Industry business model

　　Because refractory products need to match the process flow of downstream customers, before developing new customers, it is necessary to develop products suitable for the customer's process flow. After the trial is qualified and stable, the products can be supplied to customers in batches. Therefore, the customers of refractory material manufacturers are relatively fixed. The refractory material manufacturers can determine the sales situation according to the demand of customers in a certain period, formulate a procurement plan based on the sales situation, and then organize production. "Order by sales and production by sales" is The basic characteristics of the business model of the refractory industry.

　　(1) Sales model

　　The sales model of the refractory material industry can be summarized into two categories: direct sales of products to downstream customers, and settlement according to the sales volume, which can be called "selling products"; contracting all downstream customers or the construction and maintenance of refractory materials in certain sections, and finally according to The output of the customer's product is used as the basis for settlement, which can be called "selling service".

　　①Direct sales model-"selling products"

　　The direct sales model means that refractory companies directly sell products to customers through their own sales channels. Sales personnel sign purchase and sales contracts with downstream customers’ purchasing departments, clarify the subject matter of the contract, technical conditions, and deadlines, and organize production, delivery, and delivery in accordance with the agreement. Settlement and payment collection. Refractory materials companies can sell products according to customer needs and orders. At present, domestic small and medium-sized downstream customers still use this mode as the mainstay, and export products generally use this mode.

　　②Overall contracting model - "selling services"

　　The overall contracting mode means that refractory manufacturers provide overall contracting services such as design, production, storage, distribution, masonry construction, online tracking, repair and maintenance of refractory materials for high-temperature thermal kilns and equipment. ) Amount, heat, etc. for settlement and payment.

　　This model is a new type of refractory business model that has emerged and developed rapidly in the steel industry in recent years. In this mode, steel production companies do not care about how many refractory materials are used in one construction, but the main consideration is to increase the amount of steel (iron) as much as possible under the premise of safe safety and relatively locked costs; while refractory manufacturers The consideration is how to reduce the consumption of refractories under the premise of a certain steel output. Under this model, the profit model of refractory manufacturers has also officially changed from a simple product seller to a one-stop refractory solution provider, which will promote refractory manufacturers to continuously develop new materials, improve product performance, and extend service life. . Therefore, under this model, steel production enterprises and refractory material production enterprises have formed a community of interests of both parties.

　　The continuous development of steelmaking technology, the continuous improvement of smelting and refining ratios, and the continuous improvement of requirements for refractory materials have promoted the changes in the product structure and function of refractory materials. The construction and maintenance of refractory products have become more and more difficult. Material manufacturing companies are increasingly dependent on technological innovation and services. Leading refractory companies have gradually increased their overall contracting ratio, while refractory manufacturers that cannot provide full-process services will face increasing demands from steel companies, and their market share will increase. Gradually shrink. Finally, in the industry, it is reflected in the expansion of the overall contracting ratio, while the share of pure product sales has decreased.

　　(2) Procurement model

　　Industry companies generally determine their raw material procurement plans based on their sales. The products of domestic refractory raw materials are generally concentrated, and the raw materials also have open prices. Procurement is generally carried out through agreements, bid negotiations, and bidding. For many years, industry companies have fixed procurement targets and have formed long-term cooperative relations to purchase products. There are better guarantees from quality to price.

　　(3) Production mode

　　Refractory materials generally adopt an order-to-order (or planned) production mode, mainly because refractory materials manufacturers generally have relatively stable customers. Under the model of direct product sales, they usually sign contracts with customers first to clarify customer needs and arrange Its own production plan; and under the overall contracting mode, refractory manufacturers can more conveniently arrange production plans based on the use of refractory materials by customers. When developing new customers, it is also the first to sign a sales contract, and then arrange the procurement and production tasks.

　　At present, the steel industry has different steelmaking processes such as electric furnaces and converters, and there are obvious differences among steelmaking equipment such as electric furnaces and converters of iron and steel enterprises. This has led to a wide variety of requirements for refractory materials in the steel industry. Refractory suppliers must design The production of different products to meet diversified needs has led to many refractory product specifications and strong product personalization. Therefore, product personalization also requires only an order-to-order (or planned) production model.