At the beginning of March, most textile and garment companies have entered the rhythm of resuming work and production. The COVID-19 epidemic has forced some textile companies to expand their online businesses. In the longer term, it is now the time for companies to improve their awareness and improve their internal skills. Under multiple pressures, we must think: What are the long-term trends and growth logic? How to find increments? Have we truly allocated resources, designed mechanisms, and built teams around core capabilities?
Recalling that 5 years ago, my German boss was transferred from Shanghai to a new position as the person in charge of Turkey, and he continued to work Working for a European fashion brand in procurement control, before leaving, the author could not help but worry about discussing the job prospects with him. I remember that he affirmed at the time, “Fast fashion is prevalent now, China has a complete range of textile categories, and the response speed is fast enough, which is exactly what the brand needs. Why?” Are you worried?”
However, one day five years later, he called from Istanbul and said worriedly: “The purchasing volume of European brands has increased significantly, and has even exceeded that of The reason for China’s purchasing volume is that they are “more compatible” with European fashion designers, and the fabric series they provide are more likely to be selected by brands. In contrast, China relies more on copying samples. Moreover, brands are increasingly The more we are forced by market pressure, the more flexible and rapid response is needed. However, it only takes three days to transport goods from Turkey to Germany by truck, compared with 20 or 30 days for China’s shipping, which has obvious advantages.”
On the occasion of writing this article, the author had another serious dialogue with him. His sincere warning reminded us: ” Chinese textile products still lack innovation, and product design and R&D creativity still need to be improved.” This is still our weakness.
So, where is the way? As a veteran of China’s textile and apparel industry, over the years I have witnessed the industry gradually improve in quality, gradually expand in scale, and improve in efficiency, thereby also improving in many aspects such as price, delivery, quality control, and customer relations, ” Orders are pouring in.” However, in the face of high costs and encroachment by large companies in South Asia and even Africa, international brands have taken the initiative to divert orders, which inevitably makes people feel that there are many challenges.
In the face of challenges, the best strategy is mutation and diversity. As the saying goes, “natural selection, survival of the fittest.” Variation means change and innovation.
Under multiple pressures, we must think about: What are the long-term trends and growth logic? What are the underlying reasons behind the changes? What are the risks to the existing stock? How to find increments? Have we truly allocated resources, designed mechanisms, and built teams around our core capabilities?
Learn from the views in the article “Based on Past Cognition Cannot Reach the Future” by Fang Hongbo of Midea Group , the future endogenous new strength has three core elements:
First, master the ability to be driven by technology and create value with technology.
Second, the only factor that drives the world and economic growth is innovation, which means having the courage to break through yourself and create new possibilities.
Third, put human capital first and attract the best talents from around the world to have a future.
Based on the characteristics of our textile and apparel industry and based on the author’s thinking and research, it is now time for enterprises to enhance their awareness and improve their internal skills. There are three methods: breaking boundaries and managing talents. Able and people-oriented.
Breaking boundaries
From the above Schematic diagram shows that there are natural barriers between fabrics, clothing, and brands in the industry, which are divided into three levels. Often the authorities are obsessed with it, “just because they are in this mountain, they do not know the true face of Mount Lu.”
The first level of cognition is the contradiction between fabric characteristics/clothing style/commercial considerations. Brands pursue product differentiation, but they do not know that each material has its own characteristics. It is said that there are no perfect materials in the world. Material selection and style presentation will inevitably have some differences. Conflict, at this time, whether the brand takes the initiative to take certain market risks based on commercial considerations or leaves the problem to the conflict balance between clothing production and fabric characteristics is intriguing. Judging from the author’s work experience, such cases are common.
The second level of cognition is the game relationship between risk taking and profit distribution among fabric manufacturers/clothing manufacturers/brand owners. Strong brands often ignore the relationship between supply chains. On the contrary, weak brands are often affected by the conditions of the supply chain and are in a dilemma before consumers and the supply chain. The game is a true portrayal of the relationship between the three.
