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About The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current | View Entire Issue (July 4, 2016)
Page 16 n THE ASIAN REPORTER ASIA / PACIFIC July 4, 2016 Alco Electronics’ David Leung on making gadgets in China By Anne D’Innocenzio AP Retail Writer ONGGUAN CITY, China — A look inside Alco Electronics Ltd.’s factory in China shows what it takes to succeed as a maker of gadgets for the rest of the world — human precision in tiny tasks and increasingly automated manufacturing, but also flexible thinking and perks to keep the best employees. Chinese workers in blue coats and caps worked on a production line making tablets during a recent visit by The Associated Press to the 2.5-million- square-foot plant. Their tasks can be tedious, such as soldering a connecter onto a circuit board. Machines do things like inspect incoming circuit boards and tighten screws on tablets — automation that lowers costs and improves quality. A droning noise signals where tablets are undergoing testing for all functions for eight hours before they’re packaged. That’s critical to help reduce returns. Sunroofs keep the production floor lit and reduce energy use. The company, which counts Wal-Mart Stores Inc. as one of its top five retail customers, gets about 60 percent of its sales from tablets and other computer products. Nearly 70 percent of its annual sales of about $330 million came from North America. It ships its products under the RCA and Venturer brands. Alco, founded in 1968 to make AM/FM radios to export primarily to North America, has shifted with market demands. In 1980, it moved production from Hong Kong to China in search of cheaper labor. Due in part to automation and the changing labor market, it has about one-tenth of the employees it had at its peak of nearly 20,000 workers. The company is now juggling customer demand for affordable but high-quality electronics as it wrestles with escalating labor pressures and other costs in China. David Leung, head of sales for North America, recently spoke with The AP about what’s selling, the differences in the Chinese and U.S. markets, and what Alco needs to do to attract workers. Q. So the tablet is hot. A. In the U.S., Wi-Fi is everywhere. So any device with the Wi-Fi capability is very popular. Content owners are putting the apps onto the tablet so they can sell directly to the consumer. We work directly with Wal-Mart on Vudu (which distributes movies over the internet to TVs.) The tablet is like a vending machine for your home. In peak times, we can do 40,000 (tablets) a day ... that is if all 200 components arrive on the same day. Q. What kind of worker are you hiring? A. It is not a shoe factory or a garment factory. In general, we don’t need a skilled worker. We need a disciplined worker, a worker willing to learn. Q. How are you trying to attract workers given the labor shortage? D MARKING A MILESTONE. Workers retrieve a reentry module that was aboard the carrier rocket Long March 7 after it touched down successfully in Badain Jaran Desert in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autono- mous Region. China has recovered an experimental probe launched aboard a new generation rocket, marking another milestone in its increasingly ambitious space program that envisions a mission to Mars by the end of the decade. (Ju Zhenhua/Xinhua via AP) China on schedule for launch this year of second space station BEIJING (AP) — China has recovered an experimental probe launched aboard a new generation rocket, marking another milestone in its increasingly ambitious space program that envisions a mission to Mars by the end of the decade. Space program authorities said the spaceship’s landing on the vast Inner Mon- golian steppe keeps China on schedule to place its second space station into orbit later this year. The launch of the spaceship aboard the newly developed Long March 7 rocket was hailed as a breakthrough in the use of safer, more environmentally friendly fuels. The launch also marked the first use of the massive new Wenchang Satellite Launch Center on the southern island province of Hainan. Since launching its first manned mis- sion in 2003, China has sent up an experi- mental space station, the Tiangong 1, staged a spacewalk, and landed its Yutu rover on the moon. Its second space station, the Tiangong 2, is due to be slung into space in September. Following that, the Shenzhou 11 spaceship with two astronauts on board is scheduled to dock with the station and remain for several days. Administrators suggest a manned landing on the moon may also be in the program’s future. A source of enormous national pride, China’s military-backed space program plans a total of 20 space missions this year at a time when the U.S. and other countries’ programs are seeking new roles. China is also developing the Long March 5 heavier-lift rocket needed to launch the Tiangong 2 and other massive payloads. China plans to launch a mission to land a rover on Mars by 2020, attempting to re-create the success of the