Reborn Industrial Tycoon

Chapter 519 My father-in-law’s fault

As a Dutch company, Philips has trade in its blood.

In the whole of Europe, the Dutch are not the best at doing business, but they are definitely the best at doing trade.

For the Netherlands, trade is the foundation of their country.

Back then, the Netherlands had the nickname "Sea Coachman". The so-called coachman was someone who pulled goods around and did trade.

The local market in the Netherlands is small and natural resources are scarce, so the Dutch have embarked on the path of trading activities.

As early as the seventeenth century, the Netherlands had just gotten rid of Spanish rule and won national independence, and began to engage in maritime trade.

At that time, Spain and Britain were competing for maritime supremacy, and there were many real and fake pirates in European waters, so the merchant ships of the two countries would be equipped with weapons, which made the cost of Spanish and British merchant ships even more expensive.

The Dutch merchant ships did not carry weapons, so the cost of Dutch merchant ships was even cheaper. At that time, the cost of Dutch merchant ships was only half of that of British merchant ships.

As the cost of shipbuilding decreased, the freight rate of Dutch merchant ships would decrease. However, this would increase the risk of being attacked by pirates. At that time, the Dutch were completely risking their lives to run the ship.

Even so, the Dutch were still not satisfied. In order to obtain more profits, they transformed the ship's cabin to be larger so that it could carry more cargo.

At that time, many national fleets collected taxes on merchant ships, which depended on the width of the deck. The wider the deck, the higher the fee, and the narrower the deck, the lower the fee. In order to save money, the Dutch made the ship deck smaller.

Therefore, the Dutch merchant ships at that time were like big-bellied fishes. However, it was precisely because the Dutch merchant ships had low freight rates and the Dutch sailors were willing to risk their lives that the Dutch merchant ships could spread all over Europe, earning the Netherlands the title of "Sea Coachman".

After entering the colonial era, Spain and the United Kingdom initially adopted colonial strategies. For example, Spain colonized South America and the United Kingdom colonized North America. Their methods were to kill all the local indigenous people and then take the land as their own.

have.

Later, the British colonists arrived in India and found that conquering India was much easier than conquering India. The Indians basically did not resist, and they were also very obedient. They would not fight back or retaliate, unlike the Indians who scalped them at every turn.

So the British changed their colonial methods and began to use resource-plundering colonization, using Indians to exploit various resources for profit and just giving them food, which was similar to using livestock.

However, the Dutch's colonial method was different from that of the British. The core strategy of the Dutch's colonization was trade monopoly. The Dutch's colonial expansion was more like grabbing excellent ports around the world as trading points.

The Dutch's lack of combat effectiveness also prevented them from expanding their colonies like the British and French. In terms of combat effectiveness, the Dutch were weak in Europe. In the process of colonizing Asia, the Dutch could not even defeat the Cambodians.

Since fighting is not an option, we can only play trade honestly.

Dutch businesses have also inherited this.

Dutch companies are very good at setting up factories or sales points around the world, which is exactly the same strategy as the Dutch used to set up trading points around the world.

What Dutch companies value more is not the production of products, but the trade of products. For Dutch companies, it doesn't matter where the products are produced, the key is to sell them globally.

For example, Philips can set up factories and offices around the world, and then sell its products all over the world.

In comparison, other similar companies in Europe are much more conservative.

The largest electrical appliance brand in Europe is Sweden's Electrolux. Many Chinese people have probably never heard of this name, because Electrolux has always adhered to the business strategy of producing in Europe and selling in Europe.

If Electrolux came to China, it would be a European manufacturer and would not have an advantage in terms of selling price. Moreover, even if the whole machine was imported, after-sales service would be a big problem. Naturally, it would not be a rival to local brands. Electrolux could only stay in the market in the end.

on the European market.

Other companies in the Netherlands are like Philips, such as Shell and Unilever. They have all planted their flags around the world and turned manufacturing into international trade.

The Dutch are born with the gene for trade, so when the question of whether they are competitors or partners is posed in front of Philips, Philips does not need to make a choice at all.

Since Philips' power strip factory in Malaysia cannot be saved, transferring orders as soon as possible and ensuring the supply of products is Philips' top priority.

At worst, we should treat the power plug business as international trade!

Li Weidong is also happy to take over the OEM of Philips power strips.

