Day 2 - Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd

After the visit to Yakult factory, we had our lunch before embarking on our journey to Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd, the company that my group was working on. Since it was the company my group was allocated, we were in-charge of asking questions. It was a rare sight to see the guys listening attentively to the speaker even though he was speaking very fast. The man was very thorough in his explanation about the port. We learned many things from him which heightened our understanding of FIT (Finance International Trade). Before, we were unable to grasp the concepts and see how it was related to our field of study. After the detailed explanation, we were better able to understand its importance.


Tianjin port even housed a mini museum within its building. The speaker was very knowledgeable and introduced Tianjin port to us. 

The entrance of Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd

The  countries which trades with Tianjin Port Holdings Co Ltd

The speaker introducing different cargo ships to us

 

Unknown artifact found along the Tianjin Port

The machines used to load nad unload cargoes

After which, the speaker brought us to view the model of Tianjin port and the company's actions to expand the Tianjin port.

Model of Tianjin port

A little background from our research and his presentation:
It was formally known as Tianjin Port Storage and Transportation Holdings Limited, parented by Tianjin Port (Group) and listed on the Shanghai stock exchange in 1996.

Tianjin port is the largest port in Northern China and main maritime gateway to Beijing. The port trades with more than 600 ports in 190 countries and territories around the world. It was part of the Binhai New Area district of Tianjin Municipality, a main special economic zone of Northern China, which lies directly east of TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development area). It was also the core of an ambitious development program and changes occur at a very accelerated pace in this area.

After which, we went to view Tianjin port and see how the cargoes where being loaded and unloaded. There, we continued to ask the speaker and James questions about the port. Since China is a big country, like Yakult factory, the shipments were allocated to respective ports around China, depending on their ultimate destination. Like cargoes for Shanghai would not unload at Tianjin port but straight to the port closest to Shanghai. As James used to work in PSA, we got to learn many things about both the Tianjin port and also PSA. He also shared with us his experiences when he was with PSA and the differences between PSA and Tianjin port.

Machines in action

There, we continued to ask the speaker and James questions about the port. Since China is a big country, like Yakult factory, the shipments were allocated to respective ports around China, depending on their ultimate destination. Like cargoes for Shanghai would not unload at Tianjin port but straight to the port closest to Shanghai. As James used to work in PSA, we got to learn many things about both the Tianjin port and also PSA. He also shared with us his experiences when he was with PSA and the differences between PSA and Tianjin port.

Overall, it was a very enriching experience and allowed us to make comparison to PSA. Since we have never been to any of the Singapore ports, it was truly a great exposure for us to see the daily operations of a port.

Day 2 - Yakult Factory

Day 2, time to get down to work. We started off the day by visiting the Yakult manufacturing factory. The lady explained in-depth the industries that Yakult looks into, which surprised all of us since we only knew Yakult in the F&B industry. Who would have thought that Yakult also has facial products?

Exterior of the Yakult building

Lobby of the building

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The adults talking among themselves

The speaker

Yam and the humongous Yakult bottle

Group photo

Map marking the places where Yakult factories were present

The products manufactured by Yakult

After that, we sat through a short video where there were more information of Yakult. Apparently, in Japan, there is a service where the employees would deliver the Yakult drinks to their doorsteps on bicycle. Even though we would not be able to experience this kind of culture in Singapore, I think it is a good opportunity to learn the way businesses thrive in the different countries. At least it would provide us with a certain amount of knowledge should we decide to set up our business abroad. We had the opportunity to try the Yakult manufactured in the plant.

Next, we had a Q&A session where the groups working on the company began asking questions. The most common queries were about the intake of Yakult drink per day and also about the production of Yakult. Since China is a big country with many states, it would not be feasible for just one factory in Tianjin to cater to all the markets in China. As such, in such a big country, Yakult has a few manufacturing plants around the different parts of China to cater to the different areas. Furthermore, Yakult is a type of drink that has a portion of good bacterial to boost our immunity. Therefore, the drinks should be transported quickly and also in the suitable temperature to ensure quality of drink. In Singapore, we can see many different flavors of Yakult, but in China, they only produce the original Yakult flavor. Even though they did not mention the reason for producing only one flavor, I believe that it is due to the level of demand. They would not be able to achieve the level of output they are aiming for since changing the flavors would mean they have to stop all production and change all ingredients inside. Furthermore, they are operating with a 80 manpower due to the low need for direct labor except for quality control and to operate the machines.

And finally, token of appreciation

Soon after that, we were able to see for ourselves the actual manufacturing process. In Costing, we learned about manufacturing process in theory, but never had the chance to see the actual process. That was indeed a very good opportunity to understand the manufacturing process and link with the theory that we have learned. I believe that this would help us to better absorb Costing and also serve as a recap before we continue to the next Costing module.