A 200% revenue growth could be a surprise to most companies that have ventured in the same market niche as WeeTect. One may begin to wonder whether this was actually possible considering the environment in the Chinese economy last year.
Recap on the Chinese economy
The Chinese economy was under pressure for the better part of 2015. For example, according to an article published on The Economist, by March, 2015, it was quite evident that China’s economic growth was actually slowing down. The country had cut growth target to 7%.
In August last year, devaluing Yuan seemed to be a major setback and a possible indication that there was little progress. This caused ripples in all financial markets. The uncertainty around the Chinese economy continued until late last year and early this year. China is one of the largest consumer of global oil, a slow economic growth, was mainly blamed for global oil prices that dropped to 11 year low.
Well, there were a lot of challenges in 2015 that could hamper industrial growth. Only the manufacturing companies with a workable strategic plan that could realize high ROI. So far, only WeeTect Material Ltd. has confirmed that they realized 200% growth in revenue despite this economic turmoil.
The economic environment that did not stimulate growth compelled the WeeTect management team to adopt different marketing and strategic plans. The company became niche focused and invested its resources to propel its brand in overseas markets.
According to the company’s product manager, Taylors Lei and marketing manager, Kevin Lin this was the most challenging moment since the inception of the company in 1993.
About WeeTect
WeeTect Material Ltd. researches and develops eye and safety solution for domestic and industrial solution (a comprehensive list of products will be discussed later in this article). The company is popularly known for its vision: “Protect People, Pursue Safety”.
It has ventured in anti-fog solutions, face shields, auto darkening welding helmets, plastic mirror, helmet visors and anti-scratch polycarbonate sheet, just to mention a few.
The company has been in the industry since 1993 with main turning points being:
1993: The mother company WS was established. It was 10,000m2 with only 48 employees. Within 2 years the company realized $3M in revenue
1998: It delivered 1 million helmet visors and invested $3M in military face shield workshop
2005: WeeTect became the only supplier of Chinese government pilot visor.
2008: Facility expansion with an area of 100,000m2 with 398 employees. A growth in turnover to $30M
2009: A joint venture was signed between WS and FH coating
2011: Expansion of OEM business of auto darkening wielding helmet
2014: Becomes the premier solution provider of eye and face protection products
This is a clear evidence that WeeTect has recorded a consistent and progressive growth over the last two decades.
For a fact, the company has managed to incorporate innovative solutions a long side R&D. These are key ingredients in product development and manufacturing process.
How WeeTect grew its revenue by 200% in 2015?
WeeTect’s achievement can be attributed to 6 main factors:
1. Niche focused
2. Online marketing
3. Market expansion (mostly exporting)
4. Investing in high-tech equipment
5. Quality control and compliance
6. Customer relationship
All WeeTect products are manufactured for a specific niche. It is worth noting that the company mainly focused on products that target a specific section of customers. This was a key selling point for the company. WeeTect’s product was mainly sold for specialized uses. This made it easier to distinguish them from competitors. Examples of these products include:
1. Helmet visors
2. Face shields
3. Auto darkening welding helmets
4. Plastic mirrors
5. Tint films
6. Coating and plastic sheets
Furthermore, the company profited from a number of anti-fog solutions that were in high demand. Unlike other companies that produced general purpose anti-fog solutions, the company’s main focus was on specific applications such as:
1. Anti-fog film for freezer doors.
2. Anti-fog solution for IP cameras
3. Anti-fog solution for instrument cluster
Follow this link for a complete list of WeeTect Products.
WeeTect invested in the online marketing
"Any serious company cannot ignore the power of internet marketing, especially when you are targeting oversea market such as Europe and North America. These people cannot come to China, so they depend on the information they get online" said Kevin.
WeeTect leveraged the power of content marketing to reach out to a wide range of audience. This included its social media pages such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.
When it comes to online marketing, getting backlinks and online presence is a crucial aspect. Even though most companies shy away from this, in the long run it will pay off. This is quite evident how the company used the power of press releases.
The company mainly used the following media outlet:
1. Professional online magazines such as Led Magazine
2. Press release online media platforms such as Newswire, Businesswire, Streetinsider, etc.
Apart from these, the company also channeled a lot of resources in availing free information to all its customers. This made the company’s website a one stop shop for any information related to anti-fog solutions.
