Reference knowledge, personality instructions, deep thinking

The year 2020 marks the culmination of the first centenary goal of building a moderately prosperous society in all respects and also the year when the goal of becoming a textile powerhouse is achieved. However, the COVID-19 pandemic, a "black swan" event sweeping across the globe, has cast a shadow over the otherwise grand finale of 2020. Currently, the textile industry has fully entered the "resumption mode". How to quickly adjust tactics to "regain the lost month"? What questions and reflections do we have regarding this epidemic? How should we predict the trend for the first quarter and even the whole year of 2020? Under the epidemic, these issues are undoubtedly the current focus.

China Textile's new media has specially launched the "Revelations from the 'Epidemic' Battle: Wise Persons Speak" column and initiated the "I Believe" topic relay, engaging in dialogues with industry wise persons, gathering industry confidence, and enlightening the industry's future. How we are changed will be how the era is remembered.

At this moment, we all believe that this epidemic will eventually pass. This "I believe" plays a very important role. Let us work together, gather strength in adversity, and bloom through hardships

Shaoxing Keqiao is known as the "International Textile Capital", where the annual textile trading volume accounts for nearly a quarter of the global total, and the textile industry accounts for one-third of China's production capacity. After the outbreak of the epidemic, a company here, Zhejiang Baofang Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd., with its smart coping strategies and strong employee cohesion, overcame numerous difficulties and became the first enterprise above designated size in the printing and dyeing industry in the entire Keqiao District to resume full-load production.

"Planning before action, and prioritizing action. What is the secret behind Baofang's rapid resumption of work and achieving full-load production? In this episode of 'Insights from the Fight Against the Epidemic', we speak with Yu Baomu, Chairman of Zhejiang Baofang Printing and Dyeing Co., Ltd. He stated, 'It is the cohesion of corporate culture and the solidarity of employees that helped the company navigate this crisis smoothly.'"

rapid response

Conduct emergency plan drills in advance

"China Textile": Facing the sudden outbreak of the epidemic, how did Baofang, as a major printing and dyeing enterprise in Keqiao, respond calmly and effectively carry out its own epidemic prevention and control measures?

Yu Baomu: After the outbreak of the epidemic, we immediately convened the main responsible persons of the company to discuss measures to deal with the epidemic, and quickly established a leading group to combat the epidemic, with me as the head. Since January 28th, we have been disinfecting and sterilizing public places such as dormitory areas and office areas. We have been conducting twice-daily temperature checks on employees who stayed in the company dormitory for the Chinese New Year, and have strengthened security management at the entrance, strictly prohibiting all accommodation personnel from going out.

Meanwhile, we promptly took stock of the warehouse inventory of epidemic prevention materials such as masks and disinfectants, and organized personnel for procurement in a timely manner. We strengthened communication with the cadres of our associated factories to understand the policies on resuming work and adjusted our company's response strategies accordingly. Through WeChat groups, contact points for party members, and other channels, we sent the "Employee Return Survey Form" to 1,012 non-local employees who returned home for the Spring Festival. 987 employees promptly returned the survey form to the company, allowing us to grasp the physical condition of non-local employees and the local epidemic situation in a timely manner, and to be fully prepared for the resumption of work at any time. We also conducted drills on the employee return registration process and the epidemic emergency plan, ensuring that all epidemic prevention personnel were fully prepared.

In addition, considering that employees will undergo fully enclosed production upon arrival at the company and are not allowed to go out, even if they do, they will not be able to purchase relevant daily necessities and food. The company has also promptly communicated with large supermarkets and stocked up on essentials such as quilts, rice, and flour, as well as food. Once employees return to the company, they will be able to receive a package. At the same time, we have also set up a special assistance group to help employees go out to purchase medicine and food, hoping to enable everyone to work with peace of mind and live comfortably.

Unity is strength.

Keqiao's first enterprise starts production at full capacity

"China Textile": Due to the pandemic restrictions, the return of employees has been greatly affected. How has Baofang, as a major local employer, taken self-rescue measures? What is the current resumption rate of the enterprise?

Yu Baomu: On February 14th, the government finally announced the news that work could resume. We obtained the resumption of work record-filing certificate at the first time and promptly sent the resumption certificate to all employees. On February 15th, more than 1,000 employees who were away from home heard the news and immediately booked tickets, rented cars or carpooled to gather at the company. At the same time, our epidemic prevention team members were on standby 24 hours a day to keep track of employees' whereabouts and arranged 8 special buses to pick up people at airports, train stations, highway service areas, etc. In just four days, 581 employees returned from Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, Shandong, Guizhou, Anhui and other places. On February 19th, we successfully resumed work.

In addition, as Zhejiang is also a region with a relatively severe epidemic situation, other provinces have imposed restrictions on vehicles with Zhejiang license plates exiting highways. In order to pick up Henan employees who were unable to return to work by bus, on February 24th, Li Ruizong, the secretary of the company's general party branch, and Du Yongbo, the deputy general manager, quickly organized 18 small cars to travel back and forth over 2,000 kilometers to pick up more than 80 employees from Puyang and Pingdingshan. As of February 25th, including newcomers brought by returning old employees, the number of employees on duty reached more than 1,000, successfully achieving full staffing.

