On the second day of the wedding, Lin Zhichao came to Cheung Kong Industrial in Tsuen Wan.

"Mr. Smith, I hope you forgive me for the poor reception yesterday!" Lin Zhichao said sincerely to the visiting 'zipper merchant' Smith.

It turned out that Smith happened to come to Hong Kong yesterday to inspect Cheung Kong Industrial, but Lin Zhichao got married, so he naturally couldn't accompany him, so he asked Wang Liang to accompany him and attend his wedding together.

Smith said happily: "Mr. Lin is welcome, to be honest, I am very satisfied with yesterday's harvest." First of all, I am very satisfied with the new zippers produced by your new machine; Secondly, I have great admiration for you, you have really succeeded in improving the automatic zipper machine, as well as producing the automatic stamping machine for sliders; Finally, the factory management is as good as ever. ”

It is certainly difficult to improve the automatic zipper machine (rice rowing machine), the key lies in Lin Zhichao's ideas and creativity; Otherwise, no machinery company wants to improve, at least it may be born a few years later.

The same is true for the research and development of automatic slider stamping machines, I am afraid that those zipper machine manufacturers did not expect that the small slider could get rid of manual mechanical manufacturing (also mechanical manufacturing, but the degree of labor is high), and use automatic stamping machines.

After completing these two things, it has been decided that Cheung Kong will occupy a place in the world's zipper industry.

"In that case, why don't we go to the office and talk about increasing cooperation?"

"Of course"

Lin Zhichao was immediately very happy and invited Smith to the office area opened on the side of the factory. The 30,000-square-foot (3,333-square-meter) one-storey facility is already considered a large factory in Hong Kong.

As far as Lin Zhichao knows, Smith is a large zipper businessman, he not only supplies part of the zipper share of the US military in Asia, but also acts as an agent for zipper sales in the United States.

Therefore, Lin Zhichao attaches great importance to Smith's cooperation.

In the office, Smith really said: "Mr. Lin, I know that your cost has been greatly reduced, so I plan to increase the order from you, no less than 50,000 meters of zippers per month." ”

Lin Zhichao's heart skipped a beat, a new type of zipper rice machine, which can row 1000 meters (5000 ~ 6000) per day, Smith made a move, and provided the production capacity of two machines, as if it had become the VIP P of Changjiang Industrial.

At the same time, Japanese zipper agents, Southeast Asian zipper agents have increased the number of orders, for a time just joined the five automatic zipper machines, the business has reached six or seven percent.

The additional order of the zipper agent in Southeast Asia is because the unit price given by Cheung Kong Industrial has been lowered again, and Cheung Kong only earns 1 Hong Kong dollar per meter. With the reduction of unit prices, Southeast Asia naturally no longer has the living space of handmade zipper products, but the supply of zippers in Southeast Asia is still produced by old-fashioned machines.

RB zipper agent additional orders, because Cheung Kong provided new machine products, the price also began to fall, Cheung Kong only earned 0.8 Hong Kong dollars per meter.

The old machine can produce 200,000 meters a year, the new machine can produce 360,000 meters a year, and the annual output of Changjiang Industry has reached 3 million meters; There are also five new rice rowers, which are expected to be delivered in March, when the annual output value will reach 4.8 million meters. Of course, this is ideally, and it is one thing whether there are so many orders.

"No problem! Aluminum alloy zippers give you 70 cents a meter, copper zippers give you 95 cents a meter, guaranteeing you the best price, and we don't make much. ”

The gross profit is around 30%, which is the value excluding machinery and plant, and only the selling price of the zipper itself minus the cost price. For example, if Cheung Kong produced 4 million meters of zippers in 1949, the gross profit would reach about 3.5 million Hong Kong dollars.

This output is not high, in the previous life YKK zipper at the end of the fifties, the total output was already 400 million meters, sparing the earth.

When Smith heard this, he observed Lin Zhichao's expression and knew that the price had not come or gone. Because it was like this last time, this young man's offer was 'no two prices', neither counteroffering. The reason why he is so 'good' is simple, the zipper is the cheapest in the world, and the quality is at the top level.

"There is no problem with this price, but my zippers are all made by new machines. The material needs our aluminum alloy produced in the United States, of course, if you can also practice the same aluminum alloy yourself, I will admit it. With that, Smith laughed.

The back was a joke, he didn't believe that Lin Zhichao could invest in aluminum alloy smelting in Hong Kong.

Lin Zhichao responded: "Of course there is no problem! By the way, Mr. Smith, I have invested in a factory in Singapore, and I may be shipping from there in the future. "Get vaccinated in advance so you don't get abandoned later.

In fact, during the Battle of the Peninsula, Hong Kong's products could also export eagle sauce, but there must be many procedures and difficulties. Importantly, raw materials will definitely not be imported at that time, so Singapore's zipper company will come in handy.

"Hey, Mr. Lin is expanding so fast!" Smith said seriously.

The speed at which this young man is developing is incredible.

After a few words of modesty, the two were ready to sign a formal supply contract.

