Is it an opportunity or a challenge for the three major brands of knives and scissors to gather in Yangjiang?

In May last year, a leading local knife and scissors enterprise in Yangjiang acquired the "Wang Mazi" trademark.

In October of this year, the Yangjiang Intelligent Manufacturing Base invested by Zhang Xiaoquan, the "first stock of A-share scissors", was successfully put into operation.

In the south, there is Zhang Xiaoquan, in the north, there is Wang Mazi, and in addition, there are Yangjiang Shibazi. The three major brands of Chinese knives and scissors gather in Yangjiang.

Since the 1980s, Yangjiang, a city in western Guangdong, has gained fame through its technological advantages, talent accumulation, and industrial chain sedimentation, becoming a well-known "Chinese Knife and Scissor Capital" both domestically and internationally. However, in recent years, although Yangjiang Knife and Scissor has strong production capacity, its brand construction has been insufficient. Out of 4500 upstream and downstream enterprises, only one nationally renowned brand has emerged, known as "Eighteen Children".

In the current era of booming market development and increasingly fierce brand competition, especially after Zhang Xiaoquan's production in Yangjiang, what kind of wind and cloud will the sword cutting industry rise? Can we force the upgrading of local knife and scissors industry brands in Yangjiang?

advantage

The Most Complete Hardware Knife and Scissor Industry Chain

When it comes to the reasons for settling in Yangjiang, Gan Shulin, Deputy General Manager of Zhang Xiaoquan Co., Ltd., stated that investing in the construction of an intelligent manufacturing center for knives and scissors in Yangjiang can purchase production equipment and raw materials nearby, reduce logistics costs, and rely on the brand advantages and agglomeration effects of the city of knives and scissors in Yangjiang to promote the growth and strength of "Zhang Xiaoquan".

No knife and scissor brand can resist being attracted by the industrial chain of Yangjiang.

On the section of National Highway 325 from the urban area of Yangdong District in Yangjiang City to Beigu Town, there are hundreds of Yangjiang knife and scissors production enterprises such as Shibazi, Jinhui Knife and Scissors, Meilong Meili, and Yinying gathered on both sides of the road, which is just a few kilometers long.

If we set our sights higher and further, more than 2700 cutting tool production enterprises and more than 4500 upstream and downstream enterprises of cutting tools are scattered throughout Yangjiang.

It can be said that upon arriving in Yangjiang, we have found the most complete hardware knife and shear industry chain in China, covering upstream steel production, tool design, midstream knife and shear machinery manufacturing, spare parts manufacturing, knife and shear production, as well as downstream packaging, e-commerce, and logistics distribution.

The degree of industrial agglomeration is so high that it can be said to be second to none in the national knife and scissors industry. After the reform and opening up, private enterprises in Yangjiang Knife and Scissors rapidly developed, relying on strong manufacturing strength to enter the international knife and scissor industry chain, and began to contract production for internationally renowned knife and scissor brands, enabling the development and growth of the Yangjiang hardware knife and scissor industry.

At present, the annual output value of Yangjiang Hardware Knives and Scissors exceeds 55 billion yuan, accounting for about 70% of the country's annual production and 85% of the country's exports. There are nearly 200000 employees and a large number of skilled industrial workers in knife making technology.

The vast industrial chain ecosystem has attracted the attention of Zhang Xiaoquan, a renowned Chinese brand of knives and scissors from Hangzhou. On October 18th of this year, the Yangjiang Intelligent Manufacturing Base, built by Zhang Xiaoquan with an investment of 350 million yuan, was officially put into operation in the Yinling Science and Technology Industrial Park in Jiangcheng District. The base mainly produces high-end knives and scissors, with a high level of automation and digital production. It produces 30 million various types of knives and scissors annually.

For a long time, due to the complex process of knife making, as well as the large number of product models and low output of individual models, Yangjiang knife and shear production has mainly relied on manual operation of traditional mechanical equipment, with limited application of intelligent equipment. Professor Che Xiaozhou from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at South China University of Technology believes that the intelligent practice of Zhang Xiaoquan's Yangjiang production base has played a driving role in the production of Yangjiang knives and scissors.

