If you want to ask which product is in the C position in the current ceramic industry, slate can be said to be the one that takes the lead. As a new cross-border material, slate has attracted much attention not only in the ceramic industry, but also in the entire field of home building materials; some even believe that slate will gradually replace ceramic tiles, stone and other materials, becoming a dilemma for ceramic companies. A life-saving straw for a breakout.
Is the rock slab a magic weapon descended from heaven or a mirrored flower? On the afternoon of August 31st, "New Blue Ocean, Big Brands" hosted by China Building Decoration Association, hosted by China Building Decoration Association Materials Application Branch and China Ceramics Network—— At the 10th China Real Estate and Pan-Home Furnishing Industry Cross-border Summit and the 2020 "Top Ten Building and Sanitary Ceramics Brand List" Award Ceremony, a special The "Qian'yan' Competition - Slate Development Trends and Terminal Response Strategies" roundtable forum invites big names from various fields in the home furnishing industry to conduct in-depth discussions, including China Construction Senior consultant of Sanitary Ceramics Association, Secretary-General of Foshan Ceramics Industry Association, Professor of South China University of Technology Yin Hong, Chairman of Dajiaolu Super Wear-Resistant Marble Ceramics Nanshunzhi, Tongli Managing Director of Marble Ceramics, Visiting Professor of Jingdezhen Ceramics University Zhang Nianchao, Founder and Chairman of Wanda Xichuang Brand Su Peigui, Chairman of Hangzhou Jinbai Shuiqing Design Institute, Zhejiang Architectural Decoration Executive Chairman of the Design Committee of the Association, Executive Director of Zhejiang Environmental Artists AssociationZhang Fengyi, President of Golden Mantis Beijing Design Institute, Vice President of Tianjin Public Art Research Institute, Distinguished Professor of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, Visiting Professor of Tianjin University of Commerce Professor Wu Di; and NetEase Home National Editor-in-Chief Ms. Hu Yanli was specially invited to serve as the moderator of the forum.
Yin Hong, Nan Shunzhi, Zhang Nianchao, Su Peigui, Zhang Fengyi, Wu Di, Hu Yanli and other big names discussed what kind of ideological sparks can be generated by the rock slab. Let us review the live recording of the forum together.
1
Preface by the host
▲Hu Yanli
From the second half of 2019 to the first half of 2020, the most popular word is slate. There are two particularly important reasons why slate is so popular. The first one has entered the field of large home furnishings from the field of building materials, covering all categories of large home furnishings as decorative panels; the second reason comes more from the products. An upgraded iteration of itself, the product performance is very good, moisture-proof, wear-resistant and stain-resistant. These two reasons have become the driving force behind the explosion of rock slabs.
But think about it the other way around, Is rock slab an incremental addition to our industry? Is it really a blue ocean? Or is it just a new category outlet (like antique bricks). As we all know, after decades of vigorous development, the entire ceramic industry has experienced a period of decline in development in the past two years. Against this background, the emergence of slate is a bit like a life-saving straw. In fact, it has such a significant impact on our enterprise. Meaning, should practitioners seize this opportunity? How should we seize this opportunity? In today's forum, I believe everyone can gain something from the sharing of big names.
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Ideology about rock slabs
Hu Yanli: Dr. Yin, you have been researching in the industry for many years and are very authoritative. I especially want to know about the fact that slate has existed abroad for many years, probably ten or twenty years. Why has it suddenly become popular in China? ? Apart from the two superficial reasons I just mentioned, what is the reason behind it?
▲Yin Hong
Yin Hong: The name slate has indeed existed for a long time. As of this year, no country in the world produces as much slate as China. It is not popular abroad because foreign countries pay more attention to personalization; why it is popular in China is because the market is profit-oriented. The price of our ceramic tiles is very low. Slate is a high-end product when it comes out. Selling it more expensive means that the profit margin will be higher. Slate has entered the home furnishing field, and the cheap ones now cost 100 yuan/㎡. For example, the price of an 800×1400mm table at an exhibition some time ago was 688 yuan, which is very cheap compared to the 3,000 to 4,000 yuan of big brands. Assuming that the accessories and rock slabs are divided in half, the material is 344 yuan; assuming that the processing of the rock slab and its own products are divided in half, it is 172 yuan. A rock slab of only 1.12㎡ can be sold for about 155 yuan/㎡. It can be said that slate brings ceramic tile back to the era of the money printing press.