"China Textile": It is indeed not easy for Baofang to maintain full staffing under such special circumstances. How is the current production situation of the enterprise?

Yu Baomu: To ensure safety, we strictly enforce various epidemic prevention regulations, taking the temperature of our employees three times a day and disinfecting dormitories, production areas, and office buildings twice a day, morning and evening. While managing our employees well, the company also implements strict management for drivers who deliver and pick up goods, suppliers, customers, etc., requiring them to take temperature, register, disinfect, check their trajectories, and check Shaoxing health codes, and stipulating the activity areas for these personnel. We are vigilant and strict to prevent the virus from taking advantage of any loopholes. As a result, many drivers have complained that they have delivered goods for many companies, but the management at Baofang is the strictest and most formal.

Thanks to our ample reserves of raw materials and dyes, as well as our fully staffed workforce, Baofang's production has not been impacted by the pandemic at all. Instead, our workers are enthusiastic and are working overtime to catch up on the schedule. A set of data can well reflect the current real situation of the company's resumption of work and production: Based on the company's electricity consumption of 138,100 kWh on January 8th before the Spring Festival, the electricity consumption recovery rate on the first day of resumption on February 19th was 23.39%, reaching 75.89% on February 25th, and reaching 101.85% by February 29th, making it the first enterprise above a certain size in the printing and dyeing industry in Keqiao District to resume full-load production.

limited impact

The international situation warrants attention

"China Textile": The sudden outbreak of the epidemic has caused enterprises to start work later than usual by more than ten days. What impacts and losses will this bring to Baofang, which mainly focuses on exports?

Yu Baomu: The current epidemic has had a significant impact on the printing and dyeing industry, leading to issues such as labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and delays in operational cycles. I believe that with effective control of the epidemic, the industry's development will return to normal as soon as possible. It is expected that the entire industry will be significantly affected in the first quarter. Although work and production are resuming in various regions, the supply and transportation of raw materials will still be delayed. Coupled with the fact that the popularity of the four major domestic textile markets has not yet recovered, the impact is expected to last for more than a month.

Specifically for Baofang, although the commencement of work was only 10 days later than the originally scheduled time, coupled with factors such as the return journey of department employees being obstructed, it did have some impact on the company, but these impacts were limited. Within less than a week, the company's production capacity had recovered by over 80%. Since the company had reserved a large amount of production raw materials before the new year, the employees went all out to catch up with the schedule and race against time once work resumed. Currently, we have ample orders and production is normal. The loss of these ten days has little impact on Baofang.

"China Textile": Based on your years of production experience, what impacts will this epidemic have on the industry and trade exports?

Yu Baomu: Currently, the domestic epidemic situation has been swiftly contained, but the epidemic is now spreading abroad, and the situation is becoming increasingly severe. This undoubtedly brings many uncertainties to the international economic situation and trade environment. If it cannot be controlled as soon as possible, it may have a significant impact on the textile industry in the later stage. Both domestic demand and export prospects are not optimistic, which warrants attention.

Culture shapes the soul

Adhere to the positioning of "technology, fashion, and green"

"China Textile": What has been your greatest impression since the outbreak of the epidemic more than two months ago?

Yu Baomu: In the face of this epidemic, what strikes me the most is how the Baofang people, despite the severe situation, immediately responded to the company's call, overcame various difficulties, and returned to the Baofang family in the shortest possible time. This is inseparable from Baofang's daily care for its employees, the family culture of the company, and the cohesion and centripetal force of the employees. This is not only a trust in us, but also a recognition of our Baofang corporate culture.

"China Textile": Facing this unexpected major challenge, what changes do you think it will bring to the future development of Baofang?

Yu Baomu: For enterprises to achieve sustainable and healthy development in the future, they must have a clear understanding and prediction of the current social situation and domestic and international trade environment, and take a long-term perspective. Baofang was not affected by the epidemic this time because we considered the possibility of a delay or postponement in our business operation cycle due to the Spring Festival one month before the holiday, which could lead to a shortage of raw materials. Therefore, we made every effort to prepare more than 40 million meters of grey fabric and hundreds of tons of pigment, which is sufficient for our full-load production for one and a half months.

At the same time, it is not enough for a company to only offer attractive benefits. It also requires an excellent corporate culture and good humanistic care to retain employees. The foundation of enterprise development lies in the stability and cohesion of employees. The test of this epidemic has further strengthened Baofang's determination and confidence in building a good corporate culture. In the future, we will continue to increase investment, improve the working environment, and make the Baofang family more warm while increasing employee income.

In addition, enterprises should accelerate their efforts in intelligent and information-based management and technological upgrading. Specifically, they should embrace the concept of green development, adhere to technology-driven development, and embark on a path of "technology, fashion, and greenness".