In 2015, Zhou Jiahui, a supply chain specialist at Shenghua Machinery, faced the first crisis of her career. The company had lost a major contract and was laying people off, and as a “newcomer,” she was about to be shown the door.
While clearing out the workstation of a departing senior colleague, she came across a yellowed notebook. When she opened it, she discovered it was an “industry prophecy book.” From when raw material prices would rise and environmental policies would take effect, to the spread of automation and shifts in customer demand, it had recorded a decade of industry changes in advance.