Originally, Li Weidong planned to get some OEM orders for razors from Philips. After all, Philips' razors are still top-notch in the world. By OEMing Philips razors, the craftsmanship level of puppy razors can also be improved.

Later, when Li Weidong inquired, he learned that Philips' power strip factory in Malaysia was about to close down due to the impact of the Asian financial crisis.

So Li Weidong simply took the initiative and contacted Ke Cilei, the head of Philips Asia, and concluded the OEM task of Philips sockets.

Although the power socket is an inconspicuous little thing, it can be used in every household, and the market demand is still huge.

In later generations, China's leading company in the production of power strips, Niu Niu, probably occupied more than 60% of the domestic market, and its annual revenue could exceed 10 billion.

Moreover, the profits from power strips are not small. Li Weidong estimated that he made nearly 70% of the profit from manufacturing power strips for Philips.

This is mainly because the power plug styles and standards around the world are different and not universal.

For example, the two-pin plug in China is upright, but the triangle plug is slanted;

In Australia, both two-pin and three-pin plugs are angled.

The American triangle plug is also upright, and the ground connector is round. The standards used in Japan are similar to those in the United States.

The European standard plug has two cylindrical connectors. This two-pin plug is basically universal in Europe. However, among the triangle plugs, the standards for the ground wire are different in various European countries.

In addition, although the UK is located in Europe, it uses a separate plug standard.

Therefore, products such as power strips are produced for specific markets.

Different countries have different economic levels, different purchasing power, and inconsistent plug standards, resulting in differences in the profits of power strips.

How can the price of power strips in Germany be the same as in India?

Even if the materials used for the two power strips are similar, the one sold to Germans will definitely be more expensive, and the profit will definitely be greater.

What's more, when selling products to developed countries, you must sell some high-quality and high-quality products. The word "high-quality" often means high prices, and high-priced products are inevitably linked to high profits.

Therefore, exporting high-quality industrial products to wealthy countries such as Europe and the United States will definitely yield relatively high profits.

In the late 1990s, China had not yet become the world's factory, and the production capacity of products such as power strips had not yet been transferred to China.

At that time, many European countries were still producing their own power plugs instead of outsourcing production.

Just imagine, how expensive is a Siemens power strip produced locally in Germany?

There is no harm without comparison, just like when you have never used Pinsi Xi, you will feel that a certain product is already very cheap.

China's high-quality and low-price products have not yet entered the era of Europe. Germans spend a lot of money to buy a Siemens power strip and take it for granted.

In 1997, Malaysia was already considered a middle-income country, with per capita GDP about six times that of China. Taking into account factors such as average working hours and labor law protection, Malaysia's labor costs were about eight times that of China.

Compared with Malaysia, China's production costs are much lower. Even if the quotation given by Li Weidong is cheaper than that of Malaysia, the profit is still very considerable.

I have to say that foreign trade orders before 2010 were really easy to make, and the earlier you make them, the more you can make.

At that time, production costs were low, competition pressure was low, tariff barriers were not so many, product prices were considerable, and the profits of foreign trade companies were very large.

Later, production costs increased, and competition also increased. In order to compete for orders, peers would lower each other's prices, and foreign trade profits plummeted. Moreover, more and more tariff barriers made foreign trade more and more difficult to do.

…

As soon as the genius dawned, Li Weidong got up from the bed, looked at He An'an who was still lying in bed, went straight to the kitchen, pressed the start button of the soymilk machine, and then served fried dough sticks, pancakes, tea leaves and eggs at the breakfast stall at the entrance of the alley.

When I got home with half a fried dough stick in my mouth, the soy milk machine had finished its work, and two bowls of hot soy milk were poured out.

After all, Li Weidong is not from Beijing, and he has never been used to the soy milk in Beijing. Fortunately, there is a new soy milk machine, and with beans and water, he can have fresh soy milk in a short time.

At this time, Li Weidong couldn't help but thank Wang Jiuyang. The soymilk machine developed by this guy is indeed becoming more and more convenient.

Then Li Weidong went to the bedroom and looked at He Anan. At this time, He Anan was still sleeping soundly, and the drool dripping from the corner of his mouth greatly reduced the goddess's temperament.

Li Weidong hesitated for a moment, but still did not wake up He Anan.

