Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 189 Planning and Development
Lou Gerstner was a man of decisive character. He immediately went to Xinghai to do OEM and discussed with Junyi Koike about improving the production process.

"Don't worry, I will complete the transformation as soon as possible."

Koike Junyoshi was quick-witted and immediately realized that this was an opportunity.

As the president of Xinghai OEM, these days have been quite frustrating.

He was eager to turn things around and grow the company.

"Don't be too anxious. The most important thing right now is the construction of the wafer fab."

"Don't worry, everything is going well."

I don’t know why, but people are not very enthusiastic about semiconductors this year.

Xinghai OEM easily got Nikon's lithography machine order.

If it were last year, Xinghai OEM would not only have to compete with domestic companies such as Hitachi, Toshiba, and Mitsubishi.

We also have to compete with foreign companies such as Siemens, Texas Instruments, Motorola, etc.

Even if you can buy it, the quantity won’t be too large.

Atsuyoshi Koike instinctively felt that something was wrong and prepared to check if there was any problem.

"Well, that's good. Let's start our process change plan from the new fab. The current fab will remain the same as before."

The old wafer fabs mainly manufacture chips for Japanese semiconductor companies, with only a small number of orders coming from the United States.

Japanese semiconductor companies now prefer high-quality chips, so naturally we have to follow their needs.

"Yes, President."

After watching Lou Gerstner leave, Junyoshi Koike immediately convened an emergency meeting of Xinghai OEM’s top management.

Shingo Adachi, the chief scientist at Xinghai OEM, asked thoughtfully, "Is the president betting that minicomputer shipments will surpass mainframes in a short period of time?"

"Yes and no."

Atsushi Koike showed an expression as if he was in control of everything, and then explained in more detail his idea of changing the process.

“I don’t know when minicomputer shipments will surpass mainframes.”

"But I know that Xinghai Foundry can only obtain more orders and achieve profitability if it takes a differentiated route from local semiconductor giants."

The high-quality memory chip market has been developed by companies such as Hitachi and Toshiba.

Even if Xinghai Foundry tries hard, it can only eat the leftovers of Japanese semiconductor giants.

On the contrary, for memory chips that are of average quality, have a shelf life of only more than 5 years, but are cheaper, there are currently no major manufacturers competing with Xinghai for production.

Even if there are new competitors in the future, Xinghai OEM will at least have the first-mover advantage.

"Yes, only by taking a differentiated route can we have a chance."

Shingo Adachi nodded repeatedly with emotion, fully agreeing with his president's ideas. He had already made up his mind to firmly support the president's wafer fab process reform.

"That's right. We can only survive by taking a differentiated approach."

Xinghai OEM's huge debt has made many employees worried.

Now that new opportunities have emerged, not only Koike Junyoshi and Adachi Shingo, but other leaders have also agreed to take the risk.

This is the advantage of a startup company. Most management leaders have a strong sense of crisis and are willing to take risks in technology and process.

Of course, startups also have a bad side.

Most startups are focused on the wrong direction. Even if they are right, many go bankrupt due to insufficient technical capabilities, lack of funds, infighting among management, etc.

In the end, only a very few can succeed.

Xinghai is manufactured by Masato Takeshita and the remote control is done by him, so naturally there won’t be those troubles and it is as healthy as it can be.

Theory must ultimately be put into practice.

At this time, Shigeru Nishiyama, the head of the production department, made a suggestion.

"Then should we first train a group of key employees who can implement the new production process?"

"This way we can debug and produce the new wafer fab as soon as it is built."

Koike Junyi replied in agreement: "That's right, we need to cultivate the backbone forces now."

"Try to select young employees. Young employees are more active in thinking and more likely to change."

The older you are, the more difficult it is to change the path dependence problem.

Same study time.

Most of the time, young people’s ability to learn new technologies can crush middle-aged and elderly people.

There is a well-known common sense in the scientific community.

Most scientists achieve their brilliant achievements when they are young.

Xinghai Semiconductor and its subsidiary Xinghai Foundry are brewing a new round of changes.

The rest of the companies under the Xinghai Group have not stood still either.

Take Matsumoto Manufacturing's 1988 Vision Plan as an example.
In addition to continuously expanding the scale of joint venture factories in China, there is also the goal of expanding new businesses.

