Hello, July: Find a Living Space for Industrial Technology Software in Niche Overseas Markets | Navigators in the Overseas Market

Introduction:

Going global is no longer an option for enterprises, but there are still many choices in the way of going global. Brand going global, supply chain going global, cross - border e - commerce... Behind each model, there are countless stories of arduous exploration by Chinese companies; North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Latin America... On every distant continent, there are more and more international presences of Chinese brands.

From introducing foreign capital forty years ago to "going global in groups" today, Qiantang, as the main front of Hangzhou's export - oriented economy, has always been the bridgehead for enterprises to transform themselves and break through for innovation. The International Service Center for Chinese Enterprises has been paying long - term attention to overseas markets and enterprises going global. Based on this, in 2025, we launched a new column "Wave Riders Going Global" to find benchmark enterprises going global in various fields, disassemble practical cases from a professional perspective, precipitate methodologies in the process of seeking consensus, and explore differentiated development paths in non - consensus.

The following is the sixteenth article in this column.

From the old - fashioned factories in the Ruhr area of Germany to the emerging industrial parks in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 90% of the manufacturing clusters around the world, the figures of Chinese intelligent equipment can almost always be found, and sometimes even in unexpected scenarios, such as the automated filling line of a winery in Spain or an oil and gas field in the Middle East.

These "technologically hardcore" products hidden in the middle reaches of the industrial chain are often unknown when expanding their businesses overseas. They face complex communication challenges when communicating with customers - when purchasing, customers not only stay at the level of "looking at pictures and comparing prices", but also need to understand the technical principles, working mechanisms and application scenarios of the products. However, these aspects are often difficult to explain clearly with words, languages, or even pictures and videos.

This industry pain point has allowed July Hello Digital Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "July Hello"), which is in urgent need of transformation, to see new opportunities. After traditional business customers put forward the pain point of demonstrating product capabilities, July Hello launched the "3D Product Instruction Manual" product based on its original digital twin and industrial design capabilities. It helps manufacturing enterprises with technical strength to display complex product details in a more intuitive and technological form through virtual models, thereby effectively improving the overseas transaction efficiency of manufacturing enterprises. With this product innovation, July Hello has not only helped manufacturing enterprises go global, but also found a new growth point for its own development.

01 Creating the "3D Product Instruction Manual" to Address the Sales Pain Points in the Manufacturing Industry

At major global technology exhibitions, questions from domestic and foreign exhibitors can always be heard in front of Chinese intelligent hardware booths - "What does it do?" "Where is this used for?"

Data from the General Administration of Customs shows that in the first three quarters of 2025, China's exports of mechanical and electrical products reached 12.07 trillion yuan, a year - on - year increase of 9.6%, accounting for 60.5% of the total export value. Among them, the exports of high - tech products such as electronic information, high - end equipment, and instruments and meters increased by 8.1%, 22.4%, and 15.2% respectively. The growth rate of the "new three categories" of products and green products such as railway electric locomotives reached double - digits.

In the process of selling intelligent manufacturing products in overseas markets, a common problem has become increasingly prominent - many technology companies with "black technology" are trapped by their "expression shortcomings" and have difficulty explaining the technical principles and usage methods of their products to foreigners who do not speak the same language.

"Several old customers proposed that could we help them create a 3D product instruction manual for display to foreign customers? We realized that this might become a transformation direction to give full play to our advantages." Gao Chao, the founder of July Hello, gave an example. A science and technology innovation enterprise developed a tubular device for biological wastewater treatment. The specific magnetic field formed inside it can effectively decompose toxic and harmful substances in biological wastewater, thereby reducing the cost of subsequent wastewater treatment and providing a new solution for biological environmental protection.

Although this device has a high technological content, it looks like an ordinary tube on the outside. "The problem they encountered is that it is difficult to make customers believe that such an ordinary - looking tube can treat harmful substances." Gao Chao said. "This is also the reason why many enterprises come to us. Either the products are too complex to be directly explained in words, or they are too simple to show their essence from the appearance."

02 Successful Transformation from "Large Scenarios" to "Niche Tracks"

The industry pain points have brought new business opportunities to July Hello, which is seeking transformation.

July Hello is a company engaged in digital twin business. It has participated in projects such as the construction of a 3D power management and control system for large - scale sports events, and has accumulated a large amount of technical capabilities and project experience in 3D modeling, real - time rendering, and interactive design.

However, with the intensifying competition in the digital twin market, the growth of July Hello's traditional business has slowed down, and the company's performance has declined to a certain extent. Therefore, after receiving the new requirements put forward by old customers, July Hello quickly adjusted its product thinking. It migrated its past capabilities in the digital twin field to the new product form of the "3D Product Instruction Manual".

