Chapter 214 Foreign Trade
Now, the original extensive management and simple model of Tengfei Factory are no longer applicable, and scientific management methods must be used to promote the development of the factory. The most important of these is naturally production process management and quality control management. Both Li Daqi and Xiaoqi can understand the former, but they have only a vague understanding of the latter quality control management, which they only understand as simple quality management.
"It's far from that simple. Quality is one aspect of quality control, but quality control is a big concept."
Song Yuanchao explained: "The so-called quality control refers to the whole process from raw material control, production and processing, product manufacturing, finished product testing to finished product warehousing, and after-sales quality tracking and resolution, including a complete quality control and management chain. This is a very professional management model, not just as simple as product quality as everyone thinks..."
"Wait, I can understand each word of these words, why don't I understand when you put them together?" Without waiting for Song Yuanchao to finish his words, Li Daqi asked while scratching his head. Xiaoqi beside him also had his eyes wide open.
Looking at their appearance, Song Yuanchao burst into laughter.
It's not their fault. What Song Yuanchao said was a little ahead of its time. In this era, domestic enterprises have not even had total quality management. Song Yuanchao remembered that "Total Quality Management" appeared in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At that time, Song Yuanchao represented the unit to conduct training and assessment on "Total Quality Management" and even got a certificate after passing the assessment.
As for ISO9000, there is no sign of it, so it is natural that Li Daqi and others don't understand when we talk about quality control. However, it is better to implement this management model as soon as possible. It is better to determine the scientific management of the entire factory and implement the quality control system as soon as possible. This will be of great benefit to the future of the factory.
Song Yuanchao knew about quality control, but he was not a professional in this field, so it was not easy for him to explain these things in a simple and understandable way.
After thinking about it, Song Yuanchao decided to put the matter aside for the time being. It would not be too late to resolve it after a few days. After all, it would take more than one day to establish a management system and quality control for the factory. It would take a certain amount of time for preparation and training before it could be implemented.
Apart from these, the key issue is the channel issue. Li Daqi mentioned that rectifying the supply and marketing department is the top priority, which Song Yuanchao agreed with, and this is the most effective means, even if the shipment of some existing products is temporarily reduced for the sake of the channel, it will be beneficial in the long run.
Lunch was eaten in the factory, which had its own canteen. The big pot rice made by the specially invited chef was very good. Although it was hot and his appetite was not very good, Song Yuanchao still ate a big bowl of rice with the stir-fried vegetables.
After lunch, Xiao Qi went to the workshop to work. The production task was heavy and he had a strong sense of responsibility, so he worked very hard every day. Song Yuanchao and Li Daqi returned to the office and continued to talk about what they had not finished in the morning while drinking tea.
"In addition to other customers, the key for supply and marketing is to vigorously develop new customers, especially customers in cities in North China and East China." Smoking a cigarette, Song Yuanchao sorted out his thoughts and said to Li Daqi: "Now is the best time for development in the country. We must take advantage of this opportunity to grow as soon as possible. Opportunities wait for no one. If you miss it, you will miss it. If you wait for customers to come, there will be no such good days in a few years. However, no matter how you expand your customers, there is a prerequisite, that is, payment for goods. For supply and marketing, selling things is not considered an ability. The key is to get the money back. To put it bluntly, with the current agency sales model, even a fool can do sales. Who doesn't want free goods? But it is even more difficult to get the money back after the goods are sold. This rule must be established!"
Li Daqi agreed with Song Yuanchao's words. He nodded and said, "In fact, I have thought about this before, but I don't see it as clearly as you do. I will pay attention to the supply and marketing, and I firmly support the cash payment system for payment. But to be honest, I don't know about other places after May Day this year, but many clothing factories similar to ours appeared in Shanghai all of a sudden, and similar clothing outside also popped up like bamboo shoots after rain, with uneven quality and high and low prices."
"We are the first in Shanghai and even in the whole country to do this business. In addition to the brand authorization and quality factors in Hong Kong, we still have great advantages in the market. However, if the situation continues like this, no one can predict what will happen in the future." At this point, Li Daqi patted his forehead as if he remembered something, turned around and walked to the cabinet beside him, opened the cabinet and took out some clothes.
"Look at these." Li Daqi handed the things to Song Yuanchao. After Song Yuanchao took them, he saw that they were a pair of jeans and a pair of bell-bottom pants. The style of these jeans and bell-bottom pants were exactly the same as theirs, the fabrics used were similar, and the workmanship was also good. More importantly, they were marked with Song Yuanchao's "Apple" brand logo.
"Fake?" Song Yuanchao asked with a frown.
The brand mark is correct, but the "Apple" nameplate looks rather rough, especially the brass apple nameplate inlaid on the back of the jeans waistband. It is clearly made of iron, but it is coated with a layer of yellow. If you rub it hard with your fingers a few times, your fingers will actually be stained with color.
Li Daqi nodded and told Song Yuanchao that these were just discovered in the market a few days ago. At first glance, these pants looked no different from those produced by his own factory, except for the nameplate. If it weren't for the nameplate and the familiarity with his own products, even the people in his own factory would probably have made a mistake.
