The standard predicament behind the price cycle - sewing machine industry: it is difficult to do dealer upgrade after sales

The sewing machine industry, as the hardest hit by the negative impact of the financial crisis, has seen a "V"-type running track from recovery to recovery in the second half of 2009, which is enough for the industry to be thrilled. According to reason, the economic situation improves, the product supply exceeds demand, and the price of the product should go upwards. However, the status quo in the sewing machine market is very different, and the price has not only declined but has also declined.

This "price turmoil" has attracted the attention of many people in the industry. Where did the problem appear? After a round of external crisis baptism and adjustment of the internal structure of the industry, it is time for the industry chain to take the pulse.

The distributor is very important and most of the industries are different. The sales channel of the sewing machine has its own set. The sewing machine manufacturer, which is the supplier, is the outflow end of the sewing machine; the garment enterprise, the ultimate consumer and user, is the receiving end of the sewing machine. But they are not directly connected, there is a transition zone - dealers.

It can be said that this dealer is the hub of the sewing machine trade, most products have to go through him to transit. For the entire industry chain, he must be responsible for communicating with the upstream and downstream industries. He must not only convey the supplier's products and technologies to the apparel companies, but also provide timely feedback to the suppliers.

The importance of dealership is self-evident. However, this "important position" does not match with the fact that dealers have long lacked the right to speak in the industry. The price is not the final say for the whole company. It is up to the garment companies to have the final say. The dealers are running at both ends, and at the end, they are still not bothered.

As a result, the answer to the “strange circle of prices” surfaced. The industry’s predicament was largely due to the fact that dealers were trapped in the bottleneck of the system, scale, and operating model. Only by fully mobilizing the enthusiasm of the distributors can they be fundamentally rationalized. Industry chain.

In order to thoroughly understand the current situation of dealers' operations, and against the problems in the development of business enterprises, Hu Xiehai, Director of the Sewing Association Trade Committee, and Yang Xiaojing, Secretary-General of the Association, visited and visited dozens of business enterprises in Dongyang, Yiwu and Hangzhou, and held discussions. The meeting listened extensively to the opinions and suggestions of the distributors.

It is difficult for reporters to understand after-sales services. Although the quality of sewing machine products in China has continued to increase in recent years, there is still a gap between Japan and Germany. This gap is mainly reflected in the after-sale repair and maintenance. At present, the problem of market regulation by distributors is also concentrated here. In order to understand the actual situation the dealers are currently facing, the reporter interviewed Mr. Zheng, who is the head of a well-known sewing machine business enterprise.

Mr. Zheng said in a word: "Since the industry lacks uniform constraints and standards, the dealer's work has been forced into a passive situation. The customer is still unsatisfactory even when it is passive to do whatever it wants. It has even affected sales."

When asked which of these specific rights and responsibilities are unclear, Mr. Zheng is very specific and deep. It can be seen that this problem has caused great trouble to their business. The first is the definition of the nature of the fault. Such as jumper, broken line, is the normal failure or quality problems, should the user solve the problem or the dealer to solve, or the manufacturer to solve? Another example is that a needle board is broken. Is it an operational problem or a machine quality problem or a pin board quality problem? Second, the service fee standard. The user certainly has problems that cannot be solved. He also accepts paid services. How is the fee charged? Counting, timing or counting? The good master has been solved in the past ten minutes. He is not good at all for a long time. How can he charge? Third, service efficiency issues. It mainly deals with how to promise the time of service personnel and how to promise the time to solve the problem.

Obviously, according to this status quo, it is true that parts and components companies, complete machine companies, and distributors and garment enterprises have not been defined, and the introduction of uniform standards is urgently needed. Let reporters have doubts that the freezing of the three feet is not a day's cold, this industry should not be a day or two of dysentery, then why today, the contradictions are so prominent?

To this end, the reporter specifically interviewed the Secretary-General of China Sewing Machinery Association, Yang Xiaojing. He explained: “In the past, the standards in the industry were mainly formulated around rigid 'products'. As for the soft 'services', there has been no corresponding standard. Over time, it led to the industry's non-standard and competitive chaos. As to why the unified standards are now on the agenda, it is because during the first two years of the industry's 'resting and rejuvenating' stage, everyone has time to sit down and calm down to analyze and summarize some things, and then catch up with the current industry's momentum is getting better, we must grasp The opportunity to live is a good time to regulate the market and set standards."

