In an exclusive interview at ITCPE 2024, we had the privilege of speaking with Mr. Fang, the CEO of Zhejiang Promaker. As a leading figure in the embroidery machine manufacturing industry, Mr. Fang shared his insights on how Promaker successfully balances high quality with affordability.
He explained that by increasing production capacity and optimizing technology, processes, and management, Promaker reduces waste and lowers costs without compromising quality. Despite its relatively short history, Promaker has quickly risen to prominence, ranking second in the industry within just seven years. Mr. Fang attributed this success to the company’s cutting-edge technology and unwavering focus on customer service.
My name is Mr. Fang, and I represent Zhejiang Promaker Intelligent Embroidery Equipment Co., Ltd., located in Zhuji, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, China. Established in October 2016, Promaker has grown significantly over the past seven years. We are currently ranked second among embroidery machine providers in the region, with a dedicated team exceeding 700 employees.
In ITCPE 2024, we bring forward our most advanced technology to the show. We have achieved 1500 stitches per minute (spm) in our Cording/Coiling Embroidery Machine and it is on production currently.
Zhejiang Promaker: Middle East & Africa Prospects
For the Middle East market, we are always setting foot here. We have coverage in Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and even Syria. Actually, Middle East has a profound history of embroidery and has a sound record in designing and techniques. There is a great prospect of Turkish market.
The possibility of transferring production capacity to Africa presents itself as a strategic consideration. We acknowledge that some of our valued customers have established operations in Africa, with varying degrees of success. Given the continent’s ongoing development and the improving investment environment, as evidenced by the achievements of numerous Chinese enterprises there, a potential shift of production capacity to Africa appears increasingly viable. We anticipate that further enhancements to the investment landscape will attract a growing number of businesses to explore opportunities within this dynamic market.
Zhejiang Promaker: Balancing Quality and Affordability
In fact, as an embroidery machine manufacturer, having good quality at an affordable price is not a conflict. Quality can be governed and improved, while the price could be lowered by increasing production capacity, and optimizing technology, processes, and management to cut down on waste.
Take us as an example, With more than 700 staff workers, delivering 2,000 or 3,000 machines is a totally different story for us. Delivering 3,000 reveals our costs could be shared equally. For the product, achieving a balance of cost and quality, the technology should be guaranteed. Last but not least, we could control the operational costs to minimize waste and make management transparent. Therefore, a high price/cost should not be a stereotype of high quality. These two advantages can coexist.
Although Promaker does not have rather long history. I myself, with the chairman of the board are industry insiders with more than 20 years experience. Therefore, we set up a new enterprise. In the 7 years “short-run,” we ranked second in this area in general. Promaker could be an example. Why Promaker could be an example? First, the answer lies in our products’ cutting-edge technology; second, our corporate culture: Focus on service.
We instill this idea into every employee, regardless of their position. If you are in sales, you should focus on service. If you are in procurement, you should also focus on service. Because the customer is in a hurry, so you need to get things done quickly. Otherwise, you may delay the customer’s project. Engineering Department also needs to focus on service. This machine is used by customers to make money. If you don’t care about quality, and the customer’s needs, then the customer may encounter many problems. We have over 80 people in our domestic service team.
For companies of our size, other manufacturers may only have 20-30 people. So the proportion of our service personnel is relatively large. Why do we do our own service?
There are a few advantages. One is that we train these technicians ourselves, so they are more professional when it comes to maintaining our machines. This is the first advantage. Second, these people are under our control, so their execution is better.
The biggest advantage is that these people can provide us with real-time feedback, so our improvement speed is very fast. If we were to rely on external agents for this information, some information might not reach us directly. So, in general, one of your secrets to success is your focus on service. The second is product innovation capabilities, including entire manufacturing process, which has also made great progress.
We do everything from the components to the machine frame to the entire R&D, installation, and testing. This whole manufacturing chain is done by ourselves. This is also related to cost. We make all the so-called machines’ parts yourselves. So this part of the profit, which I would have given to my suppliers, I now make myself, and then I can take a part of it to give to other customers.
