In the turbulent years, every hero should be remembered!
Speaking of Penning, I am afraid that few people remember it, just because this is an era of "kings and kings".
However, if you mention Rongsheng and Kelong, I am afraid that there are still quite a few people who have heard of it, because it once achieved the first place in Asia in the field of home appliances, and Gree and Midea are only the younger brothers of kelong Group.
Later, why did you say that it was gone? Koron's fate is somewhat similar to That of Penning.
How beautiful it used to be, how lonely it is now.
But as entrepreneurs, we need to look back on the turbulent years!
1
The birth of the sound refrigerator
Pan Ning is a native of Shunde, Guangdong Province, and he Xiangjian of The Midea Group and Yang Guoqiang of Country Garden are fellow countrymen.
Prior to 1984, PanNing was the deputy director of the Industrial and Transportation Office in Rongqi Town (now Ronggui Town, Shunde). Due to the working relationship and the advantages of geographical location, Pan Ning has traveled to Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and other places.
Every time he went to a place, Pan Ning would pay attention to whether there were any business opportunities to bring to Shunde.
Through chatting with the masses, Pan Ning learned about the people's unlimited desire for refrigerators. However, at that time, most of the refrigerators were foreign brands, and the price was ridiculously expensive.
Panning realized that this was a huge opportunity, so he organized dozens of villagers to start working.
However, refrigerators are a relatively high-tech industry, where should Penning, as a person who knows nothing about technology, break through?
I won't just go to school, it's no big deal. This is the View of Guangdong people on business, and there is a kind of "heaven is not afraid" spirit.
However, because Penning's administrative level is too low, many large factories do not give Penning a chance. Fortunately, Pan Ning persevered and finally got the opportunity to learn in a beijing called "Snowflake Refrigerator Factory".
Pan Ning took the opportunity to call several people to study in the refrigerator factory. What is the assembly line, and how to do the operation process, they will silently write down in the book.
After learning the basic process, they did not know the refrigeration technology, and sent people to Xi'an to specialize in technology.
At the time of the technical study, dozens of them began to search the country for raw materials for making refrigerators and assemble them themselves.
After more than a year of assembly testing, Panning's team finally assembled China's first double-door refrigerator. It was raining heavily in Shunde that day, and Pan Ning stood in the rain and cried loudly.
2
Establishment of the Kelong Group
1984 is the first year of China's modern enterprises, that year, Lenovo, TCL, Vanke and other companies have been established, pearl river refrigerator factory (the predecessor of Cologne Group) was also established here.
The factory was set up with a 90,000 yuan investment from the town government and belonged to the township collective enterprise, which eventually became the source of PanNing's sad moments.
After the establishment of the refrigerator factory, Pan Ning naturally became the director of the factory, and the brand of the refrigerator in the factory was "Rongsheng".
After the production of refrigerators, Pan Ning had developed channels everywhere to find sales channels, but because the Pearl River Refrigerator Factory was a township collective enterprise, many shopping malls in large cities did not allow Rongsheng refrigerators to settle in.
In desperation, Pan Ning asked Wang Mingquan to speak for him in 1986. However, because Wang Mingquan is a deputy to the National People's Congress, he needs approval to broadcast advertisements on the Central Radio, and rongsheng refrigerator's application is also a stone sinking into the sea after it is submitted.
In the end, the sound refrigerator can only play advertisements in some local stations.
It is such a company that has come all kinds of ups and downs along the way, with new styles, reliable quality and flexible marketing strategies that make Rongsheng rise rapidly.
At the time of the company's rise, Penning did not forget to look at the world and did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to introduce the most advanced refrigerator production lines from Germany and Italy.
By 1989, the fixed assets of the Pearl River Refrigerator Factory had reached 80 million yuan, and 45% of the assembly line was imported equipment.
The Pearl River Refrigerator Factory also became famous, and Pan Ning became one of the most well-known entrepreneurs at that time.
Since then, Pearl River Refrigerator Factory has been the first enterprise in the production and sales of domestic refrigerator factories for 8 consecutive years.
However, after the company became the first in the country, the ownership of the company has not been raised.
In 1994, PanNing directly entered the field of air conditioning, he avoided the Rongsheng brand and founded the Kelong brand. At the same time, the Kelon Group was established.
Of course, Penning may have hoped to get rid of the strong control of the town government through this move, but this also laid the groundwork for the "breakup" of the two.
In 1996, Kelong Electric Appliances successfully landed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and Kelong Electric Appliances entered a new era.
In 1997, the revenue of Kelong Electric Appliance reached 3.4 billion yuan, and the net profit reached 660 million yuan. The net profit of Gree Electric Appliances in that year was only 186 million, which was 3.54 times that of Gree Electric Appliances.
In 1998, Penning reluctantly acquired Warburg Air Conditioning. However, two months after the acquisition, the company's announcement suddenly announced Penning's resignation as president. Four months later, Panning resigned as chairman.
In this way, the home appliance giant he created by himself suddenly had nothing to do with Pan Ning.
The reason for this ending is mainly because Penning is strong in dominating the company, and everything is the best, such as the most advanced production line, the best R & D personnel, the most advanced laboratories and so on.
Ironically, Penning doesn't have a stake in the company. In the end, due to the difference in business philosophy, PanNing left the Kelong Group that he had built.
Without Panning's Kelong electrical appliances, it would have long been wiped out.
This is a corporate tragedy and a tragedy for a generation of entrepreneurs.
However, we never seem to really forget them!