Abstract:China is the origin of silkworms, is the world's largest silk country, known as the "Oriental Silk Country". Sericulture is the starting point of Chinese civilization and has a history of more than 5,000 years. However, since modern times, China has gradually slipped to the end of the industrial chain in the world's silk industry, mainly providing raw materials, and the production of high-grade silk and clothing is mainly dominated by Western developed countries. Especially in the 21st century, affected by the intensification of competition in the international market and the slowdown of global economic growth, the demand for silk exports has dropped sharply. At the same time, the inherent attributes of silk materials, such as easy fading, easy hooking, easy wrinkling, difficult care, etc., as well as the long production cycle of cocoon silk are difficult to meet the needs of modern fast life, and the emergence of strong competitive alternatives (such as chemical fiber, polyester) has gradually led to a decline in the prosperity of the silk industry. The data shows that in recent years, the overall silk output of the mainland has tended to decline, and the silk output of silk enterprises above designated size in the mainland will be 49,900 tons in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%.
1. Definitions and Classification
Silk is a kind of textile, which refers to the general term of textiles made of silk, chemical fiber filament or with it as the main raw material, through a series of steps such as silk reeling, weaving, dyeing and finishing, and printing. In ancient times, silk was a textile woven from silk (mainly mulberry silk, but also a small amount of tussah silk and cassava silk). In modern times, due to the expansion of textile raw materials, all textiles woven with artificial or natural filament fibers in the warp can be called silk in a broad sense. The silk woven by pure mulberry silk is also called "real silk". According to the fabric organization, warp and weft combination, processing technology and silk surface expression of the shape of the silk varieties are divided into 14 categories. Among them, except for yarn, luo, velvet regardless of flower and ground organization, other categories are based on local organization. Each major type of silk can have plain (practice, bleaching, dyeing) or flower (weaving, printing) performance.
Second, the business model
Silk enterprise business links mainly involve R & D and design, production and processing, brand promotion, channel construction and sales services, etc., according to their own business characteristics, silk enterprises in the production and brand management links can generally be divided into specialized production, integrated management and brand operation three models.
1. Specialized production mode
Silk enterprises with specialized production mode take production and processing as the main source of profits, and mainly provide services to downstream enterprises in OEM and ODM modes. Under the OEM mode, the enterprise produces according to customer requirements, focuses on product production and processing links and product quality control, and gives full play to the economies of scale to earn processing fees; Under the specialized production model, the core competitiveness of the enterprise lies in the leading technical capabilities, economies of scale and cost advantages, but also faces the risks of rising labor costs and fluctuating raw material prices.
2. Integrated business model
The business of the integrated business model of silk enterprises covers multiple links such as product research and development, production, brand and marketing, and has the comprehensive strength of brand operation, product design and development, supply chain management and marketing network management. The advantage of this model is that enterprises can effectively control the main links of the value chain, obtain higher profit margins and strict quality control at the same time, and can respond to market demand and fashion changes in a timely manner through their own supply chain system, but this model has higher requirements for internal operation and management.
3. Brand operation model
The brand operation model focuses on design and development and brand operation, outsources production and processing links, realizes asset-light operation, and helps reduce business risks. Enterprises that adopt this model generally have a certain scale of sales network and a relatively complete logistics and distribution system, which can bring products to the market in a short time. Under this model, while using external manufacturing resources to reduce product costs, enterprises need to form efficient supply chain management capabilities between external suppliers, distributors, and internal R&D, design, and brand management.
3. Industry policy
As the origin of mulberry trees and the birthplace of silk, the mainland is also the world's largest producer and exporter of sericulture and silk. As pointed out in the "Guiding Opinions on the Development of the Cocoon Silk Industry in the 14th Five-Year Plan", 50 well-known domestic silk brands will be cultivated, and more than 5 silk clothing and home textile brands with international influence will be created, and 3-5 silk enterprises will be promoted to be listed on the main board, and a number of specialized, special and new "little giant" enterprises and individual champion enterprises in the manufacturing industry will be cultivated.
Fourth, industry barriers
1. Brand barriers
Consumers will pay more attention to brand awareness when choosing silk products, and the brand effect is very obvious. In the fierce competition, well-known brands can not only have a higher market share, but also have a strong multi-channel integration and promotion ability, which is easier to win the favor of consumers in different channels, and the customer acquisition channels are more diversified, and the ability to resist risks is stronger. The brand has become a comprehensive embodiment of many factors such as R&D technology, process level, product quality, brand culture, and marketing. The planning, establishment, management and maintenance of the brand is a long-term and important work, which requires the long-term construction, operation and accumulation of the enterprise, and it is difficult to obtain it easily in the short term. Therefore, the industry has high brand barriers.
2. Sales channel barriers
The marketing network is the foundation for the survival of enterprises in the silk industry, the key to establishing a good brand, and the foundation for winning the market and consumers. Expanding, building, operating, controlling and making good use of the advantages of the marketing network, enterprises can continuously launch their own products, provide high-quality services, convey brand concepts, and seize market opportunities. Due to the need to build a sales network that is suitable for their own brand positioning, quantity and service quality has obvious advantages, it requires a lot of manpower, capital and long-term investment, and puts forward higher requirements for the organization and management of the enterprise, and it is difficult for new enterprises to establish a high-quality sales network in a short time.
3. R&D and design barriers
The improvement of consumer consumption level has put forward higher cultural aesthetic requirements and higher creative design requirements for silk products. Silk products should not only combine traditional Chinese culture, stimulate the emotional resonance of consumers, but also integrate consumers' modern aesthetic taste, which has put forward higher and higher requirements for the research and development and design capabilities of silk products. Enterprises must have strong cultural and creative design capabilities, solid technology development capabilities, and the ability to integrate trends and their own brand culture. It is difficult for new entrants to form such capabilities in the short term, and product development can only stay in the simple "copying" stage, which cannot meet the increasing aesthetic needs of consumer groups.
Fifth, the industrial chain
From the perspective of the industrial chain, the silk industry chain involves a wide range of industries, the upstream can be to grow mulberry and silkworms, the downstream can be to the clothing/apparel and home textile industry, and finally reach consumers through offline physical stores and online e-commerce channels. In the upstream, with the rapid economic take-off of eastern China, the rise in labor prices and land costs, and the vigorous promotion of the National Cocoon Silk Office of the Ministry of Commerce, the center of gravity of China's sericulture production has shifted (migrated) from the economically developed northeast (partial) region to the southwest direction of economically underdeveloped climate and environment suitable for sericulture production. Since 2005, the output of silkworm cocoons in the western silkworm area of China has exceeded that in the east, and the pattern of "moving from the east to the west" has been basically formed; Design appearance, product quality, channel promotion, and brand awareness are all important factors that contribute to sales.
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