China's Top Brand was set up in 2000 by the China Promotion Committee. The prize awards manufacturers dedicated to providing better quality and service. The ultimate goal is to strengthen Chinese manufacturing capability, raise it to international standards and revolutionize the Made-in-China label.
China's Top Brand was set up in 2000 by the China Promotion Committee. The prize awards manufacturers dedicated to providing better quality and service. The ultimate goal is to strengthen Chinese manufacturing capability, raise it to international standards and revolutionize the Made-in-China label.
After accession to the World Trade Organization, China has had to open its market. This has also pushed domestic players to improve quality to face international competition. China Top Brand was developed by Chinese government authorities to provide an integrated image of Made-in- China to international buyers, while helping Chinese industry jump start technological innovation, improve product quality and commercialize development.
As part of these efforts, the China Promotion Committee Top Brand Strategy was established to better market Chinese products in overseas markets. It was also initiated to spur manufacturer innovation as Chinese authorities understand clearly that innovation is fundamental to branding. The committee members include government authorities, national industry organizations, news agencies and industry experts. The committee secretariat falls under the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, and is operated by the China Federation of Industrial Economics.
Manufacturers must meet conditions such as product quality must be in a leading position in the domestic market with quality reaching international levels. The committee also looks at market share as well as quality control and after-sale service.
All participants file applications with the committee. After initial evaluation is conducted by the Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision, the committee announces the preliminary winner's list. After technical assessment and input from the public, it comes out with the final awardees.
According to statistics released by the committee, China Top Brand 2007 awards were granted to 162 industries and more than 850 manufacturers. Since 2000, the China Top Brand has been awarded to 1,957 companies. In 2007, more than 60 percent of manufacturers winning awards had developed their own brands.
Also, in 2007, 64 percent of recipients⌒506 enterprises ⌒ followed national or industry standards or were dedicated to developing their own core know how. In 2007, 1,382 enterprises submitted applications for 1,468 products, an increase of 49.6 percent and 58.9 percent, respectively, over 2006.
China Top Brand winners have also invested heavily in research and development. In 2006, total investment in R&D hit US$31 billion among all Top Brand awardees, who patented 20,000 products.
Security Involved from 2007
In 2007, China Top Brands were given to give video intercom manufacturers ⌒ GST, JEJA, Leelen, Shidean and WRT. "Nearly 200 intercom manufacturers applied for the China Top Brand 2007," said Li Jun, General Manager of Market Operations at WRT. "The whole procedure was challenging. Companies had to have product revenue of US$70,000 as well as total revenue of $20 million."
WRT has been in business since 1994. In the beginning, WRT was just like many other Chinese manufacturers ⌒ it took OEM orders. "OEM is only a short-term strategy," said Li. "The top management realized that branding was the only way to do long-term development." Intercom applicationsin China, he continued, involved large applications that did not exist in foreign markets.
In China, communities with more than 1,000 households are common. This provides video intercom manufacturers with a good opportunity to test new ideas and products. Moreover, several nationwide projects, such as Safe City, come with more stringent requirements.
GST ⌒ a video intercom manufacturer and one of the leading fire alarm system and solution providers in China-has more than 10 years of experience in security electronics," said Ju Zhanming,General Manager, at GST Security and Protection Technology. "We have tried to make technological breakthroughs over many years. With many years of cooperation with other companies, we have been able to enlarge our market share of fire and security products."
Ju also mentioned that the Chinese security industry has been growing by more than 15 percent, which has enabled security players to develop their own technology and invest more in R&D. "China Top Brand underscored our long-term dedication to research and development," said Jessica Lin, Manager of International Business Department at Leelen Technology. "The Chinese security market has always been fiercely competitive. To stand out, we have had to innovate while providing products at a reasonable price."
According to Lin, the market will gradually root out manufacturers who compete only on price. The key point, she said, is ability to solve problems systematically, while delivering sound technical support and after-sale service. "I believe that Leelen exemplifies these values and that is why we were awarded the China Top Brand."
Keep on Rolling
"The China Top Brand is not an end. To us, it is just the beginning in our pursuit of higher achievement," said Li. "We are going to concentrate more on product quality and sophisticated services, while developing more user-friendly, advanced products. In the long run, we expect to brand globally." In Ju's opinion, quality is a necessary criterion, but not the only one. "We also have to focus on reputation, recognition and market share," said Ju. "The China Top Brand is helping us build an international brand. As a manufacturer, GST realizes that there is not just one way to market our products. We need to better cooperate with international brands to move forward." To achieve these aims, GST has set up R&D centers in Beijing, Shenzhen and Qinhuangdao.
Video intercoms are not like other consumer products. "After-sale service is very important for video intercoms since they may be in use for decades," said Lin. "We are the first video intercom manufacturer to offer 24/7 hotlines to solve customer problems." home security camera sensors," Deng said. "We provide the most popular wireless cameras with 0.3 megapixel. Furthermore, CMOS stability has been enhanced greatly, such as not being affected by static."
According to Deng, PCB board design and frequency interference are crucial elements for selecting a good wireless camera. LYD uses 2.4G frequency which generates 10 milliwatts, complying with U.S. FCC regulations. It ensures stable transmission frequency within 10 meters.
Previously, home security offered only audio with conventional analog signals, as it could not support both audio and video. Digitization, however, enabled video surveillance. In fact, this was the most powerful evolution in the field. As IP technology matures, Chinese manufacturers have developed new wireless home security products with IP functions, allowing users to watch their houses via the Internet or cell phone. Deng have pictured its product lines, migrating from wireless analog to digital. "The main obstacle, for now, is the compression technology for wireless digital camera is not yet reliable and mature," he said.
"Besides, the price will be three to five times that of analog wireless cameras. Therefore, price would be a concern for the consumer market." In Deng's prediction, it will take three years to migrate its analog wireless cameras to IP ones for home security market.
"With our ongoing technology development, we make our products more stable and with higher performance in transmission distance and display," Zhao said. "We also have added more functions based on our customer feedback, such as IP-rated (waterproof), PTZ function, motion detection alert and so on. Furthermore, our product design and appearance have been suited for the consumer market. In our next steps, we would like to invest more on development, migrating analog to digital products." Zhao also emphasized its quality control system for products. "Our quality management is based on ISO 9001 to ensure our product quality. To date, we have provided 100 percent qualified products. We have also passed the RoHS and WEEE certificates for European market," she added.
Product
Home security products succeed with cheap prices, a stylish appearance, simple installation, user-friendly interfaces and other useful functions. As required safety levels are not as high as professional security level, Chinese manufacturers are relying on manufacturing advantages to create quality wireless home security products.
Goscam offers several wireless security cameras, such as wireless baby monitors, IR outdoor cameras, 5.8 GHz and 0.9 GHz cameras, Li-battery cameras, multi-cameras, ultra-small cameras and even network wireless cameras. "Goscam launched its first wireless camera in 2003," Zhao said. "It was about the time that demand was growing in the overseas market. By focusing on the foreign DIY market, we have developed a wide product line to satisfy customer requirements. Goscam's values are close to user quirements, including attractive and stylish designs, stability, high performance and multi functional products."
LYD has a wide range of wireless security cameras, including LCD wireless kits and a night vision series. For example, LYD's LCD wireless kit allows users to see and hear what is happening on its handheld monitor, giving users portable video surveillance. A 2.4 GHz system includes a high-resolution camera with a built-in microphone and a 2.5-inch color TFT-LCD monitor. This system also includes a built-in DVR, with functions to set recording to manual, motion detection or schedule recording times. The use of memory cards allows for recording storage and portability.