The industrial chain should be straightened. Since the distributor is an "intermediate link," if problems arise, it must be followed. Only one must touch the vine upwards, and the other must touch the vine downwards.

First of all, the sales agreement signed between the whole machine manufacturer and the distributor is not standardized. For example, as long as it is a "standard" brand product, the product is completely sold by the local "standard" dealers and the manufacturer. No longer hooked. This involves a lot of details, dealers responsible for sales, many technical problems may not be proficient. The "went away" of manufacturing companies has brought troubles to distributors and garment companies. The solution of the bell must be tied to the bell. Some problems still need to be solved by the production companies and even the parts companies themselves.

Then, the maintenance force of the clothing company must also be strengthened. Yang Xiaojing, the secretary-general, told the reporter: “At present, many garment manufacturing companies are obviously lacking in maintenance capabilities, such as some enterprises in Henan, more than 2,000 workers with 2 to 3 maintenance workers, hundreds of people and even more than a thousand people. The problem is often caused by the fact that the garment factory itself does not understand the machine or improperly operates it. If this is the case, dealers are required to come to the door for maintenance, which is unfair to the dealer.”

This question was also mentioned by Mr. Zheng in the interview. In his view, to thoroughly put the industry on a track of healthy development, the formulation of standards is a matter of form and essentially a systemic project. "First of all, garment companies must improve their ability to solve everyday problems. Second, they must raise the threshold for selling sewing machines, which is to increase the qualifications of dealers."

Obviously, this “unified standard” to be established should play a role of an outline, and should be used as an outline to further improve the quality of the entire industry chain. Parts production, complete machine production, distributors, and garment enterprises are all chains that are interlocked with each other. Only the mutual separation of powers and responsibilities, complementary advantages, and unified cooperation are the powerful guarantees for the healthy development of the entire industry. Calling for unified distribution standards is not only to protect the interests of distributors, but we must also see the long-term benefits this brings to the entire industry chain.

Dealers need to upgrade The reporter also learned that at present, the work of setting a unified standard for the industry has entered a substantive stage. According to Huang Zhiyun, chairman of Yiwu Sewing Machinery Technology Association and chairman of Yiwu Dongfang Sewing Equipment Co., Ltd., the formulation and implementation of after-sales service standards will be carried out in the Yiwu area after the opinions of all parties concerned have been synthesized according to the requirements of local commercial enterprises. The related standards were reported to the association for discussion.

However, due to the long-standing problem of this issue and the balance between multiple interests, it is conceivable that uniform standards are not easy. If Mr. Zheng was worried during the interview, he said: “How can the binding force be guaranteed after the standard is formed? If there is a competition, a dealer promises a one-year warranty. What will I promise after two years of warranty?”

Indeed, how to maintain the standard long-term mechanism is also a matter for the sewing association. Secretary-General Yang Xiaojing said: "First, we must carry out serious research before the standard setting, seek opinions from multiple parties, mobilize the enthusiasm of production companies, distributors, and garment companies in all aspects, and finally develop a standard that can be balanced to the greatest possible extent. Second, the standard is not immutable, and it must be continuously adjusted and improved in the future implementation process according to the actual problems encountered."

Concern that the lack of standard binding is mainly due to the phenomenon of unfair competition existing in the industry. Secretary-General Yang Xiaojing pointed out that this is mainly due to the fact that our industry environment is not standardized enough. For example, the entire machine industry, even if this type of industry in Japan is developed In the country, but also twenty or thirty companies, and China's existing 650 machine companies, dealers even more exaggerated, as many as 15,000. So complicated, how can we regulate it?

Therefore, the key issue is still attributed to industrial upgrading. The China Slits Association recently proposed the concept of "integrated service operator". Secretary-General Yang Xiaojing pointed out that this concept is exactly what the "12th Five-Year Plan" industry development plan should have. “It involves the upgrading of dealerships, from simple commodity purchases to service solutions for companies. The concept of this service will cover a lot of content, in addition to products, but also provide on-site construction, equipment modeling for counterpart companies. Technical services, as well as providing staff training and other services."

Visible, sewing machine market needs is a group of high-quality distributors, only the optimization team, "unified standards" can be implemented.