The clothing industry is the new direction chosen by Matsumoto Manufacturing.

"What are your thoughts on the plan of designing in Japan and producing in China?"

Hiroaki Kobayashi looked around the audience, hoping that everyone would agree and put forward more effective suggestions.

"I think this is great. We in Japan have excellent clothing design capabilities, and China has cheap labor. This is the most suitable way of cooperation."

After visiting China several times, Matsumoto Manufacturing Production Department Director Hayato Matsushita became a staunch supporter of building factories in China.

This is also an important reason why he was able to quickly obtain the position of vice president after Hiroaki Kobayashi was promoted to president.

Masato Takeshita is a person who is firmly bullish on China, so the company's main person in charge naturally only chooses people who are firmly bullish.

Xinghai Group does not need management that believes that China will soon collapse.

In the past, those companies that were firmly bullish on China all developed very well.

Even if the business doesn't work out in China, you can still make money by selling land and buildings.

On the contrary, those companies that are not optimistic about China can easily be surpassed by other companies.

Speaking of which, Japan is one of the earliest countries to cooperate with the new China.

As early as 1972, during the era of Kakuei Tanaka, the two countries began to have frequent contacts.

As a result, China's largest peach

It was completely taken away by later comers such as the United States, which only started cooperating with mainland China in 1979, Taiwan, which only started cooperating with mainland China after 1985, and South Korea, which only started cooperating with mainland China in 1992.

A typical case of getting up early and arriving late.

Taking electronic products as an example,
Before the 21st century, Japanese electronic products such as color TVs, refrigerators, and mobile phones swept the Chinese market.

However, before Masato Takeshita traveled through time, the only Japanese electronic products that sold well in China seemed to be relatively niche cameras and game consoles.

Big-name electronic consumer goods such as computers and mobile phones are basically withdrawing from the Chinese market.

This is the result of Japan betting on China's unsteady attitude.

"I also think this model is very good. If we produce in this way, our costs can be lowered."

Design department director Norika Fujimoto has also visited the mainland several times and was also deeply shocked by China's low wages.

The main expense in the garment processing industry is wages. It can be said that setting up a garment production factory in China is even more suitable than setting up a suitcase factory.

Because clothing can be stacked and does not take up space like suitcases, the amount of clothing that a ship can carry is much greater than that of suitcases of the same volume.

If Matsumoto Manufacturing successfully establishes a clothing processing factory in China, it can save a lot of transportation costs by transporting clothing and suitcases in an orderly manner.

With the initial agreement of Hayato Matsushita and Norika Fujimoto, more leaders of Matsumoto Manufacturing began to respond.

Everyone feels that the plan to establish a joint venture garment factory in China is very promising.

"OK, since everyone agrees, let's complete the plan as soon as possible, and then I will submit it to the president."

Kobayashi Hiroaki was very happy with everyone's recognition, but he did not get carried away and still maintained the humble attitude of the vice president.

The expansion of Matsumoto Manufacturing into a clothing factory was a big undertaking, and the approval of Masato Takeshita had to be obtained.

"Oh, you want to set up a joint venture clothing factory in China?"

"Yes, I plan to take advantage of China's low costs and open up a new market in the Japanese clothing industry."

Hiroaki Kobayashi is very confident about entering the clothing industry.

Through extensive research, he found that

Although Japan's economic situation is very good, the gap between the rich and the poor is gradually widening. The living pressure of some low-income people is also increasing.

If Matsumoto Manufacturing puts a batch of cheap clothes on the market, it will definitely sell very well.

“Good choice, go for it.”

"Yes, President."

Although he knew that his president would definitely agree with his choice, after all, Masato Takeshita had made a similar plan before, Kobayashi Hiroaki was still very excited to hear the president's agreement in person.

This is a feeling of finally being recognized by someone you admire.

"Well, wait."

Masato Takeshita stopped Matsumoto Manufacturing's new president, Hiroaki Kobayashi, who was about to leave, and asked with a smile, "Is that all?"

"That, uh, is all I have for now."

Kobayashi Hiroaki didn't know why the president called him, and he didn't know what to say. In the end, he chose to honestly say what he was thinking.

