Chapter 274 Cans and the first cooperation with the Mainland
“Cans? I know.” Zhou Haoran nodded and said: “This is a technology patent invented by an American engineer in 1959;
Many companies in Europe and the United States have begun to prepare to introduce this technology, and Coca-Cola is also one of the first. Recently, they are also preparing to package drinks in cans at Swire's beverage factory in Hong Kong."
"Swire is preparing to do so. Cans?" Yang Wendong's eyes lit up and he asked: "Tell me about the situation of cans."
As a time traveler, Yang Wendong naturally knows that the beverage industry can explode because of cans and cans. The emergence of PET plastic bottle technology.
The technical difficulty of PET plastic bottles is very high. Not only the materials and costs, but also safety issues need to be considered. This thing is not a suitcase or a sticky hook. It needs to hold food, and toxic substances at high temperatures also need to be considered. release.
In the previous life, plastic bottle beverages were not really introduced until the 1970s, and mass production would not occur until the 1980s/90s.
Before this, glass bottles and cans were the mainstream. The former existed longer than drinks, while the latter only came out in recent years. Based on his experience in his previous life, cans are definitely better than glass bottles. But it’s hard to say in this era.
Zhou Haoran thought for a while, conceived the following sentence in his mind, and then said: "The raw material of this can is tinplate. The idea should come from normal food cans. In fact, there were big drinks a long time ago. The company intends to do this, but has not found a good way to open the can.
Because drinks need to be opened at any time, but food cans are difficult to open due to sealing requirements, which is not suitable for the customer scenario. < br>
It wasn't until a few years ago that an engineer in the United States came up with the idea of a pull-tab structure. He spent several years doing a lot of research on the difficulty of sealing and opening, and then succeeded and registered a patent in 1959. ”
“Just finding a balance is difficult. "Yang Wendong nodded.
Many things look simple, but they were extremely difficult when they were first invented. Cans must be sealed and can be easily opened with one finger, which tests design capabilities and materials. Performance.
“Yes, this is extremely difficult. "Zhou Haoran added: "And even if the patent has been issued, things can be made, but it is another thing to make a few or dozens of them in the laboratory, and to mass-produce hundreds of millions of qualified products in a factory.
As far as I know, many large beverage companies and some specialized beverage machinery and equipment companies have also been researching and developing this for a long time before they succeeded. ”
"What pass rate can be guaranteed now?" Yang Wendong asked.
He has also considered this issue. The probability of error allowed for some industrial products is called PPM, which means parts per million.
Because one ten thousandth is intolerable. Imagine a large company produces hundreds of millions of bottles of drinks a year, and if tens of thousands of drinks leak, it will immediately go bankrupt, and the channel will immediately return goods on a large scale.
Zhou Haoran said: "The pass rate is about 0.3 per 10,000. This rate is very high, but there will be subsequent inspections. The testing process can sort out most of these defective products, and the number that reaches the market should be less than one in a million.
But this also depends on which company's equipment, Krones of Germany. The equipment is of the highest technology, and Coca-Cola also asked them to buy it, but the price is relatively expensive.”
"Do you know the price?" Yang Wendong asked again.
"Sorry Yang Sheng, Swire Group has not completed this transaction yet, and the price is still confidential. I am in charge of marketing, so I am not sure about this." Zhou Haoran explained: "I will go back today , Ask a friend to ask.”
Even though he came to the interview with relevant preparations, he never expected that Yang Wendong would ask about cans. Many large companies are still in the exploratory stage and have not launched production lines.
"Well, okay." Yang Wendong didn't care, and added: "Since Coca-Cola is preparing to put on the can production line, it means that it is still cost-effective from an economic perspective."
"You can't say that. " Zhou Haoran replied: "Actually, Swire's senior management has been hesitating about this matter for a long time. The core problem is that Hong Kong does not produce iron;
Cans may be cost-effective in Europe and the United States because they have local steel industries and the price of iron is not expensive. However, in Hong Kong, all iron needs to be imported, which is very difficult. "
"Well, do you know how much iron is needed for a can? "Yang Wendong asked again.
In the previous life, cans were made of aluminum, which was very thin and light, but that was the result of decades of development of beverage packaging technology; now that cans have just appeared, they certainly can't do this well.
