There is a custom umbrella company that has achieved respect and reputation in the market, although it is not a large factory. We were fortunate enough to have recently interviewed Justin, the product manager at HFumbrella; he shares his thoughts and processes that led to the company’s great successes.
Table of Contents
Enduring Pain and Loneliness to Build a Team and Survive
When the reporter visited, Justin was in the factory’s lab testing a new product. It was a golf-specialized carbon fiber umbrella. Not only is it super lightweight at a measly 290 grams, but it also has a massive 30-inch canopy, which is enough to cover the golfer as well as the bag. High-strength carbon fiber ribs provide a larger bending strength and rigidity than similar-diameter fiberglass ribs for the canopy of the umbrella. The product team stuck up two or three nights in a row, repeatedly modified the design, and did more than one hundred different materials POC tests before finally solving the design scheme that met the special weight requirements of the client. The process was painful, but no one protested because each of them understood that such sacrifices were the only way to gain the trust of their customers and the reputation of the factory.
“The secret of success is being able to endure pain and loneliness,” Justin remembered. At the time of the pandemic, the factory was still manageable and had limited resources. To get the orders out, team members worked tirelessly 24/7. It was the spirit of hard work and stamina that the team came together during tough times, building a solid foundation for the development of the company.
On one occasion, to test the wind resistance of the umbrella, team members went out in a storm and had an “umbrella wind resistance contest.” There were other umbrellas, too, and everyone was holding them up to compete to see who could survive the longest. So they were soaked, but they collected some great data and experience.
One Can Break any Barriers to Play with Unlimited Possibilities.
“We cannot put caps on ourselves,” Justin said. Unfortunately, in the custom umbrella industry, products get outdated quickly, and consumer needs are not static. Once, they got a request from an eco-friendly European brand that wanted cork umbrellas to mix with environmental concepts along with fabric made of recycled plastic bottles that were waterproof and sun-resistant, he shared.
It was a challenge the team had never attempted before–integrating cork material with umbrellas–and then they were tasked to also solve the problem of creating and applying fabric made of recycled plastic bottles. The team did not retreat, though. They did not only contact eco-friendly material suppliers but also got a list of processes—plastic bottles are cut into a variety of shapes, sorted, cleaned, disinfected at high temperatures, turned into recycled granules, then recycled fibers, spun into eco-friendly yarns, and woven into eco-friendly fabrics. After many iterations and adjustments, they were able to marry cork material with a recycled plastic bottle fabric to create an environmentally friendly umbrella that sported a unique texture.
It not only improved the technical level of the team but also let them realize that in the increasingly competitive market, only the continuous breakthrough of the self can remain invincible. Just while developing this, even without any order, the team organized an “Eco-friendly Umbrella Creative Competition.” All mankind’s imagination decided to work with the whole team instantly to create various shapes of unique eco-friendly umbrellas. Not only did this inject creativity into everyone, but it also brought new ideas and inspiration to the factory.
Action Before Plans Take Root
“Just let’s do it,” Justin insisted. There are so many success theories in this society, and so many plans are made, but they just cannot get rid of the current situation. The key lies in execution. They have always followed this principle in the factory development process. Even when they decided to expand into new markets, while they articulated detailed market research and promotional plans, the team did not limit themselves to merely discussing and imagining. Instead, they opened a branch office in the locality, went to the local public, face-to-face communication with potential customers for product exchange, and thoroughly understood their needs and suggested a better plan. With field investigations and unremitting efforts, new markets were gradually opened up, and new business growth points were added to the factory.
When the team went overseas on a business trip, the members of the team decided to understand the market better by experiencing the local culture and lifestyle. They rented a car, and drove all the way around the country, visiting many of the local customers and partners in between. Through the visit, not only did they gain a lot of valuable market information, but they also gained many new friends and laid a solid foundation for the factory to expand its business.
Strengthening Core Competencies and Creating Competitive Advantages
“The easiest to fix are technical issues. The most important thing is to have a decision-making ability to choose the right track, the execution ability to act closely, the organizational ability to lead a team, and the management ability of cost reduction and efficiency increase,” Justin also said. For world brand factories umbrella manufacturers. That requires not only beautiful production processes but also sharp market sensitivity and high-speed action on customer needs. The factory constantly optimizes the production process, introduces advanced production equipment and production technology, strengthens team building, forms a group of high-quality business, technical, and management personnel, and tries to improve the core competitiveness of the enterprise.
At the same, the factory technical team and management carried out a “Production Process Optimization Simulation Competition” during technical training. The contestants were divided into several groups simulating various types of production, and searching for the best solutions for the production process. And, in the end, they found a ton of improvement points, and they also fostered better teamwork between those teams!
Not only that but the persistence and refinement of these core strengths is what enables the company to stand firm in the umbrella market competition and win the trust and cooperation of many well-known brands.
Vertical Growth — Silting Applicable Sea Uplands and Downstream by Industry
“We clearly acknowledge that the formats, the channels, the scenarios, and the models of the retail world are all changing and will continue to change,” Justin said. They have been constantly exploring and expanding the retail channels of customized umbrellas. Beyond standard offline sales points, they fully adopt e-commerce, building their own online mall and social media. Through these channels, they can more directly understand consumer needs and preferences to provide them with more personalized and convenient products and services. Simultaneously, they explore upstream and downstream within the industry, forming tight collaborations with top-tier raw material suppliers and logistics providers to guarantee product quality and prompt delivery.
Through this vertical growth model, the company has built its own competitive advantage in the retail industry, leading to experience, cost, and efficiency. During the cooperation with suppliers, the factory also held a “Supply Chain Partner Day”, inviting suppliers and partners to visit and communicate. Through experiences sharing, cooperation discussion and interesting “Supply Chain Fun Sports Day”, everyone further deepens their friendship and trust with each other and lay a more solid foundation for future cooperation.
