The Secret to Reducing the Cost of Plate Switches

Wall switches and sockets, as power suppliers and controllers for life, have gradually become a symbol of home decoration in the development of the times. The influx of a large number of suppliers has gradually led to an oversupply in the market, with the cost of wall switches decreasing again and again under market pressure, and the quality of many suppliers' products declining. As a factory with many years of experience and a focus on quality, we have chosen to control costs by improving our processes, optimizing packaging, increasing production efficiency and reducing management costs in order to secure more orders, but we have ensured that the quality of our products remains the same and even improves.

?Process Improvement

About the traditional wall switch process, in order to reduce the number of moulds, single-pole and double-pole moulds are common. As the market and technology development and updates, the current new series moulds of single-pole and double-pole are separate. According to the characteristics of the single-pole, cost reduction can be achieved as materials can be simplified. Secondly, due to the large size and deep construction of the 25A panel products, it generally requires more than 35mm iron boxes, but the current process design only requires 23mm, which saves a lot of costs.

In addition, the binding post, which plays a fixed role, does not conduct electricity, so we have improved the design by changing the traditional copper material to iron buckles. In the meanwhile, our flip-sided structural design is different from other factories, and its torque is equal to that of copper parts. The material is replaced to reduce costs based on consideration of the actual role of the component, but the cost-saving is spent on other key parts, such as material upgrading of clips and conductive contact surface. Besides, the original 0.6mm material thickens to 0.7mm. The contact surface is widened from a line to enhance conductivity and solve the temperature rise problem. The number of socket plugging forces can be well over twice the required 15,000 times.

There is a common disadvantage in the production of the currently popular metal switch panels. The original product process requires surface plating, but at present, there are actually very few factories in China with excellent plating processes, and capacity is so low that products need to be sent to plating factories in a waiting queue, leading to longer production cycles. Now with the updated technology, we only need to do a good brushing process and anti-fingerprint on the whole SUS304 panel. Although the cost is slightly increased, time is saved in the waiting queue, which actually saves more invisible costs. And the overall product is better after the new process, with no discolouration, no rusting and consistent brushed length.

Packaging Improvement

The factory also proposes to abolish the outer plastic bag packaging of individual products, with cardboard separating each plate, not only for the consideration of reducing the cost of $0.1 each but also in response to the global call for environmental protection and to relieve the degradation of plastic in importing countries. In addition, the size of the outer carton and the layout are also related to the cost. A reasonable size design maximizes the use of container space during shipment and saves a considerable amount of money on shipping costs. At the same time, avoid shaking and bumping during the transportation process, resulting in mutual wear and tear between internal products.

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Reduce the Labor Costs

In an era of rising labour costs, part of the factory's staff costs and management costs are still high. Although automated machines can replace part of the labour force, for most of the current work, the fully automated machine assembly line still cannot be fully realized. Part of the process still needs labour to achieve. Taking into account the installation process of the various components of the wall switch, the actual situation of the factory and the characteristics of the region to which the factory belongs, the factory has implemented a system of in- and out-staffing for its employees. Currently, approximately 40 frontline in-staffing employees are managed according to the factory and government systems. In addition, there are more than 30 additional staff, as the factory is located in a tea-producing region, most of the supernumerary staff are busy during the tea production period, but are actually free during the rest of the year. The factory makes use of the surplus local labour force and enlists certain people as supernumerary staff, solving the problem of production efficiency and saving costs at the same time.

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Production Efficiency Improvement

Based on previous order experience summary, the back cover structure of switches and sockets is generally unchanged, and the customer's brand and product-related information will only be required to be printed on the front panel, so the factory will do part of the back cover inventory so that once the customer places an order, the whole order cycle can be shortened by 10-15 days. The factory has also developed a special logistics route system for the reduced production lead time. Parts made by supernumeraries can be delivered intact directly to the factory production line, ensuring that the parts do not fall apart and are carried directly to the next stage of installation. In addition, the upgrading of production machinery is naturally a major advantage in increasing productivity. The factory has imported several fully automatic machines to speed up production and at the same time reduce labour costs.

Many people should have seen the current trade situation, where the product technology is getting better and better, but the price is decreasing year after year. There should be a multi-party profit model among the factory, suppliers and customers. The factory's aim of saving costs is far from being to increase the profit of its own single order, but to get a more substantial sales price for the customer in the market. After all, the increase in sales in the customer's local market will lead to an increase in the factory's orders.

Likewise, the customer can also save money from other aspects of the company's operations to reduce the average cost while considering lower product purchase costs. For example, by coordinating the delivery time of various products from various suppliers, a full container of consolidated products will be much cheaper than booking separately. Keep up to date with shipping information and relevant information from exporting countries. For example, shipping as soon as possible under the influence of the epidemic will save more unnecessary shipping costs and risks than continuing to hesitate and wait for freight to decrease. The company itself can also reduce management costs through different employment models, etc.