Zhou Haoran said: "I know this. An empty can weighs 60 grams. I have also received samples sent by Coca-Cola from the United States and weighed them before. "
"60 grams each? Yang Wendong thought for a while and said: "One hundred million bottles of drinks is 6,000 tons, which is not a lot." ”
Zhou Haoran explained: "Yang Sheng, this empty can weighs 60 grams, but the raw materials must be more than that. There will be losses in the process. It is estimated that the demand will double.
And if you make it bigger, that one A billion bottles is nothing. The Swire Group currently sells more than a billion bottles a year.”
One hundred million is nothing to the beverage industry. The Swire Group and Coca-Cola are strategic partners, half of which. The cola drinks in Southeast Asia were all engineered in ancient times.
"That's true." Yang Wendong thought for a moment and then asked: "Now that Swire is planning to make canned drinks, it will definitely have to import a large amount of tinplate. If he can do it, then I can do it too."
Zhou Haoran nodded and said: "Yes, but Watsons' canned drinks have certain disadvantages, especially compared to glass bottles."
"What do you mean?" Yang Wendong asked.
Zhou Haoran said: “Although I don’t have data here, many people within the Swire Group already know that long-distance transportation of cans is cost-effective, so even if Swire makes cans, it is to consider overseas markets.< br>
But in the mainland and even in nearby places, glass bottles will still be the main products.”
Yang Wendong also understood immediately and said: “ What do you mean, the cost of cans is higher than that of glass bottles, but long-distance transportation is more cost-effective?”
“Yes, glass bottles are fragile, and long-distance transportation requires too much protection,” Zhou Haoran said: "Furthermore, Hong Kong has a local glass manufacturing industry, and glass bottles can be recycled. Even cans can be recycled, but there is no way to melt them and reuse them. There are no high-end steelmaking plants in Hong Kong."
"Yes, there are, but we can only recycle scrap steel." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
In the early days, there was a ship-breaking business in Hong Kong, and some steel mills were established in the local area, which specialized in remelting the steel on ships and then selling it to shipyards.
But shipbreaking is a super polluting industry. Even the Hong Kong government, which likes to engage in a "free market", can't stand it. It gradually restricted the shipbreaking business. Naturally, Hong Kong's former steel plants also gradually declined.
However, there are also a few good ones, but these cannot make ultra-thin steel plates.
Zhou Haoran said again: "Yang Sheng, I think this matter still needs to be discussed in the long term."
"I know." Yang Wendong nodded and said: "We need to find out everything, including equipment prices, steel import prices and channels, operating costs, etc.
But I still want to get this done as soon as possible , if we are the first brand to launch canned drinks, and add the new herbal tea, I can focus on the media to promote it, otherwise, how can we compete with Coca-Cola and Swire? ”
Making herbal tea and making cans is to promote new ideas and then promote them;
This is one of the necessary factors for the media to think of the strongest effect. Just like Douyin in the previous life, even if it is fully promoted, if the product itself is average, it will have no effect.
"Okay, I will go back to collect this information and give it to you in the shortest possible time." Zhou Haoran agreed.
Yang Wendong smiled and said: "Okay, then I welcome Zhou Sheng to join Watsons."
One advantage of today's Hong Kong is that British capital is in power, and these British capitals also have There are many powerful Chinese talents, but these people cannot develop in British-owned companies.
So when Yang Wendong goes to recruit people, it is easy to succeed.
Of course, this must be a well-known Chinese company. Ordinary companies do not have this ability.
"Yang Sheng, just call me Lao Zhou." Zhou Haoran said with a smile.
"Okay, Lao Zhou." Yang Wendong paused and then said: "But there is one more thing. When you come to Watsons, you mainly develop the beverage industry, but Watsons also has a pharmacy and cosmetics business;
< br>This area is also under your control, but there will be a deputy to assist you. He will be an expert in this area. "
A large company has many businesses, and its top leader will not do it. Maybe they know everything, or even the leader may not know anything at all, as long as he understands management.
Changxing Group currently still adopts the business separation system, but as the scale becomes larger and larger, the business in the branch will also increase, so naturally it will need to be managed by deputy positions like other large companies. part of the business.
