Chapter 179 The Benefits of Product Certification
After a long and fierce two-hour battle, Doug Williams went through many twists and turns at the poker table, but in the end he had no choice but to successfully lose more than 2,000 Hong Kong dollars.
On the side, Ma Qing only lost about 500 yuan while insisting on not cheating. It has to be said that facts have proven that neither of these two people have any extraordinary talent or excellent luck at the poker table.
The two people who lost money did not get emotional because of this. In the final analysis, neither of them were gamblers in the true sense. For them, playing cards is just a way of entertainment. After they apologized to their poker buddies at the poker table, they went to the lounge next to them and prepared to take a nap.
"Ma Sheng, why did you come to me specifically today? Tell me quickly. You keep hanging on me like this, which makes me unable to concentrate on playing cards. Look, isn't this? I Lost money today." Doug Williams actually blamed Ma Qing for his failure.
"You are so funny. According to us Chinese, you can't poop because the earth has no gravity." Ma Qing pointed to the cardboard box placed on the table early in the morning and said slowly : "I made a little thing, come and take a look."
Doug Williams couldn't wait to open the paper box and took out the Polestar-XJ001. In an instant, he was deeply attracted by this beautiful little guy. Doug Williams fiddled with himself for a while, and then opened this object that can be called a representative of new era aesthetics.
The beautiful sound is like a clear stream, which slowly comes out from the speaker of this radio and flows gently in the air, as if it has a magical power that can soothe people's tired hearts. It's like a lively bird chirping gracefully on the branches, and the melodious melody floats out from the radio speaker, adding a touch of moving color to the entire space.
“Is this Jufeng’s new product?” Doug Williams looked puzzled. From plastic products to electronic products, the leap of this product is really too big.
Polestar Electronics' products have not yet been officially launched. As a foreigner, he had no idea that Ma Qing had such an industry.
"This is the latest product from another company of mine. How do you like it? Are you interested?" The first reason why Ma Qing found Doug Williams was to understand what level the Polestar-XJ001 is in the hearts of foreigners. product.
"I'm so interested, Mr. Ma, please give me the North American agency rights for this Polestar. I will definitely make it sell well in North America." Doug Williams requested excitedly "By the way, what's the price of this thing?"
"The ex-factory price is 22 US dollars, and the recommended retail price is 32 US dollars per unit. How about it? Is it competitive?" Ma Qing took his time. said.
“No problem, even if it costs 40 US dollars per unit, its quality is fully worthy of the price.”
“Okay then, the ex-factory price is 25 US dollars and the suggested retail price is 39 US dollars. Okay, this way everyone can earn more." Ma Qing immediately changed the price.
"..." Doug Williams never expected to get such a result, and said with a grimace, "Can you think that what I just said was nonsense, and let's use the original price."
" Okay, just use the new price, you will earn more, don't follow me, let's not talk about it for now." Ma Qing was too lazy to continue talking nonsense about the price, "It is impossible to give you the agency rights in North America. Yes, I will give you the agency rights for the east coast of the United States and Canada at most, and I will not give you the agency rights in vain."
"Sheng Ma is so interesting that he won't let me participate in the bidding and will directly give me the agency rights. , I’m very grateful, tell me, how much is the franchise fee?” Doug Williams thought very clearly.
“I don’t want money, money is so boring.” Ma Qing raised her chin slightly and said in a pretentious manner, “You keep saying how awesome your Doug Williams family is in the United States. I want to ask you to do something.”
“What kind of thing makes you not even want money?” Doug Williams didn’t believe that someone would not even want money, he thought to himself. Ma Qing's matter must be very troublesome, like a turbulent undercurrent hidden under the calm surface of a lake.
"Don't worry, this is not difficult to say. It's very simple. Of course, the premise is that your family really has that little energy like you said." Ma Qing took out a newspaper from his pocket slowly. , the newspaper seemed to carry an ark of hope, with reports on last year's Chicago Good Design Award written on it.
