Huang Zhennan: Makers Change the Future of OEM Manufacturing Enterprises

Today's Shenzhen has become the "City of Makers" attracting global attention. Makers gather here, not only because of its strong hardware industry chain, but also because of the complete ecosystem that reduces the cost of innovation. Due to the dense and convenient configuration of electronic products in Huaqiangbei, the time for product iteration is shortened by half.

At the Global Sources Electronics Fair to be held at the Hong Kong Expo in October this year, a special exhibition area "Startup Launchpad" will be opened for makers, and it has entered the project solicitation stage. This zone is for the convenience of makers to showcase the latest products and technologies to international buyers and potential venture investors, gain extensive media coverage and exposure opportunities, obtain guidance from industry experts and leaders through seminars, and get to know more industry experts, Incubator, Maker Elite.

▲ Ben Wong, Business Development Manager, Global Sources

"For tens of thousands of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta, connecting with Makers will change their future." Global Resource business development manager Ben Wong told reporters in an exclusive interview with "CEConline".

The manufacturing problem of makers

For makers, starting a business is always hard. If you are lucky enough to obtain financing, incubate products, and launch products into the market, you must ensure that there are no loopholes in supply chain management. Therefore, it is far from enough to have good ideas and good products.

"When makers connect with OEM manufacturers, they can solve manufacturing problems very well." Huang Zhennan pointed out. This kind of docking is not a one-shot buy-and-sell relationship in the traditional sense of giving money and producing, but a close cooperation from blind date to marriage. Because the achievements of Makers provide enterprises with the possibility of operating independent brands of niche products, which can be complementary to small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Under the matching of capital, makers with new ideas, new technologies and new products, and OEM manufacturing enterprises with production capacity and supply chain management capabilities, according to a reasonable share division, combine to form a new company and operate an independent brand . The ability of low cost, high technology and coexistence of miniaturization and globalization in the "Maker Movement" provides a new opportunity for the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.

However, the biggest shortcoming of this kind of marriage is that no one is good at branding, marketing, and producing good products, which cannot be penetrated by the recognition and sales volume of niche fans on the crowdfunding platform. In offline channels, how can we quickly gain market recognition, have fans and consumer groups that continue to pay attention, and have enough profits to support the development of follow-up products and the further development of the company?

Marketing problems for makers

Every maker thinks that his product is the best, just like every mother in the world thinks that her child is the best. But many times, makers focus too much on the product itself, ignore other links, and fall into the pit dug by themselves. Coupled with limited funds and weak contacts, there is no way to market the product.

In order to help brand-new maker companies effectively develop overseas markets, Global Sources has recently launched the "Global Connect" business. Huang Zhennan believes that there are three common problems in market expansion for maker-based companies:

1. The pricing strategy is unreasonable, thinking that it is enough to set only one price for online sales. Their simple pricing rules make it impossible for them to become offline channels in the future.

2. Lack of in-depth understanding of the differences in different overseas regional markets, thinking that the global market is one-size-fits-all, and there is no targeted marketing strategy.

3. They can't tell which type of buyers is suitable for their brand and which channels can cooperate for a longer time. The positioning is not clear, and it is not clear whether it should be a boutique niche or a supermarket mass.

Huang Zhennan pointed out that e-commerce currently accounts for up to 15% of the global market, and offline 85% of the vast market. Although for buyers, Maker's ideas are a bit far from the market and need a little time to transform, but their forward-looking ideas will guide the development of the industry. In addition to the exhibition area, as a professional foreign trade B2B platform, in order to effectively help such enterprises grow, Global Sources' new direct business, analyzes the current situation for enterprises through interviews, clarifies capabilities and sets goals; Evaluate brand and product opportunities in terms of business opportunities, market demand, product value positioning, etc., and then conduct detailed strategy development from practical aspects such as pricing, channel strategies, logistics, after-sales support plans, and marketing plans to help maker-type foreign trade. Businesses develop and execute market entry strategies. In addition, Global Pass will evaluate the integrity records of third parties, recommend suitable partners for enterprises, and help enterprises develop potential customers through the massive information accumulated over the years.

In short, the rules of the game in the era of innovation have changed a lot. If maker companies can find good partners and solve the two major problems of production and marketing, they will have surprising performance.