Watsons' main business is the retail of beverages, health products, and pharmaceuticals. In the short term, beverages have greater market potential, but it will take a long time for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to expand.
Therefore, Watsons will first focus on the beverage industry. The health care product industry is actually real estate. After a few years, when the number of stores is sufficient, we will consider
"Okay, I will also study it. Let’s look at these two industries,” Zhou Haoran agreed.
Watson's acquisition and subsequent arrangements have basically come to an end. We will wait for the new team to arrive before considering specific issues.
In the outside world, the news about Yang Wendong’s acquisition of Watsons has gained some popularity, but only a few people are really paying attention to it. Most people will not pay too much attention to things that have nothing to do with them. In addition, this acquisition The transaction amount is not very large either.
A week later, the media stopped reporting on the incident.
Many people have discovered that Carrefour has a lot of Watsons drinks on the cashier. They also clearly remind you that you can drink these drinks first while queuing, and then pay after drinking, but only in queuing. people.
Many people are also interested. After all, queuing is boring, but having a drink is also good.
Friday, April 13:
Yang Wendong met two guests again at Changxing Building: Huo Yingdong and Ding Kejian.
Huo Yingdong first smiled and said: "Congratulations to Yang Sheng, for acquiring Watsons, a century-old company."
"A century is true, but the scale is not big." Yang Wendong said with a smile.
Huo Yingdong said: "The scale is not big now, but it is also because the previous management was too useless, and the major shareholders have not come to Hong Kong for a long time. It is strange that they can succeed;
Yang Sheng Now that he is in charge, he will definitely be able to restore the glory of the Watson family back then."
"Haha, thank you very much," Yang Wendong said with a smile. Hearing this, especially what Huo Yingdong said, he was shocked. Naturally, I was very happy.
At this time, Ding Kejian next to him said: "Yang Sheng, Watsons and China Resources have always cooperated. I have asked the mainland to prepare high-quality ginger and some Chinese medicine."
"Thank you." Yang Wendong said.
Many industries in Hong Kong rely on materials brought by China Resources from the mainland. The same is true for the beverage industry. Even water comes from the mainland.
Ding Kejian said with a smile: "You're welcome."
Now Changxing Group has the tendency to become the top Chinese consortium in Hong Kong. Export, real estate, shipping, and retail are gradually becoming the industry leaders. giant.
Even though China Resources has a monopoly on the supply of basic daily necessities in Hong Kong, it still needs to establish a good relationship with such a large consortium. Because of basic supplies, people theoretically only need to buy basic supplies to ensure daily needs. Whether they are willing to buy more is another matter. It's the same thing.
The greater obligation of China Resources is to earn foreign exchange. Basic living necessities are the foundation. The only way to earn more foreign exchange is to expand the mainland's industrial products to be sold in Hong Kong or even exported through Hong Kong. This means that local big companies are needed. Help from financial groups, especially Chinese financial groups.
After the three of them sat down, Yang Wendong asked: "What good news do you two come here today?"
Ding Kejian said: "Yes, the mainland has agreed, as long as you are here If we build a museum in Hong Kong, some antiques from the mainland can be sold or rented for exhibition in Hong Kong;
This is also a way for ordinary Hong Kong citizens, especially students, to understand Chinese history. "
"Okay." Yang Wendong said again: "How can we cooperate with the sales and rental levels of antiques, as well as the size and location of the museum?"
Although the museum you built belongs to you, you can mainly adjust the antiques inside. Or from the Mainland, then you need to consider the transportation methods of Mainland antiques into Hong Kong and the way into museums; even different antiques have different storage requirements, etc.
This is different from other normal museums. We have stock, you can decide for yourself.
Ding Kejian said: "I can't make the decision on this matter, and I don't understand it. What it means above is that a team of experts will be sent to Hong Kong for on-site inspection."
"That's okay. Okay." Yang Wendong nodded. Not to mention his subordinates, there may not be such talents in the whole of Hong Kong.
Ding Kejian took out another book and said, "Yang Sheng, here is a list of some antiques that can be sold. You can take a look at which ones you want, and we can discuss the quantity and price. How about that?"
PS : Asking for monthly tickets
(End of this chapter)