The World'S Largest Shirt Manufacturer: Yida Textile, Opening Up A More Long-Term Transformation!

Foshan Gaoming, the core production base of Yida group, is being restored by the epidemic. However, a mask production line has not been removed. During the peak period, 90% of the garment production capacity was transferred to mask production.

Yida's textile and garment industry is one of the most significant industrial chains since the outbreak of the foreign trade. As Asia's largest exporters of pure cotton textiles and garments, Yi Da is also facing unprecedented challenges. This year, the performance has suffered a rare decline in recent years.

Under the pressure of the "two epidemic", the garment giant has begun to plan "breakout" in the balanced layout of resources and market. In the short term, the balance of production resources will be realized by the production masks, and the market layout will be reshaped in the long run with the building of independent brands and the acceleration of new products with high added value. In addition, from April to July, IDA will shut down 4 factories in the world and concentrate its contracted capacity on Foshan and Foshan base, and optimize the construction of production bases such as Guilin and Xinjiang.

Epidemic prevention, conversion, live broadcast, consumption redefinition and market equilibrium adjustment. The new situation is coming, and new sources of water are constantly being tested. How does this textile and apparel foreign trade enterprise go through the crisis and open up a more long-term transformation?

Clothing leading enterprises practice "winter crossing"

This year, many industries have entered the "winter of industry". For a textile and garment company which relies on exports, this "industry winter" is particularly sad.

In the IDA factory, millions of clothing orders are backlog in the warehouse. "The biggest blow to the epidemic is overseas markets. Overseas markets account for 83% of our sales share. Overseas customer stores are closed. Let's not send goods to factories. Many customers have postponed payment. This blow is too big for us. " Ma Weiping, general manager of Guangdong Yida Textile Co., Ltd.

Yida is one of the world's leading brands of fabric and garment suppliers. It ranks first in the ranking of Chinese men's cotton shirts in 15 consecutive years. The whole business of Yida group is located in many countries and regions such as the US, Europe, Japan and so on. However, since the outbreak of the epidemic, clothing has become one of the most significant industrial chains in the shrinking foreign trade.

The sample survey of China Textile Industry Association shows that export orders have been greatly reduced, and some clusters have been suspended or even returned to the market. "Cancellation of orders is the most serious. Tens of millions of garment orders have been cancelled, and the capacity for one season is gone. Ma Weiping said.

After the Spring Festival, it is usually the peak season for spring clothing sales and autumn clothing production in clothing industry. This year the situation is quite different. At the beginning of the domestic epidemic and the spread of the global epidemic, the industry's consumption power and orders are far from being recovered.

Anti epidemic, order cancellation, cash flow impact. Faced with the overflowing of the new situation, the response is to make strategic adjustment decisively, which should be transferred immediately, so as to achieve the balanced layout and full utilization of all kinds of resources.

Beginning in the 90s of last century, Yida began to build factories in Xinjiang, Changzhou, Guilin and other places, balanced production layout, and practiced new concepts such as sustainable development and scientific management. However, under the new situation, the board of directors of Yida group made a decision to close the Zhejiang garment factory in Fenghua, which was due to expire in April, to alleviate the problem of recruitment difficulties and high production costs. In order to further integrate business and reduce costs, Yida has shut down three factories in Malaysia and Mauritius after that. According to Ma Weiping, Yida's shrinking capacity is placed in Foshan, the most complete industrial chain.

At the same time, by making a quick decision to make a mask, Yida solved the needs of tens of thousands of workers' epidemic prevention materials, and made human resources and productivity adjust flexibly between the mask production and clothing production along with the change of the epidemic situation.

Under the crisis, a series of new explorations, trials and changes have taken place in the leading global textile and garment enterprises.

Conversion is not just a "emergency".

Today, domestic production is gradually resuming, but the factory has retained a mask production line and has not been demolished to ensure that production resources can be flexibly adjusted at any time. During the peak period, 90% of the capacity of the garment factory has been transferred to the mask production.

At the beginning of the outbreak, epidemic prevention materials became the vital gate for enterprises to resume work and resume production. With the industrial technology base and resource accumulation, we have joined the ranks of self produced masks. In the purchase of equipment to produce a disposable disposable respirator, or independently develop a more powerful and more environmentally friendly mask, the latter chose the latter.

Despite the rich experience in the field of clothing, mask production is still a very strange field for Yida.

In order to respond quickly to the supply of mask resources, a mask production preparatory group was set up in early February. On the one hand, all the ready to use resources can be integrated into the new business of masks, such as further development, breakthroughs and improvements on the basis of existing waterproofing and antibacterial treatment technologies, making effective use of fabric productivity and strong supply chain.

At the same time, the Yida equipment research and development center has started the research and development of automated mask production equipment. By the middle of June, a total of 29 automated mask production equipment had been put into use, each containing 4 small automatic devices, which was equivalent to a small automated mask production line.

After many rounds of brainstorming and self exploration, the "ten like official" cotton masks came into being. Liu Zhipeng, deputy general manager of Guangdong Yida garment factory, said that the mask can be washed for at least 30 times, and is equipped with a unique ear adjuster. The two-dimensional code on the label can enable consumers to query the authenticity and use of cleaning methods and other information, and also provide large data for the overflow mask to sell. By the middle of June, nearly 40 million production masks had been produced, and 35 million had been sold. At peak time, the overflow mask production capacity is one million in Tianda.

