No one can avoid setback and frustration on the way to career development. Observing the law of industry development is the prerequisite of success. Exploring and respecting the law is none other than the great spirit of human rationality. Women's fashion is a critical branch of apparel industry, but its construction and development of logistics system possess unique features and laws. It偶然pleasure to interview Wu Jianmin, Chairman of ShowLong Fashion Accessories Co., Ltd. He will share the genuine and valuable experience he learned in the course of corporate development.
ShowLong Fashion Accessories Co., Ltd., founded in 1999 and has evolved into a specialized brand of women's wear. Mr. Wu Jianmin was lately interviewed by our journal and spoke glowingly of development of apparel enterprises and its logistics construction.
Mr. Wu put emphasis on the adherence to laws and down-to-earth efforts in the conversation, which made a strong impression on the journalist. What Mr. Wu said exactly reflects the spirit of seeking truth from facts. It is well-known that the article Reform Our Study written by Chairman Mao has brought forth the theory and learning method of seeking truth from facts as early as 1941. In other words, the adherence to laws and down-to-earth efforts turn out to be a kind of value and methodology. It not only leads the Chinese Revolution to victory but also guides specific research and production of all walks of life. How do clothing enterprises and its logistics conform to laws and keep steady progress? Let’s have a look at Mr. Wu’s opinions.
Journalist: Could you introduce the growth history and present development of ShowLong?
Wu Jianmin: Shandong ShowLong Fashion Accessories Co., Ltd. has been devoted to the design, R&D, production and sales of women's apparel since its development in 1999 and boasts its independently innovative brands like ShowLong, M.TeNG, GOGIRL, ZU.KU, Kaleidom, 3:3, Forest Song and so on. In addition to that, ShowLong also forges a partnership with Denmark’s brand WAGNER to introduce such Denmark’s menswear brands as BISON, SHINE ORIGINAL, LINDBERGH and JUNK de LUXE, etc. ShowLong now has developed into a large fashion group ranging from men's wear to women's clothing, children's clothing and accessories.
Upholding the corporate mission of “shape confident women and enjoy beautiful life”, ShowLong develops the corporate values of “concentration, innovation, struggle and harmony”.
The past twenty years has seen ShowLong’s expansion from regional brand to national brand and further step towards the international market. The transformation from small workshop to large-scale clothing business has been achieved. The single brand has been developed into multi-channel operation, thus upgrading omni-channel layout. Nowadays, ShowLong has come through start-up and brand incubation stage and faces the great development and fission stage of brand cluster, and now embraces the new era of development. We has improved development efficiency and quality by completing mass production, technological innovation and industrial upgrading. In the nationwide context of “new growth driver” and “new economy”, ShowLong takes the lead in the “dual engine” of innovation-based intelligent manufacturing and growth driver upgrading. ShowLong has promoted the path of intelligence and smoothly transformation of “new and old growth driver”. On the basis of market demand and fashion trend, ShowLong rallies the upstream and downstream of industrial chain and works with specialized agencies as a way to attain the interaction and linkage of design, R&D, brand operation and terminal consumption. ShowLong is able to dominate the era of brand construction and independent innovation by virtue of “industry-university-research-application”, “online and offline” interaction, efficient and quick response of brand cluster, as well as the high-end manufacturing based on smart, custom and stylish pattern.
ShowLong Industrial Par
Journalist: Chinese apparel enterprises got stuck over the past few years in the process of development. Sales and inventory are prioritized. What do you think of the challenges and uncertainties ahead of clothing enterprises?
Wu Jianmin: The apparel industry tended to mature after 2010. The transformation and upgrade are getting fast. The industry trend is characterized by the rising of high-end clothing brands. The differential service becomes the core drive of clothing enterprises down the road. Meanwhile, clothing enterprises hardly increase channels and expand layout. The previous way that keeps business performance rising via straight expansion can no longer survive. In addition to that, such obstacles as fewer industry barriers, enormous pressure from domestic competitors and international brands, excess inventory of direct-sale stores and franchisees force clothing enterprises to find a way out in front of new challenges, thus accelerating the survival of the fittest and strategic transformation.
Today, consumers ever-increasingly value the symbolic meaning of brand and shopping experience apart from product itself. These two factors are having a growing effect on consumers’ preference. For clothing enterprises, the key of success is to rapidly and effectively respond to consumer demands. Therefore, the Chinese clothing enterprises under the intense pressure that have taken shape and enjoyed brand reputation will have more advantages in the course of industry transformation.
In the process of brand construction, clothing enterprises have reached a consensus of optimizing logistics supply chain system. For clothing enterprises, one of key elements to find a way out and enhance competitiveness is to build agile logistics supply chain system, satisfy consumer demands in a faster and more convenient way, and reduce inventory in the link of circulation.
All businesses, including clothing enterprises, can’t avoid challenges. I think mentality is the most important thing for entrepreneurs. Business will undergo prosperity and adversity in the process of growth, just as humans do. The key point is to keep a good mindset and seek for an appropriate development path. You’re not advised to follow what others said. Entrepreneurs need sobriety and calm instead of timidity and confusion in front of conundrum. On the other hand, entrepreneurs can’t indulge in the fantasy of favorable wind throughout the voyage. Looking back to 20-year endeavors, ShowLong is committed to appropriate solutions in good and bad times with clam.
Well-ordered Weaving Production Workshop
Journalist: Clothing enterprises pay much attention to logistics construction in recent years. What do you think of it? What factors of logistics construction do you think clothing companies should focus on?