The Good Design Awards (TheGoodDesignAwards) in Chicago, USA, was established in 1950 and has a history of nearly 20 years. It is like a dazzling design beacon, illuminating the way forward in world design and is the world's leading design award. One of the most prestigious and oldest design awards in the world, it is held annually.
It is committed to discovering and commending the most innovative and cutting-edge industrial, product and graphic design. Like an impartial referee, it aims to promote people to better understand contemporary design and reward those in the design and manufacturing industries. Creative leader.
"Let Polestar-XJ001 win an industrial award, can you do it? This is actually a small thing." Ma Qing said while pointing to the radio, which seemed to He turned into a warrior waiting for glory, "If you can't even do this, I think we have no basis for cooperation."
"That's it?"
"No, there is also the designated certification from the International Audio Engineering Association. Once you get these two things done, the agency rights we agreed on will be yours. In fact, these two things don't cost much, but I am far away in Xiangjiang, so it will be difficult to deal with them. It’s very troublesome, to be honest, it’s easy for you.”
The International Audio Engineering Society (AES) was founded in 1948. It is the only professional association in the world that focuses on audio technology. It is like a sacred place of audio technology. Its members come from engineers, scientists, and other individuals interested in or involved in the professional audio industry. Members mainly include engineers who develop audio equipment or products, as well as those engaged in audio content production, as well as acousticians, audiologists, academics and other audio-related disciplines.
"Chicago Good Design Award and International Audio Engineering Association certification, Ma Sheng, you are really different from the Xiangjiang businessmen I know. You really think long-term."
said Gwilliams had to admit that Ma Qing's mind was indeed different from that of ordinary businessmen, and he always had to do some tricks to show off.
However, this is indeed good for the product. "These are the two conditions. If I complete it, my agency fee will be waived?"
"It will be done within a month. If the time is not too tight, I won't ask you for help. In fact, you and I both know that it doesn't cost much to do these two things, because Jiexing-XJ001 itself is very Excellent, but I want the result very urgently.”
Ma Qing stated his request. At this point in time in 1969, it was really not expensive to do these two things according to the procedures. How much it will cost, but it’s hard to say if it’s urgent.
Doug Williams frowned slightly and fell into deep thought. After a moment, he raised his head and said slowly: "Well, give me a day and I'll call and ask. If you can do it, I will definitely do it. If you can't, I won't waste your time." His eyes revealed firmness and sincerity, as if he was making a solemn promise to Ma Qing. "Okay, Mr. Doug, your way of doing things has won my respect." Ma Qing nodded slightly, with a look of appreciation on his face, "No matter what the outcome is, I am determined to be your friend." At this time, Ma Qing Qing, with a sincere and determined tone, as if announcing the beginning of a precious friendship.
After bidding farewell to Doug Williams, Ma Qing found the European agent of Jufeng Company and made the same request, but this time he requested the German iF Product Design Award. Award-winning and certified by British BSI.
The iF Product Design Award was founded in 1954. It is held regularly every year by the Hannover Industrial Design Forum (iF Industrie Forum Design), the oldest industrial design organization in Germany. It has been internationally recognized as a prestigious award in the field of contemporary industrial design, and is closely related to the Red Cross. RedDot and IDEA are known as the world's three major design awards.
British BSI certification is a document certification that proves the quality and safety of an enterprise's products. It is the British Standards Institution (BSI), the world's first national standardization agency. A non-profit civil society organization recognized and supported by the British Government. Founded in 1901 and headquartered in London.
The modern product certification system first appeared in the United Kingdom. In 1903, British manufacturers began to use the world's first certification mark, the BS Kitemark, on rails that met dimensional standards.
In 1919, the British government promulgated the Trademark Law, which stipulated that only products that have passed the inspection by a third-party inspection agency can use the kite mark.
The British Marks Committee was established in 1921 to manage the issuance and use of kite marks. In 1922, registration of marks for various products began.
