Chapter 179 The Moon in Foreign Countries Is Rounder than that in China

"According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 285 Korean-funded machine tool companies entering mainland China, and their products cover all machine tool categories. Many of our original customers are considering purchasing machine tools produced by Korean-funded companies. It is pessimistically estimated that this year, Korean-funded machine tool companies will Machine tools may take away 30% of our market.”

In the conference room of Linyi Machinery Factory, Han Weichang was making a report to all the factory leaders.

The order for five grinding machines from Luping Machinery Factory finally fell into the hands of Dongyuan Company. Han Weichang returned to the factory and immediately arranged for the intelligence department to investigate. It turned out that this kind of thing was not just one or two. Many salesmen had experienced "robbing" by Korean-funded enterprises. Some customers have cooperated with Linyi Machinery for many years, but they could not resist the temptation of Korean companies and handed over their orders to Korean companies.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea, Korean capital has entered China in a large scale and has become the new favorite of local governments to attract investment. According to statistics, in 1992, Korean companies invested in 650 projects in China, with a total amount of US$120 million; by 1995, the number had increased to 1,975, with a total amount of US$1.042 billion.

Unlike Japan and the United States, which mainly invest in large enterprises in China, most Korean-funded enterprises entering China are small in scale, with registered capital of only a few hundred thousand US dollars. But it is precisely these small businesses that are very flexible in their operations, almost exploiting every opportunity, and operating in an eclectic way, which poses a greater threat to local Chinese companies.

"Old Han, have you ever understood why our customers choose Korean machine tools?" Deputy Factory Director Wu Weiqin asked.

Han Weichang nodded and said: "Understood. There are several reasons. First, customers generally believe that the technical level and quality of Korean machine tools are better than domestic machine tools, and the price is not much higher than domestic machine tools. Simply put, they are high quality and low price." , so they are all willing to use Korean machine tools.”

"So, are Korean machine tools really better in technology and quality than domestic machine tools?" Tang Zifeng interjected, but he was speaking to Qin Zhongnian. When it came to evaluating the quality of machine tools, he believed in Qin Zhongnian's vision.

Qin Zhongnian said: "South Korea developed CNC machine tools earlier than us. Their technology was all imported from Japan, the United States and Germany, and they do have some advantages compared to us. However, compared to Japanese and German machine tools, Korean machine tools are not ranked No. South Korea is a small country with an incomplete industrial system. The machine tool industry chain is heavily dependent on Japan and Germany. It has incomplete varieties of machine tools, limited independent research and development capabilities, and insufficient theoretical accumulation. We still have an advantage over them in this regard."

Tang Zifeng asked: "Does this mean that Korean machine tools are slightly stronger than ours, but their strength is limited?"

Qin Zhongnian thought for a few seconds, nodded with a smile and said: "You can summarize it this way, but specific problems still need to be analyzed in detail. For example, in terms of grinders, South Korea's foundation is actually very weak. Our grinders are better than theirs. Be nice.”

Tang Zifeng pointed at Han Weichang and said, "This is strange. Old Han said that his old friend sells Korean grinders. He has stolen our market. How can we explain this?"

Han Weichang smiled bitterly and said: "Yes, I have also thought about this problem. I also investigated the Dongyuan company specifically and found that this company is not well-known in South Korea, and there is no information about it at all. I don't have its grinder. I see it, but as far as I know, South Korea is basically blank when it comes to grinding machines, and it imports a large number of grinding machines itself, yes, even from China."

"Does Luping Machinery Factory know about this situation?" Tang Zifeng asked.

Han Weichang said: "I don't know about this. Huang Shunlin, the deputy director in charge of technology at Luping Machinery Factory, has been avoiding me and refused to see me. I didn't have the chance to discuss this issue with him."

"Actually, this isn't surprising," said deputy factory director Zhang Shu. "It's not fashionable to talk about worshiping foreigners, but what happened to Lao Han was actually because Luji's leader worshiped foreigners. South Korea is also a foreign country. In the eyes of some people, the moon in foreign countries is rounder than the moon in China, and even the waning moon in foreign countries is rounder than the full moon in China. Old Han, do you think this is true?"

Han Weichang said: "Director Zhang is right, we have also encountered this situation. Many customers buy machine tools and only focus on foreign brands, such as German, Japanese, Swiss, and at the worst, Korean. In the past, the price of machine tools in Germany and Japan was relatively high, and some companies could not afford them. Now Koreans are here, and the prices of Korean machine tools are very low, and everyone can afford them, so of course they will not buy ours."

"This is an interesting thing." Tang Zifeng smiled slightly and had some thoughts in his mind.

Han Weichang looked at Tang Zifeng and saw that he didn't say anything more, so he continued the previous topic and said: "Secondly, Korean machine tools do look more beautiful than ours, and they sell better than us. When we build machine tools, we mainly consider performance. , we don’t pay much attention to the appearance. When our machine tools and Korean machine tools are put together, they look shorter just by looking at the appearance.”

