Children'S Clothing Manufacturers Seek Industrial Pformation

From the production of cheap children's clothing to the investment cartoon "today's children's world", the pformation path of Huzhou's Tong Wang Wang Garment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "king of the child") reflects the real predicament of the whole Zhejiang's massive economy. This large private economy province, which has long been concentrated in low-cost factories, hopes to move towards a higher value commodity.

Starting from the family workshop in 1996, today's child king has become the integration of research and development, production and operation of children's clothing products.

This is also the "children's clothing capital of China", which produces about 450 million children's clothing every year. The local saying is that "one of the children's clothes worn by every four children in the country is made in Huzhou".

Benefiting from the huge market demand and intensive and complete supply chain, Zhili town has gathered nearly 200 thousand migrant workers, or working in children's clothing enterprises such as Wang Tong Wang, or playing the role of "husband and wife team" in family workshops.

From the lowest threshold to the "shop" and then to the factory, it is the ecology of the children's clothing industry in the past 30 years, and has also created a large number of children's clothing enterprises and individual owners. But in recent years, the high cost has squeezed the profits from the low end manufacturing, and the "tax wave" incident happened in October 26, 2011, or foreshadowed the end of the above mode.

In May 13, 2012, 7 months after the "anti tax storm", reporters resumed the visit to Zhili town. The past turmoil had returned to calm, but the confusion of migrant workers, the confusion of the "husband and wife team", and the vision of "big business" hesitated, remains a mystery to be observed.

Vision of "big business" pformation

May 13th evening, drizzle.

The junction of Jili road and Wuxing Avenue is a dividing point of last year's "tax wave" incident: the East is the area where the riot crowd is active. The area around West kilometer road and Dong Liang road is the industrial park developed by Zhili town in 2006, and is also the most concentrated place in Zhili children's clothing enterprise.

The children's clothing industry in Zhili was developed in the mid 80s of last century.

Later, due to the development of handicraft industry and the convenience of water pportation, family workshops gradually formed a market town, and finally formed an industry pattern supplemented by children's clothing industry as the core, raw material supply, fabric weaving, product research and development design, etc.

According to local statistics, there are more than 12000 children's clothing enterprises in Zhili Town, including 7647 children's wear manufacturing enterprises, 4553 supporting enterprises, 47 scale enterprises, and sales revenue has exceeded 18 billion yuan.

If the children's clothing industry in Zhili is compared to Pyramid, Xiao He village, the center of the "anti tax storm", is located at the bottom of the tower. It has gathered hundreds of Facebook shops of the "husband and wife team".

The pformation and upgrading advocated by local governments are "big enterprises, big brands and big markets". The fact is that the annual sales revenue of these enterprises is about 20 million yuan, and there are only two sales in 2011.

At 1166 Axiang Road, our reporter saw Ma Weizhong, chairman of Buyi grass Clothing Co., Ltd.

He said that the workshop was moved in 2009, and it was produced while decorating.

After more than ten years of hard work, Buyi grass has become one of the local scale enterprises, and because of the early test of water, e-commerce is highly praised by the local government.

To put it simply is to open shop in Taobao mall and QQ mall.

In 2009, due to high inventory and capital chain breakage, Buyi grass man was in a difficult position.

Under pressure, Ma Weizhong tried to use the backlog product of online store sales. In May 2009, sales amounted to 800 thousand yuan in that year, 2 million 900 thousand yuan in 2010, and increased to 13 million yuan in 2011.

"At that time, it was mainly to dump stocks, which was slightly higher than the cost price, and later, after the inventory was sold out, some products that were suitable for sale in online stores were developed."

Ma Weizhong said.

After the "anti tax storm" incident in 2011, Sun Wenyou, Secretary of the Huzhou municipal Party committee, led the team to investigate and think that this model represents the future of Zhili children's clothing industry.

In Ma Weizhong's view,

The channel integrates the production, supply and marketing chain from simple manufacturers to distributors, and the sales target in 2012 is 120 million yuan.

This is an ambitious growth plan against the backdrop of a general contraction in manufacturing.

Similar to most low-end manufacturing, the profit of a child's clothing manufacturing section is only about 15%, and more than 80% of the profit is in the front end's R & D and back end marketing links.

"Smile curve" is an economic term familiar to children's clothing owners. The strategy to improve efficiency at both ends is to emphasize quality improvement and brand building. The constraints are the shortage of design talents and credit support.

As a leading enterprise in Zhili children's clothing, today's child king tries to be branded. In 2011, he invested nearly ten million yuan and photographed "today's children's world" with an animation design company in Shanghai.

