The mysterious Chinese factory hidden behind the big-name cosmetics produces lipsticks a year

You may not know that the lipstick you use every day comes from a factory in Taiwan, China. You may not know that the lipstick you use every day comes from a factory in Taiwan, China. Entering this factory, Fanuc's robot arm is making lip gloss containers. Employees wear a full set of dust-free clothes, filled with lipstick and eye shadow. Even if they visit through the window, they must wear shoe covers and hats. This is not a technology factory, but in Taiwan Changhua Lugang fish next to the Lemei cosmetics (Hereinafter referred to as Lemei). Changhua is the uncle of Taiwan who produces lipstick in the eastern part of Taiwan. Lemei is one of the earliest lipstick manufacturers in Taiwan. The father of Guo Zaiyu, the current general manager, was founded in 1961 and is now taken over by the second generation of Guo Jiasi brothers. Two Taiwanese uncles who produce lipstick, on the right is Guo Zaiyu, a factory next to the fish, helping Make Up Forever, Etude House, L'Occitane and boots, Britain's largest beauty makeup company, to contract makeup or packaging materials. At the beginning of this year, I also received an order from Japan's dachuang maintenance makeup brand 'research' series. Le Mei is also a top interest rate student in Taiwan's makeup industry. Zhou Zhaoqing, consultant of Taiwan cosmetics industry association, pointed out that the net interest rate of general cosmetics manufacturing industry is about 20%, while Lemei has 30%, which is comparable to IC design industry. Guo Zaiyu recalled that only the father who graduated from primary school, holding an English dictionary to look up the cost table and learn the lipstick modulation method, became the Taiwanese businessman who first developed the color-changing lipstick 50 years ago. Guo Zaiyu said: Even now, lemei still produces 60 million lipsticks a year. Dior's color-changing lipstick is very famous. Li Hongda, the supplier of acrylic materials and general manager of Akema Asia, believes that Lemei can sell packaging materials, can make finished products, and can also sell makeup materials-- This is like a three-way profit moat, capable of setting the desired profit margin at the request of customers. These are the packaging materials for cosmetics, and Lemei is also produced by itself! Guo Zhenhui, the second brother of Guo Jia, who is in charge of research and development, said that Lemei originally purchased the packaging materials from the outside, which caused the design style and delivery period to be controlled by others. If there is a problem with the product, attribution of responsibility often leads to disputes. In order to enhance the added value, the Guo brothers boldly transformed in 1999 and became the first manufacturer in Taiwan to enter the production of packaging materials from the production of cosmetics. Guo Zhenhui, the second brother of Guo Jia, who is responsible for the research and development of high-tech lipstick, mentioned that there were already strong packaging material manufacturers in the market at that time. As a latecomer, Lemei chose the new favorite on the market at that time-- Acrylic material breakthrough, acrylic can get high profits, but the cost is 2 to 3 times higher than plastic, but also must invest in clean room, mold and machine investment is 2 times that of plastic products, in order to enter the packaging materials, Lemei invested more than NT $0. 1 billion in two years, equivalent to 30% of the annual revenue. MUJI's travel suit is the acrylic material Guo Zhenhui said that acrylic can be crystal clear, the bottle can reflect the crystal-like luster, which can make cosmetics sell more expensive. In order to create a clear texture and light, the thickness of the bottle needs to be thin and thick, but the impact resistance of acrylic is poor, and the thin part is very easy to break. Guo Zaiyu reformed the machine by himself, groped for baking acrylic for nearly two hours and added additives. It took two years to stably produce non-fragile products, let the non-performing rate be reduced from 30% to 60%, and now of Lemei's packaging material revenue comes from acrylic products. Subsequently, Lemei led the Taiwanese industry to develop paper packaging materials, bamboo and wood packaging materials, and first developed new products. Customers did not have price targets, which made Lemei have high bargaining power, so-called high bargaining power, that is to say, how much it offers to the customer, the customer has to accept the price. Lemei customers? It is the cosmetics brands including L'Occitane. Lin Zhiqing, a member of the L'Occitane cosmetics monster club, who defeated the world with hand cream, explained that cosmetics manufacturing is not like a technology industry. There are rules for testing and manufacturing methods, but it is like a baking industry, each family must find out a unique formula and quality inspection method to have the opportunity to increase profits. For example, a lipstick has more than a dozen raw materials. The high temperature during transportation often leads to the separation of lipstick oil and water. Guo Zhenhui, who is responsible for research and development, has painstakingly invented a set of 'centrifugal force' detection methods, the quality of various elements is detected by centrifugal force, and the raw materials of equal quality are put together to avoid oil-water separation. So, don't underestimate the lipstick you are using, a lot of technology! Lemei has accumulated 50 years in the research and development of the contents. After spending nearly 20 years in the field of packaging materials, the ex-factory price of lipstick is about NT $4 in the hands of his father, now doubled to more than 20 yuan. Rejected an international big name? ? The four brothers also have a unique philosophy of receiving orders. Unlike many cosmetics manufacturers who prefer to receive large orders from international brands, Lemei only leaves 1/3 of its production capacity to large orders, guo Zaiyu once pushed off an order for 1/3 lipsticks of an international brand, equivalent to of his shipments that year. He explained that international brands have first-class price comparison skills and extremely low gross profit. He pinched his little finger and said, 'a lipstick only earns two cents. You have to borrow money to expand the factory, make yourself so stressed, just earn a little bit, is it cost-effective? 'Guo Zaiyu said that Lemei has been established for more than 50 years and has never borrowed money to expand. Such a conservative strategy also makes it less profitable than its peers, but it can make steady profits. This is their choice. Zhou Zhaoqing observed that the challenge of small orders is that the quantity changes a lot. Lemei enters the field of production of packaging materials. Under vertical integration, mastering the design and manufacture of styles helps to improve the speed and flexibility of shipment. But! The four brothers also lost their way to enhance added value. They once set up cosmetics brands in the mainland and could make money at first, but then because of the increase in land rent and brain drain, I had to lose money and finally chose to return to the research and development of packaging materials and cosmetics. Guo Zaiyu observed that the lipstick made by Le Mei Gang boots reached a repurchase rate of about 95%, which greatly increased his confidence in his own products. Last year, he turned his focus back to Taiwan and added robots to Changhua factory, increase production capacity, embark on the road of self-created brand, create Bonita, and attempt to enter the makeup market with MIT appeals. Bonita next, Lemei plans to transform from R & D and manufacturing capabilities to strengthen marketing capabilities that were not good at before. For the expansion of the conservative Guo brothers, a challenge of improving concepts and capabilities has just begun.