In 1926, the British Marks Committee issued the first "Kite Mark Use License" to the British Electrical Company.
The BSI safety mark began to be used on household appliances and other safety equipment and products in 1975. Ma Qing wanted to put the BSI safety mark on Polestar products in 1969 in this time and space.
After settling these matters, Ma Qing could only wait for the news, but fortunately, the next day, the two agents received positive news, which also made Ma Qing feel relieved and prepared for a month Later, a global bidding meeting for Polestar Electronics was held.
After dispatching two staff from Rongfa Trading to assist Polestar Electronics in preparing for the bidding meeting, Ma Qing was completely idle.
This gave Ma Qing time to return to the product research and development room of Zhiwei Technology. In fact, the product development of micro calculators was in great difficulty.
"Boss, we have already made the calculator, but... how to put it, we are actually using other people's parts. It is really difficult to industrialize it in Xiangjiang." Serkov represented Calculator The trio of device R&D personnel gave a work report to Ma Qing.
The two core components of the calculator, the microprocessor (MCU) and the display screen, can only be purchased from outside. We cannot build this production line. These two production lines are simply unavailable. The best result is Ordered customized products.
But in this way, Jiexing Electronics is actually an assembly factory, and the product prices are extremely high. According to speculation, a calculator may cost US$290. Such a price...
马Qing looked at the pieced together calculator in his hand and fell into deep contemplation. He designed the entire operating framework and theoretical logic of the product, but the hardware could not be manufactured. Although he could build a production line, he would never dare to do so. Completely inexplicable.
In 1969 in the previous life, the large-scale integrated circuit chip MK-6010LSI designed by Mostek Company integrated all the transistors required to complete various functions of the calculator, and was applied by the Japanese Busicom Company to its product NCR18-16 , started the history of single-chip calculators.
This not only greatly reduces the power consumption of calculators and can be powered by batteries, but also makes portable calculators possible. At the same time, assembly costs have dropped significantly, prompting the emergence of a large number of calculator manufacturers.
It’s too late, what should I do, “I’ll take this calculator away first, and you can continue to optimize the product. Now that it’s been made, you have to find a home for this thing.”
Ma Qing stayed in his office all afternoon. There were not many choices before him, but he had to apply for a patent for this pocket calculator first.
And then cooperate with foreign countries? Currently, there are probably only four countries in the world capable of producing such chips and integrated circuits: the United States, Britain, France, and Japan.
The United States has no choice. He already has a Japanese son and a Korean alternative son. Do you want to be the third dog if you go? Bah, I won’t do it until I die.
Looking at Japan again, this option was directly eliminated by him. He really couldn't convince himself to cooperate with Japan. His past experiences and complicated international relations had brought his intention to cooperate with Japan to a freezing point.
What about France? Ma Qing couldn't help but frowned when he thought of the efficiency of the French. The slow pace of work and cumbersome administrative procedures made him full of doubts about cooperation with France.
Now it seems that the UK is a good choice. My base camp is in Xiangjiang, and by cooperating with the UK, I should be able to get more benefits by then.
He seemed to have seen a glimmer of hope, and was trying to find the best development path in this complicated situation.
The problem now is really difficult. How to get in touch with the British upper class? This is obviously not something that can be easily solved by finding a few British businessmen to form a partnership.
This pocket calculator patent will undoubtedly be an important opportunity. It is like a magic key that can quickly commercialize primary semiconductor chips at this stage, thereby forming a complete industrial chain and effectively promoting the development of the entire industry. .
Ma Qing secretly planned in his heart. He knew that the value of this patent was huge. If you want him to hand over this precious "key", what can the British Empire do without some blood?
He began to carefully consider various possible strategies and conditions, thinking about how to obtain the greatest benefits in negotiations with Britain. At the same time, he also realized the importance of his own safety and planned to raise his safety level to another level.
(End of this chapter)