Zhu Xingen, general manager of today's Tong Wang, told our reporter that the key to brand is to have characteristics, how to make children feel happy and how to make children grow up happily.

In 2011, today Tong Wang sold more than 760 thousand pieces of children's clothing.

"At the beginning of this year, the company's R & D, design and sales have moved to Shanghai, which is easy to retain and attract talents, weaving production and logistics."

Zhu Xingen said.

When pformation and upgrading encounter economic downturn, the complexity of the problem is exacerbated.

China's economic growth is only 8.1% in the first quarter of this year. Most of the economic data in April were also worse than expected. Specifically, to individual enterprises, the reduction of orders, the rising cost of labor and the rising debt rate will bring pessimism to entrepreneurs.

"The bad situation began in November last year."

Zhu Xingen said that to benefit from China's huge market demand, the children's clothing enterprises that insist on will have room for development. "Children's bosses who are involved in private lending in the middle of this year will have a great influence on children's clothing this year. This situation is quite numerous in weaving."

One industry, two groups

After leaving the industrial park, he returned to the junction of Weir Road and Wuxing Avenue, then turned east to Antai road. There were nearly a hundred "facade shops" on the streets less than 500 meters: generally four or five storeys were built, and factories and shops were combined.

Such a "noodle shop", also known as "husband and wife team", is uniform and spread throughout weaving.

After the struggle, the "head tax" was reduced to 282 yuan / Taiwan, and the following 5 machines were not charged. Some children's clothing owners also enjoyed the "return tax" treatment.

After the "anti tax storm" occurred in 2011, the public paid attention to the two groups in the children's clothing industry cluster: first, the boss of children's clothing enterprises that had formed the scale of the industry, and the two was the "husband and wife team" at the end of the industrial chain.

"Business is not salty."

Jiaxing children's clothing boss Xiao He told the reporter.

A tattered exercise book records the performance in May 14th, when Yuan Yongjun sold 13 pants of about 2000 pants and sold 4000 items a day at most.

The wholesale price of the single piece is about 10 yuan, and each piece can earn one or two yuan.

Xiao Ho's "noodle shop" has set up 20 machines, employing over 20 workers, mainly making trousers, with 7 styles.

On the two floor, the narrow workshop was squeezed out of the bed, sewing machine and all kinds of cloth and thread, and the workers were busy in front of the machine.

If the smart child clothes boss finds the fashionable children's clothing style, he will buy it back as a sample and quickly disassemble it into a pile of cloth blocks and parts. The employees who are responsible for the purchase must only glance at it, and know which color and texture of fabric and accessories should be added.

The advantage of Zhili is that the industrial chain is complete, and within 500 meters, all materials and accessories for children's clothing can be bought.

The fabric and accessories can be delivered on the same day, and the bed will start immediately. After one or two days, the first batch will be hung up in the shop.

If one sells well, the imitation will spread all over the market.

Xie Wen, the boss of "little beauty pants industry", was originally a children's clothing wholesaler in Zhuzhou, Hunan province. In 2011, he rented a store in Antai road and set up 21 machines.

She said, how much to sell and how many years it takes to do it for three years in a year.

Xie Wen's chasing target is Yuan Yongjun, a fellow villager on the same street in Hunan. "He is making high-end trousers, and he can earn 10 yuan."

Yuan Yongjun came to Zhili in 2005, initially selling goods in the old wholesale market. He moved to Antai road a few years ago, and he made a wholesale price of trousers about 25 yuan, with stable customers in Nanning, Wuhan, Hangzhou and other places.

"Husband and wife team" the lowest threshold is to play the children's clothing chain at the bottom of the "incoming processing" link.

They are not proofing or cutting. They only get bundled cloth from the children's clothing factory in the town, then return it to the garment and earn the processing fee by piecework.

There are thousands of villages scattered around the surrounding areas of Xiao River, Hexi River and rolling village.

The goal of the spouses is simple and clear, changing from low-level stores to high-end stores and making more money.

Yuan Yongjun said, "the boat is small and good, but the boat is too small to run far." here, I don't want to just eat and drink. I will move to the golden gate red door Museum, which is higher there.

The lucky ones who stand out are always few, most of them still stick to the status quo or be eliminated by the market.

In addition to 10 years ahead of schedule, Ma Weizhong's initial experience and the "husband and wife team" did not have two kinds. From the shop, 5 sewing machines were set up.

According to his memory, in the early stage of his career, his wife worked as a designer, and he drove around by motorcycle, earning 40 thousand yuan at the end of the year, so he bought a small face.

