Chapter 72 New Opportunities and Planning
Chapter 72 New Opportunities and Planning
After all, the upper limit of the mouse catching industry is still too low. Although it is far from reaching the upper limit at present, even if it really captures part of the European and American markets, the output value will still be incomparable to other industries.
For example, Li Jiacheng's plastic flowers, or the most basic toy industry, or even the Rubik's Cube he has been researching, may not be able to compare with it.
It has been nearly nine months since he traveled to Hong Kong. During this time, he has come up with many ideas for future products, but due to technical reasons or his existing resources, he has not been able to make them, or the time has not yet come for them to be launched.
However, there are some things that people will never think of until they use them. For example, the sticky note is a very interesting and promising invention in human history.
"Convenience of what?" Su Yiyi asked, looking at Yang Wendong strangely as he got stuck in the middle of his speech.
"Haha." Yang Wendong happily grabbed Su Yiyi's hand and said, "I remembered something good. Let's go outside."
"Ah!" Su Yiyi, whose hand was grabbed by Yang Wendong, was pulled out before she could react.
After arriving at the intersection, Su Yiyi asked, "Brother Dong, where are we going?"
"Let's go to the hardware market. I want to take another look at the glue." Yang Wendong said with a smile. He looked around and saw that there were no rickshaws, so the two of them could only walk over.
Su Yiyi asked curiously: "Glue? Isn't there a lot of it in the factory?"
Yang Wendong shook his head and said, "The glue used in the factory is all strong glue, which is used to stick to mice. What I want is a glue that is not very sticky."
"Non-stick glue?" Su Yiyi was a little confused, but didn't ask too much.
The hardware market was about 2 kilometers away. The two of them walked and chatted and arrived there in just over ten minutes.
"Old Shen." Yang Wendong shouted loudly as soon as he entered a larger store.
"Hey, here you are, Mr. Yang." Old Shen, wearing a pair of reading glasses, walked to the side and saw that it was Yang Wendong. He smiled and said, "Mr. Yang, you are a distinguished guest. Why did you come to my shop in person?"
Yang Wendong said with a smile: "Old Shen, if your shop is any smaller, there will be no bigger glue shop in Hong Kong."
"Haha, I am just an old man who has been messing around in my old age. I can't compare to Mr. Yang." Old Shen smiled and asked:
"Mr. Yang, you've opened a factory at such a young age. I've run a shop here for more than 30 years. You're the first one to start your own business at such a young age. Now you even have your own property."
"It's just a marginal area." Yang Wendong shrugged. Any land in Tsim Sha Tsui may be valuable in 20 years, but it doesn't make any sense now.
I acquired Hongxing Plastic Factory myself. Although the main reason was because of the land, in the short term, it was still for my own factory.
Old Shen handed over two bottles of mineral water and said, "Here, one bottle for each of you two young people."
"Ah?" Su Yiyi had just walked over, her face was already a little red, and now it became even redder.
"Old man Shen, do you have any glue that's not too sticky?" After taking a sip of water, Yang Wendong got down to business.
Old Shen frowned and asked, "Glue that is not very sticky? What do you want this glue for?"
"Don't worry about it." Yang Wendong naturally couldn't say that this was a new hot-selling product with a market ten or a hundred times larger than that of the sticky mouse board.
Of course he couldn't tell anyone before he made it and registered a patent.
Old Shen smiled and said, "Generally speaking, people buy glue for stickiness, and rarely ask for non-sticky ones. The ones I import from Japan are all sticky, and at most they can be used in different environments, such as on plastic, paper, metal, wood, etc."
"Then in what situations would you need glue that is not very sticky?" Yang Wendong asked again.
Using glue that is not very sticky is indeed a bit counterintuitive. What he is more worried about is that he cannot buy this kind of glue.
Originally in history, Post-it Notes were a type of glue accidentally invented by 3M's R&D personnel. It was not very sticky and was later used on Post-it Notes.
However, this does not mean that there was no glue that was not very sticky in the world before the 70s.
Glue has been around for hundreds of years, and with the rapid development of the chemical industry in recent decades, countless types of glue have emerged. There will always be one similar to the one developed by 3M a dozen years later. Even if the performance is not comparable, it is enough as long as it is almost the same.
The first product does not need to be perfect, it just needs to be easy to use, and then it can be improved after the funds are circulated.
Old Shen thought for a moment and said, “There is a situation where there is such a demand. In medical treatment, you need glue that is not very sticky, just like some bandage glue in hospitals, which needs to be sticky but not very sticky.
As for other occasions, I can’t think of any at this moment.”
"Medical tape? Yes, the stickiness of Band-Aids is not very strong." After being reminded, Yang Wendong also thought, aren't the Band-Aids around people what he needs?
But many times, people easily overlook the things around them. Often, the most common industrial products may contain all kinds of magical technologies.
Old Shen added: “Yes, the bad band-aids use strong adhesives, which will be very painful when they are torn off the skin, and may even hurt the wound;
A good band-aid has just the right amount of stickiness, won’t fall off, and won’t cause much damage when you tear it off.”
Yang Wendong nodded and asked, "Do you have this kind of glue?"
"No." Old Shen shook his head and said, "Who would import this kind of glue? I've been in the glue business for decades, and I've never seen a request like yours."
Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Well, ask your channels in Japan to see if they have this kind of glue. Get some for me. If I find the right kind of glue, I might buy a lot of it in the future."
"Okay, no problem. You are my big client. I will notify you immediately when I find out the answer." Old Shen nodded.
Yang Wendong's factory had purchased a lot of glue from him before, so he naturally had to provide good service to such big customers.
"Okay." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I'll wait for your good news."
The two chatted for a while, and then Yang Wendong took Su Yiyi away and returned to the factory.
"Yiyi, cut out about a hundred pieces according to this size." Yang Wendong drew a square of about 7 cm on a piece of paper.
"100? Okay." Su Yiyi was a little surprised, but still agreed.
Afterwards, the two worked together, Yang Wendong drew and Su Yiyi cut, and after about ten minutes, 100 small pieces of paper came out.
"It's not quite uniform. It looks like manual production won't work." Yang Wendong said thoughtfully after picking up all the papers and comparing them.
Su Yiyi said: "I think I saw a paper cutter last time. Brother Dong, if you need it, I can go buy one."
"The one you mentioned is manual, so it may not work. I guess we need to customize special equipment." Yang Wendong shook his head and said.
Mouse traps are rough products. After the stickers and plastic sheets are industrially produced, they can be assembled using only manpower.
This is also in line with Hong Kong's current situation. Labor costs are low, so if labor can be used, it will be used. This is also good for society and can increase employment.
Only when labor becomes more and more expensive will we try to adopt automation.
However, there are some products that cannot be made by manpower, such as beverages, or the sticky notes that Yang Wendong is going to make. Manual production is too inefficient and cannot be done well.
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PS: Please give me a monthly ticket
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I know many people may wonder about the adhesive problem of Post-it Notes. I have tried Band-Aids on purpose. It will not leave too big a mark when it is stuck on paper and then torn off. It may not be as good as Post-it Notes, but as a new idea it is good enough. Band-Aids appeared before World War II.
In our time, low-viscosity adhesives are not just needed for sticky notes. At least the adhesives used in the medical industry cannot be too strong, similar to those used in sticky notes.
There must have been demand for this in the past, but it was not huge. Historically, it was probably the Post-it Notes that drove this market.
(End of this chapter)