Located in the Hangzhou Bay Innovation Economic Zone in Cixi. Provided by the Publicity Department of Cixi Municipal Party Committee

As one of the three largest home appliance production bases in China, there are tens of thousands of home appliance companies in Cixi City, Zhejiang Province--

New flowers bloom on old trees

Old tree worries

The traditional home appliance industry is highly competitive, and Cixi companies' product popularity is not as good as that of big brands in traditional products such as air conditioners and refrigerators

There are hundreds of home appliance companies in Cixi, but they are highly homogenized, and their products are similar, and the production process faces standardization problems

With the decline in sales of export products, Cixi companies have turned from "export" to "domestic demand", but because of their long-term "reputation abroad", their popularity in China is not high

New Flower Plan

Cixi Small Home Appliance Innovation and Design Institute was established, and an innovative product launch conference was held every month to launch the latest concept products, leading enterprises to pay attention to the intelligent improvement of product core

Technical transformation is carried out by enterprises independently, but the government provides real financial support and promotion, and introduces expert groups and 42 intelligent manufacturing service companies to diagnose intelligent transformation, etc.

Enterprises adopt new models such as crowdfunding sales. At the same time, Cixi Home Appliances Museum cooperates with 46 e-commerce platforms around the world to find new sales paths

Sample observation

On the way from Cixi County to Zhouxiang Town, a landmark engraved with "Small Home Appliances Smart Manufacturing Town" stands on the side of the road. In the past few years, Cixi City has been among the top ten of China's top 100 county economies, and in the past two years it has jumped to the top of Zhejiang. However, the most common statement heard by our research and interview team during local interviews was: upgrading is a top priority.

As one of the three major small home appliance production bases in China, Cixi City has tens of thousands of home appliance companies. The logic behind "upgrading" is that tradition does not mean backwardness, and the "old trees" of traditional industries need to bloom "new flowers".

¡õ Wang Meiling, a reporter from this newspaper, sent from Cixi, Zhejiang

The secret of "leading" products

Market + R&D, the local government cooperated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to establish the Cixi Small Home Appliances Innovation and Design Institute to bring innovative R&D resources to home appliance companies

"Come, try this ice cream, made with the ice maker produced by our company." On August 7, the reporter came to Ningbo Wellcome International Industrial Co., Ltd. As soon as he sat down, the financial director Lao Qiudi brought a special gift. Since the establishment of the factory in 1972, this company has successively made air conditioners, refrigerators, small freezers, etc., and 70% of its products are exported. Now, the ice maker is one of its "single champion products".

A few years ago, Wellcome was also confused: the traditional home appliance industry is highly competitive, and the popularity of traditional products such as air conditioners and refrigerators is not as good as that of big brands, and the price cannot compete with inferior products. The company conducted an in-depth market research and found that there is a large potential demand for household ice makers, but they are rare in the market. Therefore, it increased research and development, shortened the ice-making time of the ice maker from 15 minutes to 6 minutes to 8 minutes, and gave the household ice maker more "intelligence", such as an independent temperature sensing system, identification of user needs, and specific operation requirements. At present, Wellcome's household ice makers have a global market share of 70%.

Why can the product "lead"? Lao Qiudi believes that the key lies in market + research and development. The company's marketing department holds a meeting every week to summarize market demand; after sorting out these needs, the company increases research and development and launches new products.

Large companies like Wellcome have the strength to invest in research and development, so what should small and medium-sized enterprises do? Relevant officials of the Cixi Municipal Government told us that the local government cooperated with the Chinese Academy of Sciences to introduce the Shenzhen Innovation Design Institute and established the Cixi Small Home Appliance Innovation Design Institute (referred to as the Home Research Institute) in Zhouxiang Town to bring innovative research and development resources to home appliance companies.

On August 6, at the exhibition center of the Home Research Institute, which has been in operation for more than a year, reporters saw portable washing machines, pocket heartbeats and other smart small household appliances. Xie Qi, director of the office of the Home Research Institute, introduced that the Home Research Institute operates in a market model and has two cooperation models: one is personalized customization, which conducts research and development based on corporate needs; the other is patent conversion, in which the institute sells patents to companies or cooperates with companies to convert them into commodities.

What is the actual effect? "Corporate demand is huge." Xie Qi said that there are hundreds of household appliance companies in Zhouxiang Town, but they are highly homogenized and produce similar products. In the early days of implementation, companies mostly demanded appearance innovation; starting from July this year, the Home Research Institute held an innovative product launch conference every month to launch the latest concept products, leading companies to pay attention to the improvement of product core intelligence. "The recently launched safe instant kill pesticide residue intelligent fruit and vegetable washing and draining machine has been favored by enterprises and is now in production."

