他们先是嘲笑,转身就模仿
After visiting CERSAIE in Bologna, everyone comes back to reality to China or wherever is your country of origin with many pictures, ideas or even designs that were purchased based on the things you saw and liked at the show. Many companies do it fast and have clearly understood that our business of ceramics that has hundreds of competitors is a business of speed and adaptation to the always ever changing world.
参观完博洛尼亚展后,每个人都带着许多照片、灵感甚至购买了在展会上看到的或者喜欢的设计回到中国或其他各自的国家。许多公司做得很快,他们清楚地知道我们的陶瓷行业有数百个竞争对手,这是一门关于速度和不断适应环境改变的生意。
I see many brands detecting the particular marble that was widely used by many of the companies at the show then they go buy the same or very similar design (same marble style) and produce it in China to have it ready to show at CERAMBATH. The same happens to many more other products and styles. Some are reproduced extremely fast and some others slowly appear in the Chinese market by the hundreds if not thousands. Then six months later you may find hundreds of companies making a particular stone or marble or metal and they all look the exact same with very little differences.
我看到很多品牌都在探寻展会上被很多公司广泛展示的特定大理石,然后购买相同或非常相似的设计(相同的大理石风格),在中国生产,准备在陶博会上展示。同样的事情也发生在很多其他的产品和风格上。一些公司复制速度极快,其他数百家甚至数千家品牌则慢慢地把这些产品复制在中国市场上。6个月后,你可能发现数百家公司都在生产一种石头、大理石或金属产品,它们看起来几乎完全一样,差别很小。
CERSAIE in Italy has always been and forever will be the top ceramic show in the world regardless of any advancements we do in China or India or Mexico or anywhere else there is production of ceramics. Like Milan and Paris are for fashion or Silicon Valley for software technology or Germany for luxury cars. That is not going to change anytime soon or ever.
无论我们在中国、印度、墨西哥或其他任何陶瓷生产国家取得怎样的进步,意大利的博洛尼亚展永远都是世界上最顶尖的陶瓷展览会。就像米兰和巴黎之于时尚,硅谷之于软件技术,德国之于豪华汽车。这种情况在很快的时间内甚至未来都不会改变。
CERSAIE regardless of how well you may be able to interpret the ceramic trends or the things you see at the show should be used as a reference, as a guide or as a source of inspiration. Nevertheless, it always seems to be the place you go to see, take pictures and then copy the exact same thing you liked there. That I don’t see changing anytime soon, but there are always companies and people that understand that and get back to their places of origin and use what they saw then they interpret those things and adapt those concepts they see to their particular brand concept.
不管你如何理解博洛尼亚展会上的瓷砖趋势或在展览的东西,博洛尼亚展都值得作为参考,成为导向或灵感的来源。然而,它似乎总是大家去看,去拍照,然后直接复制你喜欢的东西的地方。我认为这种状况短期不会改变,但总会有一些公司和人能明白这点,然后回去运用他们看到的、理解到的,创造适合自己品牌理念的东西。
The story that I want to share with you is a real one that happened to me just a few days ago, but it is a great example of what we as Chinese ceramic manufacturers can do or able to do but simply we just either don’t believe it is possible or don’t want to do it because you don’t want to put the effort, time or money into it and rather wait and later copy.
我想和你们分享的故事是几天前真实发生在我身上的,这是一个很好的例子,我们作为中国陶瓷行业的制造商要做什么或能做什么,只是我们不相信这是可能的,或者不想这么做,因为不想为它投入精力、时间和金钱,宁愿等待。然后复制。
About one year or more ago when China was not making much or nothing of 90x180cm size tiles we were importing some products from Italy in 80x180 size. After importing the Italian products, seeing them and installing them in our showrooms maybe 6 months later I told our colleagues from USA and China that we were very close to making this size in China (They laughed) and that we were going eventually going to make it as nice as the Italian goods non polished which are even more difficult to manufacture (They laughed even more).
