As the saying goes, diligence will be rewarded properly and therefore successes achieved. Enterprises in sub-sectors like sewing machine, spare parts, electro-controlled system and trading have returned to work gradually, and resumed their tense and orderly production and operation, jointly paving a solid foundation for introducing an auspicious start of enterprises and sector growth in 2022. At the very beginning of a new year, the whole sector, bracing itself for a new industrial development stage punctuated with both challenges and opportunities, is determined to confront difficulties and seize opportunities in an aggressive spirit and a refreshed mood, and secure its position in the first rung of sewing powers under the robust leadership of a new board of directors of China Sewing Machinery Association (CSMA). To reflect the novel atmosphere of the sector in 2022 in a complete and objective way, the convergence media of CSMA will release a series of reports on the reopening situations of enterprises.

The year of 2022 is key to breakthroughs before embarking on a new development journey of the 14th five-year. Yang Xiaojing, General-Director of CSMA, has put forward such growth requirements as "making arrangements revolving around the power strategy, fulfilling the goals of technological innovation, talents training, quality brand burnishing, standards introduction and implementation, services improvement and digital transformation in a concerted manner, promoting the industrial infrastructure upgrade and supply chain modernization, and establishing the virtual cycle of internal and external markets and an ideal growth mode where these two interact with each other positively". He has also made clear the development path and the field to make efforts.

Sewing companies greet a wave of resumption after the festival

According to incomplete statistics, subsectors including sewing machine, spare parts, electro-controlled system and trading hold grand resumption ceremonies one after another since January 5 (lunar calendar). Till now, more than two thirds of companies have returned to tense and orderly production and operation activities, and some even work overtime immediately when they reopen following the festival.

Pandemic control is the top priority for reopening. Companies have implemented each regulation entirely, work done thoroughly, the health code, travel code and negative nucleic acid test of each employee verified meticulously, and employees' concerns about work and daily life taken care of. Some have also organized their employees returning from other regions to take collective nucleic acid test at the coordination of local government.

The explosion of festive firecrackers predicts a new chapter, and red envelopes given at the ceremony offer best wishes. Amongst resumption ceremonies of all kinds, Supreme has ingeniously handed out tiger toys to employees as the prize of lucky draw, wishing them a joyful mood on the first day back to work.

Turnout rates immediately affect enterprises' production scheduling. Although the pandemic has broken out sporadically during the Spring Festival and policy varies from region to region, the turnout rates of sewing enterprises don't drop substantially in 2022. Data reveal that key sewing machine companies have seen at least 80% of their staff back to work; Juki said that R&D, technical and marketing personnel return to work 100% when it reopened on January 7 (lunar calendar); Dollor said that 98% of its over 400 migrant workers returned the first day it resumed operation.

Recruiting, a keyword for the resumption of sewing companies in 2022. From January 3 on (lunar calendar), these companies have began to increase their recruitment efforts through virtual and physical channels. According to Huang Weili, Deputy General Manager of New Shunfa, it has launched recruitment campaign long before reopening. Besides traditional online recruitment and talents market, it has reached out to provinces abundant in labors like Anhui, and sent professionals to counties, towns and even villages there to employ labors on a targeted basis. Now, the newly recruited start to take up their posts in batches.

In three days after resumption, new employees recommended by existing ones have exceeded 50. One hailing from Guizhou Province has brought 7 new employees. Wang Mingjian, General Manger of Dollor, said that it has devised recruitment subsidy policies particular to underdeveloped regions, for example, Dejiang County, Guizhou Province, which has been lifted out of poverty recently, for the purpose of demonstrating the social responsibilities it shoulders and encouraging employees to bring more fellow-villagers along with them when returning to work. Dollor promises to provide more posts, more humane work environment, and more attractive salaries, set the stage for employees to make endeavors and pursue happiness with diligence.

Besides the efforts put into production, sewing companies take active measures to offset the short-term impact on logistics and transport, so as to expedite the delivery. "The company juggles resuming the production activities with speeding up the preparation and shipment of goods on the first day of resumption," said Ye Mengqi, Vice President of Precious, "Currently, the existing orders are fulfilled in compliance with plan."

Seize the opportunities to strive for a promising quarter after resumption

With regard to the new development blueprint being materialized phase by phase, sewing companies have further made clear their strategic goals and areas to put efforts into, and side by side launched the campaign of "a promising first quarter and a fruitful 2022".

Soon after companies reopen in 2022, the sector is greeted with thriving market demands as before. According to incomplete statistics, the reopened businesses have already accumulated a certain amount of orders. Based on the descriptions by some companies' head, Precious has plenty of orders at hand placed by domestic and foreign clients, and has successively received new ones; Shunfa, Dollor and the like have confirmed orders from key regions at home; Xiangke even received an order from abroad of a thousand pieces of sewing equipment on its first day of resumption.

Luo Qian, President of Supreme, has noted that in 2022 it will persist with the belief of customer first, transform the production mode of fashion industry, place emphasis on both intelligent sewing machine and smart manufacturing, and make its products more precise and fit for purpose. According to its plan, Supreme will put lots of efforts into smart logistics, smart packaging, smart storage, smart sorting out, software management and other overall solutions.

Ye Mengqi noted that as Precious begins to gain popularity and reputation, the planning and development of global market has become its top priority in 2022, and it will commit more resources to earning a bigger market share along with its distributors. In the meantime, benefited by adopting lean manufacture management, Precious will continue to expand its production capacity, and spare no efforts to secure a satisfying first quarter.

Zhejiang Juita has convened a mobilization conference in the Year of the Tiger on the first day it reopens, stating that it will place emphasis on product quality, further the reform and embark an innovative growth route. Xu Shoulai, President of Zhejiang Juita, said that regarding global market in the year ahead, Juita, concentrating on key products like template machine, will provide automation solutions for more clients, and do its level best to build "Juita Intelligence" image through empowering R&D with innovation and improving equipment performance and application, and diligently exploit the market.

Mei Hong, General Manager of Xiangke, a typical SME focusing on innovation, explained that establishing innovative research and development as companies' core competitiveness has gained more momentum; judging from existing orders, Xiangke will run in full capacity into the second quarter as orders from abroad grow rapidly as well. In 2022, Xiangke will hopefully deliver greater successes after having made a revenue of a hundred million yuan as it marches into more markets globally.

Companies are preparing themselves and will readily launch a campaign to strive for a fruitful first quarter. It's worthwhile to note that some enterprises, while interviewed, revealed that the sewing sector is still faced with uncertainties in 2022, which need to be dealt with rationally. As the whole sector kept expanding its capacity in 2021, companies have accumulated a stockpile of sewing machines in mid-2021. In 2022, companies ought to brace themselves for the following adversities: import limitation might be imposed if Western countries are overwhelmed by the pandemic after lifting their lockdowns, a saturated domestic market, and relocation of end-users' order, all of which will pose grave threat to the sewing sector. Therefore, it's advisable for companies to devise countermeasures beforehand with regard to market arrangement, production schedule, staffing, and material supplies.