A power strip has been on the market for 21 years, with sales reaching 5.6 billion; it’s often out of stock at Walmart. What makes it so outstanding?

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A power strip has been on the market for 21 years, with sales reaching 5.6 billion; it’s often out of stock at Walmart. What makes it so outstanding? October 19, 2016. Li Xuemei. “Intuitive Learning of Machinery”. Click on the blue text above, “Intuitive Learning of Machinery”, to follow us. Legal advisor: Attorney Zhao Jianying. Source: Business World (ID: sj998_). Author: Li Xuemei. It may not have a century-long history, but it can be regarded as China’s most craftsmanship-oriented enterprise. In pursuit of excellence, Bull insists on focusing deeply on one industry. In 2015, Bull’s total sales reached 5.6 billion yuan. In a manufacturing sector with relatively low technological requirements and a market of modest size, it created the “Bull myth” by achieving the world’s highest market share. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Taking a 1-centimeter product and using it at a depth of 1 kilometer – what is the \"strength\" behind Bull Plug’s 21 years of development? ▌ Before starting Bull Socket, a small business, Ruan Liping had already worked at the Hangzhou Machinery Research Institute for 11 years. Perhaps due to the innate business acumen of Zhejiang natives, while working at the research institute, Ruan Liping secretly ran a small business. He sold pig livers and peach trees; he even introduced the very first strawberries to Cixi, Hangzhou. At that time, there were hundreds of family-run socket workshops in Cixi; it was a nationally renowned production base for sockets. Ruan Liping’s relatives and friends are all in this industry; lacking sufficient funds to invest in production, they take sample sockets made by other factories and go around the country to sell them. At that time, transportation in Cixi was inconvenient; Hangzhou was a necessary stop if one wanted to go elsewhere. As a result, Ruan Liping’s employee dormitory became a \"transfer station\" for receiving relatives and friends, and he himself helped with the sales as well. During the sales process, Ruan Liping noticed a problem: the quality of these products was extremely poor; some even got damaged before they could be sold. “Out of 30 products, 10 were defective.” Thus, Ruan Liping, who has a technical background, began to study socket repair. The room on the second floor of his house serves as a warehouse and repair shop. Every time goods are delivered, he checks them first, repairs any damaged items, and then sells them. Ruan Liping gradually came to understand the structural principles of sockets and also gained quite a bit of experience. In 1995, he simply resigned and went into business, founding Cixi Bull Electric Appliance Co., Ltd. together with his brother Ruan Xueping, who sold plugs. It was during the peak of the Chicago Bulls’ success, and Ruan Liping, who loved basketball, named his company’s brand “Bulls”. Although Cixi is a production base for sockets, the rural areas lack engineers and designers; mold makers start production right after drawing a rough sketch, resulting in products of poor quality, unsatisfactory appearance, and low prices. In pursuit of quality and to maintain brand consistency, Ruan Liping designs the products in person and exercises strict oversight over production. It was also innovative in incorporating button switches; to this day, 90% of the switches used in sockets in the domestic market are still the button-type designs he created initially – simple, practical, and reliable. Bull, the first to implement dual safety protections, has seen its product reputation grow day by day, along with a sharp rise in sales. In 2001, during a national monitoring campaign on socket brands, Bull Sockets secured the top spot nationwide, achieving a market share of over 20%. ▌ Despite incurring losses in the early stages, Bull began to focus on foreign markets in 2000, keeping pace with the giants. Ruan Liping positions exports as involving cooperation with European and American giants such as Philips, Rowenta, and Belkin, in order to learn from their advanced technologies and management models. Through cooperation, Bull’s organizational structure and quality management system have gradually been improved. “Exports play a very significant role in driving progress. The first time foreign visitors came to our factory, they noticed that we had no laboratory equipment. So, I spent 600,000 yuan to purchase a set of lab equipment. But it turned out that we had no one who could operate it. ”Buying equipment, hiring technical staff, developing products, attending exhibitions abroad, obtaining certifications… The entire process requires substantial investment, so losses in the initial stage are inevitable. In 2003, Bull invested another 10 million yuan to establish a high-standard laboratory