Foshan Lighting Company's Transformation and Challenge

In the 1970s and 1980s, lighting companies in Foshan began to rise. By the early 1990s, Foshan's lighting-related industries developed rapidly, including as many as thousands of lighting products, power supplies, drives, and accessories, mostly in the South China Sea. Village, Danzao, and Shunde Leliu. According to statistics, there are currently more than 400 companies that produce finished lighting products in Foshan, and there are countless companies that produce processing and accessories. Compared with many regions, Foshan's lighting soil is very fertile, and its product quality and business philosophy have always been recognized by the industry.

With the development of the era, LED as a new product, new technology, and its arrival has given many new opportunities for the hard-working processing companies, but also brought challenges to more companies. The overall pattern changes. In front of LEDs, it seems that large companies, small businesses, established companies, and emerging companies are all on the same starting line. It can be said that LED has brought new hope and joy to the industry. At the same time, LED's rapid development has also caused the "price war", "flood boom", "run door" panic filled the entire industry, which is lighting in Foshan The industry has been unprecedented in decades of development. In the process of transforming the LED, what kind of changes has the company in Foshan experienced? What challenges will it face? Recently, the author obtained some information in the communication with Foshan lighting companies, and shared with the public here, hoping to bring some rational thinking space for the industry.

LED era is the opportunity is also pit

In the traditional lighting period, Foshan's lighting industry has an extremely significant advantage. First, there are not only a large number of processing companies in the South China Sea region, but also a number of companies in Jiamei, Southeast, Langshi, Delta, Huilong, etc., located in Chancheng. National Star Optoelectronics and Blue Arrow Electronics are packaged as champions, as well as strong lighting companies such as Foshan Lighting and Snow Wright Lighting. Shunde Leliu area is dominated by electricians. The division of labor among companies is clear, the positioning is clear, and they work hard. It is not slow.

With the arrival of the LED era, many companies have seen hopes, especially those that have been dedicated to OEM and processing. This new thing is complex and simple to coexist. On the one hand, even a veteran large company may not be able to master its core technology; on the other hand, one person can complete the product with a single screw. Indeed, the plasticity of LED light effects gives unlimited possibilities for lighting. This provides a more specific demand space for home improvement and tooling, indoor or outdoor, and LED energy saving and environmental protection are more in line with the concept of sustainable energy development. This is indeed a golden opportunity for lighting companies, especially for most of the processing companies in Foshan. The trend of the industry and the irreversibility of traditional lighting have forced them to make changes and move to LED; at the same time, The manufacturing advantages of the annual precipitation have also made them full of confidence. Therefore, on the way to LED products, many companies have shown their enthusiasm.

However, reality can always make people lament its bone. Many companies have stated that the “deep water” in the LED field cannot be understood without entering the field. A clear division of labor and a clear positioning were disrupted under the lure of the "Large Opportunity for LED" and the company was caught in a collective confusion. The immaturity of product technology, market acceptance is not high, national standards are difficult to formulate, and high walls are erected in front of lighting companies. Traditional large-scale enterprises move forward in the process of transformation; traditional commercial enterprises take a wait-and-see attitude with respect to “only for precipitation”; production companies that rely on manufacturing advantages become weak in the face of the market; SMEs and start-ups due to scale and Difficulties in funding and limited development...

In the face of such dilemma, many companies seeking survival in wheezing began to seek development shortcuts. The development ideas of "short, flat, and fast" directly affect the industry's situation, and the "price war" continues. The constant impact of the outside world, the intensification of internal conflicts, persist in self or follow the trend? Businesses are beginning to fluctuate, and the industry is becoming increasingly rampant.

Conservative or radical? There are risks!

Conservatively, it is a label for the external lighting companies in Foshan. Indeed, in the Foshan area, most of the company's business owners are locals. The land for the factory is owned by the whole family. In that era, as long as the products are ready for orders, they will get a life almost from scratch. The first pot of gold. Therefore, in the consciousness of many lighting company leaders, the conservative, non-brand awareness, etc. just means that they have enough confidence, even though their self-confidence has some blindness.

