K&C,s Structure? (1 Viewer)

[gk5717]

I know K&C has a store and it,s office is in Hong Kong, but does anyone know how many employees, does it own it,s own factory, and any other general facts about it.
Gary

 

[Louis Badolato]

Gary,

From my recollection (and a check of the Christmas card I get every year signed by all of the employees), it looks like K&C employees between 10-15 people in its main office in Hong Kong. K&C does not have its own factory, but instead deals with several factories in mainland China, which produce items designed by K&C's design team. Andy comes up with ideas, designs and drawings, which are forwarded to a team of sculptors trained in art schools in mainland China. The sculptings are first produced in resin, the painted by the master painters in K&C's employ. Once the sculpted and painted figure receives Andy's approval, the casting and painted proof figures are forwarded to whichever factory Andy chooses to produce that particular run of items, where a team of literally hundreds of mostly young Chinese women paints the castings in an assembly line type procedure: approximately 10-15 women sit around each table with several brushes in their hands, each assigned to paint a specific feature on each figure, which is passed around the table until it is completely painted. There are several factories, some of which produce figures, some vehicles, some buildings, etc. Andy frequently visits the factories to ensure quality control. From what he told us at the Symposium, he found many of the factories by visiting Hong Kong toy shows, seeing other items produced (such as polystone cars) and enquiring of the factory representatives whether they could produce something K&C wishes to produce (like polystone Tanks). Andy indicated that the factories were used to producing items in the tens or even hundreds of thousands, but Andy first produced polystone vehicles in hundreds, so they were apparently flexible. - Louis

 

[gk5717]

Thanks Louis, very interesting.
Gary

 

[Doug Stork]

Louis
You Are Very Knowledgable Of The Workings Of K&c Overseas . I Sincererly Hope You Include These Interesting Facts In The Book When You Write It As The Majority Of Collectors Would Like To Know As Well
Doug Stork

 

[Louis Badolato]

Doug, As much as I'd like to, I can't write the book. Andy has indicated his intention to write it himself, and, unless he asks me to help him or ghost write it for him, I won't step on his feet. He's a friend. Sorry guys. -Louis

 

[VIRIATO]

Gary,

From my recollection (and a check of the Christmas card I get every year signed by all of the employees), it looks like K&C employees between 10-15 people in its main office in Hong Kong. K&C does not have its own factory, but instead deals with several factories in mainland China, which produce items designed by K&C's design team. Andy comes up with ideas, designs and drawings, which are forwarded to a team of sculptors trained in art schools in mainland China. The sculptings are first produced in resin, the painted by the master painters in K&C's employ. Once the sculpted and painted figure receives Andy's approval, the casting and painted proof figures are forwarded to whichever factory Andy chooses to produce that particular run of items, where a team of literally hundreds of mostly young Chinese women paints the castings in an assembly line type procedure: approximately 10-15 women sit around each table with several brushes in their hands, each assigned to paint a specific feature on each figure, which is passed around the table until it is completely painted. There are several factories, some of which produce figures, some vehicles, some buildings, etc. Andy frequently visits the factories to ensure quality control. From what he told us at the Symposium, he found many of the factories by visiting Hong Kong toy shows, seeing other items produced (such as polystone cars) and enquiring of the factory representatives whether they could produce something K&C wishes to produce (like polystone Tanks). Andy indicated that the factories were used to producing items in the tens or even hundreds of thousands, but Andy first produced polystone vehicles in hundreds, so they were apparently flexible. - Louis

Thanks Louis, very instructive post. Hard work in mainland China, I guess.

Best regards,
Paulo

 

[Louis Badolato]

Paulo,

Hard work indeed. I was told that most of the workers live in dormatories attached to the factories. I guess after 8+ hours of squinting from painting the details on a 60mm figure, they are two tired (and their eyes are two sore) to drive home.

Warmest regards,

Louis

 

[VIRIATO]

Yes, I've also read a few things about it, more like 12 hour+ shifts. Here in Portugal, a weekly newspaper recently made a report on Chinese immigrants and they interviewed a Chinese girl who said something like this: «You people need to go to the beach, to go out, to the movies, free time, we Chinese need nothing of that». When I look at the way they work, either here or in China, I have to conclude it's a very different culture from the West's, altogether.


Best regards,
Paulo