In the international food and beverage market, no one knows Singapore's "Yang Xiecheng", Yang Xiecheng Co., Ltd. has branches in Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Mauritius and other places, and its products are well received by consumers around the world.
The Yang Tianen brothers started with soy sauce to create a new world story, which is also familiar to Chinese people around the world. "Soy milk, sugar cane, refreshing tea, pushing the old out of the new to hit the world." People use this sentence to summarize the history of "Yang Xiecheng".
It is of great significance to us to study the development history of the three generations of Yang Xiecheng from Yang Ren to Yang Zhiyao, more than 90 years of innovation, and cooperation to achieve success.
"Yang Xiecheng" is not the name of a person, but the name of the soy sauce factory opened by Yang Renyi in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province.
Yang Renlian, also known as Yang Jinglian, jilian, ancestral home of Jinjiang County, Fujian Province, his mother abandoned when he was 4 years old, he was pulled by his sister to grow up, the family was in difficulty, only 4 years of private school.
At the age of 15, he followed his father to a sauce garden in Zhangzhou as an apprentice, loyal and honest, willing to do heavy work, sharp hands and feet, very popular with the boss, every year to give him a raise. By the age of 19, he was reused as a treasurer.
After years of accumulation, at the age of 37, Yang Renyu felt that he had the ability to create a career.
So he resigned from the position of treasurer, used 22 years of savings of 40 yuan as capital, and in 1901 he took down a soy sauce factory called "Huang Xiecheng", changed "Huang" to "Yang", and called "Yang Xiecheng" Sauce Garden.
Yang Renyun's career is very smooth, and what is even happier is that his daughter-in-law has given birth to 5 sons in a row, and the sons have been crawling and rolling in the sauce garden since they were young, curiously watching the production of sauce, and when they grow up, they will do some work for the sauce garden with their hands and feet.
However, Yang Renyun did not require his sons to inherit his father's business, and he was willing to spend money to let them study, hoping that they would become an official and a half-position in the future. However, it was a matter of course for the eldest son to inherit his father's business, so after the eldest son Yang Tianen graduated from Trinity College in Fuzhou, he stayed in the sauce garden to help his father manage the business.
Yang Tianen was ambitious, and in 1918, he purchased new land in Zhangzhou and built a new Xiecheng sauce garden. In 1928, another sauce garden was built. At the end of the 1930s, China's political situation was turbulent and the official scene was sinister. Yang Tian'en simply pulled his younger brother Tianci and Tianhua into the sauce garden, and went outside to cause trouble less, and it was better not to do anything to lose his head.
In 1937, the Lugou Bridge Incident occurred in China, the war was full of storms, Yang Tianen saw that the situation was not good, and took his son to Hong Kong to find a "happy land" for investment, but failed to find the ideal place.
In 1938, the father and son arrived in Singapore, bought a piece of land they liked, began to build a soy sauce factory, and asked their brothers to come to Singapore to start a business.
Soon, Yang Tianqiu, who graduated from Beijing University and studied in Japan, and Yang Tiancheng, who graduated from Nankai University, arrived in Singapore. Tian'en specializes in production, and Tianqiu and Zhijie are responsible for sales. Tiancheng manages accounting.
In 1938, the Mid-Autumn Festival was announced, and the opening of Yang Xiecheng Sauce Garden was announced. However, just this Mid-Autumn Festival, an unfortunate news came that the Yang Xiecheng Sauce Garden in Zhangzhou was blown up by Japanese planes. While the Yang brothers were angry, they gritted their teeth and worked hard to make Yang Xiecheng more prosperous.
However, before 1946, Singapore's soy sauce industry was monopolized by Guangdong nationals, and the soy sauce produced was "black and white" - the sauce was green and white, and the old smoke was black. This soy sauce is very popular with customers. As a result, the Yang brothers' Fujian-style soy sauce was scarce, the business was difficult to do, the old ben was almost lost, Yang Tianen almost led his brothers back to China, but after several thoughts, he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
Later, the Japanese army invaded Singapore and closed all the sauce gardens, but "Yang Xiecheng" was spared, because he was hit by the bomb, the factory building was in tatters, and the Japanese did not look at it. "Yang Xiecheng" was blessed by misfortune and became the only sauce garden on the market, no matter what the taste, customers did not ask for it, and Yang Xiecheng's business turned around.
