Original title: The washing machine that has been used for 26 years exploded overnight, and the reporter walked into the factory to find more secrets.
The washing machines produced in 1997, if you look at them, the manufacturers are estimated to have closed down ......Recently, a netizen posted on the Internet that his washing machine left the factory in 1997 and is still running normally, causing heated discussions.
After the above-mentioned netizen ** became popular, Weili responded in person and gave the netizen a brand new drum washing machine. Willy said in the comment area, "It's late, we're still here, and we haven't gone out of business yet." In a few words, it shows the pride and tenacity of the old domestic products that have survived the wind and rain.
Why is a washing machine that left the factory in the 90s of the last century still usable? Founded more than 40 years ago, why can this Guangdong manufacturing enterprise, once known as the "king of China's washing machines", still maintain its strong vitality? Recently, a reporter from Nanfang.com rushed to Fusha Town, Zhongshan.
Why is fire powerful?
Walking into the WEINIG product exhibition hall, the first thing that catches your eye is a variety of washing machines, lined up according to different production years and different models, and the changes of each product are a portrayal of the progress of the times, and also a portrayal of WEINIG's solid development step by step.
As the first manufacturer of single-cylinder and double-cylinder washing machines in China, WEINIG ranked first in the country in terms of product sales from 1989 to 1996. In 1990, WEINIG became the first enterprise in the same industry in China to produce and sell more than 1 million washing machines, and in 1995, it was awarded the title of "China's Washing Machine King" by the National Bureau of Statistics. On the track of domestic washing machines at that time, the limelight of Weili was in line with its advertising slogan "powerful enough". The excellent quality has earned it a reputation, and it has also become the "fuse" of the recent explosion of the Internet.
43 years have passed, in fact, Weili has been sticking to the sight of the public, business segments, domestic and foreign sales markets have blossomed, has set up 24 domestic sales branches, more than 3,000 after-sales outlets, and established an international sales network throughout Europe, America, South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa and other countries and regions.
In the exhibition hall, according to different scenarios and functions, WEINIG has also developed a special mini washing machine for babies, folding washing machines, etc., which can feel the company's continuous technological innovation in the field of washing machines. In addition, the exhibition hall displays products such as dryers, microwave ovens, and stir-fry machines from WEINIG to show the company's diversification attempts.
In 2019, the company's microwave oven production and sales achieved 5 million units, further consolidating the industry's top three position, and in 2020, under the pressure of the epidemic, the annual sales volume of Weili refrigeration exceeded 1 million units, and new plants, new production lines, and new patents were put into production one after another.
The appearance of the old domestic products trying to survive is awe-inspiring.
Why has it always been there?
After entering the 21st century, consumers' requirements for quality of life have improved, washing machine technology has been further optimized, and many home appliance brands founded in the 90s of the last century have gradually grown and expanded in the past 20 years, after brutal industry competition and reshuffle. Since 2010, with the outbreak of mobile Internet and the rise of e-commerce, big brands have begun to occupy most of the home appliance market, and small and medium-sized enterprises have survived.
In this context, the continuous pursuit of quality and innovation, and the focus on foreign trade to expand the international market are the main reasons for the survival of WEINIG for decades.
Quality is always the lifeblood of manufacturing enterprises. In September 1990, WEINIG won the National Quality Management Award, which was the first time that Guangdong achieved a breakthrough in this award. Nowadays, with the help of the trend of industrial digital intelligence, man-machine cooperation, enterprises have a more flexible and efficient grasp of production and quality control.
At the workshop site, unmanned production lines can be seen everywhere, robotic arms and automated assembly lines are coordinated in an orderly manner, and the assembly and packing of parts to the whole machine are completed in one go, and a drum washing machine takes only 11 seconds from parts to finished products and then to packing off the line.
