The Voice of the New China: Introducing Jin Song

Does this change your view of Chinese manufacturing?

I am so excited to share this with you: a personal conversation that I had with a new and treasured business colleague whose work location is 7555 miles from my office in Calhoun, Georgia at the Halstead/Metroflor campus. This is not a professional video nor is this rehearsed. It is an exchange of ideas between two people from very different backgrounds but with similar interests in sustainability that are just getting to know one another. Have I captured your attention? Please read further.

Have you ever had a remarkable experience that forever changed the way you think about the world? I had such an experience upon speaking with Jin Song, who manages the factory where Metroflor’s Aspecta brand commercial flooring is produced. Jin and I got to know one another during a recent trip that I took to China. I travelled across the Pacific Ocean with an open mind, yet apprehension about what I would see in the factories. As Americans, many of us are conditioned at a very early age to believe that the world really isn’t as big as it is, and that all Chinese manufacturing is problematic. Thousands of American companies manufacture products in China but do their best to hide that fact. My company is taking a different, much more transparent approach.

In fact, there are good factories in China, with worker and environmental conditions that are superior to some factories in the United States. I am describing Jin Song’s factory. Jin is the second generation Song who has run this factory. Under his leadership, a daycare center was established and family housing was built so that families could live together on the campus.  Additionally, the factory has made numerous upgrades to improve efficiencies in manufacturing and even uses reclaimed steam from a nearby steel mill to heat presses. We are so comfortable with this factory, that we like to show it off to our customers. And that's as transparent as you can get.

In this interesting video, Jin talks about his view of transparency, social responsibility and product innovation. I think of Jin as “The New Voice of China”. Please let me know if this video has changed the way you think of Chinese manufacturing. It is with great pleasure that I share this with you and - yes - we will plan on having more conversations with Jin Song!