Wu Jianmin: The logistics system is among the functional departments of clothing enterprises. In my opinion, the priority of logistics system is to match the corporate development across the broad. At present, a large number of clothing enterprises concentrate on the renovation and construction of logistics system, which also reflects the demands for stronger processing capacity and higher efficiency at a certain stage of development scale. At this moment, the logistics construction spontaneously becomes the inevitable choice of clothing enterprises. The logistics construction must depend on respective demands and features of enterprises. Currently, some of enterprises suffer from homogenization and indiscriminate imitation. Although we can learn good experience and technology, the key to success never rests on imitation. It is hard to push ahead with logistics and supply chain system only via imitation. The business operation is a well-organized project, which requires overall planning and resource integration. The success is hardly simulated and copied because what resource each business has is different. The logistics system is a case in point. Many businesses intend to integrate resources, but it is not easy to make it. The winner is in the minority. Businesses need to make down-to-earth efforts according to the actual situation.
ShowLong is a self-owned brand of clothing enterprise. Its management model involves in numerous nodes of industrial chain, which requires businesses to analyze market demands, develop and design products, complete production in whole or in part by means of its own production line and equipment, and sell products through its own marketing network. By this way, businesses are able to make profits by controlling the high value-added nodes of R&D and sales and supervise production process at the same time, hence safeguarding high quality products. However, the systematic management model based on market orientation and brand core turns out to be more challenging for enterprise and mangers.
Clothing enterprises have developed the full-grown and stable management model of “entire industrial chain”, which is one of the prerequisites of self-owned brand. On this basis, clothing enterprises are capable of bringing strong brand effect for consumers via circulation channels. Therefore, the full-fledged logistics supply chain system has a big role to play for brand clothing enterprises, especially high- and mid-end brands.
Stores of ShowLong
Journalist: You mentioned that the priority of logistics system is to match the corporate development across the broad. Could you talk about ShowLong’s business traits and the changes of logistics demands?
Wu Jianmin: The main product of ShowLong is women's wear. Apart from commonality of clothing industry, the current development of women’s wear has following features due to female consumers:
First of all, women’s wear has a wide range of styles, which is particular about storage and circulation. It is well-known that women are born to look attractive. Different from male consumers, female consumers put emphasis on popularity and hanker for fashion. They prefer to buy new clothes on the basis of fashion trend all year round. As a result, the businesses of women’s wear must keep up with the latest trend and respond to fashion quickly by means of more styles. Moreover, women’s wear has all kinds of textures and styles, which is more difficult for storage and circulation. For example, some women’s wear can’t be folded. This is the reason that the logistics system must satisfy the requirement of fast sales.
Besides, the industry of women’ wear is less concentrated. China boasts a vast territory and various folk customs. Women all over the country are different in body shape, temperament, dressing habits, and acceptance for international fashion and novelties, which produces remarkable regional characteristics of Chinese women’s wear brands. Comparing with male consumers, female customers have a variety of demands. The emotion-oriented purchase decisions are casual. This is the reason why women’s wear is ever-changing and has short cycle. All the reasons explain the complexity of women’s wear in terms of circulation and scheduling.
In terms of sale model, I don’t think the essence of sales has been changed. The nature is to sell suitable products to clients. The offline sales will bring better experience for customers, while online sales can facilitate shopping. As a matter of fact, the e-commerce and physical stores aren’t strongly contradictory in the western countries. But, e-commerce in China lashed physical stores. The online and offline logistics and sales systems tend to be converged throughout the country.
Whatever we do, the era of e-commerce has arrived. ShowLong is compelled to readjust logistics system as a way to cater to changes. ShowLong has third-level or second-level logistics system in the past, which shipped clothes from factory to stores via local office. Nowadays, ShowLong aims to intensify and emphasize the role and capacity of total warehouse by building new logistics center.
Journalist: Could you introduce the conditions and features of Shandong ShowLong’s total warehouse undertaken by Zhongding Integration?
Wu Jianmin: ShowLong entrusted Wuxi Zhongding Integration Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred as “Zhongding”) to undertake and build the intelligent warehouse logistics system integration project in 2017. Zhongding has the all-in-one solution to offer, including preliminary plan and design, data simulation, equipment manufacturing, installation and debugging and after-sales service. The whole project is provided with 80,000 standard shelves for ShowLong’s larger storage and more picking points. In consideration of the diversity of operation mode, the storage area is specially designed to hang up clothes, which allows about 110,000 pieces of clothes to be stored for rapid turnover. The function of previous offices has been basically replaced since intelligent warehouse logistics system has been completed. The warehouse can directly ship products to designated stores and malls via point-to-point delivery. The automated conveyor line keeps all operation areas connected to greatly strengthen the automatic operated of logistics lines. Zhongding’s high-level design and ripe experience safeguard this smooth cooperation. The whole project not only satisfies the current demand of B2B model but also deals with challenges in the years to come.
Building a brand-new logistics system requires not only hardware investment but also software system. Zhongding integrates diversified equipment, easy integration and intelligent control and gets through the overall information system via automated warehouse software. Thus, the warehouse can be directly connected with stores and end consumers, pushing the informatization of our company to a new height. Nowadays, the reform of logistics technology has the “last kilometer” before coming to an end, namely, the terminal delivery to consumers. The instant sales and data collection have become one of targets of clothing enterprises’ logistics system construction.
