Chapter 101 User Complaints and Adhesive Investment Plan

Chapter 101 User Complaints and Adhesive Investment Plan

Chapter 101 User Complaints and Adhesive Investment Plan
August 3, sunny:
When Yang Wendong arrived at the new factory, he found Zhao Liming and Lin Haoyu were also there.

"What's wrong?" Yang Wendong was a little surprised to see seven or eight people crowded in the conference room.

At this moment, Zhou Xianlong, Wei Zetao, Hong Xuefei and others were also here. There was a mouse trap in the middle of the table. This scene was a bit strange.

Seeing the boss coming, Wei Zetao stood up and said, "Mr. Yang, a trader sent a batch of our mouse traps to Indonesia. He originally just wanted to test the market, but something went wrong.

Indonesia is located on the equator and has high temperatures all year round. The temperature has been very high in recent times. Our mouse traps were delivered there and placed in the warehouse.

Maybe because the warehouse was closed during the day and the temperature was very high, all the glue on the board flowed out, causing a whole box of goods to be ruined and also making the warehouse dirty.

Traders therefore complained about our quality issues and demanded compensation.”

"Did the glue melt?" Yang Wendong had considered this situation before, but it had never occurred, so he asked, "Does our product packaging clearly state the temperature?"

Wei Zetao replied: "No, we only wrote that it is valid for one year. In fact, it can still be useful after a few years. It is just a suggestion."

"Then we should add temperature limits in the future. At least it will be made clear." Yang Wendong nodded and said.

Wei Zetao followed up and said, "That's fine, but just for this time?"

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "We didn't make it clear, so we have some responsibility. We can negotiate with the other party. As long as the price is reasonable and the other party doesn't ask for too much, it's fine."

The basic principle of doing business is to take responsibility, whether it is to suppliers or customers, what belongs to you is yours, so that long-term and stable cooperation can be achieved.

Unless it is the kind of business where you want to make a quick buck, that’s another matter.

Wei Zetao nodded and said, "Okay, I will communicate with the trading company about this. It won't cost much. The question now is whether such a thing will happen again. This is what we are more concerned about."

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and said, "Last summer, we sold a lot of mouse traps in Hong Kong, Europe and Japan. The summers in Japan and Europe are not very hot. Although Hong Kong is at a higher latitude, it is not very hot because it is close to the sea.
So if the glue we used was very afraid of high temperatures, we wouldn’t have discovered it last year.”

Lin Haoyu then said: "Brother Dong, in fact, a similar situation occurred last year. Our mouse traps were placed on the wall to catch mice. Two days later, when we went to pick them up, we sometimes found some glue on the ground.

But we didn’t pay much attention to it at first, and the area was small, so we cleaned up the things and left it alone. Later, other people did it, and I forgot about it.”

"Have you done any experiments?" Yang Wendong asked again, "To verify it?"

Wei Zetao replied: "Yes, I did. After receiving the customer complaint yesterday, I immediately used a hair dryer to blow our mouse trap. It is true that after high temperature, the adhesive on it becomes soft and there is fluid leakage.

But hair dryers only blow out hot air, which cannot be controlled. We can only prove that our mouse traps will have this phenomenon when exposed to high temperatures, but we don’t have data on how high the temperature is or how long it will take for the phenomenon to occur.”

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded, thought for a while, and asked: "Is there any equipment on the market that can be used for experiments, that is, to control the temperature in a box? High temperature or low temperature?"

In his previous life, Yang Wendong had also been to some factories and knew that there was something called a high and low temperature chamber, which was specifically used to test the high and low temperature performance of products.

Although today's technology is far behind that of the past, now that we have refrigerators, low temperatures can definitely be achieved, and high-temperature heating will be even easier.

"Yes." Wei Zetao said: "When my previous company was making plastic products, we also had to do high and low temperature tests, but this kind of equipment was not produced in Hong Kong and had to be imported from Japan."

Yang Wendong asked again: "Don't you have any in Dongsheng?"

Wei Zetao replied: "No, in theory Dongsheng should be able to make it, but there is not much market. Although there are many toy manufacturers in Hong Kong, they are all small workshops, and few of them will really test the various properties of toys.

This kind of testing equipment is not like our sticky note production equipment. Even for us, we only buy one or two at most. It is estimated that other large factories will buy about the same amount. "

"That's right, then we'll import such testing equipment from Japan first." Yang Wendong nodded and said, "We'll do detailed testing after the equipment arrives. In fact, it's about time we need to understand our own products."

Previously, the company was small and there were too many things to deal with. He couldn't completely avoid the possible low-probability quality problems. Besides, for many problems, he would only know what they were after they happened.