After completing Smith's order, Changjiang Industrial also needs to export a large number of zippers to the European and American markets.

Lin Zhichao's idea was to directly send people to seek the market.

Of course, he will not personally go to Europe and the United States to sell, because recently because there are many people from the mainland who have taken refuge in Hong Kong, Cheung Kong has really networked a lot of talents.

The so-called talents are just those who have read books, know English, or even studied abroad, and they are talents in this era. In particular, knowing English is enough for a person to find a job with a monthly salary of hundreds of dollars.

At the same time.

YKK zipper, which is far away in RB, ran into trouble and finally had four automatic zipper machines, but the order was not satisfied and the price was suppressed.

At cost:

The cost of one meter of Cheung Kong aluminum alloy zipper is only less than 2 Hong Kong dollars (0.4 Hong Kong dollars a piece), while the cost of YKK zipper is as high as 3 Hong Kong dollars (0.6 Hong Kong dollars a piece), because Cheung Kong has adopted a new type of automatic zipper machine, and the procurement of raw materials is cheap because of the large quantity and low tax, even the labor is cheaper.

And now Changjiang Industrial only earns 1.6 cents, and its RB agents also sell at a low price in order to stabilize their own market, so YKK can only helplessly reduce prices and barely keep the price about the same.

But in this way, the profit is low, and it is impossible for Tadao Yoshida to grow rapidly.

Calculated by mass:

The zippers supplied by Cheung Kong to Japan all use new automatic rice rowing machines and slider automatic stamping machines, which are a grade better than YKK zippers.

Therefore, in the Japanese market, Hong Kong zippers have won and occupied half of the country.

Tadao Yoshida knew that change had to be made, otherwise Hong Kong's zipper development would get better and better, and it would be more and more difficult for him to survive.

He immediately found Hitachi Machinery Factory to seek cooperation, because he knew that Hong Kong Cheung Kong Industrial had adopted a new type of automatic rice rowing machine and slider automatic stamping machine.

Finally, the president of Hitachi Machinery Factory inspected the YKK zipper, but the results were not satisfactory.

"President Yoshida, you want to improve this machine or develop and produce a slider automatic stamping machine, but you don't have a specific direction and experience for us now, obviously you can't, after all, we are not familiar with this machine. And, as you said, Hong Kong already uses new types of machines, and I doubt that if we spend a lot of money on research and development, you will be able to pay it back. So, you need to prove yourself before you seek cooperation between us. ”

Tadao Yoshida also knew that he was too urgent, and he was not ready for it both in terms of market and technology.

However, he was really too anxious, and felt like he had been passively chasing others. He had a feeling that the one in Hong Kong seemed to have insight into his own ideas and then took the lead in realizing them.

You know, he was impressed by the products of American zipper merchants in 1947, and then wanted to use an automatic rice sorting machine together, but he didn't expect to be led by Hong Kongers.

"President Matsushima, can you ask Hitachi Machinery Factory to send two excellent mechanical R&D engineers to conduct research on this automatic rice sorting machine first. After all, our small RB empire does not yet have such machines, it is a blank. Hong Kong's industry has no advantage, once we can build a better machine, then YKK zipper will become the world's zipper giant, I am willing to hand over all the machinery to you to produce. ”

When it comes to making empty promises, Tadao Yoshida does not belong to a modern person.

However, Matsushima still said: "I'll think about it when I go back, anyway, I still hope that you don't rush and prepare for more time." ”

Tadao Yoshida had no choice but to watch Matsushima leave.

He is now in a predicament: the price of zippers can only be marginal, and the order schedule is not satisfied; I am worried that Hong Kong zipper manufacturers will make another surprise move to completely suppress the Japanese zipper industry.

In particular, if you are one step behind, you will be one step behind, so YKK Zipper must come up with a new type of machine as soon as possible.

In fact, Tadao Yoshida felt that there was no hope of coming up with a new machine within a year, and he might not be able to do so within two years. After all, RB has not survived an automatic zipper machine, everything needs to start from scratch.

"I'm not going to give up!" In the end, Tadao Yoshida showed a resolute look.

"My situation at this time is much better than that of the manual period, why admit defeat!" Although the order of the four machines is not satisfied, it is really making money.

"Let Hong Kong's Cheung Kong lead by two years, and in the future, YKK Zipper will have the last laugh." He still firmly believes that Hong Kong's industrial development is far less potential than RB's.

Tsuen Wan.

Founded by Tong Pingyuan, Nanhai Textile is located in Tsuen Wan, along with Cheung Kong and Oriental Textiles, and is one of the first large-scale factories in Hong Kong to settle in Tsuen Wan after World War II.

Tang Zhongyuan took his wife Song Qiaoling to Nanhai Textile, but when he saw the two factories standing, he couldn't help but sigh at his cousin Tang Bingyuan's wealth.

In fact, Tang Bingyuan brought 80 Shanghainese skilled workers to Hong Kong last year, and this strength is not comparable to Tang Zhongyuan; You must know that when Tang Zhongyuan returned to Shanghai, he finally invited more than 30 skilled workers.

