and just like all other biggie events, the flags of the participating countries at the Annual Furniture Convention in Guang Zhou were flown up high.
this place is HUGE! seriuosly so huge that we had a hard time finding our way back when we were supposed to gather at the end! un knowningly, wen song, yinghui and i, walked from one end to another !
it was quite an eye opener. i 've been to computer fairs, travel fairs etc... but i dont think i;ve previuosly been to a furniture fair, have i?
just check out the cool-lio sofa beds they have!
(oops! no pic! i've only i got a movie on it =X)
as the furnitures are manufacture within China it self, the prices are relatively low.
mickey bed anyone?expcept for benson, whose dad is owns a furniture co. or smth like that, we were rather bored out after a little walking. hence, we headed for coffee before meeting up with the rest of the people!
3:37 PM
SICK.I SLEPT THE WHOLE DAY.
3:33 PM
The world’s largest Piano Manufacturer is the world, with a history of 50 year. Guitars and other musical instrument can also be found here. All employees musically trained before being allowed to work. 4000 employees.
Where do you find all that? At the Pearl River Piano Company!
We were honored to be able to get a tour around the piano manufacturing company! To someone like me, being a total music-idiot, I was just awestruck to witness the manufacturing of all those instruments!
From the tiny little parts of the piano
boy.. just where do these parts go to?...
To the main components
and that! is something called the keyboard my friend!
We got to witness everything there!
Small pianos
Large pianos (I think its called grand piano?)
Classic looking types
And even retro looking ones!
You name it, they have it all! It was a total eye-opening experience for me, to realize that there are actually so many variations of piano!
And such a large machine, I never really thought that it required as much fine pieces to be assembled upon it!
ahh... all these tiny little parts.. i wonder where they fit?
sexyback-
rrrrRRRrringgg! ASSEMBLY time!
Deservingly, again, “WOW!”
2:46 PM
Its tea time with --- the Regional Director of International Enterprise
Just what is IE SG all about? Why are we having tea with their regional director for?
Well, IE SG helps companies realize their dreams; to help Singaporean firms find a market for their business overseas and also to help strengthen their base.
Mmm… just a brief introduction of IE SG, they have 37 offices around the world, with a total strength of 500 staff. Of which, 7 offices are located within
During the tea session, Mr Nee revealed to us that
We also learnt that
“Why do SG firms want to venture out of
- Well simply because the size of
- A firm cannot stay in the same market forever. Thus, they always have to be on a lookout for opportunities to venture out of
Hmmm… Mr. Nee told us a story that day. A man walks in and tells IE SG, “Here, this is all my money I have. I have also withdrawn all my money out from my CPF account. I want to do business in
--- Leather bags, leather belts, leather wallets & more leather! ---
Bad experience there, I think we shouldn’t talk too much about it. But I guess the lessons learnt are most mention-worthy. Apparently, Lao Yao knew that we not going to have a good time at this wholesale market, but he intentionally did not give us any warning. His lesson to us; he wanted us to “碰钉子”, something like, let us learn some lessons through the hard way, make us experience pain and learn through that. Think about it - it’s like throwing a kid into a swimming pool, letting him struggle for survival. And when he’s at the gates of hell, he’ll struggle back to earth. As for us, we were thrown into the wholesale market, not knowing what we were going to expect. Most of us were there with a shopping attitude – simply, we thought that this place was a shopping center that sold leather goods cheaply to customers like us (individual shoppers). Ironically, the vendors were NOT interested to do business with us at all! Reason being they we WHOLESALERS! They sold in bulks to retailers! I guess that’s the whole point that we missed! We adopted the wrong mindset, and hence, executed the wrong strategy when asking to buy!
Us (normal shopping): “How much is this?”
@ wholesale market, appropriate: “How much would 100 of these cost?”
Or “I’m from
Even though it was not quite the experience we enjoyed, here’s something fun that we did! :
At one point, some of us (I’m guess 10-15) were gathered in a corner around Lao Yao, with some people telling the story of their bad experience with some vendor or another. Whilst at it, Glenda and I were just standing around the group, listening to the stories, when one of the securities I presume? (wearing some sort of army uniform), approached us,
“What are you all doing here?” (in Chinese of course!)
Glenda, Me “we are fighting”
Security: *stunned/puzzled face*
Thinking he couldn’t really hear us, we added in,
“We are going to rob that shop over there”
Security: *extremely puzzled face!*
Hahahaha! I don’t know what really happened after that, but I remember at one point, when we were around one of the shops, some other security came over to check on u again! Haha!