certified by UL, the world’s most authoritative safety testing and certification organization. This laboratory is capable of conducting lightning protection tests, temperature rise tests, and more—capabilities that are unparalleled among domestic competitors. In the process of collaborative learning, the Bulls’ ability for independent innovation continues to strengthen. Lightning-proof sockets are a good example. Compared to power sockets and converters produced and used in developed countries such as those in Europe and the United States, the vast majority of which have lightning protection functions, China was practically at a starting point in this regard at that time. For safety reasons, Bull gave up on the existing designs for foreign sockets and developed new designs suited to the usage habits of domestic consumers as well as the characteristics of thunderstorm weather. In addition, after months of effort and multiple revisions, the Bull team designed the world’s first self-locking anti-detachment socket. This achievement also reflects the company’s high level of technological innovation. With continuous technological advancements and innovations, the Bull brand is gradually entering the international market. When the global financial crisis struck in 2008, numerous small appliance manufacturers in Cixi, Ningbo, that relied on exports saw a sharp decline in orders and underutilization of production capacity; some even had to halt operations. However, Bull managed to weather the storm. At several Walmart stores in the western United States, certain Bull outlet products even sold out. The bulls are on a strong rise, with international electrical giants rushing to extend offers. Today, Bull sockets are continuously sold to more than 30 countries and regions including the United States, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea, and Israel, with the export proportion reaching 10%. Professional dedication is the corporate culture of Bull. But in fact, Ruan Liping also took detours. There was a time when Bull intended to enter the energy-saving lamp market. At first, Ruan Liping thought that since hardware stores could sell sockets, they could also sell energy-saving lamps, as the distribution channels were suitable. Only after actually doing it did Ruan Liping realize he had made a wrong decision. “The energy-saving lamp industry is extremely competitive; the profit margin for qualified products is very slim. For Bull, which insists on maintaining high quality, this situation is extremely challenging, and it risks suffering from long-term losses. ”“If you can’t become a leader in the industry, it’s better not to do it at all. ”Ruan Liping immediately pulled back from that path, and thereafter threw himself wholeheartedly into studying products and the market, focusing solely on them. Having stayed in the same industry for 21 years, Ruan Liping has his own thoughts on this: “Private companies have a relatively weak foundation. Throughout their development, they’ve operated in an economy characterized by shortages; they’ve constantly had to reinvest in production without ever having any surplus.” Therefore, I can only focus on one thing; I have no funds or energy to care about other industries. There are also opportunities and temptations; for example, Cixi is a home appliance manufacturing hub, and people often ask us to do this or that. But I believe our capabilities are sufficient to do just one thing well. In fact, judging from the results, our choice was correct: by focusing on only one task, we definitely performed better than if we had tried to do two things. ”Today, Ruan Liping and his bulls have not only turned this “small business” into a major enterprise, but also continuously introduced innovations, setting a high standard for the industry and truly becoming its leader. ▌ Why are bulls so “tough”? “Wolves in front, tigers behind, and little mice in between.” ”Ruan Liping once described the cutthroat competition in the socket market in this way. Faced with a chaotic market, how did Bulls manage to fight its way through and become the industry leader? 1. Use durable safety sockets. “To value a brand, one must start with quality – create sockets that won’t break!” ”Quality and safety were Ruan Liping’s original motivations for starting his business. Shortly after establishing the company, Ruan Liping abandoned the approach adopted by local workshops that simply imitated existing designs. By focusing on structural design and aiming for products that would not break down, he prioritized quality and overcame common problems associated with sockets, such as loosening, poor contact, and abnormal heating. Later, Bull established a research team dedicated to studying the ease of use, safety, and reliability of its products. It also set up a Product Design Center, an Electronic Design Center, and an Engineering and Technology Center. From plugs, wires, casings, and switches to the internal copper sheets and even screws, every male connector goes through 27 layers of comprehensive safety design. Regarding the concept of “indestructible” bulls, some peers around me disagree: “If the quality is so good that they can’t be damaged at all, then who would buy such products?” ”But Ruan Liping insisted on pursuing a differentiated strategy focused on high quality and high prices. Upon its release, Bull products became very popular. Although their price was more than double that of competitors, they offered safety in use and guaranteed quality. As a result, Bull gradually built a good reputation among consumers. 