In fact, in recent years, Yangjiang Hardware Knife and Scissors have begun to transform towards intelligent production, and the production of the Zhang Xiaoquan project will accelerate this process. "Introduction by He Jiyou, Secretary General of the Yangjiang Hardware Knife and Scissors Industry Association.

The reporter visited and learned that in recent years, local knife and shear enterprises in Yangjiang have continuously increased their investment in advanced intelligent production equipment. For example, Jinhui knife and shear has successively invested in laser cutting and stamping, automatic water grinding, laser welding and other equipment this year, greatly improving production efficiency; Yongguang Knife and Scissors Group has invested forging equipment in the production of knife embryos, resulting in better performance such as sharpness of the produced knives and scissors.

challenge

Local enterprises need to transform towards branding

Insufficient brand building is the "pain" in the development of Yangjiang Knife and Scissors.

The knives we contract for foreign first tier brands are sold for hundreds of yuan by others, but we can only sell for tens of yuan, which is the brand gap, "said Zhong Jialiang, Deputy General Manager of Jinhui Knife and Scissors. Guangdong Jinhui Knife and Scissors Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Jinhui Knife and Scissors") is a leading enterprise in Yangjiang that has grown up by outsourcing to international first-class knife and scissors brands. It has long been eager to establish its own brand.

The production capacity of Yangjiang Knife and Scissors ranks first in the country, however, out of 4500 upstream and downstream enterprises, only one nationally renowned brand is Shibazi. With the joining of Zhang Xiaoquan and Wang Mazi, it will undoubtedly enhance the brand influence of the Yangjiang scissors industry.

In 2007, Jinhui Knife and Scissors opened a counter in Shanghai Supermarket to sell knives and scissors under its own brand "Jinhui". However, due to its low popularity, the "Jinhui" brand failed to cause a stir. Afterwards, Jinhui also acquired small overseas brands and invested in other brands, but failed to achieve results.

At the beginning of last year, due to poor management, Beijing Cultural and Educational Equipment Factory planned to transfer 100% equity of Beijing Lichang Wangmazi Industry and Trade Co., Ltd. In May of the same year, after 385 rounds of fierce bidding, Jinhui Knife and Scissors successfully won the ownership of the Beijing "Wangmazi" trademark. Afterwards, the branding of Jinhui truly embarked on the fast lane.

Wang Mazi's previous poor management was related to outdated manufacturing technology, but the brand influence is still there. We have strong manufacturing capabilities, but the brand is not well-known. The combination of the two perfectly compensates for the shortcomings and amplifies the advantages, "said Zhong Jialiang. At the beginning of this year, Wang Mazi knives and scissors produced in Yangjiang were re launched into the market and quickly gained market favor. It is expected that the national sales revenue will reach 250 million yuan this year.

When it comes to the importance of independent brands, Li Jihui, the general manager of Yangjiang Shibazi Group Co., Ltd., said with deep emotion, "The company has been building the Shibazi knife and scissors brand since the 1990s. For more than 30 years, Shibazi has deeply cultivated the domestic market, and has formed today's brand influence by continuously improving product quality and innovation

Without a brand, there is no pricing power. The reporter visited and learned that in recent years, with the continuous increase in production costs, especially the rising cost of raw materials such as steel, the profits of many knife and shear OEM enterprises in Yangjiang have been continuously squeezed. The transformation to branding and increasing the expansion of domestic markets have also become spontaneous choices for these enterprises.

Developing independent brands is the only way for foreign trade outsourcing enterprises to upgrade. Enterprises should not only stabilize foreign trade, but also use independent brands as a driving force to continuously improve product quality and market influence, and explore domestic and international markets. "said Xie Baojian, a professor at the School of Economics at Jinan University.