He is a leader himself and knows that bosses like honest subordinates the most.

Masato Takeshita didn't keep the question in suspense and simply said, "Food, clothing, housing and transportation are the four things that everyone can never do without."

"We now have Matsumoto Manufacturing, trolley suitcases for transportation, Xinghai Construction for housing, a joint venture in China, and a garment factory that is about to be established."

"Don't you have any ideas about food?"

"I haven't thought about this before. President, could you please tell me?"

Kobayashi Hiroaki was a little confused by his president's wild ideas.

I don’t know how a company that produces trolley suitcases can be associated with the food industry.

But his biggest advantage is that he always follows the leader.

Since you don’t understand, just listen to what the president says.

"Well, I do have some ideas on that front."

Masato Takeshita further elaborated on his idea and said, "I don't know if you have ever paid attention to the news in Beijing, China. After KFC opened its first fried chicken fast food restaurant there, it immediately became a sensation throughout Beijing."

"Many people even regard eating at KFC as a fashion."

"Ah, really?"

Kobayashi Hiroaki couldn't understand why a fast food restaurant could cause such a big fuss.

"You can't compare China to where we are now. China at this moment is actually what Japan was before the 60s."

"The monthly salary of the people is less than 100 yuan, but a meal of fried chicken at KFC costs dozens of yuan."

"With such high prices, people naturally regard eating at KFC as a very fashionable behavior."

"If China develops well and reaches the level of Japan now, it will naturally not take eating fried chicken at KFC too seriously."

When people are poor, all high consumption can be regarded as fashion.

This is regardless of country or nationality.

In China in the 21s of the 20st century, although some people cannot afford KFC, no one will regard eating KFC as a fashionable behavior anymore.

"That's it, I understand."

Kobayashi Hiroaki nodded in understanding, then asked respectfully, "President, do you mean that we should also open a fried chicken fast food restaurant in China?"

"That's right, but it's not about setting up a new company. It's about acquiring the McDonald's license in China."

"Get the McDonald's license in China? Okay, please leave it to me."

Kobayashi Hiroaki knew that his chairman had always been optimistic about China's economic development, so he decided to acquire McDonald's authorization in mainland China in the form of higher cash + lower shares.

In fact, the reason why KFC was able to enter China earlier than McDonald's was entirely due to PepsiCo.

Lay's Group, to which PepsiCo belongs, attaches great importance to socialist countries.

In the Soviet Union, Pepsi even came up with a People's Coke campaign.

Completely integrate your family into the local society.

So after acquiring KFC, the first thing Pepsi did was to bring KFC to China.

Of course, the reason why Lay's Group, which is dominated by PepsiCo, has this socialist consciousness is mainly related to its survival position.

In developed markets such as the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, Pepsi has been suppressed by Coca-Cola and even nearly went bankrupt.

In order to grow, it can only choose to develop in markets that Coca-Cola has not yet entered.

PepsiCo has reaped the benefits of this development.

KFC is another excellent example of this.

Although KFC has not developed so well in the United States, it has firmly established itself as the leading fast food chain in China by virtue of its early advantage.

In this life, Masato Takeshita is ready to compete with KFC.

If it succeeds in the competition, Matsumoto Manufacturing will be able to become the largest fast food giant in China.

Even if it fails, it will be easy to maintain McDonald's previous position in China.

"We will release a maximum of 20% of our equity. If McDonald's disagrees, then we will acquire a medium-sized fried chicken company."

The Chinese fast food market is currently in a period of land grabbing. As long as you enter the market early enough, even if your brand is not large, it will be easy to gain a foothold in the future.

Anyway, the taste of fast food needs to be improved, and it will eventually become the most suitable model for China.

Even if American food doesn’t taste as good as McDonald’s and KFC, it doesn’t matter at all.

"Hi!"

After talking about fried chicken fast food, Masato Takeshita took the initiative to talk about drinks.

“How much do you know about energy drinks?”

"Um, sorry, I haven't heard of it."

Energy drinks were initially popular only in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries.

Later, an Austrian businessman discovered a business opportunity and decisively cooperated with a local Thai energy drink company.

The energy drink produced through this collaboration is the famous Red Bull in the previous life.

(End of this chapter)