Nowadays, as factories grow larger, everything needs to be formally managed, including a testing and inspection department.

"Okay, I will contact the trader immediately." Wei Zetao replied.

Yang Wendong picked up the mouse trap on the table and took a look at it, then said, "It has already happened, we just need to find a way to solve the problem, it's no big deal, anyone who runs a factory will have quality problems.

The key is how to prevent the same problem from happening again in the future and to try to avoid other problems.”

After listening to this, everyone looked at each other, but for a short period of time, they really didn't know what to say.

Yang Wendong added, "Let's do this for now. There's no way to solve this problem right away. Let's go back and think about it. Old Wei, stay here and let's talk about something else."

"Okay." Wei Zetao nodded; the others got up and left.

After everyone left, Yang Wendong put down the mousetrap in his hand and said, "This is just a small matter, but we have to pay attention to it, because we don't know much about our products now. This is our biggest problem and hidden danger."

Wei Zetao asked, "Mr. Yang is worried about the glue and paper?"

"Forget about the paper. There is nothing to study. It is OK as long as it is slightly better than ordinary A4 paper." Yang Wendong said, "The core is glue. Whether it is a sticky note or a mouse sticky board, glue is the core.

But when I started my business, I didn’t have much ability to research and understand the properties of glue. I just chose based on my feelings and experience of many attempts.
This was possible in the environment at that time, but now our company has grown and our products are sold to different places around the world. The ambient temperature and humidity in these places are different, so we also need to understand the characteristics of our products in different environments. "

"Yes." Wei Zetao also said: "Now our factory only has one set of equipment imported from Germany for detecting viscosity data, but it can only measure data under normal temperature. It is fine for shipping, but it is not enough for experiments." "So, I plan to set up a special testing department." Yang Wendong followed.

In fact, a few months ago, before recruiting Lao Wei and others, he and Zhao Liming discussed the idea of ​​conducting some tests on the mouse traps;
However, the high temperature issue was not the consideration at that time, but how much glue to use to strike a balance between cost and mouse-catching effect. Because glue is the largest purchasing cost, we recently bought a German imported testing equipment, which cost several thousand Hong Kong dollars.

Although such quality problems have occurred now, they are enough to sound the alarm. When running a business, we must attach importance to quality. Quality is not something that can be achieved by words, but requires investment, whether it is people, equipment or some rules and regulations, etc.

Wei Zetao nodded and said, "It is indeed a good idea to set up a dedicated laboratory. In fact, I have also thought about whether to change the glue. Maybe we can find a cheaper and better one.

But the main focus in the past period of time has been on increasing production capacity and funding issues. For this kind of thing, it is better to focus on stability for the time being."

Yang Wendong smiled and said, "Yes, we had more important things to do before. Although the production capacity still needs to be expanded, at least everything is going according to plan. There will be no major problems with funds and personnel in the short term.

Therefore, I want to study our products thoroughly and clearly as soon as possible. Also, as you said, is there a better glue? The mouse trap itself has a low profit margin and consumes a lot of glue, which is also very important. "

The value of post-it notes is far higher than that of mouse sticky boards, and the demand for glue is also low. Therefore, he is not sensitive to this aspect. In order to ensure that there are no problems, he directly uses the glue used in high-end medical supplies, but the unit price is a bit more expensive.

The mouse trap is very sensitive to costs. Although we don’t expect to make much money from it, since we hope to use it to drive employment and influence ourselves, we must control the cost. The higher the profit, the easier it is to feed more people, open up more markets, and thus drive more employment.

Everything is a positive cycle, and the basis of all benefits is profit. If it is worse, at least it will not lose money.
Wei Zetao nodded and said, "I understand. I will ask a headhunting company to check if there are any talents doing chemical research in Hong Kong. I guess there are not many. Hong Kong does not have this kind of chemical industry, and there are very few people who are related to it."

Yang Wendong thought for a moment and asked again: "Old Wei, what do you think about making glue in Hong Kong? We can make it ourselves?"

"Make glue?" Wei Zetao was a little embarrassed and said, "Mr. Yang, I have actually looked up information on this before. Although glue can be made using a homemade method, it can only be used in simple situations and can be used to stick things together.

But if you want to standardize production and ensure that the products produced over a long period of time are exactly the same, you must produce them in a modern way, and this is the modern chemical industry."

Yang Wendong nodded and said, "I also know that it is a chemical industry. What problems will there be in opening such a factory in Hong Kong? Is it environmentally friendly?"

Wei Zetao replied: "Environmental protection is a minor issue, as long as we don't build factories in crowded places. Hong Kong has many small metal smelters and ship repair factories, and the pollution is no worse than some small chemical factories abroad, unless our glue factory is very large.

