A brief discussion on the OEM production of Chinese clothing
Abstract: China's clothing exports have continued to rise in recent years, but among the exported clothing, very few are Chinese independent brands. Most of them are OEM-based. Earning a small amount of profit through OEM production, a method of "making wedding clothes for others," can only be a stopgap measure. The long-term development of China's clothing industry must choose the path of independent brand creation.
Keywords: OEM production; brand effect; independent brand; innovation
1. The basic concept of OEM production
OEM production is internationally known as OEM. It refers to the client (outsourcer) who masters the core technology and entrusts the OEM (trustee) to produce the products. Then affix your own brand trademark for reprocessing or sales. In the process of rapid growth of Chinese manufacturing enterprises in recent years. The OEM production model plays an important role. With the acceleration of globalization. China's comparative advantage of low-cost labor is increasingly weakened. Major trading countries and regions, led by the United States, the European Union, and Japan. Increasing attention is paid to the protective role of patent strategy in international division of labor and adjustment of industrial layout. The disadvantages of OEM status under OEM production are becoming increasingly obvious. How to change the passive situation where brands and technical channels are controlled by others under entrusted processing. Establish your own brand globally. It is an issue of urgent concern for the development of China's garment industry.
2. The current situation of China’s apparel OEM production
According to China Customs statistics. In 2006, the national textile and clothing import and export volume was US$162.06 billion. A year-on-year increase of 226%. Accounting for 92% of the country's total trade in goods. in. Exports amounted to US$144 billion. A year-on-year increase of 25.2%. Accounting for 149% of the country's goods trade exports. Imports amounted to US$18.1 billion. A year-on-year increase of 5.6%. Accounting for 23% of the country's imports of goods trade. A surplus of US$125.9 billion was achieved throughout the year. A year-on-year increase of 28 6%. It is 70.9% of the total national goods trade surplus. At the same time, China's textile and apparel exports (1:3) account for 1/5 of the world's total textile and apparel exports (1:3). The 1:3 method is mainly OEM. Own brands only account for 10%. Export commodities are mainly medium and low-end products. so far. There are few Chinese clothing brands that are famous in the world. The lack of original brands has become the biggest weakness of China's clothing industry. This has greatly restricted the improvement of my country's clothing quality.
China International Fashion Week has been held for eight years. During this period, many well-known domestic brands emerged. But in some high-end shopping malls in China. There are fewer and fewer domestic brand clothing. Even if you enter a high-end shopping mall. The treatment enjoyed is also different from that of imported brand clothing. The reason for this phenomenon is. Some high-end shopping malls regard the introduction of top international brands as the development goal of the mall to enhance the image of the mall. Making some domestic brand clothing difficult to enter. Competition in international trade is increasing day by day. However, my country's independent clothing brands are often at a disadvantage in competition. The dominant one is the foreign clothing brand Montagut. playboy. Pierre Cardin et al. China's own brand clothing can only enter small and medium-sized shopping malls. It is quite difficult to enter a large shopping mall. Tongxiang, Zhejiang Province has the largest woolen sweater production base in the country - Puyuan. Puyuan Woolen Sweater Trading Market covers an area of ??15 square kilometers. There are currently 11 wool sweater clothing trading areas, including wool yarn. Raw wool. There are 4 supporting trading areas for knitting machinery accessories and nearly 6,200 sales outlets. It is the largest woolen sweater distribution center in the country and is known as the famous woolen sweater town in China. However, in this hometown of woolen sweaters, it is experiencing a brand loss. He rarely has a famous brand of his own. The once nationally famous brands have almost disappeared. Although there are some wool sweater manufacturers here that have first-class production equipment and production technology, they only have a few. Several companies have their own clothing brands, and most of them are still OEM for foreign brands. Even if some companies have their own brands, they are still doing OEM processing.
3. Analysis of the pros and cons of China's clothing OEM production
1. Improve the industrial structure, cultivate talents, and solve the problem of employment and brand and market advantages.
The cultural content is the higher level of brand connotation. It is the soul of the brand. Chinese clothing companies can only respect intellectual property rights. Make every effort to create original brands. Only then can we gain a firm foothold internationally. Capture more of the market.
If you only indulge in the benefits of OEM production. This will cause us to ignore many aspects of design and R&D, as well as market network construction. Ignore predictions of market trends and fashion trends, and ignore service awareness. while reducing insight into life. Once these abilities are lost. Our brand has no hope at all. The brand has no hope at all.
In today's era of developed market economy and increasingly fierce international competition. The only way out for Chinese garment enterprises is to develop their own brands and continue to grow them. Only by developing their own brands can they have certain advantages in domestic and international trade. Therefore, "making wedding clothes for others" is only a temporary measure. To achieve long-term development, brand creation is the key.
To sum up, although China's manufacturing industry is growing rapidly, China has become the "world's factory" ——An important link in the global industrial chain, but the production activities it engages in are at the low end of the value chain and are easily replaced by countries with cheaper raw materials and labor. In order to achieve the sustainable development of our country's clothing industry, we must break through the existing limitations. The position in the global division of labor is gradually transitioning from OEM production to independent brand creation. Through independent brand creation, it has climbed to high value-added links. It has independent property rights and established its own brand to gain long-term competitive advantages.
References:
[1] OEM problems and solutions [J]. Modern Home Appliances, 2002(3)
[2] OEM’s Enlightenment to Chinese Enterprises [J]. Enterprise Research Report, 2002(133)