Solution to the standardization problem

The enterprise's intelligent transformation demonstration line successfully tackles the problem and will receive a 50% subsidy for technical transformation funds, and organizes industry enterprises to visit and learn, "leading by example" to promote the production standardization of traditional manufacturing

On August 6, the reporter saw such a scene in the injection molding workshop of Zhejiang Yueli Electric Co., Ltd.: injection molding equipment was placed one by one, and the raw materials were injected from the pipeline on the second floor. The finished products with smooth surfaces were "spitted" out from the equipment, picked up by mechanical hands, and put aside. The only thing the workers need to do is to fold and take away the finished products.

The relevant person in charge of the Cixi Municipal Government introduced that the production link needs to promote intelligence to achieve standardization, but in the back-end assembly link, Cixi's home appliance industry has not yet achieved intelligence, because "home appliance products are of many categories, and the same hair dryer has 6 screws and 4 screws, which is difficult to be intelligent and standardized."

However, the standardization problem of the assembly link in the home appliance industry is also being broken through.

"The flexible assembly production line of electric irons of Kaibo Group has entered the trial operation stage." Hu Ze, deputy chief of the Technical Reform Section of Cixi Economic and Information Bureau, told reporters that this is the first similar demonstration line in the industry. If the pilot is successful, it will bring revolutionary changes to the industry.

Two-thirds of the staff in the home appliance industry are on the assembly line. If this link is automated, the efficiency will undoubtedly be higher. The electric irons exported by Zhouxiang Town account for half of the global market share. Among them, Kaibo Group is the company with the largest share of local electric iron production. Cixi chose to start with the assembly of electric irons and carry out major intelligent transformation.

The technical transformation is carried out independently by Kaibo Group, but the government supports and promotes it-if the pilot of this production line is successful and passes the acceptance, the Economic and Information Bureau will determine it as a "demonstration line" and give a 50% subsidy for technical transformation funds; after completion, it will organize industry companies to visit and learn, and encourage everyone to replicate in different ways according to their own actual situation, and the company will receive different technical transformation rewards.

Since the implementation of intelligent transformation in 2012, Cixi has adopted this "point-to-surface" model to quickly drive the production standardization of its traditional manufacturing industry.

Production technology is equipped with "teachers", and overall manufacturing upgrades are equipped with services. Xu Baiyuan, deputy director of the Cixi Economic and Information Bureau, introduced that due to the lack of intelligent manufacturing service companies in Cixi City, the government relied on the Zhejiang Provincial Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee to establish an expert service group in Cixi and introduced 42 intelligent manufacturing service companies so that enterprises can enjoy these resources locally. In 2018, 200 home appliance companies in the city completed intelligent transformation diagnosis, 341 companies implemented intelligent technology transformation, and industrial investment in the home appliance industry increased by 31% year-on-year.

The hero of the best-selling products

The company cooperated with e-commerce platforms such as Xiaomi and NetEase Yanxuan, and quickly expanded its popularity through new models such as crowdfunding sales and online sales.

Not long ago, a handheld steam brush that looks like a hair dryer was "sold out" on the Xiaomi e-store platform. On August 6, at the manufacturer Zhejiang Yueli Electric Co., Ltd., the reporter wanted to see the finished product, but was told helplessly by Yu Jie, director of the management center: "This is a crowdfunding product. We have produced several batches in a row, and they have been sold out long ago."

The product is popular, and the novel sales model is one of the "contributors". The so-called crowdfunding sales means that the company first collects consumer purchasing needs through the e-commerce platform, and then produces according to the number of consumer reservations. Yueli Company sold this handheld steam brush through crowdfunding on the e-commerce platform, and sold 58,480 units in just 6 days. "Compared with our expectations, the crowdfunding achievement rate is 2924%."

Yueli is a well-known local OEM company, and its hair dryers account for 17% of the global market share. Yu Jie said that Yueli already has advanced production and manufacturing, and R&D capabilities. The company decided to establish its own brand, but compared with a number of well-known brands, Yueli is not well-known enough.

Since it is difficult to set up sales outlets through traditional channels, Yueli cooperates with e-commerce platforms such as Xiaomi and NetEase Yanxuan to promote online sales channels through new models such as crowdfunding sales.

Yueli's confusion is also the reality faced by most home appliance companies in Cixi. According to relevant officials of the Cixi Municipal Government, there are many OEM companies in Cixi's home appliance industry, and their products are mainly for foreign trade. In recent years, the sales volume of export products has declined, and companies have turned from "export" to "domestic demand". However, because of its long-term "reputation abroad", its popularity in China is not high. Combined with the development of e-commerce, Cixi home appliance companies have found a new sales path.

Cixi Home Appliance Pavilion is an Internet marketing platform created locally. On August 8, the reporter logged into JD.com, Suning.com and other platforms, and entered "Cixi Home Appliance Pavilion" to find a wide range of small home appliances produced in Cixi. At present, Cixi Home Appliances Pavilion has cooperated with 46 e-commerce platforms around the world, and 82 home appliance brands have settled in, covering nearly 600 large and small home appliance products, with sales exceeding 240 million yuan in 2018.