Hu Yanli: Dr. Yin mentioned the money printing machine, which is very exciting. So whether slate is a very good blue ocean market, Bighorn Deer super wear-resistant marble tiles also have a say. Because we learned that Dajiulu, which has always been focusing on marble tiles, has also launched slate products. So, Mr. Nan, are you planning to subvert yourself and revolutionize your own life?
▲Nan Shunzhi
Nan Shunzhi: The product itself can speak. The slate has its own traffic, which is equivalent to a popular hot product. It can also be said to be a new innovation point in the ceramic tile industry. . Slate is the future trend of our ceramic tile industry, but the current slate is still in its rudimentary state. I think slate should be made, because marble pattern accounts for the largest market share in the slate category, I believe it is 90%. Although slate is a trend in the ceramic tile industry, it does not mean that slate can replace ceramic tiles. Ceramic tiles are a large category, and slate is just one of its subdivisions. like inIn the water heater industry, even if air-energy water heaters break out, they cannot completely replace electric water heaters and solar water heaters. As for whether slate is a new blue ocean, I think the sea is still the same sea. It depends on whether we can cultivate deeper fields. In the future, no matter how you divide the cake of slate, everyone will have a chance. Innovation is the only way for enterprise development, but do not engage in pseudo-innovation. Innovation that can actually solve users' pain points is real innovation.
Hu Yanli: Mr. Nan’s message was very clear, and he was very calm and rational about a new thing like rock slabs. Then Professor Zhang of Tongli, who also specializes in marble tiles, was also present. Who do you support more between Dr. Yin, who is more optimistic about slate, and Mr. Nan, who is more conservative?
▲Zhang Nianchao
Zhang Nianchao: I don’t stand for anyone. Ceramic tiles have been used as decoration materials for many years. After the emergence of slate, the decoration field may be wider and wider. Whether the product of slate has a future and how it will develop in the future is still unknown. But what we can know is that ceramic tiles must change from decoration to decoration, whether as boards or as bricks. This change depends not on manufacturers but on consumers and designers. To give an example, the places where we needed to use ceramic tiles the most were kitchens and bathrooms. Many people said that ceramic tiles are irreplaceable, but now many bathrooms and kitchens are beginning to use paint. In the future, slate can also be used to make suspended ceilings. Designers just need such a material. If slate is not used, other materials will be used to make it. This is a crossover caused by changes in consumption.
Hu Yanli: Professor Zhang’s point of view is also very clear. It is not the initiative to iterate products, but the market needs product iterations. In this case, if companies want to seize this opportunity, I believe they need to think more about positioning. I would like to ask Mr. Su from Wandaxtron about this. You have been making bathroom tiles for a long time. How is the situation? What experiences can you share with us?
▲Su Peigui
Su Peigui: I started to get into contact with slate in September last year. In fact, there are several major fields of slate, namely home slate, home decoration slate, and bathroom slate. We at Wanda Xtron mainly focus on For bathroom slates. Currently, a big problem with bathroom slate is cutting. Cut damage is a headache. After we suffered a loss for the first time, wedecided to set up our own deep processing factory. After the rock slabs are produced, they are transported to our deep-processing factory for cutting. After selecting the processing method, the accurate data will be sent to our processing factory. The customer will get our accurate data for cutting, which can avoid unnecessary steps in cutting. damaged. There is also the issue of material loss. In the past, we used large-sized slate boards for cutting, which resulted in a lot of waste, which in turn increased the cost of garbage disposal, so later we made 600×800, 600×1000, 600×1200mm, etc. etc. Specification boards, which can not only reduce losses, but also reduce the cost of transporting garbage.
Hu Yanli: Mr. Su shared that two very important points in the final product of rock slabs are that cutting is easy to break and produces too much waste. Things like how to improve performance and increase utilization should be considered at the supporting + process level. So in the field of application and design, we also want to hear the opinions of teachers Zhang Fengyi and Wu Di.