July Hello's "3D Product Instruction Manual" uses digital twin and 3D modeling technologies to replicate and build an interactive virtual model for the customer's intelligent manufacturing products. Customers can rotate and move the model by clicking, touching, etc., or "disassemble" the model to see its internal structure. The model can also display the working mode of the product in the form of 3D animation. "The recorded interaction process can be directly used as a demonstration video, which is more intuitive and clear than the previous paper product instruction manuals." Gao Chao said.

Taking the science and technology innovation enterprise mentioned above as an example, July Hello designed a set of 3D models for its product, from the installation illustration to the mechanism of the internal magnetic field acting on harmful substances, and then to the destruction of the molecular structure of harmful substances in the pipeline, which was used as a "product instruction manual" for the sales team's product demonstration.

After completing the order from the old customer, Gao Chao took the "3D Product Instruction Manual" to exhibitions such as the "Tomorrow's City Exhibition" in Shanghai and the Digital Trade Expo to verify whether the product direction was feasible. "The effect was beyond expectations. Many enterprises came to our booth and thought that the product met their needs very well. We got many orders on the spot."

Based on market feedback, July Hello positions its target users as enterprises with products of a certain complexity, long transaction cycles, and in urgent need of professional display tools. There are two pricing and charging models: customers can pay on an annual basis and log in to their accounts at any time to use the "3D Product Instruction Manual", or they can buy it out permanently at one time.

Gao Chao explained that the purpose of designing the relatively lower - priced annual payment is to attract customers with a lower threshold and meet the trial needs of some customers. Customers can decide whether to renew after verifying the effect. The annual fee pricing cost model is also clearer. "Our model is not like AI projects with high contract amounts and fast growth rates, so we don't pursue the rapid expansion of the company scale. This charging method can ensure that the company doesn't lose money, and we have time to slowly accumulate customers and continuously optimize the product."

Since last year, the "3D Product Instruction Manual" business has helped July Hello get out of the revenue dilemma and brought more new customers. At present, the revenue it creates accounts for more than half of the company's total revenue.

03 Strengthening the Design Aesthetic Barrier, Seizing the First - Mover Advantage, and Going Global in Synergy with Hardware and Software

The 3D Product Instruction Manual has not only enabled July Hello to achieve business transformation, but also has higher customer stickiness compared with the previous digital twin business. "Customers' products are updated every year, so they will definitely continue to repurchase our instruction manuals. Compared with changing service providers and re - explaining products, we are more familiar with customers' needs and product characteristics. Only minor adjustments to parameters and appearance are needed for subsequent updates, with higher service efficiency and lower customer costs." Gao Chao analyzed.

But he also saw potential competitive threats. "If the market profit expands in the future and large enterprises come in to grab our business, small companies like ours will have little room for survival." In order to improve the barrier of its own products as much as possible, July Hello consciously strengthens the 'design gene' of its products.

Gao Chao used to work in the Landscape and Architectural Design and Research Institute of the China Academy of Art, and has better aesthetic ability. "One of my most important current jobs is to lead the team to participate in international design competitions. With awards as endorsements, customers will have more confidence at first sight, and it will be smoother for us to undertake projects." At present, July Hello has won many awards in international design competitions, such as the Silver Award of the Italian A Design Award, the Gold Award of the MUSE Design Award, and the Silver Award of the London Design Award.

In addition to enhancing the design expressiveness of the products, July Hello also takes advantage of its first - mover advantage to set up local sales teams in industrial belts such as Ningbo, Taizhou, and Wenzhou to serve more long - term customers, while the technical team at the Hangzhou headquarters focuses on product R & D and standard product configuration.

In order to quickly seize the "dividend period" when the market competition is not yet fierce, Gao Chao plans to further speed up the establishment of branches in industrial belts through financing and replicate the proven successful model to other manufacturing clusters such as Tianjin, Shandong, and Chongqing.

In Gao Chao's view, it is very difficult for domestic SaaS companies to venture into the international market alone, facing challenges such as large differences in demand and fierce international competition. He prefers to embed the products into the large chain of manufacturing enterprises going global and go global in synergy with hardware enterprises as a 'supporting service'. "We are going to the Smart City Expo in Spain next month to 'test the waters'. It's really not easy to promote software - type products alone, but we are more confident when going 'abroad' together with manufacturing enterprises such as those producing intelligent hardware and robotic arms as part of the supporting service."

This article is from the WeChat public account "Hangzhou Qiantang Enterprise Going Global Service Base", author: Zhejiang Enterprises Going Global.