This thing seems to have been out for some time, and since the selling price is much cheaper than their genuine brand, it sells very well in the market.
"How much do these pants cost?" Song Yuanchao asked.
Li Daqi reported a number and Song Yuanchao was speechless. This sales price was almost two-thirds of their brand, but even so, based on the actual cost, the factory that made these things could still make a lot of profit.
At present, the clothing business is simply a huge profit. The cost of making a pair of pants is less than ten yuan at most, but it can be sold for a hundred yuan at most, and the profit is ten times as much. Now these fakes are shipped in the market at a price far lower than their sales price, which is equivalent to robbing money from Song Yuanchao and others.
Fake goods are inevitable, and this is probably also true in later generations. In later generations, there is an appropriate term for such products - "shanzhai".
After initially acquiring this brand, Song Yuanchao specifically ordered that all basic parts be purchased from Hong Kong, and then supplied to the Shanghai factory through channels in Guangzhou. Of course, a large part of the finished products were purchased directly from Hong Kong to make up for the shortage of Shanghai's production, but with the completion and production of the new Shanghai factory, the import of finished products has decreased a lot, but the supply of parts has continued to increase.
Shaking his head, Song Yuanchao sighed inwardly. At present, they have no good means to solve this problem. They can only rely on unique accessories to distinguish between real and fake goods. But from the perspective of consumers, many people actually don't care much about the difference between real and fake goods. Even those who buy fake goods already know that they are fakes, but they are greedy for cheapness. In addition, although the texture and workmanship of the nameplate are different, it is still difficult to distinguish them if you don't look carefully. If you wear it out, people will not pay attention and it will look like the real thing.
When asked if Li Daqi had any countermeasures, Li Daqi told Song Yuanchao that he had specifically gone to the police station and the Industrial and Commercial Bureau to inquire about this situation, but basically had no results. Firstly, there is no law against trademarks in China, and secondly, there is no such thing as intellectual property rights, so what can be done now is to continue to use their brains on trademarks and nameplates to help consumers better distinguish between real and fake goods, so as to reduce the impact of fake goods on their real goods.
"Let's put this matter aside. This kind of situation will definitely happen again in the future, and it is definitely not limited to our family." Song Yuanchao said that this was the only way. This situation could not be resolved even after decades, let alone now?
"As for the sales channels I mentioned earlier, we should not only consider domestic sales, but also foreign sales. Daqi, have you ever thought about exporting?"
"Export? Isn't this the job of foreign trade companies?" Li Daqi was stunned and asked.
"Haha, if the foreign trade company can do it, why can't we?" Song Yuanchao asked with a smile.
"This... I'm afraid it won't work." Li Daqi hesitated, a puzzled look on his face.
Today, the right to import and export is in the hands of several state-owned enterprises engaged in foreign trade, which are what Li Daqi calls foreign trade companies.
In a national city like Shanghai, there are only three or four professional state-owned enterprises that can carry out import and export business, and all import and export quotas are in their hands. Not to mention that Tengfei Garment Factory is just a group enterprise, even if a large state-owned factory wants to import and export, it must go through these companies.
This situation continued until the end of this century, and it was not until the late 1990s that the country began to lift restrictions on foreign trade. With the abolition of the monopoly on foreign trade import and export rights, import and export business flourished and promoted another leap forward for domestic productive enterprises.
Now, even if Tengfei Garment Factory wants to export, it is impossible because it has no foreign trade autonomy. Even if it goes to these foreign trade companies itself, it is impossible to handle export business for you due to the competition from large state-owned factories.
But Song Yuanchao knew very well that the rapid development of clothing companies was not only due to the domestic demand market in the early stage of reform and opening up, but also because the larger market was abroad. Obtaining foreign export business could not only earn more profits than domestic ones, but also earn foreign exchange, thus maximizing profits.
Of course, this was only in the early stages. In the early stages, the export profits were indeed considerable, but as time went on, vicious competition began, causing profits to decline year by year.
Let me use a simple example to illustrate this. In the early 1980s, the export price of a piece of clothing could be as high as around 20 to 30 US dollars. However, in the 1990s, the price was almost cut in half, and even at its lowest it was less than 5 US dollars.
Such export prices can be said to have very slim profits. In addition, the rise in textile raw materials in the international market in the 1990s led to a sharp increase in costs, which further reduced profits. In the end, export prices were a bloodbath due to vicious competition in the same industry, from zero-profit exports (using tax rebates to make up for the profit difference) to negative-profit exports (profits after deducting tax rebates to subsidize exports). This reason led to foreign accusations of "dumping", which led to a series of restrictions, making clothing exports tasteless.
"We have to give it a try whether it works or not. This is a good opportunity." Facing Li Daqi's doubts, Song Yuanchao deliberately kept him in suspense. He already had an idea in his mind about this matter, but it was not time to make a specific decision yet. If everything went well after a month, this matter could be done.