After the war, the Young brothers quickly launched soy sauce in large quantities, occupying the markets of Singapore and Southern Malaya without opponents.
In 1947, Yang Xiecheng's soy sauce factory bought a 10-acre piece of land, raze it to the ground in two years, and built a fully mechanized food manufacturing plant, which was a milestone for "Yang Xiecheng" to be reborn from the sauce garden.
In the same year, Yang Tianhua, who graduated from Xiamen University, also went to Singapore to serve as the director of the sales department of Yang Xiecheng Soy Sauce Factory. The yang family also graduated from the Department of Chemistry of Xiamen University and arrived in Singapore, where he collected various canned foods and studied recipes.
From 1951 to 1953, "Yang Xiecheng" first launched a product other than soy sauce - canned food, which was well-known in Southeast Asia.
In 1951, Yang Tianci also arrived in Singapore. At this point, the five tigers of the Yang family will gather in one place and work together to expand their careers. The order of the 5 brothers is: Heavenly Grace, Heavenly Gift, Heavenly Request, Heavenly Cheng, and Tianhua.
Brothers are united, Tarzan can move. The 1950s was an era of rapid development of "Yang Xiecheng".
In 1955, a beverage manufacturing plant was added, and soy milk and chrysanthemum tea were introduced.
In 1959, branches were established in Malacca, Sibu, Ipoh and Kuching.
The 60s and 70s were the years when "Yang Xiecheng" developed and grew. In 1961, the chicken essence factory was established in Kuala Lumpur, and in 1968, the plant area and the number of machinery and equipment were increased by three times, and the company went public in March 1969. In the 1970s, it entered the world market and achieved remarkable results.
In October 1974, Pepsi International Usa New York Head Office announced that it had granted Singapore Yeung Hee Shing Limited a patent for the manufacture and sale of PepsiCo and Mei Linglu in Singapore.
In this year alone, the net profit from the export of canned goods and beverages was as high as 10 million maons.
The person who really pushed Yang Xiecheng to the great development is Yang Zhiyao, the third-generation leader of Yang Xiecheng and the current chairman and director manager of Yang Xiecheng Co., Ltd.
Born in 1932, Yang Zhiyao is the third son of Yang Tianen, the second generation of Yang Xiecheng's head. Yang Zhiyao has been deeply loved by his father since childhood, but Yang Tianen's original wish was to hope that his third son would study medicine and survive in the future.
So in 1947, he sent the 15-year-old Yang Zhiyao to study at Columbard College in Dublin, Ireland, who knew that because he had not studied Latin in Singapore, he could not study medicine, so he had to transfer to chemistry.
After completing his studies, Yang Zhiyao worked as a local chemical analyst for 3 years, of which one and a half years was the world-famous food company "Nestlé" service, unintentionally planting willows, unconsciously, he "stole" to learn a lot of advanced management methods.
In 1958, Yang Zhiyao returned home from school. Yang Tianen was overjoyed to see this mature and knowledgeable son, and had forgotten his wish to study medicine, and immediately suggested that his son join Yang Xiecheng. Several of Yang Zhiyao's uncles also lobbied, so he gladly resigned, became Yang Xiecheng's chemical analyst, and then took over the laboratory and gradually became involved in the operation.
Yang Zhiyao's business talents were soon revealed and were valued by singapore's business community. Since 1964, he has been appointed Vice-President and President of the Executive Committee of the Singapore Manufacturers Association. From 1963 to 1969, he served as Vice-Chairman and Chairman of the Singapore Telecommunications Board and was awarded the Public Service Star medal in 1969.
At the same time, Yang Zhiyao proposed many reform plans for "Yang Xiecheng" and promoted the business development of "Yang Xiecheng". For example, in 1969, after repeated persuasion by Yang Zhiyao, the "Yang Xiecheng" Group announced that it would be listed on the exchange and establish Yang Xiecheng Holdings Pte Ltd,which collected more funds, avoided poor turnover, and was conducive to the development of the great plan.
In 1985, Yang Tianen died, and Yang Zhiyao officially assumed the main position of the company. At this time, he had been working in "Yang Xiecheng" for 27 years and was already a successful businessman with unique vision and rich experience. The burden of the family business cannot be borne by him.
After Yang Zhiyao became the head of the government, he inherited the management experience of his grandparents and fathers, improved it, and promoted Yang Xiecheng to achieve greater development.
