In the first half of the year, when imitation silk was already selling well, the editor randomly investigated a related company. At that time, the weaving company directly rejected many orders for unconventional fabrics due to its busy schedule and its own concerns;
At this moment, half a year later, the editor investigated this company again. It is understood that the current production in the workshop is all custom-woven fabrics, which is in sharp contrast with the first half of the year.
The order volume is too small, so I have no choice but to change the machine frequently.
According to market practice, after the Spring Festival, the sales of imitation silk will come to the fore and become the “hot pastry” in the textile market, and this wave of market usually lasts until the end of May. During this period, compared with unconventional varieties, conventional varieties tend to be more affordable and the weaving process is relatively simple. Therefore, on the premise that there is no shortage of orders, weaving companies are naturally more willing to produce conventional fabrics.
With the rapid rise of e-commerce and live broadcast platforms, clothing fashion trends are changing rapidly. “Speed” has become the key for clothing companies to improve their market competitiveness. This has also changed the traditional model of the textile industry, with multiple varieties and small batches of “quick turn” orders. Gradually becoming mainstream.
After entering the second half of the year, the sales of imitation silk have gradually subsided and switched to off-season mode. At this time, the order situation of weaving enterprises is no longer as optimistic as in the early stage, and some enterprises will fall into the dilemma of lack of orders due to poor order continuity. Therefore, I no longer pick and choose when it comes to orders. After all, having an order is better than not having an order.
According to the weaving company, “Currently, our order retention is average, with startups maintained at around 80% and inventory days exceeding 50 days. From a product perspective, most of the inventory is conventional varieties, while orders are based on unconventional varieties. Mainly based on categories, such as Lelis, and due to the small size of orders, the frequency of machine modifications is very high.”
Coincidentally, although another imitation silk company integrating industry and trade only has more than a hundred looms, it often operates more than ten kinds of products at the same time, and the highest number can even reach more than 30 kinds.
To ensure profits, differentiation may be the only way to go
Due to the trend of involution in the textile industry, conventional fabrics can usually only be sold at low prices and in large quantities, and the profit margins are becoming increasingly thin. However, the profit performance of unconventional fabrics is relatively stable and can generally be maintained within the normal range, which can provide textile products. The business brings good profits.
The above-mentioned weaving companies admitted frankly that the problem of overcapacity is getting worse and the oversupply situation will be difficult to alleviate in the short term. If they compete for regular fabric orders, local companies have no advantage in cost and scale, and they will not make money even if they get the order. Due to the pressure of external production capacity, we began to change our thinking. In the past, we only relied on orders from large customers, but now we are also accepting scattered custom-made orders.
This change has brought quite a surprise to this weaving company. Not only has the overall profit increased, but it has also alleviated the pressure on payment collection to a certain extent, and has also made the company’s production operations more smoothly maintained.
Currently, my country’s textile industry is entering a new stage of high-quality development. Facing the complex and ever-changing domestic and foreign market situations, the low-cost advantage of the textile industry is gradually disappearing, and the era of “everyone can make money” is gone forever. The research and development of high-quality, differentiated and functional textile products has become the only way for the development of textile enterprises.
Relevant people once lamented, “To survive in the current ‘volume’ era, it is imperative to make innovative and differentiated products.” However, taking the path of differentiation requires companies to identify their own advantages, which is also very important. Test the hard power of the company, otherwise it will be difficult to escape the trend.
Taken together, whether it is to grab orders, obtain profits, or survive, it is urgent for textile companies to transform and differentiate.
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