Chapter 377: Great efforts work wonders
“Daily production capacity must be increased to more than four million units, otherwise our orders this year will not be completed at all!”
When Li Dongling went to Zhang Xiaocheng’s office, he had just After a meeting, he explained to a group of Torch Group executives.
Seeing Li Dongling coming over, Zhang Xiaocheng asked the others to leave and stood up to make a cup of tea for Li Dongling.
“It is expected that by the end of the month, Torch Group will reach the record of rolling out the 100 millionth lighter!”
Zhang Xiaocheng smiled and said to Li Dongling that the Torch Group is developing much faster than everyone imagined.
The domestic lighter market, which countless lighter manufacturers did not pay much attention to in the past, is being activated by the Torch Group. Even though it has not officially gone overseas, domestic order demand has already made the Torch Group's lighters in short supply.
Zhang Xiaocheng breathed a sigh of relief now. To be honest, he has never slept peacefully for a day since the establishment of the Torch Group project. After all, when he thought about it, the investment in this project reached nearly one billion yuan. , the livelihood of tens of thousands of people is at stake, who can sleep peacefully?
Now that the Torch Group has finally gained a firm foothold, Zhang Xiaocheng knows how difficult it is. Many reports in the media are touting Zhang Xiaocheng’s reports, but he knows best that without Li Dongling, the Torch Group will It would never be possible to reach this point. When setting up the project, the large amount of funds would probably last for several years...
Li Dongling nodded. With the current sales volume of Torch Group, the first step , it’s basically done. Looking at the tired look on Zhang Xiaocheng’s face and the extra white hair on his head, you can tell how stressed he is during this time.
"As long as the domestic lighter market can be developed, Torch Group's survival will not be a problem!" Li Dongling said.
The meaning of Li Dongling's words is very clear. It activates the huge domestic lighter market. In the future, the country will consume more than 7 billion lighters of various types every year. With the support of the huge domestic lighter market, the Torch Group will have no problem surviving.
However, that is to say, to survive, mass consumption lighters costing one yuan each can provide jobs, but if you want the Torch Group to make money, you have to think too much.
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaocheng couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had already felt it now, "The profits of lighters produced by Torch Group are really too low now. If it weren't for the lighter advertising business you proposed in Dongling, Torch Group would now be It is impossible to say that we will even lose some money!”
The Torch Group seems to be in full swing now, but after excluding the material costs, freight, commissions to sales channels, retailers, and a lighter, the final income falling on the Torch Group is only a little bit. to 19%.
In fact, this is quite high, but Torch Group now relies entirely on a large number of manual production and assembly of lighters. According to the current staff size, which is about 25,000, even Torch Group currently provides ordinary employees with a salary of The salary level is around 350 yuan, of which Zhou Wenyan’s technical department and management staff’s salary is of course much higher.
In terms of salary alone, Torch Group pays more than 9 million per month, and even if it sells 100 million lighters, excluding all costs, the profits that Torch Group can make in its final account will be just by selling lighters. , less than a few million!
But these few million yuan do not mean that they can be spent casually. They also need to purchase new production lines and new equipment. Zhou Wenyan’s technical department needs funds to develop new technologies and a lighter laboratory, too. A gold-swallowing beast can't settle the account even if he puts in these millions.
In the future, as domestic salary levels increase, Torch Group will definitely increase wages for its employees. By then, Torch Group's profits will definitely drop significantly from selling lighters alone.
For Zhang Xiaocheng and the Torch Group, this is also the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads, and when the time comes, the Torch Group has only two ways to go.
The first way is to introduce modern automated machinery production technology, which will also reduce the number of personnel to increase profits.
The second way is to complete the transformation and be able to launch high-profit products, otherwise we will never be able to support these tens of thousands of employees.
Zhang Xiaocheng placed a piece of information sent by the Finance Department and Marketing Department of the Torch Group in front of Li Dongling, "I understand now why Dongling, you wanted to let the Torch Group After transformation, Torch Group’s biggest profit now is not from selling lighters, but from the advertising on lighters!
The profit from selling 100 million lighters is less than a quarter of what the lighter advertising department makes! ”
Benefit from tobacco, small and medium-sized wine factories, health products, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets and various small companies in various places, competing to print their advertisements on lighters, so that each The unit price of lighter advertising has soared to about 40 cents. With 100 million lighters, the Torch Group earned 40 million in advertising fees, which is more money than selling lighters themselves. Who can explain this...
Li Dongling glanced at the information for a few times, put it aside, raised his head and said to Zhang Xiaocheng, "The mass consumer lighter market can provide jobs and allow Torch Group to survive, but if you want to live a good life, you still need to let Torch The group needs to enter the high-end metal lighter market as soon as possible!
After the Torch Group finally establishes a foothold in the high-end lighter market, it will need to transform the e-cigarette, gas stove, gas tank and other markets. The transformation must start as soon as possible in the next few years, otherwise it will become worse. If you delay, the cost will be higher in the future!”
Hearing this, Zhang Xiaocheng nodded. After seeing the profits of the mass lighter market, he had no hesitation about entering the high-end lighter market. He really did not want to transform. We will never be able to support so many employees at Torch Group in the future.
“That’s right!”
