Industries being reinvented in Pearl River Delta

St Petersburg News.Net
Friday 3rd July, 2009

The role of design in reinventing the world's factory was in the spotlight at a recent conference organised by the Hong Kong Design Centre.

At "Reinventing Industries in Pearl River Delta – From ‘Made in PRD to ‘Created in PRD,'" experts concluded that the solution to ending the vicious cycle of price-cutting and overproduction may well lie in improving product quality and durability. But many agreed that there was still a general lack of understanding about the importance of design and branding in the PRD region.

Initial results of a study looking into the design challenges facing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the PRD and Yangtze River Delta regions appear to bear that out. The survey of 278 companies found that a majority of the respondents believe design is valuable to business profitability. Yet, according to John Heskett, Chair Professor at the School of Design at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the study also found that designers have little say in the decision-making process, and that design constitutes only a fraction – five to 10 per cent – of the total cost of developing a product.

Nevertheless, Mr Heskett noted that there have been several notable PRD companies, including television cabinet and plastic automobile-parts maker Guangzhou Echom Science and Technology Co, that are bucking the trend. "Echom doesn't compete on cost but on its core competency, which is industrial design," Mr Heskett said.

Mainland computer-maker Lenovo is proof that a local brand with proven value can succeed overseas. Widely considered China's first global brand, Lenovo was set up in 1984 by 11 researchers with only US$25,000 capital. Its breakthrough came three years later, when it devised a Chinese character card that translates the English Operating system into Chinese characters. Ten years later, the company listed on the Hong Kong stock market and has since gone on to acquire the personal computer section of United States multinational IBM.

According to Andreas Schupp, Director of the Lenovo Group's Innovation Design Centre, understanding your consumer and the market you're operating in is key to a brand's success. For its part, Lenovo's "New World, New Thinking" slogan is firmly embedded in the public consciousness, thanks in part to its high-profile sponsorship of last year's Beijing Summer Olympics.

Many PRD companies dream of following in the footsteps of Lenovo. But businesses in the PRD have yet to fully realise the power of design, according to British product designer Michael Young. Mr Young decided to move to Hong Kong four years ago to be close to the world's mass production capital.

"Hong Kong is the perfect playground to do whatever I want," said Mr Young, who noted that his designs have been influenced by living in Asia. Working with Asian clients, he said, has also led him to change the way he conducts business, which includes clearly articulating a detailed business model when going into a project.

"There's a lack of trust of what design can do," said Mr Young about Asian companies which, he said, can benefit from a better way of selling and distributing their products. That observation prompted him to introduce a service package for new brands that goes beyond design.

Mr Young has collaborated with several Chinese companies, including Taiwan-based Giant Bicycles. His first bicycle design project also involved handling the publicity, which included coverage in design publications and a high-profile launch of the Citystorm Giant in Tokyo.

But design, as experts at the conference pointed out, is not just about aesthetics. According to Mary Yan Yan Chan, founder and Director of StyleCentral, it is also about "designing to live better lives." Conspicuous consumption has now been replaced by conscious consumption, a trend that presents a prime opportunity for brands to reassess their products and rebuild to fit with the times, according to Ms Chan.

Some designers cautioned against expecting a panacea. "It would be presumptuous to say design will help everything," said Lo Chi-wing, co-founder of Lo & Davladi Architects. But design, he said, is a powerful tool to help industries in the PRD reinvent themselves and transform the region into a centre for industrial creativity.

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