However, as far as the development of LED in Foshan area is concerned, the conservative thinking is not only a regional feature, but also a lesson given by the industry. As we all know, Lake is one of the earliest companies to enter the LED industry in Foshan. In 2007, Lecco began to research and produce LEDs. According to internal employees of Leica, Leica once developed well in the field of LED, and has also been in the LED troubled times. Among them, billions of turnover have been achieved. So what are the reasons for its rapid decline? This is not a secret in the Foshan area: Lecco's development is too radical and he has not stopped when he should have been stable. It is reported that almost all of Lectra's applications in LED production are advanced equipment and technologies. A large amount of capital investment has made it difficult for companies to turn around, and ultimately the capital chain has been broken and unable to return.

The lessons of Laker are like a cold water, pouring a lot of momentum on the front of many companies, especially the commercial group. The phrase “commercial lighting needs precipitation” has been regarded as the truth by countless people. “As long as there is manufacturing, The idea of ​​never eating or eating is also why many companies have no fear. However, the arrival of LED disrupted the industry's original pace, and all companies are on the same starting line. Enterprises that continue to wait and see will only miss the opportunity. Too aggressive companies will also experience more stumbles. Whether or not we can grasp the timing and advance and retreat is the criterion for testing the viability of every enterprise. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, the most important point is to do a good job of positioning the company. At the same time, they are looking for blue oceans in the subdivided areas, making the company's personality and characteristics, and can consistently implement it.

Talent stays, cohesion comes from corporate sense of direction

The development of enterprises, the ability and vision of leaders are certainly important, and the strength of teams cannot be ignored. Talents in the LED era not only need more innovative thinking, but also can accept forward-thinking thinking about new things, and they also need a working attitude full of energy and passion. As far as the geographical characteristics of Foshan itself are concerned, there are not many exchanges between enterprises and enterprises, and the leaders of enterprises are conservative in thinking. In terms of talents, it is also difficult to make great breakthroughs. In one case, talents have requirements for the enterprises themselves. As a platform for development, enterprises must not only have good prospects, but also need clear goals and orientations, talented people and the team have a clear sense of direction; both, the salary treatment provided by enterprises. It is also the key to retaining talent.

In the Foshan area, we can see a phenomenon that, although the mobility of the lighting industry's practitioners is large, it is often shuttled among various companies in Foshan. Many of the lighting figures who have handled various companies have stated that Foshan's lighting soil is very fertile, rich in resources, and the government's policies are relatively loose. The lighting industry can develop very well on this land.

Family operation, Foshan "inheritors" ready?

The 21st century is the era of the Internet. LED lighting has flourished in this flourishing era. From being questioned to being sought after, the development has spread so rapidly that the Internet's thinking has contributed to this. The conservative nature of Foshan has created a long process for companies to accept new things. The hard-working entrepreneurs naturally have their profound experience and experience. However, whether the experience is still applicable in the new era and whether it will create constraints in the blending with the new era, the contradiction seems to be quickly put on the agenda. A large number of fresh blood began to emerge.

According to the survey data, 60% of Foshan's lighting company founders hope that their next generation can take over the company. Indeed, as a post-80s or post-90s, the heirs of many entrepreneurs have begun to show themselves in the lighting industry—they are more accepting new things and have their own opinions on business philosophy. The fruits of their parents' efforts are more like giving them a platform to play self. However, there are also many lighting people said that as a company's traders, leaders, you need to have comprehensive capabilities, not only to know the product well, but also need to experience the baptism of the market, in the data analysis, product planning to continuously improve the market keen and forward-looking The observing power, at the same time, must set realistic goals for the company and give the company and the team a sense of direction.

To develop, companies need a corporatized operating model, how to combine family-based operations with corporatization operations, and the focus is on the ability of the heirs to exercise. Only by letting “Lights IIs” truly integrate into enterprises, improve their capabilities, and withstand the test of the market and companies, they can resolve the conflict between the two models and play the role of corporate managers.