Zhang Yan, deputy general manager of Weili washing machine manufacturing, said that from the front-end injection molding factory to the hardware factory and the first-class factory, each washing machine must go through special quality supervision and quality control from production to the production line. For example, there are a total of 130 people on a fully automatic production line of rollers, and there are 14 special inspectors in quality control to ensure the quality of products in each link. Another automatic drum box riveting line with an investment of 5 million yuan, the qualified rate of the parts produced reached 9897%。
Innovation is the core competitiveness of enterprises. According to Liao Yan, general manager of the washing machine division of Weinig, the washing machine mentioned by netizens in this popular ** is a double-cylinder washing machine with dehydration developed by Weili in 1984, which was an Internet celebrity product at that time. According to the market demand, WEINIG also developed the first fully automatic washing machine, and now follows the development of popular wave wheel washing machines and drum washing machines, WEINIG has never stopped developing and innovating, and the product categories continue to diversify and explore, from washing machines to microwave ovens and other smart small household appliances, involving thousands of products.
Once, in the late 90s of the last century, the domestic influence gradually declined, and began to focus on overseas markets, reorganized the research and development, production, quality assurance and marketing system, and reached cooperation with many international first-line home appliance brands, and the products are exported to East Asia, Southeast Asia, Europe and other countries and regions around the world.
Focusing on quality, innovation, and cooperation, Weili finally kept its own piece of the world.
How will we do it in the future?
Guangdong is the world's largest home appliance manufacturing center, and data shows that in 2022, Guangdong Province will rank first in the country in terms of output of TVs, air conditioners, kitchen appliances, lighting and other categories, and the output of refrigerators and washing machines will rank second and fourth in the country respectively.
Among them, in addition to the power of "China's washing machine king", there is also one of the "four kings of air conditioning" Zhigao air conditioning, China's first domestic rice cooker "triangle" brand rice cooker, etc., after more than half a century of ups and downs, the east of the river to the waves, these old local manufacturing enterprises that bear the mark of the times also have different endings.
So, can the old home appliance manufacturing enterprises survive and live better in the future?
Old home appliance companies still have to seize the opportunity to adjust their marketing strategies and give full play to their advantages to make up for their shortcomings. We hope to take this opportunity to develop the domestic market and new retail. In the future, more investment will be made in sales channels, especially in consumption channels such as live broadcast e-commerce and social e-commerce, which are favored by young people, and a live broadcast marketing center has been established. Liao Yan said.
Do a good job in quality and maintain our original intention. A good product needs to do a good job in the quality control of each part, each part is close to zero defects, and assembled together is a qualified washing machine, so as to deliver the standard, qualified and durable washing machine to consumers, in order to be worthy of consumers' trust in us. Zhang Yan's introduction revealed the secret of the washing machine's excellent quality, and also revealed the secret of the old home appliance manufacturing enterprises to continue to "fire".
The relevant staff of Weili said that the consumer market is also changing, and consumers are becoming more rational, unlike the pursuit of foreign brands and first-class consumption in the past, and they pay more attention to cost performance, which is also one of the reasons why domestic products are becoming more and more sought after, and it is also a major development opportunity for Weili such a veteran home appliance manufacturer.
Innovative marketing strategies, excellent quality assurance, and rational consumption concepts are the advantages and opportunities for the future development of veteran home appliance manufacturing enterprises.
In recent years, Zhongshan has comprehensively promoted the strengthening of work forces, policy measures to the manufacturing industry, and the agglomeration of resource elements to the manufacturing industry, so as to make room for the development of manufacturing enterprises, optimize the business environment, and promote the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing enterprises through the implementation of the "number one project" of the manufacturing industry.
Only by making two-way efforts can the traffic that has attracted the attention of the public become "retention", so that more old manufacturing enterprises in Zhongshan can add "power" and rejuvenate themselves.
Curator: Liu Lijun.
Reporter: Men Lili, He Jingwen, Wu Suwen.
*: Li Wanting, Lu Lingling.
Editor in charge: Xiaoyun.