In July 2003, it moved to the newly purchased workshop, with four stores and sewing machines to 55 units.

"Before 2003, business is doing well, making three or four styles in one year and seventy thousand or eighty thousand in one style."

Ma Weizhong recalled this year's hot market demand to our reporter.

But small changes are accumulating every day, and the pattern of children's clothing industry is gradually differentiated.

In 2005, there was a change in the supply and demand market of children's clothing. The sign was that dealers began to default.

With the market becoming saturated, vicious competition intensified, contradictions were brewing in the dark, and broke out in the "anti tax storm".

New problems of old clusters

The car accident that triggered a "tax wave" in 2011 not only ignited dissatisfaction with taxation, but also led to antagonism between the two groups.

Carding found that the local children's clothing industry pformation and upgrading needs and low-level manufacturing and manufacturing contradictions are the underlying causes of the above events.

The spouses are mostly experienced children's wear factories.

Shen Yunhui, the boss of children's clothing, told the reporter that when he was alive, he had to work 18 hours a day, although he could earn money, but he felt he was not free.

The 20 young man, tired of the life of "eating the wolf and drinking water for the second," and the wife who worked in a child's clothing factory two years ago decided to do it alone. "Take the goods home from the factory and do the same work as they do in the factory."

Because of the discomfort of the status quo, more workers joined the "couple".

According to Zhu Xingen, two thousand or three thousand children come out of the children's clothing enterprises such as Tong Wang and Buyi people every year.

This has attracted some criticism from the bosses of large scale children's clothing enterprises, because the skilled workers have opened the "husband and wife team", and the factory must raise wages in order to retain the workers.

"The wages of workers are five to six thousand months, not only to raise their salaries, but also to improve the working environment of their workers, to install air conditioners in their dormitories, and to repair toilets."

Zhu Xingen said.

According to the reporter's visit, high wages only belong to technical posts such as tailoring workers or a few skilled lathe workers. Most of the monthly income of the lathe workers is generally between three thousand or four thousand yuan.

Ma Weizhong complained that they bought the equipment that we eliminated, mainly processing, regardless of design, sales, no quality assurance, and often caused social problems by order disputes.

The disapproval of children's wear bosses has the same industry's repulsive factors. On the other hand, it also points out the development malpractice of lump economy.

Over the past 30 years, Zhejiang has cultivated many block economic groups such as weaving children's clothing, Shaoxing textile, Shengzhou tie, Yongkang hardware, Ruian automobile and motorcycle fittings.

After the extensive rapid growth in the early years, the release of grass root vitality of the children's clothing industry has come to an end, and how to continue economic development.

Zhejiang's solution is to pform the lump economy into industrial clusters.

Theoretically, the biggest difference between lump economy and industrial cluster is that one is spontaneous production, the other is scientific planning and development.

In fact, in recent years, the local government has been seeking to promote the children's clothing industry in Zhili, hoping to promote industrial upgrading by supporting large enterprises, such as building China children's wear city in Zhili, building children's clothing and accessories display and distribution center, providing business services and technology centers, and so on. These efforts have also achieved some results.

Behind the "anti tax storm" in 2011, it was also widely understood that the local government adjusted the market structure by means of "tax levers", and eliminated the children's clothing processing workshop in the form of "husband and wife".

But the sudden occurrence of the incident left the local government unprepared.

On the afternoon of May 13th, when our reporter saw Shen Yunhui, he led a newly learned daughter in one hand with a cheap cigarette in one hand.

He worked as a farmer and worked in a factory. He opened his children's clothing shop in Hexi village two years ago.

In the planning of the pformation and upgrading of local industries, his family workshop seems unable to see the future, and the cost of the "couple team" is very low, resulting in the increase of rental costs and the reduction of orders.

Some members of the spouses return to work in the enterprises, which can be confirmed from the recruitment situation of this boy Wang.

According to Zhu Xingen estimates, if the flow of 3000 people, because the situation is bad this year at least half of the reflux, easing the recruitment shortage, "in 2006, the factory eliminated the old equipment is very good to sell, this year 300 yuan no one wants."

Trees move and die.

Shen Yunhui plans to start a cheaper place to start again, and in some parts of Anhui, tax and other incentive policies that are suitable for the development of children's clothing industry are being studied.

In the process of climbing China's manufacturing industry to the high-end value chain, we need not only to explore this pformation but also to abandon Shen Yunhui's individual efforts to ease the pressure and tension brought about by industrial upgrading.