In fact, whether this level or the second level of relationship is essentially a game of product thinking, commodity thinking, and circulation thinking, the people who make products Often from the perspective of production, people who make products look at the problem at the product level, and people who make goods circulate consider how to sell goods smoothly through different channels. Whether you are offline or online, you should pay attention to the current various aspects. A new media and new modelIt is necessary to understand the international argumentation system and integrate it into the entire game rules, such as GRS, Oeko-Tex, BSCI, Bluesign, etc. Marketing is not only a plan, but the company’s quotation, hook samples, and labels all present the company’s product positioning and The spiritual temperament requires great attention to details and the presentation of details in each case.
Whether the marketing arrow can successfully hit the heart of the customer, it must have a very clear consumer insight ability, as well as the basic management, product research and development, and quality control described above. The success of the system.
People-oriented
The real value of a company lies in its employees. As long as we find a few talented “A-level” talents who are unwilling to be mediocre, they will automatically expand the team and turn it into a team that works hard and eventually lead the company to become stronger. And establish an excellent talent training and inheritance mechanism. In the process of human evaluation and judgment, we must not only evaluate the behaviors, skills, and values above the iceberg, but also pay attention to the values, self-positioning, personality characteristics, and motivations below the iceberg. Because an enterprise Often success lies in strategy but failure in organization.
Enterprises should observe, discover, and integrate employees’ organizational coordination through organizational behavior to encourage employees’ subjective initiative. Supervisors should lead by example, and teaching by example is more important than teaching by example. Teaching by words. In terms of employee education, micro-courses independently developed by the company are set up. In terms of employee motivation, a virtuous cycle promotion mechanism and income distribution mechanism are set up.
As the saying goes: A person who works with his hands is a laborer; a person who works with his hands and brain is a craftsman; a person who works with his hands, brain, and heart is a craftsman. The person is an artist.
Actively introduce employee career planning assistance and team spirit cultivation, establish a team awareness of dependence > independence > interdependence, and let team members fully understand that the period of dependence – with “you” as the Core, you take care of me, you have to be responsible for my success or failure; Independence period – with “I” as the core, I can do it, I can be responsible, I can rely on myself, I have the right to decide; Interdependence period – with “I” as the core “We are the core”, we can do it, we can cooperate, we can integrate each other’s wisdom and abilities to create a future together! Achieving such integration can fully gather the strength of the team and achieve “one hole with strength and one hole with benefit.” to avoid unnecessary internal friction in the enterprise.
At the same time, strengthen the establishment of internal communication skills of the company, and cultivate the understanding of grassroots employees in the organization: “If you want to convince me, then you must think what I think and feel what I feel. Say what I say.” For leaders, they also need to understand the “Pygmalion effect”, that is, expectations and praise can cause miracles, and if employees are given continuous positive encouragement, employees will inevitably make substantial progress. It should be proved that good communication = the lubricant of organizational efficiency.
Conclusion
Everything in the world is interconnected, various factors interact with each other, and various forces are entangled and complicated. As members of the industry, we should not limit ourselves, belittle ourselves, and “return to the origin”:
(1) Maintain ecology Circle thinking, as a member of the value chain, should closely link the upstream and downstream industries, establish a borderless alliance system, and create unique core advantages of its own attributes;
(2) Fully consider the current international division of labor trends Under the reality of irreversible industrial transfer, as a fabric company, in addition to making brand-specified fabrics, we should actively maintain close contact with large-scale garment companies in South Asia, proactively connect with each other, and jointly develop FOB orders. We should not wait passively and wait for death; at the same time, we should cooperate with domestic sales The brand’s material preparation orders and safety feature production must also be put on the agenda, and its own value must be carefully presented to provide a product series with fashion sense and safety features;
(3) Keep improving, learn from the Japanese nation, Deutsche Rammstein’s restrained and calm product quality includes exquisite interpretation of product communication, abandoning fancy showpieces, conscientiously building the organizational structure, making products refined, thoroughly analyzing consumer needs, and serving customers well. Without innovation, the industry will eventually become a chess piece that can be discarded at any time. At present, China has the foundation for industrial development. We hope that industry colleagues will not ruin a good hand due to short-sightedness. </p
