A team of programmers uses low-code to transform the global algae "hidden champion"

In the early morning, the sea breeze in Qingdao West Coast New Area carries a unique briny freshness, blowing into the modern campus of Mingyue Seaweed Group.

Wang Shuai, head of the Big Data Management Center, and his team now move effortlessly between departments such as sales, production, and quality control, discussing needs and gaining deep insights into operations with colleagues. Yet just a few years ago, their pace was far from relaxed—facing countless tangled processes and an overwhelming pile of digitalization demands every day.

Established in 1968, Mingyue Seaweed Group is a health industry enterprise specializing in processing seaweed to extract bioactive substances and developing downstream applications. It leads the world in both scale and technology for alginate production. Over the past two decades, the company has deeply invested in the seaweed industry, successfully breaking foreign technological monopolies in multiple areas. Products like ultra-pure sodium alginate have been localized, and its annual output of alginates ranks first globally.

"Our products are widely used in everyday items such as food, medicine, cosmetics, and dressings, requiring precise manufacturing standards," Wang Shuai explained. "But traditional management methods were like scattered handwritten notes—inefficient, error-prone, and hard to trace. Workshop data was recorded manually, equipment inspections relied on pen and paper, cross-department collaboration meant running around, and report consolidation became a nightmare for managers."

Everyone longed for a digital transformation, but challenges stood in the way: traditional custom development was costly and time-consuming, often requiring millions in investment and half a year of waiting. For complex workflows spanning production, quality inspection, and sales, this approach was simply unsustainable.

That changed in 2020 when Mingyue Seaweed Group moved its organization and operations onto DingTalk. After Wang Shuai’s team discovered low-code tools, over 50 low-code applications grown directly from business needs became the driving engine behind the world's largest seaweed bioproducts enterprise advancing into the next industrial stage.

In 2004, under President Liu Zhaozhi’s leadership, Mingyue had attempted to build its own management system. "We wanted to collaborate with external developers to upgrade it," recalled Wang Shuai. "The process was painful—we faced endless complex workflow reviews and development demands daily." This made the IT department realize that traditional custom development might not suit their needs. As a group with multiple subsidiary businesses, one standardized system couldn’t solve all their digital challenges.

In 2020, the pandemic arrived unexpectedly, posing a new digital challenge: how to ensure efficient employee collaboration and maintain stable operations across the entire group. Mingyue Seaweed quickly migrated to DingTalk, and the platform’s low-code tools soon became essential for their digital transformation.

Low-code developer Wang Cheng said, “Before this, we had many demands, especially for edge functions that couldn’t be implemented.” After evaluation, they chose Yida, saying, “Let professional systems do what they do best.” In Wang Cheng’s view, low-code perfectly complemented standardized products. “Standardized solutions work fine for core business, but lightweight, specific business needs can’t always be met within those systems.”

Initially, the IT team struggled under a mountain of digital system requests from various business lines. With low-code, their first solution addressed quotation processes—a task involving procurement, production, finance, and R&D teams. Previously, this required lengthy offline coordination, causing delays and information loss. Once digitized, the entire process moved online, eliminating the need for sales staff to run from department to department with paper forms.

Mingyue had also tried off-the-shelf CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, but different business units operated under distinct commercial logics—some focused on marketing expenses, others on sales behavior or lead tracking. Traditional CRM systems failed to meet these diverse needs, and custom development costs were prohibitively high.

After research and co-creation with business departments, Mingyue decided to use low-code to build separate CRM systems tailored to each business unit’s unique logic. In just two months, one person developed and deployed four customized CRM systems. Business teams praised the improved usability—and the company saved significantly on development costs.

Once they tasted success, Wang Shuai’s team became fully energized about low-code development. They evolved from being mere “IT supporters” to becoming enablers of business innovation. With low-code, Wang Shuai envisioned the IT team embedding themselves into operations, thinking from the business perspective, and even understanding business needs better than the business teams themselves—to accelerate digital transformation.

In just a few years, more than 50 applications built on DingTalk’s low-code platform have deeply integrated into safety, employee incentives, risk control, and other areas. Today, a single low-code developer can meet the digital needs of every “capillary” within the entire group.

Take site access control—an apparently minor scenario that actually plays a critical role in facility security. How could they manage constant flows of visitors and freight trucks while mitigating risks? A low-code “Visitor Management System” was created: visitors and truck drivers scan a code in advance to submit their information, ensuring every entry is traceable and enhancing control over personnel and vehicle access.

Similarly, expense management is a key part of risk control in manufacturing. To address project-related spending across the group, the IT team developed a cost-control application that helps business units track every expenditure in real time, monitor and alert on spending patterns, control cash flow effectively, and automate financial data processing and analysis—improving both efficiency and accuracy in financial management.

Digital Closed-Loop for Safe Production

For a manufacturing company, however, the top priority remains using digital tools to ensure safe production.

Leveraging DingTalk’s low-code tools, Mingyue developed the “Safety Inspection Workbench,” creating a closed-loop safety management system. Any safety violations found in production workshops can be instantly reported via the app, automatically assigned to responsible personnel, and tracked through resolution. Progress updates are visible in real time, exposing overdue issues that previously lingered unresolved.

During production, low-code apps also connect with smart IoT devices (such as electricity and gas meters) to collect data from key equipment. This reduces manual meter reading costs and consolidates energy consumption data across all workshops. Real-time dashboards display energy usage, enabling monitoring against quality benchmarks, energy optimization, and early warnings for equipment anomalies—laying a solid foundation for Mingyue’s digital factory transformation.

More importantly, the data accumulated on the DingTalk low-code platform is gradually becoming a valuable digital asset for the group. Comprehensive, timely, and accurate data collected through low-code feeds back into operations, supporting deeper analysis, process optimization, cost control, market forecasting, and informed decision-making.

Today, the Big Data Management Center has become the most welcomed department in the company. "Wherever we go, people are happy to see us. They invite us to visit because we can help solve their problems." DingTalk and low-code have not only boosted efficiency but also embedded deeply into operations, solving real pain points one by one.

Wang Shuai said DingTalk’s low-code tools gave them the ability to respond quickly to business needs and take full control of their digital journey. Low-code lowers the barrier to digitalization—it’s a form of 'inclusive' digital transformation, truly their own path.

A single piece of seaweed may seem simple, yet holds immense energy and value. Wang Shuai says digitalization is like seaweed growth—it requires patience, care, and the right nutrients. DingTalk’s low-code tools are the perfect nourishment Mingyue Seaweed Group has found.

From stacks of handwritten notes to real-time data dashboards; from exhausting inter-departmental runs to seamless digital workflows; from reactive development to proactive business innovation—Mingyue Seaweed Group has forged an efficient, agile, and self-driven digital path with DingTalk’s low-code platform.

Mingyue Seaweed Group exemplifies countless traditional Chinese enterprises embracing digital transformation—boldly exploring, skillfully leveraging new tools, putting people at the center, and revitalizing their future. With low-code, Mingyue is navigating the digital ocean, propelling its own unique future forward.

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