“A law professor from a university over there in Shanghai called and said he was willing to join in the anti-dumping lawsuit against Old Europe and provide legal services to the Torch Group. Support, this is the information he sent!" Zhang Xiaocheng mentioned Gu Dayang's case. As soon as the National Lighter Import and Export Association was formed, he responded to the anti-dumping case in Old Europe. To be honest, Zhang Xiaocheng was not sure.
If it hadn’t been for this matter, which was promoted by Li Dongling, Zhang Xiaocheng would not have dared to take on this porcelain job.
"Gu Dayang?"
Li Dongling took the document and looked at it for a few times, and could not help but slowly sit upright. He responded to the antitrust dumping investigation in Old Europe, which was launched by Li Dongling. This battle must be fought by the Torch Group.
The Torch Group has not yet gone overseas, but it will be a matter of time before it does. After all, with the soaring production capacity of the Torch Group, the domestic market is still being cultivated. It is impossible to say that you will become fat in one go. The consumption of hundreds of millions of lighters has been cultivated for more than ten or twenty years.
The Torch Group's annual production capacity of lighters will soar to 3.5 billion units in the next few years. The country cannot afford it in the past few years and must export it.
Moreover, exporting overseas is more profitable, and the money earned is foreign exchange, which makes Torch Group more valued and more influential domestically.
Domestic lighters cost one RMB per yuan when exported overseas. However, the units of calculation are US dollars, pounds, marks, etc., especially after using the Lighter Import and Export Association to limit the price of domestically exported lighters to the lowest export price. Without malicious involvement, profits can be increased.
Fighting this anti-dumping lawsuit for the domestic lighter industry is actually for Torch Group itself. If we don’t fight it, the lighters exported by Torch Group to old European countries will be charged 150% anti-dumping tax!
You must know that this is not just a conspiracy of the old European family. In America, domestically produced lighters have been levied anti-dumping duties and have been completely driven out of the American market.
Next door, Bangzi, Japan, Australia and other places are also rumored to be preparing to impose anti-dumping duties on domestically produced lighters.
If we don’t fight this lawsuit, believe it or not, it won’t be long before domestic lighters are almost wiped out overseas.
In the domestic lighter industry, because they cannot sell overseas, many lighter manufacturers will only become OEM factories for foreign lighter brands in the future. For a small OEM fee, they will crazily involuntarily lower the price. In the end, they will all be cheaper than Zippo and Ke Robbie, Dupont, Bic, as well as Nippon and Stick lighter manufacturers.
Punch away with one punch to avoid hundreds of punches. If you don’t punch this one, you will be surrounded and beaten by foreign lighter manufacturers. Torch Group must punch out!
In addition, there is another point. It is true that Torch Group has established the National Lighter Import and Export Association. The entire industry also knows that the Economic and Trade Commission, Foreign Exchange Department, Industry and Commerce and other departments support Torch Group.
But I want the entire domestic lighter industry to believe in the Torch Group and obey the orders of the Torch Group.
Then Torch Group must set an example and have absolute prestige so that companies and practitioners in the entire lighter industry believe that Torch Group is for the entire lighter industry, not for its own selfish desires. What could have a more immediate effect than fighting this anti-dumping company with old Europe and others?
Li Dongling looked at the information Gu Dayang sent from Shanghai, including his personal opinions on the anti-dumping lawsuit. Even Li Dongling, a layman in law, couldn't help but feel enlightened after reading it.
Gu Dayang's information gave Li Dongling hope of winning the lawsuit from a legal perspective, although this was somewhat different from Li Dongling's previous idea of pursuing this lawsuit.
Li Dongling dares to push the Torch Group to fight this lawsuit, and what he is prepared to do is to work hard to achieve miracles!
I really expected to fight the lawsuit. Before, Li Dongling was not prepared to win at all, but was prepared to drag it out at all costs, and then frantically grab the overseas market!
First occupy the Asian market, and then go to Europe to start a war with lighter manufacturers such as Bic and Dupont. Even if they lose money, they will be killed.
When European lighter manufacturers such as BAK and Dupont are all involved, the victims are gone, the plaintiffs have gone bankrupt, and have even been acquired by the Torch Group, what kind of lawsuit will they still have?
As for the anti-dumping tax, just add it. Anyway, when all the local lighter manufacturers in old Europe are eliminated, all the products in circulation in old Europe are Torch Group’s products. By then, no matter how much tax is added, Torch Group will not be able to even With profit added, sell to European users!
I would like to "deeply apologize" to tell old European lighter users the truth. It is not the Torch Group that wants to increase prices, but some people in old Europe who deliberately impose high taxes and do not want old Europeans to use high-quality and low-price products. Who can't stand the sight of a lighter?
This method emphasizes vigorously throwing bricks, that is, rushing all the way, emphasizing vigorous efforts to produce miracles. The final result is likely to be that old European lighter manufacturers such as BAK and Dupont cannot bear it and seek to negotiate with Torch Group to reach an agreement that is mutually beneficial to both parties. An acceptable settlement agreement to end this war.
But the information sent by Gu Dayang gave Li Dongling hope of winning the lawsuit legally.
The most important basis is that domestic lighters are disposable lighters, while the old European standard lighters are inflatable lighters. For ordinary people, they may not really feel anything. Difference, but for the word-picking laws, these are two completely different products!
Just like round steamed buns and square steamed buns, don’t ordinary people feel that these things are the same?
But legally, they are completely different things. So why do old European lighter manufacturers say that domestic lighters are being dumped? The products they sell are completely different, okay?
(End of this chapter)