The First Cotton Mill In Wuxi: "Machine" In "Danger"

The Yangtze River is south of the Yangtze River and the north of Taihu. In the spinning workshop of nearly 50 thousand square meters in Wuxi's first cotton mill, which has been built for more than 90 years, hundreds of cotton pickers, cotton boxes and coarse and fine spinning cars are roaring and running. Dozens of tons of cotton go through a process every day, and become top-grade yarns of insufficient hair thickness and sold to more than 20 countries and regions such as Europe, America, Japan and Korea.

In early 2008, when many scholars and entrepreneurs were still discussing whether China could escape the whirlpool of the global financial crisis, the old export oriented enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region first felt the dual pressure of economic fluctuation and exchange rate upgrading.

Recalling the situation at that time, Zhou Yejun, director of the first cotton mill in Wuxi, admitted to reporters that it was "the most difficult year" in the past 30 years. "Our year before 2007 profit To reach 5 or 60 million yuan, foreign businessmen are always chasing our goods, but even if we go out to run orders in 2008, the profits will be only a few million yuan, which is 20% less than before.

The sharp shrinkage of exports and benefits has pushed many thin textile enterprises with low added value into the "cold winter". Zhou Yejun said that at that time, the textile industry generally did not have the "bottom line", and every order that was used to become very precious, because no one knew whether there would be any new orders tomorrow.

"But the crisis crisis is really" dangerous "in the" machine ", the weak link of the enterprise is only exposed in the predicament. Zhou Yejun said, looking back now, there is no urgency at that time, and there is no possibility of a comprehensive upgrading of production, management and marketing.

"In the past, 95% of our products depended on exports, putting eggs in a basket", so that once the international market was sluggish, we would also hit it. The situation in 2008 made Wuxi cotton aware of the danger of completely relying on exports. From the following year, the factory began to develop the domestic market by combining upstream and downstream enterprises, in just two or three years. domestic market Of Sales volume It has expanded to 50% of its total sales.

"In addition to balancing domestic and foreign markets, we also strengthened our risk control capabilities." Wuxi one cotton decision making layer found that the "credit purchase" that existed in the industry before was a big hidden danger. It was difficult for the credit funds to be withdrawn during difficult times, which made it difficult for the originally difficult textile enterprises to add insult to injury.

In response to this problem, the decision making layer began to require customers to "pick up the goods to get money" from the second half of 2009, and focused on developing cooperative brands with strength and risk resistance. "This practice will lose customers in the short run, but in the long run, it will be able to screen partners who are truly honest and quality," he said.

Pressure has become an opportunity. In the most difficult time of operation, Wuxi cotton chose to invest more than 2 thousand yuan to rebuild the main engine equipment. The developed siro spinning has become the "fist product" of mass production nowadays. From 2010 to 2011, the factory's annual profit has been stable for more than 140 million yuan for two consecutive years, creating a new record for 90 years.

Now enter the core workshop of the 7 standard football field of Wuxi cotton. Tens of thousands of sensors monitor the production status, product quality and energy consumption through information equipment or communication module. The front line workers are stepping on the "Scooter" to patrol through the loom, and only 25 people need to employ ten thousand spindles.

"Now all the inventory, goods and pricing in the factory are linked by information. Once the pricing changes have been carried out within half a day, we can notify all the customers. After the baptism of crisis, our enterprises are also more agile and mature." Zhou Yejun said.