2:23 PM
You would have guessed by now, that our next visit was “珠江 啤酒”. This visit marks our 4th day out of
…The company of out friends, waking up each day, to find your friends all around you! Beside you, next door, opposite etc etc…
friends like these, you'd compare them to rare gems...
…wake up, breakfast, long bus ride (where you continue your fantasies of the previous night, or proceed on trying to kill that monster that you were fighting last night, and yes, not forgetting that beautiful babe you were trying to rescue!), followed by the company visit of the day/sight seeing, and finally, marketing survey!...
light of the world...
… 八菜一汤…
…late nights, running around from room to room, massage, chatting our hearts out over tea/beer/milo/cup noodles …
…Friendships…
remember the days...
Just part of the lifestyle we were beginning to get used to…
So anyways, this was one company I which I expected more from, but in the end, I was more than disappointed. The whole visit was a rather, brief/rushed/what-ever tour of the factory. I can’t really explain, but this visit just didn’t leave an impression on me like what happened at Aztech (maybe after visiting Aztech, my expectations of the visit rose to an astronomical level, such that no other companies could achieve! Ha-ha!)
This is what I learnt from the visit - Basically, this is what happens:
1st, you take the following -
And you throw them into
When its ready, it will be left in something like this
To be fermented.
All this while, the whole process is under strict surveillance
who is trying to steal my beer eh?! see how many pairs of eyes I have! wah ha ha!
Next, you bring the ready beer into their very own amusement park! (where the only available ride is the overly modified roller-coaster)
round and round and round and wait! round? we go.....
Which is also where u find your workers skiving
chit chit chit chat chat chit. . .
And WALA! (some how or another, you get) ... Your end product!
Next, you put it through a round of checking (does the worker looking like he/she is inspecting the drinks at all?!)
i'm checkingz, i checkinzz, i'm checkizZz, i'm checkzZzz, i'm zzZZzzZzz
Finally, put it through another round of roller-coaster ride (this is where they all get packed up!), and its ready to be sent to the rest of the world! (or should I say, 'to the rest of China!' , because only
haha!
That’s not EXACTLY how its goes, but you get my point, DON’T YOU?
Appreciate what you have in life - It may not seem at all the best choice to you, but when you stop and take a look around you, you'll soon realise that what you are offered is actually better than what many others possess.
Complain as much as you like about Tiger Beer, Carlsberg beer etc... but when you taste what Zhu Jiang Beer or Tsing Tao Beer is, trust me, you definitely think the world about what you are offered!
Cheers to you!
11:49 PM
Aztech - sounds familiar? You bet! Our very own local company, incorporated in 1986, with a full strength of about 2500 employees worldwide today. Founded by Mr. Michael Mun, it now boast 6 sales offices around the world (namely
---Back track a little, to just before we get to Aztech---
All thanks to our bus driver for losing his way, we managed to catch up on our sleep!
--- 4 pm, we arrive at Aztech---
Ahhh… my personal favorite company visited out of the entire trip! Upon arrival, we were greeted by the warm smiles of the Aztech employees and the Director of Plant operations, Mr. Jeremy Mun (son of Mr. Michael Mun!).
We were ushered into a meeting room where Mr. Mun himself conducted the session with us!
“Our Vision is to challenge the frontiers of innovation in the Electronics Design and Manufacturing Industry and our mission is to ensure High Quality and Cost Competitive products through Design and Manufacturing Services”
After brining us through the background of Aztech, Mr. Mun stunned us with this: “I understand that there is a list of questions that you guys have prepared, can somebody pass the list to me?”
*shocked faces all over the room!*
---
This just showed us how enthusiastic Mr. Mun was in helping us in our learning process. Personally, to have the Director of a company attend to a group of students from Singapore wanting to learn more about doing business in China, I feel really REALLY honored. And I do mean it. Mr. Mun probably had another 101 things on his to do agenda, I wouldn’t know, but him taking some time off his work schedule to attend to us, was something that I really appreciated. It only showed how much he cared to give us a warm welcome to the company, how enthusiastic he was to bring us into the business world in
It’s the extra mile a company will go to ensure maximum customers’ satisfaction, that something extra.
After the interesting briefing by Mr. Mun, we were divided into 3 groups and taken for a tour around the company.