"She's pregnant, let her sleep a little longer!" Li Weidong thought to himself, and then walked to the restaurant and started eating fried dough sticks.

After just two bites, my cell phone rang.

Li Weidong answered the phone, and Wang Jing's voice rang out: "Chairman, there is a problem with the raw material supplier."

"Which supplier is it?" Li Weidong asked immediately.

"Xishan Copper had a batch of copper parts that were supposed to arrive the afternoon before yesterday, but they didn't arrive yesterday, so I called to urge them. This morning they wrote back saying that the company had made internal adjustments and would suspend the supply of raw materials to us.

"Wang Jing opened his mouth and replied.

"How many days will the raw materials in stock be used?" Li Weidong asked immediately.

"The most stressful thing now is the power plug strip production line. Because this is a new product, there is no raw material stock in stock before. Basically, I just use a batch of materials. I went to check it last night. If it is produced normally,

I can still last three days!" Wang Jing replied.

Li Weidong frowned fiercely. Copper parts are indispensable for the production of home appliances, and copper is an indispensable material for the production of power strips.

If the supplier of copper parts cuts off supply, all production lines of Puppy Electric will have to stop production.

"Has Xishan Copper mentioned any internal adjustments?" Li Weidong asked.

"I also wanted to inquire carefully, but the other person's words were very vague and their attitude was very impatient. I asked a few more questions and they hung up on me. So I think the internal adjustment of the company is just an excuse, and they just

You don’t want to supply us!” Wang Jing said.

"Have there been any problems in our business dealings with Xishan Copper recently?" Li Weidong asked again.

"No, we all pay on time, they also supply on time, there is no default on each other, and they have not mentioned renegotiating the price." Wang Jing replied.

"That's weird. We cooperated well, so why did we suddenly stop supplying? Why don't you make money these days?" Li Weidong sighed, and then said, "Okay, I will handle this matter."

After putting down his phone, Li Weidong fell into thinking.

Xishan Copper was originally under the management of the Metallurgical Processing Company of the Ministry of Industry. Later, the Metallurgical Processing Company was merged into China Iron and Steel Corporation. Xishan Copper began to operate independently in name, but in fact it still has certain connections with the Metallurgical Processing Company.

And He Anan's father, Li Weidong's father-in-law, happens to be a senior executive of Sinosteel.

This is equivalent to Li Weidong being choked by his father-in-law!

Of course, Father He would not go to trouble his son-in-law. Thinking of this, Li Weidong already realized that the situation was not as simple as it appeared.

"Perhaps the source of this matter is not with me, but with Sinosteel." Li Weidong pondered for a moment and decided to go find his father-in-law to inquire about the situation.

…

Li Weidong met He's father and told He's father about Xishan Copper Industry.

After hearing this, Father He suddenly had an angry expression on his face.

"Well, you Guo Shichang, you actually brought it directly on me!" Father He said angrily.

"Dad, who is this Guo Shichang?" Li Weidong asked.

"Guo Shichang is also one of the vice presidents of Sinosteel, and he is on the same level as me. He was originally from a metallurgical processing company. When several units merged into Sinosteel, we came together. There are many people in Xishan Copper Industry

They are all his old subordinates." Father He replied.

"Dad, are you at odds with this Guo Shichang?" Li Weidong asked.

Dad He explained: "After the merger of Sinosteel, we still manage our own business, and we are on the same page. But recently, the company has proposed a vice president as deputy secretary, which is equivalent to the company's

Third in command.

This position has a good chance of taking over as the general manager of the company in the future, and the administrative level will also be qualitatively improved, so several vice presidents are eyeing this position. Among them, Guo Shichang and I have a greater chance. In recent times, there has been a strong relationship between the two of us.

There are also some overt and covert fights.

Both of us have our own highlights in our work performance, but in general, my chances are greater. After all, your grandfather is still alive, and the organization is willing to take care of old comrades. But what I didn’t expect is that,

This Guo Shichang actually used Xishan Copper to attack you!"

When Dad He said this, he let out a long sigh and said with an apologetic look: "Weidong, it's me who has caused trouble for you this time!"

"Dad, our family has nothing to do with us. Isn't your business my business?" Li Weidong smiled helplessly, but thought to himself: It's not unfair for a son-in-law to take the blame for his father-in-law!

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