"Recently, our family has lived here, although it is remote, but the Nanhai textile factory is big enough, which is convenient for work and living well." Tang Bingyuan introduced with a smile.

Tang Zhongyuan nodded and said, "The factory is magnificent enough!" ”

Tang Bingyuan said: "Your new factory is also magnificent enough, and it will be built in the second half of the year, so you don't need to be envious!" ”

He has already let go of his cousin's career development smoothly, no matter what, it is a family.

At this time, Wen Jinmei had the heart to compare, and then said: "It's hard to get orders now, your cousin worries about this matter every day, and finally opens up the situation. We now produce more than 100,000 pounds of cotton yarn and 200,000 square yards of cotton cloth per month. ”

Di Lila said a circle, which is to praise Tang Bingyuan's ability and obtain a large number of orders, and the scale is thirty percent higher than that of Dongfang Textile.

Tang Bingyuan is really powerful, when he was in the mainland, he was already a member of the National Supreme Economic Committee, and his connections in Europe and the United States are available, so it is natural that Nanhai Textile has such achievements.

After Wen Jinmei finished speaking, she didn't forget to look at Song Qiaoling, the two daughters-in-law of the Tang family are naturally indispensable; Of course, the two are also in a social circle, and the relationship is not bad, but Song Qiaoling has risen a lot after arriving in Hong Kong, which makes Wen Jinmei a little unhappy.

Song Qiaoling said with a smile: "Rejoice and rejoice!" We Oriental Textile, the recent orders have doubled, the current plant is too busy, just look forward to the completion of the new factory, so as to move in! ”

As soon as the words fell, even Tang Bingyuan looked at his cousin Tang Zhongyuan curiously.

"Cheung Kong has invested in five new automatic zipper machines, one of which is worth the previous two, and their orders are growing rapidly, so the demand for textile fabrics has also increased. Especially the orders from Europe and the United States, the requirements for textile cloth are very high, fortunately, my son-in-law reminded me as early as half a year ago, otherwise Oriental Textile will miss the opportunity. ”

Tang Bingyuan and Wen Jinmei were shocked, of course, not shocked by Dongfang Textile, but shocked by the rapid development of Changjiang Industrial, the one-time production capacity more than doubled, and the orders were also doubled immediately, wouldn't it make millions of Hong Kong dollars a year?

In fact, these people underestimated the amount of textile cloth that Changjiang Industrial demanded, after all, although the textile cloth of the zipper was small, it could not hold a large number. Because of this, YKK zipper in the previous life opened its own textile factory, smelted copper, smelted aluminum alloy by itself, and developed nylon by itself, a one-stop industrial chain.

To put it bluntly, Tang Zhongyuan relied on Cheung Kong to become one of the top five textiles in Hong Kong. If he works harder, there is a good opportunity, that is, the top three are all possible, forming a large group of 'spinning, weaving, dyeing and finishing'.

As for the garment industry, it is currently a cooperation between the two sides (still in preparation).

Wen Jinmei asked in shock: "Changjiang Industrial is developing so fast?" ”

Song Qiaoling said proudly: "What is this, their zipper products are of better quality and cheaper than those in Europe and the United States, and several machines will be delivered this year." Once it enters the European and American markets, the output will have to rise. Therefore, we are now eager for the new factory to be built and put into production as soon as possible. ”

Damn, I was overpowered by this woman again, Wen Jinmei said in her heart.

Tang Bingyuan happily patted Tang Zhongyuan on the shoulder and said, "Okay, our two brothers are not together, and we can create a new glory for the Tang family in Hong Kong." ”

Tang Zhongyuan nodded with a smile and said, "Not bad!" I just don't know, will Brother Zengyuan come to Hong Kong? ”

Tang Zengyuan is also a Jiangnan textile tycoon, and his grandfather is the brother of Tang Bingyuan and Tang Zhongyuan's grandfather, which is equivalent to the grandfather of the Yuan's descendants is the same person, that is, the Tang family cloth village in Biling.

"I don't know what he means, but I guess he sent Xiang Qian to Hong Kong, and he stayed in the mainland. We, the Tang Clan, also have to stay in the mainland, in case the situation in the mainland improves and clears, we still have to go back after all. Tang Bingyuan looked north.

His psychology is the psychology of many wealthy people in Hong Kong at present.

The only thing is not Tang Zhongyuan's psychology, he was calmed by what his son-in-law said.

"It's okay, if Xiang Qian comes to Hong Kong, he can also do a career in the textile industry, and the three banners of the Tang clan will definitely reproduce the glory of the Biling Wang clan."

Tang Bingyuan and Wen Jinmei couldn't help but sigh that this cousin had changed, becoming ambitious and confident. In the past, how could they speak in their veins, and only Tang Bingyuan and Tang Zengyuan of the Biling Tang Clan could be regarded as 'qualified to speak'.

All of this is due to his 21-year-old son-in-law!

(End of chapter)