Chapter 359 Headache
Combination sales, this sales model has basically disappeared in later generations, but nowadays such sales are one of the sales methods of many factories.
Due to the particularity of the previous planned economy, state-owned manufacturers have planned tasks and unplanned tasks in production. When formulating these planned tasks, overall factors often need to be taken into consideration to a certain extent, especially different consumer groups.
For this reason, when making the planned tasks, there is a certain degree of product orientation. For example, many manufacturers know that some products are not easy to sell, but still have to maintain a certain production.
From a big picture perspective, such a production plan takes into account not only the needs of urban residents, but also the needs of residents in remote areas and farmers in rural areas, or the needs of low-income groups. It seems good in this respect, but the actual operation is different.
As a result, some products planned for production often become unsalable, and the sales channels for these unsalable products are limited, and the corresponding demand is also relatively narrow. After this happens, state-owned manufacturers must complete the planned production while taking sales factors into consideration, thus forming a matching sales model.
To put it simply, this type of bundled sales means bundling high-selling products with low-selling products and selling them together to customers.
For example, if supply and marketing cooperatives and department stores need to purchase a batch of high-selling products, the manufacturers will never give the other party whatever they want when selling. When the other party comes to purchase the products, there are conditions. When you take 10 high-selling products, you must sell 2 or 3 low-selling products together. This kind of combination sales is mandatory. In this way, not only can the planned production tasks be completed, but also these products can be forced to be sold through this model.
In the supply and marketing system, this kind of combination sales is also jokingly called five-for-one or ten-for-three. The right to customize the proportion of this combination is in the hands of the factory, and it is constantly adjusted depending .
This is a feature of the planned economy era. Although the country has now advocated reform and opening up, and the market economy has begun to gradually replace the planned economy, the proportion of the planned economy is still large, and the market economy is merely a supplement to the planned economy.
From this point of view, the means of matching sales will continue for a long time. According to Song Yuanchao, until the early 1990s, this sales model still existed in many companies, and it was not until the mid-1990s that it completely ended.
Lin Yuhang's way of dealing with inventory is to use a combination of drastic price cuts and combination sales, and this method is still very useful for the company at present.
It is normal that Huang Baogui cannot use this method, because he does not have good products like ginseng royal jelly, so he can only guard the mountains of inventory in the warehouse helplessly.
But Lin Yuhang is different. With the continuous advertising and market demand, the brand of ginseng royal jelly of the Eighth Factory has now become a well-known brand in the country. This product has long been in short supply. At present, merchants from all over the country who come to the Eighth Factory with cash to buy goods are almost trampling down the threshold of the Eighth Factory. In this case, what does it matter if they propose some combination sales? As long as the other party can get the goods, let alone five-for-one and ten-for-three, even if the ratio is higher, it is worth it, because the ginseng royal jelly that is in short supply is money as soon as it is in hand! As for the loquat paste packaged in warm cups, the Three Factories can't sell it, but these merchants are different. These people each have their own channels. As the saying goes, the Eight Immortals cross the sea and show their magical powers, there is always a way to deal with it.
Under this sales method, the long-accumulated inventory began to loosen up, gradually turning from products into recovered funds. Although it would take a long time to deal with the huge inventory, it was already a good start. According to estimates, by around May next year, the original inventory of the three factories will be completely dealt with.
There will definitely be losses, and there is nothing that can be done about it. However, compared with inventory processing and capital recovery, this loss is completely acceptable to Lin Yuhang.
But dealing with inventory is only one problem facing the third factory. There is another key problem facing Lin Yuhang, which is the purchase contracts that Huang Baogui had signed with those farms in order to control the raw materials.
At the beginning, Huang Baogui was planning to make a big splash in the warm cup packaging. In order to become a leading company in the industry, Huang Baogui signed this year's loquat purchasing contracts with some farms around Yanjing and even in other places.
The purchase contract involves a huge amount and is not a short-term move. If there is no administrative order to stop it, Huang Baogui can use this method to control most of the loquat (loquat paste) production next year in the hands of the three factories, thereby becoming a monopoly in the industry in one fell swoop.
Unfortunately, Huang Baogui lost the bet. Before he could complete this feat, a stick came down from above, knocking Huang Baogui and the entire Factory 3 dizzy and falling from the clouds into the abyss.
Now, Huang Baogui has retired from the management position due to health reasons, and the third factory has merged with the eighth factory to form a new company. However, the contracts signed by Huang Baogui must still be fulfilled after Lin Yuhang takes over, so Lin Yuhang is also facing another thorny problem.