U.S. Viking 1 mission that landed a rover on the planet four decades ago. Cambodian leader fined for not wearing motorcycle helmet By Sopheng Cheang The Associated Press HNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, known as a tough and canny politician during his more than three decades in power, is pitching himself as a repentant driving scofflaw. He turned up at a police station in Phnom Penh recently to pay a 15,000 riel ($3.75) fine for driving a motorcycle without a helmet and license plate during a recent visit to the southern province of Koh Kong. He arrived on another motorcycle, accompanied by a phalanx of bodyguards on their own motorbikes. On his Facebook page he apologized after photos and videos of his ride drew criticism. He told reporters that even as prime minister he could not cite parliamentary immunity to avoid punishment, a dig at lawmakers from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party who complain of being stripped of their immunity after being targeted in the courts by Hun Sen. “I hope that all people in Cambodia, regardless of whether poor, rich, or powerful, whenever they committed wrongdoing against the law, they will face equal punishment before the law,” he said. He also praised the country’s traffic policemen for their dedication, not addressing the likelihood that they would not issue a citation to the country’s leader on their own initiative. He criticized unnamed politicians whom he accused of not respecting the law and then appealing to foreign countries to help P them. Human-rights groups and western governments have criticized Hun Sen’s government for its repression of its opponents, particularly through the courts, which are widely seen as politically biased. Cambodia traditionally has been lax in enforcing traffic laws, but an upsurge in new drivers and roads has led to more accidents and consequently a crackdown in recent months. It is not the first time Hun Sen has promoted civic virtue, though he is better known as a master of political intrigue and strongman tactics. In recent years he has become an anti-smoking activist, promoting the cause with the zeal of the former chain smoker he is. Become an online reader! TEDIOUS TINY TASKS. A worker assembles electronic devices at an Alco Electronics factory in Houjie Town, Dongguan City, in the Guangdong prov- ince of China, in this November 10, 2015 file photo. A look inside the factory shows what it takes to suc- ceed as a maker of gadgets for the rest of the world — human precision in tiny tasks and increasingly au- tomated manufacturing, but also flexible thinking and perks to keep the best employees. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File) A. Wages alone are not the biggest incentive. It’s wages plus perks. We provide classes for them to learn in their free time. Many workers like to learn Cantonese and English as well. We also have karate classes, cooking classes. We have hired table tennis, basketball, and yoga teachers to better their skills. We also host tournaments for volleyball, basket- ball, table tennis, and badminton in our Sport Centre. Since we are now making electric bicycles for Europe, we also have a cycling team. Whatever the worker likes to do, we will try to find a teacher. Q. Where do you sell your products other than the U.S. market? A. Canada, Mexico. We ship to South America, Central America. And lately we’re making shipments to India. Q. What about China? A. At the moment, we do not do a lot of business in China. Our product is more geared for the overseas market. We are starting to do some China business. We (started) selling Window tablets in the China market using portals like JD.com. In China, the physical store is not a big thing. They all rely on the internet. So we need to do our product with different packaging that is more suitable for the internet. Many of the streaming portals are not available in China. Even YouTube is not available. Also, Google is not availa- ble in China so we have to redo all our software. China is a very big country. We need to learn about the distribution channel in China. We’ve been doing export market selling to the United States for the past 30 years. So although our factory is in China, selling in China is a brand-new market for us. Continued on page 15 Department of Consumer & Business Services Workers’ Compensation Division: What we do Besides enforcing state laws and rules, the Workers' Compensation Division (WCD) provides services and resources to help those in the workers' compensation system. Employers, workers, medical providers, vocational consultants, insurers, and attorneys can get information on their rights and responsibilities and learn effective ways to control workers' compensation costs and return injured workers to productive jobs. Visit <www.asianreporter.com> and click on the “Online Paper (PDF)” link to download our last two issues. For more information, call the Workers' Compensation Division at 1-800-452-0288 or 503-947-7810 or find us on the web at www.wcd.oregon.gov. www.dcbs.oregon.gov