2. Milk Coke is priced as it is, and so are power outlets; brand competition exists, but distribution channels are what matter most. From the very beginning, Bulls bypassed malls, establishing its own distribution and wholesale channels, which it continued to refine. Among more than 3,000 county-level cities nationwide, half of the markets have achieved full coverage of channels at the county, town, and village levels. In the rural and township markets, in order to effectively boost sales, Bull has exercised great ingenuity in modernizing its channels. It has comprehensively adopted a modern marketing and competitive model by optimizing various aspects, including distribution strategies for different types of channels, dealer management, end-customer promotion and display, as well as sales team management. Dealers in various regions count the retail stores within their area, load the sockets onto trucks, and deliver them to each store one by one, using a approach of \"I’ll give it to you if you want it\", rather than \"Come and buy it from me\" – just like Coca-Cola delivery drivers. “\"That’s the price of milk, that’s the price of Coca-Cola, and that’s the price of sockets.\" Through 3 years of partnership with distributors, Bull sockets have quickly expanded their distribution network beyond supermarkets, home appliance stores, electronics markets, hardware stores, and convenience stores; today there are over 500,000 sales points, with thousands of delivery vehicles operating in these areas. 3. Free facial recognition: Small products should make a big impact; domestic enterprises must demonstrate international competitiveness. While expanding into overseas markets, Bull continues to enhance its brand image. First, we’re making a comprehensive upgrade to both the outer and inner packaging. “Every pattern sells products; every color sells products; every piece of text sells products.” The product packaging fully reflects an international brand visual identity and clear product selling points. ”The segmentation of the brand image instantly elevated Bull’s brand image. Secondly, advertising. Bulls put their logo on the signs of every store that sells bull-shaped power sockets, and most of these stores are hardware shops. Therefore, Bullseye actively targets hardware stores across the country, offering to install advertising signs bearing the Bullseye logo free of charge, thereby creating the image that “wherever there’s a Bullseye store, there’s a hardware store; and wherever there’s a hardware store, there’s a Bullseye store.” To this end, Bull Safety Outlets has put up 150,000 store signs nationwide, akin to 150,000 billboards. Low cost, good effect. When people want to buy sockets, they notice “Bull” as soon as they step outside. 4. The bull system compensates for the “inherent shortcomings” of family workshops. Ruan Liping uses the term “inherent shortcomings” to describe his own enterprise – one that carries the characteristics of a family workshop. In Cixi, most socket manufacturers operate in a family workshop model. To reduce the familial nature of these enterprises, Bull, while learning from advanced foreign management practices, developed its own unique management system. First is the organizational structure. Currently, Bull Group has 4 companies and 6 centers, including a R&D center, an operations center, a finance center, a human resources center, a procurement center, and a brand center. All aspects—from labor employment to anti-terrorism security, and from production to environmental management—are duly regulated. Second is the quality management system: from plan design to after-sales service, Bull Group has a quality management team of 190 members, which goes through over a hundred rigorous testing procedures. “There is no best management; only the most suitable one. ”Ruan Liping’s management of Bull is standardized yet flexible, driving the rapid growth of the company. ▌ Conclusion: Jobs said, “The sole reason for living is to change the world!” ”Ruan Liping said that he might not have such great ambitions, but he always thinks about doing something different. Starting with just 20,000 yuan, and growing to billions in annual sales, Ruan Liping and his Bull brand have unwaveringly built their own brand empire, from a small business to a large enterprise. End