Continuing to Learn New Skills and Adopt Innovations that Will Shape the Future of the Industry
Justin fondly believes, “The market is never the same, we have to keep a mindset of continuous learning and innovation.” Good herding experiences in the past do not necessarily ensure good herding experiences in the successor. In this fierce competition, only continuously learning new knowledge and exploring new ways to maintain the advantage.
An “Innovation Proposal Box” is set up inside the factory to allow employees to put forward ideas and suggestions for future innovations at any time. The factory holds review and discussion sessions on a regular basis, rewarding and adopting excellent proposals, and providing maximum impetus and vitality to the employees’ innovation.
The factory always nourishes the spirit of learning and innovating in the designing and manufacturing of custom umbrellas. They observe fashion trends and consumer preferences in great detail, constantly spelling new design ideas and elements and creating products to suit the market needs. Most importantly, they pursue technological innovation, embracing new materials, new processes, and new technologies to enhance product quality and improve production efficiency. Furthermore, they making ongoing improvements and optimizations in their management models, continuously introducing advanced information management systems to enhance the operational efficiency and management capabilities of the enterprise. This ongoing evolution is what allows the company to remain on top of the industry.
Staying True to Values and Financial Goals, Building Corporate Culture
“A company’s culture is its soul and core competitiveness,” Justin said. The factory has always followed the concept of “quality first, customer first, and honest operation.” They strongly believe that they can only gain customers by providing high-quality products and services, which will earn them trust and loyalty. Hence, they manage all factors pertaining to their product, including the source of raw supplies and every step in the production process till the inspection and packing of the product – all with a single goal of excellence.
Only in this way, their performance will be outstanding, and at the same time, they can also pay more attention to the growth and training of employees, create a good working environment for employees, and let employees reflect their self-worth in work. This enterprise has formed a good business reputation system not only has finally become a good business reputation in the industry but also formed a united, enterprising team with a more powerful spiritual power for the long-term development of the enterprise.
Every year, at the factory’s annual party, the factory holds a special “Values Star” selection to commend employees who always uphold the factory’s values and have made outstanding contributions to their work and to encourage everyone to continue to inherit and promote the factory’s corporate culture.
Adding More Value in the Supply Chain, Closer Cooperation with Customers
“Customers are the basis of a company’s survival and growth,” Justin said. It is important to always listen to customers and to provide high-quality products and services. The key to the sustained development of the enterprise is to establish a long-term and stable relationship with the customers. In engaging and talking with customers, they have gained insight into the market setup and customer needs, thus changing and improving their products and services, creating added value to the supply chain. Working in partnership with customers, the factory always focuses on the needs of customers, forming the ideal communication mechanism with customers, communicating and providing feedback regularly.
For instance, in the past, some customers told the factory that the product was being challenged by competitors in a certain market and wanted the factory to help improve the product. The factory immediately arranged a working team to study and analyze the situation, proposed an improvement plan, and successfully completed the product upgrade in a short time. This new form of cooperation allowed for increasing the customer-related value of the factory and thus also deepening the relationship.
To communicate with customers, the factory also created a “Customer Story Library”, collecting and organizing some interesting stories and feedback from customers who use the product. Not only did it provide useful insights for product development within the factory, it also strengthened the emotional bond between the factory and the customer.
Following Long-Termist Go – and Keeping on Walking
“So success is not achieved overnight, it is an accumulation process of continuous accumulation and sedimentation,” admitted Justin. Factory on the background of custom umbrella factories is always based upon the long-term factory. It goes after not short-term interests and returns, but long-term development and accumulation. It has drafted a long-run strategic plan and decomposed it into a series of reactive goals. During the process of achieving each phased goal, they will encounter various difficulties and challenges, but they will never be discouraged, and they will always adhere to their beliefs to overcome difficulties. Only by sticking to the long term does the factory keep moving forward in brutal market competition, which continues to create new miracles.
During the development process of factory building, Justin also requires writing a “Product Diary”, which records hallucinations, actions, pitfalls and solutions encountered every day. Besides, these diaries not only become precious materials for factory growth but also enable team members to always remind themselves to keep their original intention and enthusiasm and forge ahead in this long-term struggle.
When creating a new UV-resistant parasol, for example, the team experienced a technical bottleneck, and the UV blocking rate was way below the expected effect. Justin described the parameters, results, and takeaways for each experiment in the product diary. It took many trials and tweaks to finally arrive at the conclusion that it was the ratio of one of the chemical compounds inside the coating formula that was the culprit. Through optimization of the formula, more than 99.8% UV blocking rate was achieved. This umbrella was widely appreciated by the foreign market and it has become the factory’s specialty after its launch. Despite the fact that the road is long and winding, running to the unknown was this long-term struggle and constant exploration from Justin and the team that allowed the factory to break through product innovation again and again, which not only won customers’ trust but also achieved market recognition.
Conclusion
In the great innovation of this interview, in addition to the introduction of many interesting aspects of the custom umbrella factory, Justin also let us really understand the value of long-term and steady progress. From him, we see a product person who unyieldingly demands quality, a never-ending search for innovation, and sincerely cares for the team. His fortitude and adventure are a flash of light guiding the way ahead for other enterprises and motivating all to search out the areas of their option to push them to the high and successful products derived from time and burnish brilliance by work. It is believed that under Justin’s leadership, HFumbrella will definitely continue to rank at the forefront of the custom umbrella factory track and contribute more wonderful results. We also look forward to more ambitious individuals inside and outside the industry following suit, working together to promote the more prosperous development of the umbrella industry, and allowing China’s intelligent manufacturing of custom umbrellas to take the stage in a broader environment, bringing more surprises and conveniences to global consumers.