For Yida, mask production is not only an emergency measure, but also a fulcrum for balancing the layout of resources. The production of masks requires raw material procurement and coordination of raw materials such as yarn and cloth. It can share part of the manpower wasted due to the cancellation of orders and insufficient capacity. With the gradual stabilization of the epidemic situation and the warmer clothing orders, the production of masks and R & D energy has been gradually transferred back to garment production, and part of the mask production line has been transferred from China to Vietnam. At present, only a small amount of mask production capacity is maintained in China to meet urgent or special needs.

With the deepening of strategic adjustment, mask products are no longer just "just needed" during the epidemic period and expedient measures of enterprises, but become part of the long term product strategy. At present, Yida continues to develop new types of mask products, exploring new breakthroughs in functionality, comfort and aesthetics.

"We will continuously develop and enrich the" healthy "product line, and fully integrate and integrate our technological advantages and environmental protection concepts. Ma Weiping said.

Seize the new turning point of strengthening our own brand

In addition to production balance, the balance of market layout has also been put on the agenda. Under the background of heavy trade, China has been highly dependent on the international market and has begun to pay more attention to domestic demand.

This is actually a strategic choice under the action of a comprehensive factor. In recent years, the popularity of the national tide and the rise of the domestic clothing brand, and now the epidemic has shocked foreign brands, so that tapping the potential of the domestic market has become an inevitable choice. Previously, most of the main customers came from overseas. In the industry, it was widely believed that nearly 1/6 shirts in the United States were produced by Yida. By comparison, there are not many domestic customers, although they also supply Lining and other famous brands in China, but the overall proportion of domestic business is not large.

Now things are starting to change. Ma Weiping said that Yida is very optimistic about domestic demand. Nowadays, the development of domestic brands is good, such as Anta and other enterprises are becoming the rising stars in the world through mergers and acquisitions of overseas brands. "If the idea of Chinese consumers is repositioned, there will be many hopes in the domestic market."

"We plan to gradually adjust the proportion of domestic and foreign businesses and expand domestic demand." In Ma Weiping's view, it has also been expanding the scope of its business, which has been playing a leading role in the high-end men's clothing industry. This year, it will increase cooperation with domestic brands and strive to receive more orders.

A key point of overcoming domestic demand is to further strengthen our own brand and reduce dependence on overseas customers. Yida is known as "the giant behind the giant". In contrast, its own brand "ten official" and "faction" are not outstanding in terms of brand voice or scale. Pan Chuying, director and general manager of Yida group's brand and distribution, said in a media interview that the development of its own brand was still in a state of groping. This year's special situation is suitable for further expansion of its own brand.

For Yida, a new turning point in strengthening its own brand has arrived. In May, Yida held a new product conference in Shanghai as a ten brand. Since the beginning of this year, Yida has also joined the tide of the live broadcast economy. The 3 live broadcast attracted more than 30 thousand people to watch it, with a total turnover of nearly 400 thousand yuan.

In a series of breakouts, such as balancing layout, exploring the road and building its own brand, the company has become more aware of the role played by internal businesses.

Whether crisis breakout or long-term development will depend on talents and technology. "Yida attaches particular importance to talents." Ma Weiping said. In Guangdong Yida Textile Co., Ltd., there are over 100 master's degree students, and about 20 employees have experience in studying outside the mainland of China (including overseas students in Hongkong), of whom 11 are managers or above, accounting for about 55%. In the live broadcast of this year, the graduates of these famous universities graduated as the anchors and became the spokesmen for their own brands.

In the remote Gaoming, he retained a large number of high-end talents.

The relevant person in charge of the company introduces that the company has bought and refined nearly 100 apartments for rent at a low price, with a good corporate culture, work and living environment, and competitive salary. The rental period is 3 years, equivalent to the turnover period before the employee purchases his own house. "Many highly educated employees are fully capable of settling down in Foshan after 3 years of work."

In addition, through the mentor program, teaching students in accordance with their aptitude to provide accelerated development of talent training projects, Yi Da has built up his own talent highland. "We respect every talented person. After all, the change brought about by talents for enterprises and even industry is subversive." Ma Weiping said.

Reporter's notes

Do you have a long-term response to potential crises?

Under the outbreak, a large number of Foshan enterprises showed the ability to respond quickly to crisis. Yida is one of them.

Through the transformation of high efficiency production masks, Yida meets the needs of the epidemic prevention materials in itself and the market, temporarily alleviates the problem of some idle labor, and opens up some new markets.

However, the impact of the epidemic is only temporary. For enterprises, putting all their energy into mask production is not a permanent solution. With the improvement of the epidemic situation, enterprises need to turn their energy back to their main products in time. The production of respirators is only a short-term response to sudden crises. What companies need to think and exercise more is a long-term response strategy to potential crises.

On this point, Yi Da also made solid efforts. In the late stage of the epidemic prevention, the main production capacity was returned to garment manufacturing in a timely manner, and the development ability of a series of new health products continued from the mask production and production.

To jump out of the short-term crisis, we need to think more about how to further strengthen our own brand, at the same time we should understand and seize the ever-changing trend of clothing consumption and get a broader road in the consumer market.

Zhou Qiren, an economist in Foshan in May this year, said that domestic clothing companies had to study Japan's UNIQLO, Spain's Zara and other fires. Textile and garment enterprises need to think, "is it an era of serious childhood or leisure?" Who is the big brand in the next era? "

In this regard, Yida has a long way to go.