In the early morning of April 13th, the Chinese Glasses Town in Ouhai District, Wenzhou City, was silent at night, while the office of the Ouhai District Glasses Industry Association was brightly lit. More than ten heads of local leading enterprises were “brainstorming” to share development experiences.
After 40 years of development, there are over 500 glasses manufacturing enterprises in Ouhai, gradually becoming an important global glasses production and manufacturing base, with exports accounting for nearly 80%. However, the sudden epidemic has brought about a “cold winter” in the industry: overseas refunds, shipment delays, and production line shutdowns. Watching the workers leave the Glasses Town, business owners have a bad feeling in their hearts.
“Unite! Join forces to transform, and we will definitely be able to turn crises into opportunities.” Zhou Aisong, president of the Ouhai District Glasses Industry Association, said that at the end of February, the industry has joined forces to seek development. Currently, many glasses manufacturing enterprises have turned around, and they actively explore the domestic market while stabilizing foreign trade orders, creating independent brands. “Everyone’s confidence has returned,” Zhou Aisong said.
Stable production
Emergency transfer support and epidemic prevention
In the Ouhai glasses industry, Tongda Optics Company, founded by Zhou Aisong, is the industry leader.
When a storm suddenly strikes, the faucet also needs to turn. In early March, Tongda Optics received its first piece of bad news – a US order requiring a delay in shipment. Since then, the news from across the ocean has been somewhat bleak.
“Our trading partners are mainly large eyewear companies from Europe and the United States, with strong risk resistance capabilities. Although the receipt of goods is temporarily delayed, it is not yet possible to make a loss.” In Zhou Aisong’s view, the industry is encouraged to actively address foreign trade risks, primarily by focusing on “stability.”.
How to stabilize production? Ouhai glasses manufacturing enterprises maintain close contact with overseas customers and take the initiative to understand their product needs during the epidemic.
“This batch of sunglasses cannot be received, can you provide some goggles?” Zhou Aisong was very pleased to receive the news from overseas customers, and soon shared the information with the association group. The Ouhai glasses industry has “exploded” inside.
Previously, many eyewear manufacturers in Ouhai have put goggles into production to support the fight against the epidemic in various parts of the country. “For the glasses manufacturing industry, this type of transformation is not complex, and there is no need to change the production line, just to update the design direction and materials.” Lin Buchun, Secretary General of the Ouhai District Glasses Industry Association, said that for this reason, the industry has shared experience within the industry, and it is recommended that qualified enterprises first step towards production.
With the efforts of nearly two months, more than 10 eyewear manufacturers in Ouhai have put goggles into production, and have successively obtained foreign certification certificates; Mutual assistance within the industry has also been agreed to use the “shared order” model to drive production.
“Unexpectedly, the flying order has returned!” sighed the relevant person in charge of Yifeng Optics. In recent days, the originally stagnant workshop has begun to be busy again, and the workers have been working overtime for a moment to catch up. “For small and medium-sized eyewear foreign trade enterprises, changing production is undoubtedly like seizing a ‘life saving straw’.”
Seek transformation
Go to “Cloud” and taste the sweetness
“Everyone helps together, there are no difficulties that can’t be overcome.” “Walking on foreign trade alone is still not feasible.”… Almost every day, five or six WeChat groups within the Ouhai glasses industry are wiped out. The most discussed topic is “transformation”.
In the past two months, the path has become increasingly clear: actively exploring the domestic market, especially using the power of e-commerce.
In the small town of glasses, the decoration of Ourui glasses store is prominent, and when you enter the store, you can see many high-quality glasses displayed. The product manufacturer of this store, Lansheng Optics Company, is one of the leading manufacturers of glasses in Ouhai. Chairman Lin Shaobao introduced that in recent years, enterprises have focused more on the domestic market. The company has placed advertisements on multiple social platforms, and the store has specially set up a live broadcast room.
“Invite online celebrity to bring live streaming of goods, which is expected to bring traffic economy to Ouhai glasses.” Lin Shaobao said that at present, many Ouhai glasses are exported as finished products, and they also have their own design and brand, and there are advantages in planning domestic sales.
Actively exploring the domestic demand market, Ouhai Glasses Association cooperates closely with the government. In March, the Ouhai District Committee and Government established the “Ouhi GO” platform, and Ouhai Glasses Group settled in, with a daily trading volume exceeding 3 million yuan. Since April, the association has once again collaborated with the district government to launch the “Ouhai Glasses Online Red Live Broadcast Festival”, setting up a live broadcast station on the streets of the Glasses Town, quickly attracting a large crowd to watch.
“The domestic market is Xintiandi to us!” Having tasted the benefits of online sales, Fang Wenwen, the head of Surbana Jurong Glasses Manufacturing Co., Ltd., accelerated the development of the enterprise’s domestic sales. For the first time, she unveiled her own brand and opened a micro store. She received more than 600 orders a day at most, far exceeding expectations.
Market shift brings about business transformation. Nowadays, many salespeople who are engaged in foreign trade work in Ouhai glasses manufacturing enterprises are beginning to try online e-commerce, and salesperson Li Chunyan has developed several online agents throughout the day. “Compared to the cold and desolate foreign trade market, the domestic market for glasses is very lively.”
Seek innovation
Improving the ability to cope with risks through technology
“Showing a brand, not just a” flower shelf, “which also forces the heads of eyewear manufacturing enterprises to start thinking about the importance of technology improvement.”.
In the workshop of Guanhao Glasses Company, Chairman Zheng Zhiyuan turned on his mobile phone and recorded a small video. He was over sixty years old and played very well on his mobile phone, giving himself a nickname: “Teacher Zheng talks about glasses”, using small video to promote the company’s products.
At the end of last year, “Ouhai Glasses” was approved as a geographical indication. Zheng Zhiyuan admitted that they are particularly proud of the brand “Ouhai Glasses” and dare not slack off on the quality of the products produced by the company. The company has won multiple patents, and negative oxygen ion glasses made of graphene materials, as well as presbyopic glasses with reversible frames, are popular in the market.
“After experiencing the test of this epidemic, weaknesses within the industry have been exposed. We must improve our own brand and technical capabilities to improve our ability to withstand risks,” Zheng Zhiyuan said.
Not only are eyewear manufacturers eager for technological breakthroughs, but the government also sees the direction of industrial development. During the epidemic, Ouhai District established a special “three specialized and two complete” office, gathering more than 20 experts involved in finance, law, finance, and other fields, serving eyewear manufacturing enterprises in a “order by order” manner.
Experienced the cold winter, more aware of the precious warmth. In order to spare no effort to support the development of the glasses industry, Ouhai District recently released six major improvement projects for the cultivation of the glasses industry, involving scale, brand, industrial chain, intelligent manufacturing, marketing, and environmental services. It listed a plan of “strong, excellent, and small”, and will fully implement the award and subsidy policy to promote the high-quality development of the glasses industry.
“The Association of Political Affairs and Enterprise Affairs has worked together to create a high-end eyewear gathering area in the world. I believe that through this crisis, Ouhai eyewear is bound to sail towards a new blue ocean,” said the main person in charge of the Ouhai District Committee.
(Source: Zhejiang Daily)