Reporters Chen Jun, Xi Min, Bai Tiantian
This year's Spring Festival, the fireworks all over the sky soothe people's hearts, and they have also appeared on the Internet's hot searches.
Liuyang and Liling in Hunan, Shangli and Wanzai in Jiangxi are the four main production areas of fireworks.
Among them, domestic sales of fireworks in Liuyang City account for 50% of the country's total, and exports account for 60% of the country's total. It is known as the "Hometown of Fireworks in China".
A few days ago, the reporter walked into Liuyang City to explore the industrial changes behind the "firework craze".
"Hard to find" explosive models
"This year is so hot!" The person in charge of a medium-sized fireworks company in Liuyang lamented that the stock has been sold out on the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the inventory has been completely emptied. The ex-factory price of fireworks has more than doubled, which is an unexpected market.
In the explosively growing Spring Festival market, innovative products such as "Gatling" and "Jellyfish" with cool packaging and unique lighting effects are especially sought after, and there is a situation of "hard to find".
Liuyang Nanda Fireworks Production Co., Ltd. is an enterprise that developed and produced "Gatling" earlier.
Now, the company has improved it to the third generation, added a dust cover, and the discharge experience is getting better and better.
The prototype of "Gatling" is the traditional "color bead tube" and other spit bead products. In the past, each piece cost only one or two yuan.
After integrated innovation, the "Gatling", which has a firing effect like a salvo of shells, sells for one or two hundred yuan each, and is known as the "Hermes" of fireworks.
Liu Shoujun, head of NTU Fireworks Company, said that in recent years, the fireworks industry has made great efforts to innovate, and new ones are introduced every year, and the company has enjoyed the "innovation dividend".
The company's annual output value is 40 to 50 million yuan, of which "Gatling" accounts for about 30%.
The "jellyfish", which is also a hot item, is based on a fireworks product that rotates on the ground.
A few years ago, a company added a flying device to make the fireworks fly into the sky like jellyfish with tentacles.
Especially when hundreds of "jellyfish" are set off together, the visual effect is very shocking.
Liu Shoujun and other industry insiders believe that the success of popular products in recent years has many inspirations. First, products must be interactive, interesting, and social; second, they must pay more attention to promotion and let more young consumers know. Party, birthday will think of setting off fireworks.
He Rongqiang, general manager of Liuyang Yinyang Export Fireworks Co., Ltd., is a "second-generation flower".
He still remembers that in the past few years, due to the prohibition and restriction orders issued by various places, the demand for fireworks market has dropped sharply, and many companies have had to change their careers.
At that time, his father also retreated for a while.
He Rongqiang thought that after working in the fireworks industry for so many years, he could not change careers, but had to transform.
In the past, the mainstream fireworks products were combined fireworks with high power, mainly for festivals and rural markets, and the packaging design was very popular.
In 2019, He Rongqiang aimed at young consumer groups and urban lighting scenes and began to comprehensively innovate products. The appearance is novel and fashionable, and many animation elements are added to the packaging.
He Rongqiang said that the scenes of setting off fireworks are no longer just for Chinese New Year and festive occasions. Young people regard fireworks as a social media.
Especially driven by short videos, one or two phenomenon-level products can appear every year, which better solves the problems of declining demand and consumption generation.
Product innovation has also driven growth in overseas markets.
Liu Shoujun said: "It turned out that foreign merchants sent pictures, and we produced what they needed." However, domestic fireworks companies have innovated and iterated very quickly in recent years, especially the variety of small fireworks, which has become "our fireworks". What is there, what do they choose".
In Southeast Asia and other regions, even the packaging patterns of products follow the domestic trend.
Unavoidable "safety and environmental protection issues"
Behind the fiery fireworks market, safety and environmental issues cannot be avoided.
During interviews in Liuyang, local government departments, associations, and business people repeatedly said that only by answering the "question about safety and environmental protection" can the development foundation of the fireworks industry be firmly established.
In some villages and towns where firecrackers are mainly produced in Liuyang City, there used to be a saying that "ten households and nine explosions" used to be said. Almost every household is engaged in the workshop-style production of fireworks and firecrackers.
In 2019, there was a major explosion accident at a fireworks factory in Liuyang, which was a painful lesson.
Xu Zhiqiang, deputy director of Liuyang City Emergency Management Bureau, said that in recent years, Liuyang City has eliminated nearly half of its fireworks and firecracker production capacity, and all enterprises with backward safety management and poor warehouse conditions have withdrawn, and mandatory standards have been implemented in terms of enterprise management and workshop structure. , basically reversed the relatively passive situation of safety production.
