Day 2 - 31 Oct

Day 2: See, Think Wonder—Huan Li Technology

I saw how organised and systematic the whole production line was. Everyone in the production line had their part to play in assembling parts of the water pump. I think that the organised and neat arrangement is also very important in the efficiency of the production. As many pumps are needed to be produced every year, efficiency is important in meeting the required standards. I wonder if there was not a structured system, would the whole company manage to manufacture enough water pumps to meet the requirements? Would there be a disorganised way of function leading to conflicts in the company?

I saw how Huan Li values quality over quantity. Sun Jiejie said that even if a company had only ordered one pump from them, they would still manufacture and sell it to them. I think that this shows their sincerity in producing the best service they can provide for their buyers. To provide the best for their buyers, they even would go all the way out just to manufacture one pump. I wonder if they would stand to lose in terms of money if they agree to only sell one pump.  If they stood to lose, why would they even agree to do so?

I saw how meticulous and dedicated the workers in the marketing sector were towards their job. I think that their job requires them to look at many numbers, receipts and unexpected situations. In which, they have to be patient in doing so.  Also, they have to liaise with their suppliers and all, so that they would be able to provide the company with sufficient resources to produce the water pumps. I wonder if they would ever get bored of their job as it seemed like a mundane job which only looks at many big numbers and settle supply issues.

Chung Ler En

The first thing I saw or learned at Huan Li today was that it is a very highly efficient company which makes business worldwide. It is constantly coming up with new ideas for products and is an essential component provider for much larger companies. The Research and Development (R&D) team and staff works hard every day to come up with new and innovative ideas that are original and effective, differentiating themselves from other companies. Otherwise, purchasers would have no reason to buy from Huan Li compared to other companies. The reason companies buy from Huan Li due to their originality and effectiveness. This is one of the core reasons they have to be constantly innovating, as it is what puts them ahead of others. I want to know where they stand, in terms of sales when compared to other companies.

The second thing I saw is that there are many automatic systems and machines in the factory. The reason being that machines are many times more accurate and less likely to make mistakes as compared to a human. Furthermore, in such a highly efficient company, there is no room for mistakes. Machines are also very much more durable and can be used for a long time. Also, with more machines, there is lesser need for manpower as machines are doing most of the work. In this way, the company can afford to have lesser employees and have a lower salary payout. There are also some students on internships working in the factory, and are easily differentiated from workers by their colour of their jacket. One more thing that I observed was that some roles in the factory are much simpler than others, like packaging the products into the box. Wouldn’t everyone want the simpler job? So, the company either alternates their jobs so everyone does different things for say every week they change, or that different jobs get different pay. There has to be a way that they keep this in check, or they would be an uproar in unfairness.

One more thing that I observed was that the company has patents for every new product they innovate and create. This is to protect the originality of the idea, which comes for Huan Li. This prevents other companies from stealing the idea of the product, and stealing the credit from Huan Li. This is what differentiates Huan Li from other companies, is that their products are original and better. If they allow other companies to just simply steal ideas from them, they would be allowing them to steal their business also. This is reason for patents. I want to know what some of the consequences in a case are where another company steals the patent of others? Do they get fined? Also, if they steal a tiny small portion of the product is it considered stealing the idea?

Lim Yu Jun