The 18 years’ history of Wuxi Anshida Hardware Co., Ltd.: from an ordinary township enterprise which was on the verge of bankruptcy to a leading manufacturer of blind rivets with annual production value of nearly 100 million yuan; from a small workshop with only two pressing machines and one nailing machine to a big modern enterprise with an area of 26,000 square meters, more than 400 employees, advanced rivet making equipment and complete inspection instrument; strategy transferring from manufacturing, the middle section of “Smiling Curve” to technology, patent, brand and service, both ends of “Smiling Curve”. What inspiration can we get from Anshida?
No product is eternal, only innovation is the key
All industrial people know that blind rivet is just a small category of fastener, which takes up less percentage in the whole market capacity compared with other fasteners, such as bolt, nut and screw. But because of its unique feature, it’s also a kind of general component and many industries and products cannot run without it, like vessels, automobiles, machinery, construction & decoration, containers, household appliance, luggage, electric instrument and so on. But with the development of scientific technology and market, blind rivet begins to be substituted by some new type fasteners, which means the enterprises whose main product is blind rivet will face some risks.
Facing the severe situation, Mr. Miu, Deputy General Manager of Wuxi Anshida said,” I believe that no product is eternal, only innovation is the key. Especially in the 21st century, because of globalization, the competition around the world becomes fierce, the industry development changes a lot and enterprises face the pressures of survival and product life circle. Only continuous and value-added products and services can guarantee a enterprise’s survival, high profits and sustainable development. Therefore, it is necessary for us to transferring our strategy from manufacturing focused to hi-tech, patent, brand and service focused, infinitely towards both ends of the ‘Smiling Curve’."
Last year, Anshida overcame many difficulties and disadvantages to develop some value-added products, like special type blind rivets used in telecom, auto part industry and other top-end industries. It gained favorable increase in both foreign and domestic markets with total sales of more than 100 million yuan. It plans to strengthen the development of top-end product line this year and strive to cover from industry applications to auto part and aviation industries in order to strength comprehensive competitiveness.
Combination blow is the most powerful
When the year turned into 2008, we also went into a “most difficult year” as what Premier Wen Jiabao had said, featuring high oil price, high inflation, U.S. sub-prime crisis, economic recession and other adverse factors. “For the whole fastener industry, the price rising trend of materials was like a catastrophic event. No company could escape during this crisis. What’s more, the oil price also kept breaking the records, which stimulated the rising price of materials, and thus became a vicious circle. Therefore, we carried through by adjusting our expected strategy, shrinking our line, strengthening internal work and consolidating high-quality customers. ”Due to the current turmoil in the international market, the economy trend is uncertain. Since the devaluation of the US dollar, the exchange rate drops now and then during time, slowly or quickly. It is easy to imagine the difficulties for export companies to quote the prices. The loss is inevitable due to the time difference on foreign exchange. Mr. Miu analyzed: “There is no good solution to it basically, so we mainly need to enhance our domestic sales force and balance the export and domestic sales in order to reduce operational risks in the next stage. Of course, this can only play a limited role, and the combination of product and market development would be more effective. ”
When asked about the marketing skills of Anshida, Mr. Miu replied vividly: “No matter in domestic or export market, we are not able to win by any single method, experience or magic weapon. It is just like boxing; knowing only one trick will never be a master but the combination blow is the most powerful! ” In terms of promotion, Anshida will participate in industrial exhibitions; at the same time they will fax, mail, and visit customers. Furthermore, they promote themselves through emerging network, e-mail, professional websites, etc. Mr. Miu said that this combination of a number of promotion channels show customers with a three-dimensional and integrated image, thus deepening the understanding and increasing awareness of customers on the products which will create more opportunities. For example, Mr. Miu immediately booked two booths at Fastener Trade Show as soon as he was informed the show was a professional fastener show and organized by China Fastener Info, aiming at promoting their two major products, rivet and rivet nut and enlarging their popularity home and abroad.
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With rich experience in foreign trade, Mr. Miao has well aware the importance of finding out the different “flavors” between domestic and foreign customers. He concluded, “There are differences when comparing China with export market. Domestic customers are more concerned about the surface sometimes, like a very high sensitivity of the price and great attention to traditional formality. However, foreign customers pay more attention to essential and internal elements, such as perfect quality system, favorable factory environment, quality and shipment. Their sensitivity of the price is relatively lower. We must adjust the remedy according to different cases to save time in our cooperation with the customers.”
As our interview came to an end, Mr. Miu said modestly, "Anshida is still a small company with not very long history; we are a new member and a new force in fastener industry. But we hope that our force will grow constantly and become a strong pillar indeed in this industry. Moreover, we will pass on this strength and spirit to the industry, pass on to all customers. "
The world is changing, Anshida is growing too. We can see that it is embracing joy and moving towards to its dream step by step...
www.chinaFastener.biz
www.chinaFastener.info 2008-11-3 12:15:00 |
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