Company
Jun Wang Industrial
Location
Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China
Company size
50+
About
Jun Wang Industrial was established in 2000 and is a leading material supplier specializing in animal patterns and grained materials for the footwear industry – specifically oil, metallic, and high-shine materials. Over a 20-year period of producing some of the finest quality materials, Jun Wang has established relationships with some of the biggest names in footwear and supplies leading brands and retailers including: Caleres, White Mountain, FUI, ESO, Topline, Walmart, Target, and Li & Fung, to name a few. Jun Wang has now transitioned into a new digital way of collaborating to better connect to their customers and further support their vision of sustainability within footwear.
Jun Wang sees sustainability as an emerging and future trend of the footwear industry. They follow multiple sustainability initiatives to align with their customers’ progressive sustainability strategies. A growing pressure for footwear brands is the impact of conscious consumerism and a shift in the need for greater transparency and sustainability in supply chains. Consumers now want to understand the source and lifecycle of their garments, meaning brands are shifting to more sustainable materials and production methods.
Jun Wang follows the GRS (Global Recycled Standard) and recycles their microfiber and plush faux fur to help create a more sustainable material industry. Additionally, Jun Wang also supplies Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET) oiled textile. RPET is a strong, durable material derived from recycling soda and water bottles to create textiles for shoes, apparel, home textiles, and more. Many brands are now looking for innovative materials such as RPET to limit their supply chain impact and reduce the overall carbon impact of their products.
“We are heavily investing in new sustainable products to differentiate our core product portfolio and business from our competitors, both nationally and internationally. By offering recycled and more sustainable products, we can move forward with brands and share their vision of sustainable development and business growth.”
Currently, the industry has many challenges and pressures that affect its operation. There are a number of pricing and operational pressures that are as a result of new competition within the marketplace. Many brands are now growing their supplier network outside of China, which means that China-based suppliers need to combat this by restructuring the pricing of raw materials to prevent a shift by brands into new markets, and remain key suppliers to leading brands.
“We are heavily investing in new sustainable products to differentiate our core product portfolio and business from our competitors, both national and international. By offering recycled and more sustainable products, we can move forward with brands and share their vision of sustainable development and business growth,” explains Roger Huang, Director of Sales at Jun Wang.
2020 has been a year like no other; many of the traditional channels to connect with new and existing customers such as in person meetings, trade shows, and exhibitions have been restricted or cancelled indefinitely. With no real end in sight, suppliers and brands both needed an avenue to interact and share materials and to meet product development and seasonal milestones.
Earlier this year, Material Exchange chose to leverage their vast digital material library to power a digital sourcing show. This show enables brands and suppliers to connect and interact with materials in a remote, virtual, and digital environment.
“We were glad to participate in the Digital Material Show by American Events and Material Exchange as it enabled us to gain greater exposure to a wider audience and showcase our materials to more international brands. With all industry shows cancelled due to COVID, we were excited by the prospect of meeting new industry contacts and prospects,” added Roger.
"Suppliers should take the opportunity and invest now to get ahead of the competition and build digital relationships with brands. Suppliers must be patient; new business and sales will not happen overnight, but with time and investment, digital material sharing is the future! Act now!”
The necessary shift toward digital methods of business was highlighted during the height of the Covid disruption when many suppliers and brands struggled to collaborate via traditional face-to-face material meetings. Jun Wang experienced these pressures firsthand, which contributed to them joining Material Exchange to further connect to their current clients digitally, and to find opportunities for new business by showcasing their materials to new brands leveraging Material Exchange.
In addition to the new opportunities, Jun Wang has also seen a positive sustainable impact from sharing materials digitally. They hope to continue on their sustainable development path and, through the Material Exchange platform, send fewer physical material books around the world, which will reduce their overall carbon impact and save them valuable production costs.
We now know many brands and retailers are choosing to invest in digital technologies. Roger says, “Suppliers should take the opportunity and invest now to get ahead of the competition and begin to build digital relationships with brands. Suppliers must be patient; new business and sales will not happen overnight, but with time and investment, digital material sharing is the future! Act now!”