In fact, Lin Yuhang had consulted his superiors about this matter and discussed the possibility of unilaterally ending the contract. However, this idea was rejected by his superiors as soon as he came out. The superiors told Lin Yuhang that this contract involved the interests of several farms. If the contract was breached unilaterally, it would cause huge losses to these farms. Farms rely on the weather for their livelihood. Unlike factories, fruit farmers are not workers. If the products cannot be sold on time, then a year's work will be completely in vain. Such losses are not only huge, but also have a bad impact on society. Therefore, these contracts must be fulfilled no matter what.
But it is not so easy to fulfill these contracts. Not only will a large amount of raw materials occupy the company's huge funds, but these raw materials also need to be processed as soon as possible and converted into semi-finished products that can be stored for a long time.
In addition, semi-finished products cannot be sold and have to be made into finished products later. This is not only a waste of funds, but also takes up the company's currently limited productivity, which is very unfavorable to the company's development.
Before one problem is fully solved, a second one pops up.
Sitting in the office, looking at the report just sent by the Supply and Marketing Department, Lin Yuhang felt that his head was about to explode. A large amount of raw materials were pouring in like a tide. Factories 3 and 8 had to squeeze out a part of their limited production capacity to process these raw materials. Coupled with the problems of later storage and finished products, it was simply full of difficulties.
Faced with such a situation, Lin Yuhang did not think of other solutions. Not only did he distribute some loquats to all the company's cadres and employees as welfare in the name of the company, he also contacted sales channels such as fruits and department stores, intending to sell these raw materials directly as fruits.
But the problem is that loquats as raw materials are somewhat different from loquats as fruits. The taste of the fruit directly is not very good, and it is difficult to sell it as a fruit. Even if it is given for free, employees don’t like to eat it.
Furthermore, this thing can't be eaten as a meal. Eating three or five is considered a novelty, but if you are given a whole basket, why don't you try it? Who would eat this thing instead of having a meal? In addition, due to seasonal reasons, the piles of raw materials must be processed into semi-finished products immediately, otherwise they will all go bad if left for a long time.
Lin Yuhang had been worried about this for several days. He had no choice but to ask the factory to process the raw materials into semi-finished products as soon as possible, at least this would reduce the loss. However, the rising inventory figures made Lin Yuhang dizzy, and he could not think of any solution for a while.
Lighting a cigarette, Lin Yuhang frowned. A few days ago, he had the idea of going to find Song Yuanchao, but he suppressed the idea as soon as it came up.
Although he knew that if he went to Song Yuanchao, Song Yuanchao might give him a good idea, or that one idea could solve the dilemma he was facing, Lin Yuhang didn't want to go to Song Yuanchao right away, because he planned to find a way to solve the problem himself, instead of going to Song Yuanchao every time he encountered a problem.
As a soldier, an excellent soldier, Lin Yuhang has always had the idea of not admitting defeat. Now Lin Yuhang is also an entrepreneur. Song Yuanchao is not an outsider. When he was the director of the Eighth Factory, Song Yuanchao helped him a lot. It can be said that without Song Yuanchao's guidance, there would be no Lin Yuhang and the company today.
But Song Yuanchao couldn't help him all his life. To put it bluntly, the operation and decision-making of the company ultimately depended on himself. Lin Yuhang was very proud in his heart. He hoped that he could become a qualified business manager, and he had been demanding of himself and working towards this goal these days. This was the real reason why he had never asked Song Yuanchao for help.
Feeling annoyed, Lin Yuhang finished his cigarette but still couldn't think of any good solution. He simply got up and left the office and took a walk around the workshop.
As the production of the Third Factory resumed, the previously uneasy mentality of the employees was stabilized. In addition, with the guarantee of wages and benefits, the original employees and cadres of the Third Factory gradually began to change their views on the Eighth Factory and Lin Yuhang.
Moreover, the factories have been merged, and Lin Yuhang has appropriately adjusted some of the positions of the cadres in the factory after the merger. The current Factory 3 is different from the Factory 3 during Huang Baogui's period. As ordinary workers, they are most concerned about their own work and salary guarantee. As for who is the leader, they don't have much objection.
After walking around the workshop, Lin Yuhang chatted with his subordinates on the spot. Seeing that there were no problems with production, Lin Yuhang did not return to the office after walking out of the workshop, but went straight out of the factory gate.
He planned to go out for a walk to clear his mind. His brain was too tired these days because of this problem. If he continued like this, he would go crazy if he didn't come up with a solution.
