YungShin and Giant bicycles

 Yesterday our group went to two very different businesses. One was a pharmaceutical company called YungShin; the other is a well known bicycle manufacturer called Giant. Both companies market themselves as healthy, trustworthy brands, although their processes and products couldn't be more different. Both businesses are located in Taichung, the city in central Taiwan we are currently staying in. Touring and getting the chance to compare these two companies was very intriguing.

YungShin welcomed us into their factory and warehouse and allowed us to see many of the steps that go into producing pharmaceuticals. We were able to see pill production, as each pill gets created and packaged into bottles. Most of the processes are automated, with people in protective clothing monitoring each step along the way. We were assured of a clean, sterile environment, and this was evident. However, the brand manager only spoke Chinese and he had a translator that wasn't excellent at English. For this reason, many of our questions did not get answered adequately.

At one point, an automated forklift drove past us! Later, we watched as a forklift slowly moved around the huge warehouse, moving a pallet of products. We were told that in this warehouse, robots essentially do all of the work obtaining the products in storage. We saw a few people monitoring the processes and waiting for the machines to deliver products. This was modern business technology at work before our eyes.

YungShin has 3 factories that produce human and animal drugs, health supplements, and cosmetics. I don't quite agree with the philosophy of using drugs to heal the body; I prefer the natural Chinese medicine approach that we learned more about a few days ago. For this reason, I was a little skeptical of a company whose growth relies on doctors prescribing more medication. However, I must acknowledge that this company seemed focused on safety and quality. I was surprised at the amount of pills we saw go into waste – apparently these did not meet the high standards of the company. I am grateful we got to see so much of the company, and I learned that the entire drug creation process can take more than 10 years! It's reassuring that so much testing is done on their products and on the people using them before they hit the market.

Our next stop was Giant bicycles. It's safe to say that we were all impressed with what we saw here – from the company presentation to the manufacturing floor. The company's marketing is truly inspirational – the culture is centered around a healthy lifestyle that simply encourages people to get exercise by riding a bike. We were told the story of the company's founder, King Liu, who made his first big bicycle trip around Taiwan at the age of 72. A few years later, he continues to challenge himself to ride bigger distances. He takes company executives along with him on these bicycle tours, including a yearly 8 day ride around Taiwan. His story was very motivational, and it reminded me of how much I used to love riding my bike everywhere as a child.

After the presentation, we were taken to the on site bicycle factory. My fellow students who work for GM confirmed that it's designed just like a car factory. Every step along the assembly line is done by hand, and the workers are responsible for completing a few steps per bike at a pretty quick pace. The company produced 6,300,000 bikes in the year 2012. What's impressive is that Giant has achieved total vertical integration – meaning that every step, from bicycle production and assembly to retailing, is done by the company. Some bicycles are sold by outside retailers, but many are sold directly through the company's own brick-and-mortar stores.

I owned a Giant bicycle as a teenager and when I get another bike, I will most likely buy another Giant. I was very impressed with the entire company. Their motive is very positive – to get more people to be healthy by riding a bicycle. The company started a free bike rental service in Taipei, and also supports bicycle tours throughout Asia. They sponsor different bicycle riders in competitions, and when I asked if they were involved in the X-Games, the spokesperson implied that they were not, but asked me if this was something they should do. I thought it was very cool that the company is willing to take recommendations from average users of their products. The story of King Liu inspires me to continue to challenge myself and to keep doing the things I love!