The one part I was really fascinated with – all the production and manufacturing plants, where there were lines of workers, lost in the world of work… it was a sight to admire, looking at the faces, concentrated on their job-at-hand. (Usually, I only get to see something like that on TV!
Work in progress. do not disturb.
Apart from the working areas, we were brought to visit the living quarters and entertainment areas provided for the employees.
covered walkways, and if you notice, there’s some construction going on in the background- that’s lift upgrade boy!
fully equipped quarters with TV!
with basketball courts, badminton courts, and even table tennis tables, what more employee welfare can you ask of your employer? O yes, not forgetting a library with computers that are internet accessible! All for your use after working hours!
medical centre specially for the employees, canteen which can house all workers, and a mini mart where everything from toothbrush to tidbits can be found! Are you sure this is a company?!?!
an interesting psystem that Mr. Mun told us about Aztech: at each production line etc... there is a board in front, stating the expected quantites of prods. to be produced, the actual no. produced etc etc... boards like these serve to encourage workers to set a measurable target and achieve them.
Also, the is a notice board which has names of workers who violate certains rules or such, and a fine will be imposed. This way, workers will ensure that they, e.g. enusre their own safety and such during the work. By doing so, to save embrassment of having their names pinned up and to save $ (from the fine), workers will be motivated to work along with proper conduct and also help the company by e.g. reduicing on-the-job injuries.
---Check point---
Employees are a company’s most valuable asset. Without your employees, even the finest company is like a posh car without the fuel.
Without fuel, how is a car to run? Without the employees, how is a company to function?
Thus, it is of utmost importance to ensure your employees welfare is taken care off. If you want them to work hard, motivate them to do so. And as the saying goes, “all work and no play make Jack a dull boy”. So remember, that apart from the work, employees would need to rest, as with all human, they need entertainment too.
~2 points which Mr. Mun mentioned, that i feel i should highlight:1) "Guan Xi" - this was mentioned many times before, and throughout the trip. It is widely known that having good relations with government officials is an important and essential factor which can help a comapny while doing business in China. For example, government officials would give pre-warning, in a sense that when they were doing something which was threading on the line of law, government officials would warn them that what they are doing is not right, and if they carry on doing so, they could be punished. This way, ne will not be punsihed for being unfamiliar with the law, but instead, will have suffecient warning by officials what not to do.
2) Mr. Mun mentioned that Aztech was in the red for a few years, but with the strong determination of their CEO, they were able to pull out and make profits 4 years later. This shows the importance of the influence a leader has over an entire organisation. With a positive thinking leader at the helm, subordinates will be motivated to work together towards a better tomorrow!
these valuable lessons i've learnt, them I bring with me...
2:00 PM
And so after a night of fun, exploring the streets of
The next day, we left Hong Kong for Shen Zhen, and this is where the next part of our journey begins – our next 9 days to be spent in
This is where we were promised by our tour guide(I think it was
what better things to do den catch up with
So after a disappointed meal, we headed to this landmark project of Shen Zhen, which cost whooping RMB 2.6 billion worth of investments! Sitting on a 1.3km square area of land, we are talking about non-other than Shen Zhen’s pride, the
ahhhh… warm welcome to Materials City!
Here at the materials city, you would be quick to notice how neatly the land is divided for different trade center –
a miniature replica of the entire
The 5 trade centers that can be found here are:
1) Textile & Clothing Materials
2) Leather & Accessories
3) Printing, Paper Products and Packaging Materials
4) Metals, Chemicals, and Plastic Materials
5) Electronics
We were ‘loaded up’ into these cute little machines that brought us up-close to each of the different centers, where we got a close view of the individual stores there.
me boarding our lil machine!
In order to attract investors, what they have done is to include supporting facilities such as hotels, office buildings and warehouses etc… such facilities would help potential buyers/sellers trading within the
You may be wondering, just what is the aim of the
Well, the answers lie ahead…
The aim of the
And just how do they do so?
Constant promotions by the advertising department is done to attract investors to the area, and with more competition, economies of scale can be achieved (more quantity, lower cost). Knowing that
- check point – many suppliers congregated into one City, with many selling similar products. How will they fight for the customers? How will they ensure their survival in the city? How will they outdo their competitors? All these lie in their marketing and pricing strategy. Just like the how animals fight for survival, these suppliers fight – for their rice bowl.
10:41 AM