloud storage solution."
正在对施工墙面进行自动化喷涂的丰坦机器人
In terms of the business development model, Li Zike has always maintained an open and learning attitude. He emphasized: "In the construction robot industry, especially when we are expanding overseas, we need to continuously communicate with local customers in various countries and regions, understand the actual usage of our products, and make targeted technological improvements and iterations. Only in this way can our products maintain their competitiveness in local markets. At the same time, we are also exploring a new model. We hope to enable a win-win cooperation among the construction parties, labor service providers, and robot enterprises, forming a replicable and long-term mutually trusting business development model."
The practice of FulltimeRobotics shows that although the global expansion of construction robots will not be smooth sailing, through continuous technological innovation, in-depth market insights, and flexible adaptation strategies, it is possible to gradually achieve a closed loop from Chinese construction techniques to global adaptation. As Li Zike said: "This is a long-term task that requires us to be patient and focused, continuously accumulate experience, and ultimately achieve true internationalization."
The first overseas market of FulltimeRobotics is Singapore, and this choice is not accidental. "Singapore is a highly developed market, but it is also facing a serious labor shortage problem," Li Zike analyzed. "More than 90% of construction workers are imported from neighboring countries, which provides huge market opportunities for our products."
In order to open up the Singaporean market, Li Zike personally led the team to conduct on-site inspections several times. "At that time, we visited multiple construction sites, communicated with the workers, and understood their work processes and pain points. These first-hand materials provided valuable guidance for the targeted research, development, and improvement of our products."
丰坦机器人团队进行项目实地考察
At the same time, Li Zike also stated that the trust and support of local partners for FulltimeRobotics are also crucial. "Our first Singaporean customer at that time was very supportive of us and had an excellent spirit of co-creation and inclusiveness. They not only provided us with valuable product feedback, but when they learned that there were no identical testing materials in China, they even bought air tickets themselves and airfreighted 100 kilograms of putty materials to China, enabling us to carry out targeted research and development in a timely manner." This deep foundation of mutual trust between the two parties has provided extremely important support for FulltimeRobotics' products to adapt to the local market.
丰坦机器人团队进行项目实地考察
Li Zike emphasized that building trust in a cross-cultural environment is the key to winning over overseas customers.
"First of all, the product must meet the standards, and customers must see the results with their own eyes. It is difficult to obtain product orders just relying on promotional materials for the functions and performance presented to customers. Overseas customers are relatively meticulous, and they will only trust you when they see the actual results. Secondly, we need to be objective and realistic, and not exaggerate the promotion too much. If there is an inconsistency between what is expressed before and after, it will arouse the vigilance of customers and lead to a trust crisis."
In terms of market promotion, FulltimeRobotics has adopted a cautious and effective strategy. "We mainly promote products by finding suitable and trustworthy agents. FulltimeRobotics itself focuses on product research and development and production, and hands over marketing and after-sales work to local partners. This model can not only better adapt to the local market but also reduce the operating costs and risks of FulltimeRobotics," Li Zike said.
However, it is not an easy task for an overseas enterprise to select overseas agents. Once the wrong choice is made, it is likely to affect the entire market expansion.
Li Zike said that they have two main requirements for agents: "First of all, agents need to have local construction resources and qualifications, which can help FulltimeRobotics enter the market more quickly. Secondly, we require agents to have focus to ensure that the product value can be effectively delivered to end customers, which requires agents to have a full-time marketing and after-sales team. At the same time, during the cooperation process, we also have very high requirements for customer satisfaction. From delivery, training to the use, maintenance, and fault repair time of the robots, we must ensure that customers can use the products without obstacles. Because customer satisfaction is the foundation, and it is also the marketing method that we think has the lowest cost."
In terms of maintaining partnership relations, Li Zike once again emphasized the importance of trust and mutual benefit.
"We will ensure the agency rights of our partners to avoid their previous investments going to waste. Although during the cooperation, there may be more powerful partners who are willing to jointly develop the market, FulltimeRobotics will not do anything that sacrifices righteousness for profit, because this is the bottom line, otherwise, our reputation will be lost," Li Zike said. At the same time, FulltimeRobotics will also consider the interests of the other party and share the risks. "There are investment risks in the early stage of developing new businesses, and we cannot just think about our own interests. For example, we can provide some subsidies in the early stage to enable the other party to make money earlier." This long-term thinking and the concept of mutual benefit and win-win results have laid a solid foundation for the continuous and steady development of FulltimeRobotics in the Singaporean market.
The global strategy of FulltimeRobotics does not stop in Singapore. Li Zike revealed that the company has already launched its business in Hungary and is currently laying out its business in the UK and Hong Kong. At the same time, he also said: "Our vision is to become a globally influential construction robot company. We not only want to become a leading supplier of construction robots but also possess technological leadership, product innovation capabilities, and the social responsibility to promote the realization of global construction automation."
On the other hand, Li Zike also clearly recognizes that there will be many difficulties to face in the future when going global. Li Zike believes that at the current stage, resource concentration, product localization, and the improvement of market share are still the company's current key strategies. "We plan to take the lead in making breakthroughs in the field of coating engineering construction robots, and first become the supplier with the largest shipment volume. We will focus on a niche category, refine and specialize it, and then make extensions later. Each market has its uniqueness, and we need to deeply cultivate one country at a time instead of casting a wide net. Because once the resources are dispersed, both product localization and market share may not meet the expectations, and it will be difficult to form local advantages," he said.
The overseas expansion path of FulltimeRobotics demonstrates the unique positioning and strategic vision of Chinese construction technology enterprises in the global market. Li Zike and his team chose to start from the Singaporean market, which is highly developed but facing a severe labor shortage. This reflects their keen perception of the pain points in the global construction industry. By deeply understanding local demands, quickly adjusting products, and establishing mutually trusting and cooperative customer relationships, FulltimeRobotics has successfully brought Chinese construction robot technology to the international stage.
Among these, the overseas expansion experience of FulltimeRobotics highlights several key success factors: Firstly, it is the focus on the niche market. By focusing on the specific field of coating engineering construction robots, FulltimeRobotics is able to concentrate resources, deeply cultivate technology, and form unique advantages. Secondly, it is the flexible localization strategy. From improving the spraying process to adapt to the putty materials in Singapore to developing a system for automatically collecting room data, FulltimeRobotics has demonstrated strong product adaptability. Thirdly, it is the cautious and effective market expansion strategy. By carefully selecting local agents, FulltimeRobotics has not only reduced operating costs and risks but also ensured that the product value can be effectively delivered to end customers.
As an early investor in FulltimeRobotics, in the view of Kunzhong Capital, in the future, during the process of going global, for Chinese enterprises to achieve success, they not only need strong technical strength but also a deep understanding of the target market, flexible adaptability, as well as the patience and sincerity to build mutual trust. In this way, China's innovative technologies can truly be accepted by the global market and thus exert a greater influence on the international stage.