During the interview, the reporter saw that physical isolation measures were taken for the most dangerous and critical drug-related links and packaging, assembly and other links in the fireworks production process, and the drug-related processes implemented "single person, single building" operations.
The automatic alarm system has identification and alarm functions such as human body static control, temperature, humidity and dust concentration monitoring, and drug-related machinery status monitoring, which can prevent risks to the greatest extent.
Liuyang Wuyi Science and Technology Machinery Co., Ltd. researched and developed the combined fireworks automatic charge assembly production line, from the paper tube in to the box out, the whole process of automatic drug feeding, automatic charge, automatic detection.
There is a camera above each paper tube to detect whether the propellant is installed in place through visual recognition technology, and unqualified products are immediately removed.
Liang Shifa, the person in charge of Wuyi Technology Machinery Co., Ltd., said that through "replacing people with mechanization and reducing people with automation", the "separation of human and machine" and "separation of human and medicine" can be realized, which not only solves the problem of safety production, but also helps to solve the problem of increasing labor shortage. , This is the development trend of the fireworks industry.
By learning lessons from previous accidents and finding safety risks and loopholes, Liuyang City has established a complete set of supervision mechanisms, such as implementing a "home visit system" for employees involved in drug-related processes. The chemical raw material market implements the management model of "one needle, one line", and buyers must hold safety production licenses, letters of introduction and other supporting materials to control illegal production from the source.
Environmental protection is another "curse" of the fireworks industry.
One of the important reasons why many places have issued prohibition and restriction orders is that setting off fireworks and firecrackers will cause environmental pollution.
In recent years, Liuyang City has taken the lead in adding environmental protection performance index requirements to the product standards of fireworks and firecrackers. At the same time, it has developed micro-smoke and sulfur-free propellants, gaseous launch fireworks, new environmentally friendly firecrackers, and regenerated plant fiber fireworks outer tubes, etc., to reduce pollution from the source. environmental impact.
Huang Chaxiang, deputy director of the Hunan Provincial Fireworks and Firecrackers Product Safety and Quality Inspection Center, has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has witnessed the whole process of the fireworks industry's continuous improvement of safety and environmental protection standards.
Huang Chaxiang said that indicators such as particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides have been included in industry standards, and the safety and environmental protection performance of fireworks and firecrackers has been continuously improved. Good effect and other characteristics.
From "selling products" to "selling ideas"
"Behind the 10,000 NG times, it is only to create a new kind of fireworks art..." Before the Spring Festival, an immersive fireworks carnival was held in Liuyang Sky Theater, and the scene was full of seats.
Songs and dances of national style and ancient rhyme are staged in turn, and the banks of the Liuyang River are illuminated by gorgeous fireworks and lights.
As the organizer of the Fireworks Carnival, the Fireworks Troupe positions itself as a "cultural and creative enterprise".
Huang Cheng, the founder of Huahuo Troupe, said that they injected traditional culture into fireworks, combined sound, light, electricity, film, flame and other elements, and specially created cultural IP with fireworks characteristics, realizing the concept of "fireworks + art + cultural tourism". Integration across borders.
Traditional fireworks and firecrackers, "after hearing a sound, a cloud of smoke fills the air", are considered to have little technical content and added value.
In recent years, many companies in Liuyang have entered the professional discharge market, changing from "selling products" to "selling ideas" in the past, and constantly moving towards the high end of the value chain.
In 2022, Liuyang fireworks companies will set off more than 500 festive fireworks at home and abroad.
Among them, Dongxin Fireworks participated in the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics, and the Fireworks Troupe organized and implemented the "Flame Encounter" series of fireworks carnivals in tourist attractions across the country...
Dongxin Fireworks Group is the leading enterprise of Liuyang Fireworks, and also the inheritance base of the national intangible cultural heritage (Liuyang fireworks production skills).
The research institute established by this company not only recruits technical talents such as chemical engineering, but also recruits cultural and creative talents such as visual design. Among them are 5 senior craftsmen, who carry out continuous innovation around product modeling and effects.
Zhong Juan, general manager of Eastcom Fireworks Group, said that fireworks are a kind of world language. The company integrates product development and cultural creativity. It has revealed the charm of China and spread Chinese culture.
Wang Xianfeng, vice president of Liuyang City Fireworks and Firecrackers Association, said that consumers have changed from "listening to sounds" to "watching performances", and the fireworks industry is being redefined.