The real problem is talent. Even if I want to find someone responsible for testing, it will probably take some time. Hong Kong basically has no chemical industry. For an industry with such high technical content, it is absolutely impossible to succeed without someone.”

"Talent is indeed a problem." Yang Wendong nodded. The decline of the US Navy in the 21st century was due to the lack of maintenance personnel, but the Americans could do nothing about it. This is enough to show how important talent is in the industrial chain and national defense.

Wei Zetao added: "If Mr. Yang is willing to spend money, there is actually a way to recruit people directly from Japan and the United States, but the cost will be very high.

Another point is that all raw materials are chemical products and also need to be imported.

Although our glue is imported, we only need to import one thing, while the raw materials of glue are many kinds, and there are some catalysts that we also need to import."

“That’s right.” Yang Wendong actually knew that this was very difficult. He had no raw materials, no industrial chain, no talents, and nothing. It would be difficult to do it even if he had money.

"Unless." Wei Zetao paused and said, "We have a huge demand. As long as the demand is large enough, it will be cost-effective. Whether it is poaching people, building factories or centralized purchasing, once we have the scale, we can operate it.

However, given the current situation, I am afraid that this demand cannot be met, but it may be possible in the future."

"That's for sure. The market for post-it notes is very large." Yang Wendong said with a smile.

Wei Zetao paused and said, "In fact, there is another way. 3M is a global adhesive tape giant and also has chemical plants. As far as I know, the industrial costs in the United States are also getting higher and higher, and low-end industries are beginning to face competition from Japan.

If they can come to Hong Kong to build a factory and produce glue and tape, we can form an industrial chain, and we can also build a factory specializing in producing mousetrap glue."

"Your idea is quite good." After listening, Yang Wendong said with a smile: "It's just for us to be able to produce glue, just like letting 3M bring a complete chemical industry chain to Hong Kong. It's too beautiful to think about it."

"Haha. Just a thought." Wei Zetao said, "But if there is no industrial chain and workers, it is indeed unlikely that we can build a glue factory in Hong Kong. On the contrary, it is more realistic for us to build it in Japan.

But this is too much trouble, it is better to be at ease and buy the finished product directly. Unless our demand scale reaches a very high level in the future, it will not be cost-effective. "

"Well, let's focus on purchasing first." Yang Wendong also knew that it was indeed impossible to do it now.

When doing business, it is not possible to do everything by yourself. Although important things should be in your own hands, the timing is not right yet. You can only wait and consider it again when your scale is bigger and you have more funds.

Wei Zetao added: "Although we cannot produce by ourselves, we can also adopt a multi-party procurement model to control costs."

"Yeah." Yang Wendong nodded. In the future, the mainland will not have natural gas and oil, so it can only adopt a multi-party procurement model, which can be regarded as a relief measure.

He then added: "Although we cannot produce glue in a short period of time, research is still necessary. In the future, the test department, in addition to verifying the products we are currently producing, will also cooperate in studying various glues on the market to see which one is most suitable for us.

This doesn’t require many people. If it doesn’t work, we can recruit people from Japanese chemical factories. Over the years, so many Chinese have gone to Japan to study, especially in Taiwan. There should be Chinese talents in this field. Recruiting a few of them will be enough for research in this area.”

Just because we can’t produce doesn’t mean we can’t do some basic research and development.

We are not researching the composition of new glue, but looking for the most suitable glue on the market, doing things step by step. When we have the capability in the future, we can do in-depth research and development ourselves, or build a factory. If the industrial chain cannot be built in Hong Kong, we can build it elsewhere.

For example, in the next few years, Taiwan will also start to attract large-scale investment, and the industrial environment there still supports the existence of chemical industry.
Everything depends on future development.
PS: You may think that it is unrealistic for Hong Kong to engage in chemical industry, but it has existed in history. In 1958, a chemist named Dr. Tin Ka-ping (you can search on Baidu) who studied in the United States returned to Hong Kong and founded the Tin-style Chemical Factory, which mainly produced plastic films, construction adhesives, artificial leather, etc. It may not be a high-tech chemical industry, but it was not small in scale.

Besides, it is impossible to do a large-scale chemical industry in Hong Kong. It is just a simple and small one in the early stage because of the demand. I have also checked that the glue industry is a low-tech and low-pollution light chemical industry in the chemical industry (it is definitely more polluting than the assembly plant). The only difficulty lies in research and development and the variety of raw materials. It is difficult to develop good glue.
If I don't explain, I'm afraid of being criticized.
(End of this chapter)