▲Zhang Fengyi
Zhang Fengyi: The first time I came into contact with rock slabs was in an exhibition hall in Spain eight years ago. Nowadays, the large porcelain slabs in China are called slates. I think it makes sense. If they are called slates, the price can be raised a bit. In fact, the development of rock slabs has several advantages. First, the slab itself is thin and light, and can be used later.It can be dry-hanged with honeycomb paste; secondly, natural marble is relatively expensive and can be replaced by slate; thirdly, slate is used in kitchen spaces, such as cabinet countertops, where pollution can be wiped clean and it can be burned on it Steak, and there are no gaps in the splicing. In this way, the process requirements for rock slabs will be relatively high. Cutting, transportation, and installation will cost tens of thousands of dollars once broken. Therefore, where these processes are carried out is very critical, and it is very necessary for the designer and the factory to carry out them at the same time. Someone from the ceramic tile company asked me about the future development direction of slate. I said that in the future, we need to find elements from nature to create some unique textures and colors. Nowadays, it is not enough for all products to be exactly the same. Therefore, the development of rock slabs has reached the stage of becoming a luxury product.
Hu Yanli: Thank you, Mr. Zhang. I would like to ask Mr. Wu Di, what do you think of rock slabs? Are they widely used in space applications?
▲Wu Di
Wu Di: I don’t know where to start talking about rock slabs, so let’s talk about the Beijing China Zun project. It just so happened that this project was done by us. It was a space with a typical slate color. It was also relatively large in size and height and had strict requirements on construction technology. Therefore, it was eliminated when selecting materials and finally chose slate. . We have encountered similar material selection problems in many of the projects we are currently working on. It is not a matter of cost, but that the processes of other materials are not suitable. Later, at several important project meetings, I mentioned that rock slabs could be used and spread the relevant knowledge. Party A was also very interested and even suggested that seeing is believing. So back to the question asked by the host, I think slate will have a wide range of applications in the future, especially Golden Mantis has done many commercial projects, industrial construction projects, and medical Projects are very urgent for the application of this type of materials. However, price is still its shortcoming. Perhaps with the development of later manufacturers, there is still a lot of room for further exploration.
Hu Yanli: From Teacher Wu’s explanation, I can see that he has confidence in the future prospects of rock slabs and also has his own understanding of its current problems.
3
Advice about rock slabs
Hu Yanli: In the blue ocean in front of us now, on one side we are very optimistic that it may become an increase in the market, and on the other side there are various pitfalls due to imperfect production and processing standards. So in the right and left hands During the game, what advice can you give to dealers? To do or not to do, what to do?
Yin Hong
I think slate is a fully incremental market in the ceramic industry. Manufacturers and dealers must try it. If you miss this opportunity, wait at least ten years.
Nan Shunzhi
I think this is a question of whether dealers should follow the product or the brand. What is important in doing business is to continue to make money, so ceramic tile agents should follow the brand, not the product. Because there are different channels and categories, each track has different champions, and we need to find a track that suits us.
Zhang Nianchao
Whether or not to do it depends on the capital, resources and positioning of the company. This is my first point of view. The second point of view is that the future of slate is an industrial upgrade. Just like smartphones, you may not use them, but this era will definitely come.
Zhang Fengyi
I think slate has great development potential, and workwear and home decoration are a blue ocean. But what needs to be solved is the problem of homogeneity. How to artisticize materials and increase prices is the direction of future development.
Su Peigui
The field of slate sanitary ware is very deep, but if we never forget our original intention, we believe that if we persist, we can make every sanitary slate well.
Wu Di
Teacher Yu Jinggan said in her speech that art guidance is fashionable.Design is to lead fashion. So I suggest that all bosses make more friends with artists and designers.
Hu Yanli
Thank you. Due to time constraints, we are unable to expand on it, but after listening to this forum today, I believe everyone will have a great feeling. Whether you are optimistic or rational, the most important thing is to find the one that suits you. Let’s go back to the ceramic tile industry. The entire industry is iterating very quickly in terms of products. Objectively speaking, consumers may not particularly understand each term after it comes out. How to communicate with consumers and explain the advantages of this product, and in what scenarios they will be willing to pay for using this product, the demand side is a topic that needs to be studied very much. The development of stone slabs requires finding a track that suits you, finding a context for dialogue with consumers, and truly reaching the minds of consumers in order to succeed.
The road is long and the collision of ideas may only be a short feast, but business practice must be a long process. I hope this forum can inspire everyone, and I also hope that everyone can successfully realize transformation and upgrading in the new blue ocean, and go further, more steadily, and faster on the road of development!
