On June 28, 2026, MORIMATSU INTL (02155) marked its fifth anniversary as a Hong Kong-listed company. Over these five years, the proportion of the company's revenue generated overseas has surged from less than 20% to nearly 80%. Its business now spans over a dozen sectors including pharmaceuticals, lithium batteries, photovoltaics, and semiconductors, with its global network extending from Shanghai to dozens of countries, and its workforce is on the verge of surpassing 5,000 employees. In an environment where traditional manufacturing firms commonly grapple with talent attrition, skill gaps, and generational transitions, MORIMATSU has charted a distinct path of "investing in people → organizational evolution → performance delivery." Nearly half of the company's managerial staff are under 40 years old, and employees with over a decade of service range from the founding member with employee ID 0001 to post-90s management backbones, indicating no break in the talent pipeline.

A Pyramidal Talent Structure: Enabling Engineers to Span Ten Sectors

A typical challenge for manufacturing companies expanding across industries is the need to recruit an entirely new team for each new field entered. MORIMATSU has addressed this with a unique talent structure. Data shows the company categorizes technical personnel into three tiers: the top tier, about 10%, consists of process experts deeply specialized in a single sector; the middle tier, roughly 70%, comprises generalist engineering personnel capable of working across multiple sectors; and the base tier is a highly standardized manufacturing team. Compared to the industry norm—where most manufacturers organize independent teams by project or sector, preventing personnel interchangeability—MORIMATSU's structure means entering a new sector primarily requires reorienting the top-tier experts, while the middle and base tiers can be rapidly redeployed.

Take engineer Qian Liqin as an example. Having joined the company in 2008, 18 years ago, he started with designing single pressure vessels and progressively expanded his expertise to rotating equipment, process piping, and modular integration. He participated in the domestic development breakthrough of China's first 9.9-meter diameter PTA oxidation reactor. "When project issues arise, the company focuses on finding solutions, not assigning blame," he noted. This tolerance for error allows experience to accumulate as organizational assets. Subsequent similar projects were successfully delivered on their first attempt overseas.

Li Ying, head of the MORIMATSU Training Center, explained that this structure was not formed naturally but was systematically shaped through long-term training.

Investing Millions Over Two Years: The Compound Interest of a Corporate University

Internally, MORIMATSU operates its own "MORIMATSU University," regarded as a cradle for management talent. Since its inception in 2018, it has trained over 700 participants. The basic program targets potential backbones, while the advanced program, limited to just over ten participants annually, is personally taught by the company's CEO and incorporates theoretical frameworks from professors at prestigious universities like Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Fudan University.

For comparison, the median annual per capita training investment for A-share listed manufacturing companies is approximately 1,200 yuan, mostly spent on generic external courses. MORIMATSU opts to build its own system, with direct costs per session not less than 500,000 yuan. Coupled with long-term institutional benefits like summer childcare programs for all employees, certified nanny services, and paid overseas PhD studies for staff, the company's annual investment far exceeds industry standards.

The return on this investment is reflected in two sets of data: nearly half of the managerial staff are under 40—indicating young talent has a promotion path and isn't just "waiting their turn"; and employees with service tenures of 10, 20, or even 30 years exist in significant numbers, with employee IDs ranging from 0001 to over 14,000. Against a backdrop where the average turnover rate in manufacturing is around 18%, MORIMATSU's rate is significantly lower.

A more far-reaching step involves overseas initiatives. Addressing the limited educational resources for Chinese students in Malaysia, MORIMATSU launched a fully-funded "2+1+3" training program, cultivating localized technical backbones starting from high school graduates. The company's core values, encapsulated in its "Twelve Rules," are operationalized through a WeChat mini-program badge system—allowing employees to send instant electronic badges of recognition across departments, translating abstract culture into daily behavioral feedback.

Breaking Down Silos: A Cultural Operating System for Global Replication

Ge Zhengyi, head of the Modular Project Department, is a post-90s returnee from studying in the US who rose from a junior project manager to a management role over ten years. His division derives over 80% of its business from overseas. An unwritten rule within MORIMATSU is "don't build fences too high." When departments collaborate on projects, there are no rigid boundaries for splitting output value. "Get the work done first, negotiate the details at year-end," prioritizing the overall goals of the Chinese company. This mechanism is rooted in the Twelve Rules, such as "Team First" and "No Excuses, Deliver Results."

The value of this collaborative mechanism is amplified when applied overseas. For a project involving 32 modules, 178 pieces of equipment, and 23,000 meters of piping for a leading international client—a project that would typically require 6 to 8 months for delivery—the client demanded module installation concurrent with plant construction. The project team compressed the schedule simultaneously across design, procurement, production, and on-site work, ultimately delivering in 4 months and achieving operation in 7 months. "When demands exceed the norm, we first ask how to get it done, not calculate if it's possible," Ge Zhengyi said.

The Malaysia factory, operational since 2021, has effectively helped navigate North American tariff barriers. Local staff in overseas offices in Italy, South Korea, and elsewhere are embedded in front-end client communication, while overseas experts are stationed long-term in China for regulatory training, forming a collaborative network of "localized front-end + Chinese manufacturing back-end."

At its 2021 listing, the company granted share options to approximately 150 core backbones, covering frontline roles from design and project management to production. Compared to the average equity incentive coverage of about 5%-8% for Hong Kong-listed manufacturing companies at the time, MORIMATSU's strategy of concentrating incentive resources towards the business front lines is more focused.

When a manufacturing firm's core assets are no longer just its factories and equipment, but rather a system that enables ordinary individuals to continuously evolve into experts, and a cultural mechanism that facilitates cross-departmental collaboration independent of personal relationships, its competitive moat no longer relies on a single product or market. Over its five years as a public company, MORIMATSU has demonstrated that "the minute invested in people is the most valuable minute" is more than just a slogan. The true payoff will arrive when managers cultivated by its training system make independent decisions globally, and technical backbones from programs like the Malaysia class grow into localized pillars.