Mendix Empowers Sunon Technology’s Digital Transformation
Sunon Technology Co., Ltd. (Sunon) is a private group company primarily focused on office furniture, covering real estate investment and financing. Established in 1991 and headquartered in Hangzhou, Sunon is committed to bringing nature into the office, emphasizing smart, healthy, environmentally friendly, and intelligent office spaces.
In recent years the company has focused on exploring and advancing digital transformation. However, high costs, long development timelines, and a reliance on third parties were hindering their growth.
By utilizing the Mendix low-code development platform, Sunon has empowered IT personnel as business-savvy developers and enabled operations staff to take control of their applications.
A Traditional Company with a Digital Vision
Sunon’s digital journey can be divided into two phases. The first phase (2018–2022) began after Zhao Xiujiang took office and introduced a five-year plan. At that time, Sunon’s IT infrastructure was weak, with only an ERP and office automation systems in place.
To quickly empower the company’s business units, the strategy was to learn from peers and adopt a “buy-buy-buy” approach. Sunon implemented a “1+N” digital strategy: one data platform and N third-party business platforms. Between 80 to 100 systems were purchased to quickly enable business operations.
The second phase began in 2022, when Zhao Xiujiang started planning for the next five to ten years of IT strategy. During this period, Sunon encountered several challenges:
- High Costs: Secondary development costs for systems due to business adjustments often far exceeded the initial purchase cost—sometimes by 20–30 times.
- Long Development Timelines: Frequent business changes required rapid IT adjustments. Without source code, Sunon had to rely on third-party vendors who were often unresponsive, causing delays.
- Dependency on Vendors: Systems’ development languages and architectures varied, leading to operational and maintenance complexities and high learning costs for IT staff.
Sharpening Low-Code Expertise
Starting in 2023, Sunon’s digital strategy shifted to a dual-platform approach: a data platform and a business platform. The business platform was rebuilt using the Mendix low-code platform.
“My team expanded from a dozen people to 60, with significant improvements in technical skills and business understanding. After becoming familiar with low-code technology, I believe we are ready to plan for the next five to ten years,” said Xiujiang.
“In Summer 2023 we launched our first professional contract management system project using Mendix. My technical development team quickly mastered Mendix, developing several systems, including contract management, property management, and workflow portals,” said Xiujiang.
The 60-person IT team actively studied Mendix tutorial videos and earned basic certifications within one to two weeks. However, Zhao emphasized that certification was just the beginning.
Sunon wanted employees to truly master the platform and develop functional modules and systems independently. In order to do this, Sunon implemented tactics such as:
- Tying Mendix learning to promotions and salary increases. Employees earning certificates or developing systems were eligible for career advancement.
- Mentorship programs pairing senior developers with department teams to support learning and development.
- Holding regular development competitions to reward outstanding teams and mentors.
Laying the Foundation for “Centennial Sunon”
Sunon’s leadership sees its IT strategy as foundational for its “centennial vision.” For 2024, the plan includes developing multiple systems with Mendix to support order management, purchasing, logistics, and HR.
Aside from tools like ERP, Sunon plans to rebuild all systems using low-code technology.
One example is Sunon’s plan to develop a bid production system. Typically, preparing a bid takes 1–2 weeks, but with the new system, it can be completed in 2–3 days. This capability provides a competitive edge unmatched in the industry.
Sunon’s digital transformation focuses on smart management, intelligent production, and smart product connectivity, maintaining industry leadership and achieving the “Centennial Sunon” vision.