It is undeniable that Zhang Xiaoquan's arrival is accelerating the reshaping of the new development pattern of the Yangjiang knife and scissors industry, bringing new competitive pressure to the local leading knife and scissors enterprises in Yangjiang. The competition and collaboration between knife and scissors brands may have just begun.

On November 16th, Zhang Xiaoquan announced that he plans to establish a supply chain management company in Yangjiang, which will further enhance the company's ability to integrate upstream and downstream resources in the industry, carry out intensive procurement of raw materials, and better control the quality of raw materials and respond to fluctuations in raw material prices. Previously, Xia Qianliang, the general manager of Zhang Xiaoquan Co., Ltd., stated in an interview with Southern Daily reporters that Zhang Xiaoquan will integrate into the Yangjiang Knife and Scissor Industry Cluster, collaborate with local enterprises to increase coordination with upstream and downstream. In addition to centralized procurement of raw materials in the upstream, he will also negotiate with domestic and foreign supermarkets in the downstream, striving to occupy higher quality offline channels.

According to public information, some of Zhang Xiaoquan's knife and shear products were previously produced by local companies in Yangjiang. With the production of Zhang Xiaoquan's Yangjiang project, its integration efforts in the Yangjiang knife and shear industry will increase. Some experts believe that as a listed company, Zhang Xiaoquan has greater advantages in terms of capital, talent, and brand effect. If Shibazi, Wang Mazi, and others cannot find a brand development path with their own characteristics, then Zhang Xiaoquan will be in a more dominant position in market competition and the Yangjiang knife and scissors industry chain.

Zhang Xiaoquan has already taken the lead in listing financing, intelligent manufacturing, branding, and other aspects. Nowadays, he has taken frequent actions in integrating into the Yangjiang industry. Yangjiang enterprises need to learn from Zhang Xiaoquan, recognize the gap, and strive to catch up, "said Ding Li, an economics researcher at the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences. He believes that local knife and shear brands in Yangjiang need to grow and strengthen, and cannot only be satisfied with OEM. Otherwise, Yangjiang may become Zhang Xiaoquan's production base, which is detrimental to the development of Yangjiang's industry and local taxation.

cooperation

Promoting Chinese Knife and Scissor Brands to "Go Global"

While the three major brands gather in Yangjiang to bring competition, how to cooperate in the competition and further strengthen national knife and scissors brands has also been highly anticipated by the industry.

Professor Xie Baojian from the School of Economics at Jinan University believes that local enterprises in Yangjiang should adopt an open mindset, firmly adhere to the path of branding and high-quality development, and force themselves to continuously develop and grow. At the same time, leading enterprises should increase cooperation in a larger pattern, play a leading role in the industrial chain, and promote national knife and scissors brands to go international.

Leading enterprises are taking action to strengthen Chinese knife and scissors brands. Xia Qianliang has stated on multiple occasions that Zhang Xiaoquan aims to become the "Zhang Xiaoquan" of the world, highlighting the internationalization development goals of time-honored brands; Zhong Jialiang stated in an interview with a reporter from Southern Daily that he wants to strive to make "Wang Mazi" the number one in the domestic kitchen knife industry and expand into the international market to promote the old brand; Yangjiang Shibazi has made great efforts in scientific and technological innovation, and has jointly built a scientific and technological innovation base with Yangjiang Alloy Materials Laboratory to increase the research and development of high-end steel for cutting tools. Currently, the quality and performance of 7Cr (7Cr) and 9Cr (9Cr) martensitic stainless steel developed have reached the level of imported materials, and will compete with foreign brands in the field of high-end cutting tools.

We treat foreign and local brands equally, encourage leading enterprises to set good examples, encourage enterprises to strengthen communication and cooperation, and lead the Yangjiang knife and scissors industry to improve and upgrade to international level, "said the relevant person in charge of the Yangjiang Industry and Information Technology Bureau.

Relying on the industrial foundation, top brands should promote industrial development through healthy competition, and promote Yangjiang from a knife and scissors manufacturing base to a brand base, "Xie Baojian said.