For example, in terms of opening up the international market, the second and third generations of the Yang family have spared no effort, and it can even be said with certainty that this is the biggest business feature of "Yang Xiecheng". In the Yang Tianen period, it achieved great success, and in the Yang Zhiyao period, it was even more outstanding.
In 1952, "Yeung Hee Shing" opened its first branch in Sibu, East Malaysia, specializing in soy sauce, and the business was booming. Yang Tianen continued to work hard and set up a branch in Ipoh West Malaysia, and later established a factory. In 1962, a sign was hung in Hong Kong, and in 1966 it developed to the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada.
Yang Zhiyao continued to implement this open business strategy and set his sights on the world. This is mainly manifested in two aspects: expanding the non-Chinese market, entering the Americas and investing in Chinese mainland.
In 1988, "Yang Xiecheng" and another company formed a joint venture company to acquire the "Chongqing" trademark from the Navistco Group in the United States and Canada; a 21.6-hectare land and factory in Maryland, USA; a 1.34-hectare land and factory in Ontario, Canada; and some machinery and equipment for making sauces in Saint-Tris, Canada.
This move is of great significance for "Yang Xiecheng" to open up a huge market in North America, in the past its products can only enter the Chinatowns of various cities, and now through the "Chongqing" trademark, "Yang Xiecheng" products have been sold in supermarkets in the United States, truly winning foreign customers, the market potential is immeasurable.
The acquisition cost $50 million, but it was more profitable. It is another important milestone for Yang's enterprises to go to the world.
So in 1988, "Yang Xiecheng", the "ugly duckling" who went out of China, now flew back to his homeland with the heroic posture of a "swan". In December, it signed a contract with Baiyun District of Guangzhou City to invest 2.329 million US dollars to establish a soy milk production line. In 1989, another 3 million US dollars was invested to jointly build a 1.25-liter plastic soda bottle production line to develop a "new variety of Yang Xiecheng soda".
At the same time, Guangzhou Xinfa Beverage Co., Ltd. was formed to build a beverage city on the outskirts of Guangzhou. Based in Guangzhou, Yang Zhiyao developed Yang Xiecheng's products to the north. At present, the "Yang Xiecheng" brand of soy milk, soda, chrysanthemum tea, herbal tea, barley tea, etc. have been commercialized and mass-produced in China, which has penetrated into the market and has been loved by consumers.
The investment in the non-Chinese market and the Chinese mainland two areas was untouched by Yang's predecessors, and Yang Zhiyao did it, and it is not too much to use "the back wave of the Yangtze River to push the front wave" to describe the new development of "Yang Xiecheng".
As Chairman of the Singapore Trade Development Council, Yeung not only pioneered the Chinese market himself, but also led other Singaporean manufacturers to enter the Chinese mainland.
On April 6, 1990, he personally led a delegation from the paper, timber, plastics, computer and food and beverage industries to Visit Sichuan Province in China for nine days to look for investment opportunities. Yang Zhiyao said that Sichuan is the province with the largest number of Chinese, and its trade relations with Singapore are getting closer and closer, and the Trade Development Bureau has organized a delegation to visit Sichuan for the first time, which is of great significance.
"We are always capturing familiar opportunities that can be developed. As long as the conditions are right and we are familiar with the industry, we will consider investment. We have done this in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Yang Zhiyao used this sentence to summarize his motivation, method and determination to lead "Yang Xiecheng" to fight in the world overseas, and expressed his confidence in expanding the Chinese market.
In terms of personnel management, Yang Zhiyao emphasized the "management of personnel management" and believed that a reasonable personnel system should be applied to deal with the relationship between people in the company, as well as the rights and obligations of each person.
If the personnel system is unfair, reasonable, reasonable and legal, the normal development of the business cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, in "Yang Xiecheng", there is a strict assessment system, and the promotion and promotion of cadres are all handled according to the system, and talents are never selected because of personal emotional closeness.
This makes the Yang family unrelated, related, shrewd and capable, and people with ability can feel that as long as they have the ability and can achieve good results, there is hope for promotion. As a result, the drive is greater and they compete with each other. Therefore, Yang Xiecheng has attracted a large number of talents, and now Yang Xiecheng has more than 2,000 employees in Singapore and Malaysia alone, including bachelor's, master's, doctoral and other professionals.