"Is this a reason?" Qin Zhongnian said in surprise, "Buying machine tools is not buying clothes. Why do you care about whether they look good or not?"

Tang Zifeng waved his hand and said, "Mr. Qin, you don't understand this. Machines also need to be beautiful, and industrial design is also a university subject. I think this situation Lao Han mentioned is very important. Let's go there It only focuses on the performance of the product and does not pay attention to human-computer interaction issues. In addition to whether the appearance is good-looking, whether the operation is convenient, whether it is labor-saving, and the noise level are all issues that need to be considered.

"As far as appearance is concerned, it is not something difficult to do, but we just didn't do it. This is not a question of ability, but a question of concept. In this regard, the Koreans taught us a good lesson Woolen cloth."

"This is easy. Make a shell and spray some paint. How much trouble will it take?" Qin Zhongnian said disapprovingly. He also understood the industrial design issues Tang Zifeng mentioned, but he felt it was a bit redundant in the past. Now that the sales department has brought it up, even if he doesn't quite understand it, he won't resist it.

Tang Zifeng said: "Chief Engineer Qin, we must pay close attention to this matter, and we must not oversimplify it. Industrial design is definitely not enough to make a shell and spray some paint. What shape should the shell be made into, square or round, and what should be used? The color, whether white or green, and the pattern painted on it, all matter. I think we may have to ask experts from the Academy of Arts and Crafts to come over and design it for us."

"Isn't this necessary?" Qin Zhongnian disapproved.

Zhou Heng said: "I support Xiao Tang on this matter. In fact, some of our comrades have mentioned it in the past, saying that imported machine tools not only have good performance, but also have beautiful appearance. In the past, our country was poor, and some of our limited resources had to be used to make more machines. Equipment. But now the situation is different. The entire industry is oversupplied and has overcapacity. It is also necessary to allocate some resources for superficial purposes."

After hearing Zhou Heng's words, Qin Zhongnian fell silent and began to think about which experts from the unit should be invited to help and what steps should be taken.

Han Weichang looked at everyone and hesitated whether to continue talking. Tang Zifeng smiled at him and said, "Old Han, keep talking. We can discuss it at any time and solve the problem in time."

Han Weichang nodded and said: "There is a third point, which is also a troublesome issue. As far as we know, Korean companies will adopt some methods when selling, which is difficult for us to imitate."

"What method?" Wu Weiqin asked.

Han Weichang smiled secretly and said: "Actually, everyone understands that it is to give customers some benefits. Each company's approach is different. Some directly send gifts, and some promise to help the customers' leaders buy them. Foreign home appliances and cosmetics, as well as some with relatively large contract amounts, will invite customers to attend technical seminars in South Korea, which is actually a free trip."

"Isn't this just blatant bribery?" Ning Suyun said.

Zhang Jianyang, who has become the assistant to the factory director, said: "This kind of thing is not surprising. Our domestic private companies will also do this. In the past, Japanese companies, as well as companies from Hong Kong and Taiwan, also liked to do this. Now that the Koreans have come in, it would be strange not to do this."

"In other words, only our state-owned enterprises cannot do this." Zhang Shu commented with a smile.

Zhang Jianyang said: "Actually, you can do it if you want to, but the procedures are a bit troublesome and you need to change the name. Otherwise, it will be difficult for Mr. Ning to pass the test."

"You can't pass the test even if you change the name." Ning Suyun said with a dark face, "The sales department treats customers to dinner and gives small gifts, which is already a sideline of the policy. If it wants to directly benefit customers like a private enterprise, it will also Any arrangements to go abroad to attend seminars are a serious violation of financial disciplines and are absolutely not allowed."

Zhou Heng said: "I agree with Xiao Ning. These activities are illegal. Even if we cannot change the social atmosphere, at least we should not follow the trend."

"That's right, we can't do this kind of thing." Qin Zhongnian said.

Han Weichang cast a helpless look at Tang Zifeng. He very much hoped that the factory leaders could support the sales department in such a trick. This is the current social climate. Private companies will almost always give kickbacks to customers. This is also true for foreign, Hong Kong and Taiwanese capital. If Linyiji does not do this, it will be difficult to carry out business.

In fact, Linyiji officially does not allow rebates to customers, but it does give salespeople a 1% commission on business, which also includes customer rebates. Some salesmen will use part of their commissions to buy gifts for customers. This is something that Linyiji's finance cannot control. When the factory set the policy of 1% commission, it also took into account the social atmosphere.

However, as rebates become more and more common in society, the proportion of rebates has gradually increased. The rebates that Linyiji salespersons divide from the 1% business commission are somewhat difficult to detect by customers. Han Weichang has always I hope the factory can relax the standards a little more.

But now it seems that this wish is going to come true. After Zhou Heng's words have reached this level, he should not open any more words.

This plot is a bit difficult to write. It requires a lot of information from that year. Please be patient.