大约一年或更久之前,中国还没有生产太多或根本没有生产90x180cm的瓷砖时,我们从意大利进口了一些 80x180cm的产品。引进意大利产品并安装在我们的展厅大约6个月后,我告诉来自美国和中国的同事,我们快要在中国生产这个规格(他们笑了),我还说我们最终会把它做得和意大利的、有更大生产难度的非抛光产品一样漂亮(他们笑得更欢了)。
I stayed quiet, didn’t say anything else because of how they reacted so I went back to work on making this happen. A few months later the first 2 or 3 companies showed at CERAMBATH their first 90x180 polished products, some matte products followed. So what I said or predicted was happening not too long after what I said. So, I moved full speed to make our 90x180 products a reality. First we manufactured some 90x180 polished which was already a good accomplishment but then we followed them by making some matte products as well. Nothing made me happier than making the call or Mexico and USA to let them know we had 6 new items, 4 polished, two matte and one semi polished in 90x180 and when I did now they stayed quiet but when I told them that the matte products were as nice as the Italian they did not laugh but I know they didn’t believe me.
我保持沉默,对于他们的反应,我什么也没说,我回去继续努力实现我所说的事。几个月后,最早的2 - 3家公司在陶博会展示了首批90x180cm抛光产品,随后又推出了一些亚光产品。我所说的或预测的事情在我说过后不久就发生了。于是我全速前进,让我们90x180的产品成为现实。我们首先生产了一批90x180抛光产品,这已经是很好的成果,随后我们又生产了一批亚光产品。没有什么比我打电话到墨西哥和美国告知他们我们生产了7款90x180新产品,4款抛光、2款亚光和1款半抛,让我更快乐了。当我告诉他们的时候他们沉默了,当我说那些亚光产品和意大利的一样好时他们没有笑,但我知道他们不相信。
So when they came to China a couple of months later I put the Italian product next to the Chinese in the technical area and I made the exact or very similar design of the Italian item because we had in hand the digital design. When they arrived to the showroom they immediately were impressed with the products and remained very quiet and observant and I can tell by they look of their faces they were astonished. When we arrived to the technical area I showed them these two pieces and I challenge them to tell me which one was the Italian and which the Chinese. They seemed uncomfortable right away with the challenge because they knew that probably there was a trick in this challenge. Then acting like know it all’s they all missed and selected the Chinese product telling me that they were 100% sure that piece was the Italian. When I show them the back of the tile they almost fainted. Then I told them: Now who is laughing?
所以他们几个月后来到中国的时候,我在选材区把意大利产品放在中国产品旁边,因为我们手上有数码喷墨设计稿,所以我做了和意大利产品非常相似的设计。当他们到达展厅,立刻对产品留下了深刻的印象,他们不作声并细致的研究产品,我可以从表情上知道他们有多惊讶。我给他们展示这两件产品,并考他们哪一件是意大利的,哪一件是中国的。他们似乎对这个挑战感到很不舒服,因为他们知道其中可能有什么花样。他们假装洞悉一切,然后选择中国产品和我说100%肯定那件是意大利产的。当我给他们看瓷砖背面时,他们几乎晕倒了。然后我说:现在谁在笑?
No one of course! So the next thing that followed was making the big size in China and stop buying more items of this size from Italy.
当然没有人笑!所以接下来的事情就是在中国生产大规格产品,并停止从意大利购买更多这种尺寸的产品。
The massage I try to share in this article is that we can do much better things in China if we believe and put our heart into making them happen. I know it is possible, I know because I have been in the business over 30 years and many of them in manufacturing and I know because I have been to many in factories in China and what they are capable of doing. Unfortunately, like the story I share above, people don’t believe it is possible and rather wait or do nothing.
我试图在这篇文章中分享的信息是,如果我们相信并用心去做,我们可以在中国做得更好。我知道这是有可能的,因为我从事这一行已经超过30年了,我认识这个行业中的很多人,我在中国的许多工厂工作过,我知道他们的能力。不幸的是,像我上面分享的故事,人们不相信这是可能的,他们宁愿等待或什么都不做。
That is why I named the article First they laugh and then they copy!
这就是为什么我把这篇文章命名为他们先是嘲笑,转身就模仿!
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