"Fireworks + Art" and "Fireworks + Cultural Tourism" meet people's needs for a better life, and the market has a huge room for imagination.
In the personal consumption market, some companies have shifted from "selling products" to "selling services", creating urban fireworks shows in various scenes such as confessions, weddings, parties, birthdays, and annual meetings, providing personalized customized services for young consumer groups.
Beginning in 2022, Yinyang Fireworks will build pilot "new retail" stores in 10 cities, and cooperate with local qualified companies to upgrade traditional fireworks sales stores into urban fireworks consumption experience halls. In-depth integration of offline experience and professional delivery.
He Rongqiang said that in the past, selling fireworks was "hanging red cloth, Liuyang fireworks", lacking consumer experience, and the design and layout of "new retail" stores are eye-catching. It's so beautifully done."
The front end extends to scientific research and design, and the back end extends to cultural creativity and services. Liuyang Fireworks is constantly moving towards the two ends of the "smile curve".
Dayao Town, Liuyang City is the hometown of Li Tian, the ancestor of fireworks. Travel and other whole industry chains.
Pan Dingyi, Secretary of the Party Committee of Dayao Town, said that the fireworks industry in Dayao Town used to be "small and scattered". In recent years, efforts have been made to upgrade traditional industries, forming an agglomeration effect.
"Cold Thinking" of "Fireworks Fever"
Behind the "firework fever" of the Spring Festival, "cold thinking" is still needed.
Many people in the industry in Liuyang clearly realize that there are still many pain points in the fireworks industry in basic research, personnel training, and intellectual property protection, and they need to settle down to solve these problems and embark on the road of high-quality development.
One is the pain of the quality of chemical raw materials.
The person in charge of a large fireworks company in Liuyang said that domestic fireworks and firecrackers lack uniform standards for chemical raw materials, and their reliability, stability, and consistency are not high.
Therefore, domestic fireworks companies need daily samples during production, while some foreign companies can conduct samples once every 3 to 6 months through raw material control and process supervision.
The second is the pain of low-level competition.
When the reporter interviewed in Liuyang, many people in the industry mentioned the phenomenon of "false big space" in the industry, that is, some companies took advantage of consumers' psychology that "the product is big and has face" and added backing boards to the packaging of fireworks and firecrackers. , Install partitions between the cylinders.
"Enterprises that produce 'fake big empty' products are only interested in packaging, not in quality."
The person in charge of a fireworks company said helplessly that they originally focused on high-end products, but bad money drove out good money, so they had to make some "fake big empty" products.
There are also some companies that only see immediate benefits, sell whatever products are hot, and open up the market through low-price, low-quality, and vicious competition, resulting in poor product discharge effects and even safety problems.
The third is the pain of intellectual property protection.
Taking out a stack of new utility patent documents, Liu Shoujun told reporters that the cost of enterprise innovation is high, but it is easy for others to imitate and plagiarize.
Enterprises spend a lot of energy protecting their rights every year. Even if the lawsuit is won, the market may be taken away.
A number of people in the industry appealed that only by strengthening the enforcement of intellectual property rights protection and solving the problems of "low cost of illegality, high cost of rights protection, difficult innovation and easy imitation", can fireworks enterprises "willing to innovate and dare to innovate".
The fourth is the pain of lack of high-level talents.
Huang Chaxiang, He Rongqiang and other industry insiders said that the technical inheritance of the fireworks industry is "the master leads the apprentice", and the formula may be written on a piece of cigarette pack paper. Without systematic knowledge accumulation, it is easy to encounter innovation bottlenecks.
How to make innovation not only stay at the level of "changing packaging, changing shape, and changing gameplay", but also how to achieve breakthroughs in key links such as drug formula and safety performance, also requires high-level and compound talents who understand both theory and practice.
Fifth, the pain of insufficient competitiveness in overseas high-end markets.
Last year's World Cup in Qatar, the opening ceremony of the gorgeous fireworks show amazed hundreds of millions of viewers around the world.
Local enterprises in Liuyang expressed their regret: "I heard that many products used in the fireworks show come from Liuyang, but the final execution is carried out by the European team." Industry insiders pointed out that the export of Liuyang fireworks is mainly "in volume". Performance and other high-end market share is low.
Some enterprises want to develop their own brands in overseas markets, but due to the lack of international competitiveness in channels and technologies, they often run into walls.
In the international market, Liuyang fireworks still need to complete the transformation of branding and high-end.