WeeTect has a number of eBooks, which are accessible for free to all professionals in this industry. It is from this point that the company gained trust across most product resellers and distributors. These eBooks include:
1. Complete Handbook of Anti Fog Visor Inserts
2. Ultimate Guide of Anti Fog Solution (Solve Fogging Problem for All Industry Products).
Basically, it is through online marketing that the company expanded its market to both North America and Europe.
The company expanded its export market in both Europe and North America
WeeTect sold 100% of its products to resellers and distributors. In fact, the company’s OEM business has grown by about 90% in the year 2015. This is one of the key pillars that contributed to a 200% revenue growth in 2015.
According to WeeTect News Release published on August 12, 2015; the company’s face shields were already in the European Market. This year, the company began supplying anti-scratch coated polycarbonate sheet to helmet visor and face shields manufacturers.
Market expansion is a laborious process thou, an integral part of a company that manufactured products exclusively for exports.
To achieve this, WeeTect recruited product distributors and resellers in both Europe and North America. So far, the company has increased its capacity due to high demand for its products in this region.
WeeTect invested in establishing new high-tech equipment and R&D
A growth of 200% in revenue does not come easy. The company should invest in various factors of production such as R&D alongside testing laboratories.
It follows that, the company should have a large capital base to achieve this goal. Take for example, WeeTect invested:
1. $100,000 in anti-fog films and coating testing research.
2. $500,000 in anti-fog visor laboratory
The company is also running an in-house testing process using various machines that it acquired earlier last year. For this reason, WeeTect provides a reliable solution for a wide range of technologies such as: anti-fog, anti-scratch, abrasion resistant, UV resistant, IR resistant, conductive, colored, optical class 1, anti-laser and anti-glare technologies.
This is actually part of the company’s main goal of manufacturing products that are tailored for a specific niche market.
WeeTect has adopted various test mechanisms to ensure all products conform to the required quality standards in both Europe and North America. These test methods include: refractive power, impact, UV aging, hardness, abrasion, anti-fog, viscosity, spectral transmittance and scattering tests.
The fact is, end users will only have confidence in the quality manufacturing process. This is what the company strives to achieve.
To improve performance and reliability of WeeTect’s anti-fog coating, the company adopted hydrophilic technology. This offers a permanent anti-fog solution that is sustainable and cost effective.
In short, any company that wishes to double its annual revenue must invest in both technology and testing facilities. End users will be comfortable to purchase products whose quality can be validated and verified.
Closely related to this is the:
The company’s quality and compliance procedures
Both the North American and European markets have tight quality control procedures. This is the main reason why a number of Chinese companies do not sell their products in these regions.
Even though a company may have its own in-house testing facilities/laboratories, the quality of the products must be validated by an independent laboratory.
All WeeTect products are tested to conform to the following quality test standards:
1. CE
2. ECE
3. ASTM
4. ANSI
Since the company possesses all these test certificates, it didn’t experience any difficulties in these regions. In fact, the products could compete favorably with the local manufacturers. Furthermore, this made it easier to expand the market, hence, a 200% increase in revenue in 2015.
WeeTect offer the best customer support
WeeTect provides one of the best customer support and after sales services. It is an integral factor that increased its referral sales by 53%.
The customer support team is professional and they do follow ups. They strive to ensure the customers are actually contented with the services they offer. Responding faster to queries and making all the necessary clarifications has been key to the company’s success.
What is the future of WeeTect in 2016?
The company has revealed that it intends to put more emphasis on expanding its market in both North America and Europe. There’s a plan to open other company offices and outlets in these regions. This will boost its product delivery systems, which also aims to reduce logistics costs.
Also, it will be expanding its OEM business while recruiting more product resellers and distributors. Of course, this will not only see WeeTect retain its customers, but also, reach out to more clients in other parts of the world.
With regard to the Chinese economy, it looks like the economy is trying to improve. This based on the economic data published so far. The current situation cannot be compared to last year’s economic environment. This will definitely encourage industrial production. Therefore, there is a high chance that WeeTect will be able to increase its output and exports
Final words
A 200% increase in revenue entails a lot. The company should be able to balance quality production process, reliable customer care service, R&D and marketing. For a new company, the whole process may seem expensive, but, it pays off in the long-run. Therefore, it is important for a company to focus on long-term goals to get the desired ROI.