Manufacturing + Culture Advancing Industrial Transformation and Upgrading

In recent years, rising production costs, emerging industries and other factors spurred a highly competitive market, which led to reduced profit margins of enterprises and weak internal stimulus. As a vital manufacturing base of China, Ningbo also faced the same problems. Hence, in response, Ningbo proactively promoted the integral development pattern of Manufacturing + Culture , Namely, it infused and integrated cultural elements into the manufacturing enterprises, cultivating in them a core culture enriched by their cultural attributes, spirits and values. Thus, the creativity of enterprises was further inactivated.

Combining products with cultural elements and creative design is the most popular approach adopted by the manufacturers in Ningbo to add more value. In practice, it's embodied by the application of different cultural elements to various aspects of the product design, including the product's appearance, structure, functions, material and craftsmanship, so the final piece will be imparted with cultural attributes. Innovation of this kind, mainly achieved by absorbing the current fashion, occurred primarily in the production of toys, handicrafts, furniture, etc. By virtue of innovative design, some household appliance companies in Ningbo have embarked on their transformation to release fashionable products. For example, the Bull Group developed new series of sockets that differed in appearance from traditional versions but achieved huge sales despite their high price. Similarly, Zhejiang Weiwei Culture & Creative Co., Ltd., relying on cartoon images and development of derivatives, evolved into a creative enterprise from a traditional pen maker. Establishing the Weiwei Theme Park featuring its original images Weiwei deer and Weiwei family, the company rolled out sundry products including fancy stationary, toys, bags and small household appliances.

Brand integration is another much favored practice of manufacturing firms in Ningbo to realize the Manufacturing + Culture strategy. To be more specific, it means that companies step up efforts in the construction of their brands and a cultural system of their own, so as to increase profits by branding. Ningbo Utec Electric began as a foreign trade company; but after acquiring a foreign design company, it worked out a new logo infused with international cultural connotation, thus drastically improving the value added to its products and achieving a superior profit margin over its rivals. What's more, the cooperation between Ningbo Zhongxing Group and Doraemon also fructified as their limited-edition air purifiers released in Shanghai greatly enhanced the former's brand reputation.

A few enterprises now have embarked on integration of values. For instance, Ningbo Kwang's Wisdom Art & Design, famous for its distinctive candles, has now developed new types featuring traditional characters from Chinese classics and Chinese zodiac culture. Their value added was 5% higher than their counterparts.

In recent years, Ningbo established a number of creative industry parks that inspired its manufacturing firms in order to promote the Manufacturing + Culture pattern.

Besides, Ningbo strived to bridge its manufacturing firms and cultural firms. As the city long enjoyed fame for its production of child carriers and safety seats, relevant departments held a special conference for the integration of creative design and baby products in the 2016 Ningbo Characteristic Cultural Industry Exhibition. Totally 18 creative enterprises including Canca, Indes and Rococo directly contacted with 35 baby products manufacturers on the spot.

Statistics indicated that the alignment of creative industry and manufacturing has generated totally 9.17 billion yuan.

LINK:	http://en.nbwh.gov.cn/art/2016/4/22/art_1325_82658.html...
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