Yang Zhiyao stressed that in the course of operation, it is necessary to "know oneself and know the other, and win every battle." In the laboratory of "Yang Xiecheng", there are hundreds of new foreign products for laboratory personnel to seriously study.
In addition, Yang Zhiyao also attaches great importance to the improvement of modern management and productivity, and leads Yang Xiecheng to move from the old production and traditional business management methods to the new era of science and technology.
For example, in 1987, "Yang Xiecheng" broke the ground into the high-tech shrimp farming industry and set up Singapore's first high-tech shrimp farm, with an annual output of up to 300 metric tons of black shrimp. At the same time, "Yeung Hee Shing" has also actively introduced advanced equipment, and from 1979 to 1989, it has invested 47 million Singapore dollars to install new machines, and the production speed has increased several times.
The courage to innovate also makes "Yang Xiecheng" a source of wealth. "Yang Xiecheng" as early as the 60s, the launch of cartoned beverages, can be said to be the first to open the atmosphere, other companies as late as the 70s to launch boxed drinks, in the market competition than "to Xiecheng" a lot behind. "Yang Xiecheng" has sold 2 billion cartons of cartoned beverages at this stage of thriving.
Yang Zhiyao said: "Our attempt to launch the carton is indeed a great leap forward. ”
In addition, "Yang Xiecheng" also took the lead in launching canned curries, sour and spicy shrimp and other Southeast Asian foods. In the 1980s, a new attempt was made to install about 4,000 drink vending machines in major cities in Malaysia and Singapore, and the performance was not ideal, but the spirit was commendable.
Constantly reforming the quality of beverages is an important move, otherwise, even the best packaging will not attract customers. Yang Zhiyao used the variety of the company's failure as an example when talking about experience. "Yang Xiecheng" once launched bottled sour plum soup, but due to the low quality of imported sour plums, the taste was not popular with the younger generation, and it was eliminated.
In the early 1970s, the company's production of carbonated orange juice also failed due to rejection.
However, in the face of failure, Yang Zhiyao was not discouraged, but summed up the "three major disciplines" that Yang Xiecheng beverage products must strictly abide by in the future :(1) The raw material quality of beverages must be superior. (2) The taste must be accepted by consumers. (3) The quality must remain unchanged for a long time. Based on this principle, Yang Xiecheng's products will be extremely popular in the future.
At present, there are more than 90 members of the Yang family, of which 20 are overseas, and a total of 15 people work in "Yang Xiecheng", including the main leaders of the head office and overseas branches.
Every Christmas and Lunar New Year, this big family will hold a big party, especially the reunion dinner Chinese New Year's Eve every year, which is a big event.
At that time, more than 90 people gathered in the company auditorium, arranged their seats in three circles to express their unity, and then prayed, and the elders spoke some words of encouragement. The Yang family also maintains a strong Chinese family character.
Yang Zhiyao had two sons and one daughter, but he did not insist that the children inherit the family business, although he was happy to see one of the children join Yang Xiecheng.
On the issue of heirs, Yang Zhiyao said that he was not worried, he thought so: "The company's current performance is very good, there will be a suitable candidate to succeed in the future, and it does not matter whether this person's surname is Yang or not." In fact, more and more talents with the surname of Yang are gradually appearing in important posts of "Yang Xiecheng", which is also a new move of Yang Zhiyao to reform the old system of family management.
At present, the factories and branches of the "Yang Xiecheng" Group are spread across all continents of the world, and the number of employees has reached more than 3,600 people, and it is indeed difficult to rely on some people in the Yang family to operate. It can be seen that Yang Zhiyao's decision-making is bound to be more conducive to the expansion of "Yang Xiecheng".
Now Yang Zhiyao is already in power and has a lot of wealth. But Yang Zhiyao did not relax himself. Although he is in a high position, he often runs to the production line and laboratory to discuss various business problems with employees.
He worked five days a week, from 8:15 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Yang Zhiyao also did not look at no one with his own background and exaggerated. Usually, his words are not much, but he pays more attention to practical actions, giving people the impression of being easy and thick.
In his spare time, Yang Zhiyao's biggest hobby is playing golf, he plays golf at least twice a week to adjust his mood and relax the nerves that are tense due to work.
Nearly a century, after going through ups and downs, the Yang family has created today's enviable achievements, and Yang Zhiyao adheres to the spirit of his father's business, carrying forward and striving endlessly, which is more worthy of our reference and learning.