Day 11 - Beijing

Our first full day in Beijing and we’re starting it off with a visit to the Beijing Wandong Medical Equipment Company, a subsidiary of a pharmaceutical company. This company manufactures medical equipment such as X-rays and MRI’s. They have a niche market in bottom line X-rays and also top of the line MRI machines. They do not manufacture anything in between.  Because of the specialized products they manufacture, they do not have an assembly line. They build each one in a separate room to minimize contamination of the parts.

Their production basis is job-specific manufacturing. They do not manufacture anything without a customer order. After seeing all manufacturing they took us to their showroom, showing us all the products they have made in the past. There was some pretty impressive equipment there. They had X-rays that could be positioned to the most appropriate place, instead of having you positioned appropriately.  A couple of their X-rays were body movers. It would take you from a standing position to a lying down position. And then there was an MRI machine that had a rotating arm.  I have never seen equipment like that before, and it makes more of a mark on me that technology keeps getting better and this equipment keeps getting smaller.

After lunch, takeout from Yoshinoya, we went down to the market and again practiced our bargaining skills. That time, I didn’t really want anything so I only bought a wallet. But the sales people were very aggressive and kept insisting I buy their products at their prices. Sometimes, it helps to just say no. =) 

We then went to the stadium and played the company’s basketball team. They were very good. Their youngest player, 14, received training in the steel industry and was 6’9”. He was very very tall. After the game (yes, we lost), we had a banquet held by the secretary and the president of the company. This is where I learned that any type of banquet or business transaction going on, they loved to drink. And you were pretty much expected to drink with them. I think quite a few people got very toasted. I just hope the locals didn’t drive.