The businessman who works miracles

Self-made billionaire entrepreneur Y.Y. Hung's life is a modern-day rags-to-riches story with a lucrative twist Enterprise Award Regina Miracle International Y.Y. Hung Yau-lit left school in Form Three to take on odd factory jobs. Little did he know he would progress from owning a small Velcro trading company in 1983 to running a multibillion-dollar market-leading empire manufacturing seamless bras, which boasts an illustrious client list including major lingerie brands Victoria's Secret, Triumph and Wacoal. The 44-year-old entrepreneur migrated to Hong Kong from Fujian with his parents aged 11, and began his modern rags-to-riches tale with Velcro. He first worked as a salesman for a French Velcro trading company in 1982 and felt confident to start his own Velcro trading company a year later at 21. 'I didn't know what fear was then. I just wanted to do it. Being in sales was a big help. I understood the market,' he said. A year later, he started to branch out into shoulder pads. 'A friend in a garment factory showed me a shoulder pad and asked if I could make it. It was similar to making Velcro, so I started the factory.' In 1985, he launched Shun Cheong Shoulder Pad Factory in Hong Kong, moving the factory to China in 1988. When shoulder pads became unfashionable and demand dropped, Mr Hung looked for alternatives. He found them in moulded bra cups, and Regina Miracle International Enterprises was set up in 1998 as a subsidiary to produce bra pads. He named the company after his third daughter, hoping his products would be a miracle for women. And they have become a miracle of sorts. In eight years, the bra pad manufacturer has grown to become first in its sector, currently producing 9 million pairs of bra pads, 2 million seamless bras and 1 million pairs of seamless panties every month, boasting turnover in the billions. Regina Miracle is constructing a 90,000-square-foot development adjacent to its existing factory in Shenzhen that will house another 8,000 workers and provide a significant boost to production when it comes on line in next year. One of Mr Hung's keys to success was investing in technology ahead of demand. Even before he got any major orders for moulded bra pads, he had invested heavily in a 3-D CAD/CAM system developed in conjunction with the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC). 'I visited the HKPC in 1999 and saw this figurine of former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa in great detail. It was done with a 3-D scanner and I thought it would be very useful to make precise moulds for bra cups. Up till then, bra cup moulds were made by hand, so the measurement was not precise. There could be discrepancies between the left and the right bra cups,' Mr Hung said. He was the first bra manufacturer to invest in this type of technology at that time, and the investment proved rewarding. Impressed by the technology, Victoria's Secret and Sara Lee - which was later renamed Hanesbrands and which owns lingerie brands such as Playtex and Wonderbra - became the company's first two major clients, and the bra cup manufacturer hasn't looked back since. 'When the two large brands came to our Baoan factory in Shenzhen, we had only 1,000 workers. I told them I was willing to invest if they believed in us. Now we employ 16,000 workers,' Mr Hung said. 'This industry is unique. We are an innovative company, and we put in a lot of innovative equipment and overhauled the industry. The seamless undergarment is a revolutionary concept and we are now supplying many brands,' he added. The factory floors for different brands are housed in separate buildings to ensure product integrity for each brand. To maintain its innovative edge, Regina Miracle runs a 600-strong research and development centre to advance design and use of materials for different brands. Mr Hung believed that seamless lingerie would see the fastest growth in the next five years, expecting the production capacity for seamless undergarments to double in the next two years. Another major factor in the company's success was meeting the right people at the right time. 'I couldn't have done it without my supportive staff and all the people who helped me along the way. I can't thank them enough,' Mr Hung said. 'More than 100 people in my team have been with me since day one. I'm a Buddhist - I believe that if you treat people right, people will treat you right. If you treat people with honesty, you will get the same back. My books are open to my staff, and they know that they share 20 per cent of the profits as a bonus,' he said. Despite lacking a formal education himself, Mr Hung values education for his staff. For the past four years, he has been recruiting graduates from Xian and Zhengzhou textile universities to fill positions ranging from technical to management roles. The company has set up an education fund to cover the full university tuition costs for the children of staff who have worked there for more than 10 years. 'My workers have given me a significant portion of their life. I want to make sure their children have a life by having a higher education,' Mr Hung said. He also contributes to China's Hope Project, which builds Hope Schools for children in remote and poor areas. Having already contributed to building 10 schools in Guizhou, he aims to build 100 more before he turns 50. Another factor in Mr Hung's success was being single-minded in what he believed. 'I don't speculate. I never buy shares. I don't gamble. I just focus on my factory. It is this focus that helps me achieve what I have. As the company has grown to this size, I have to be even more careful of the decisions I make because every decision affects 16,000 workers and their families,' Mr Hung said. A workaholic who used to travel daily between Hong Kong and Baoan to keep the factory floor operating, Mr Hung had a health scare in 2004 that made him slow down and learn to delegate. 'I was very hands on. My staff joked that I knew where every single screw was on the factory floor. I felt I needed to be on the factory floor to keep the workforce motivated. Since the health scare that forced me to rest for five months, I learned to delegate and trust other people. I have set up a team of 12 to run the factory.' Regina Miracle was nominated by its banker, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation, for the Enterprise Award under the DHL/SCMP Business Awards. 'They watched us grow,' he said. Mr Hung considered listing his business [on the stock exchange] but in the end, decided against it. 'I don't need capitalisation and I would rather keep my enterprise private,' he said. judge's comment 'In just eight years, Regina Miracle rose to become a leading bra-moulding company with an international reputation for leading-edge products. Regina Miracle differentiates itself through innovative design and quality. With rising competition from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong's future is increasingly dependent on being able to provide 'differentiated value-added' services - the ability to add value that is different from that provided by others. Regina Miracle shows that Hong Kong people can do it.' Cheah Cheng Hye Value Partners chief investment officer, 2005 Enterprise Award winner biography Y.Y. Hung 1978 Left school in Form Three to work in factories 1982 Joined a French Velcro trading company as a salesperson 1983 Set up a Velcro trading company 1985 Set up Shun Cheong Shoulder Pad Factory in Hong Kong 1988 Shun Cheong factory moved to Shenzhen 1998 Set up Regina Miracle International in Shenzhen to produce moulded bra pads; Shun Cheong obtained ISO9002 certification in the same year. 1999 Invested in 3-D CAD/CAM system developed with Hong Kong Productivity Council 2005 Set up Regina Miracle International Enterprises to produce one-piece seamless bras and panties 2006 Built a 90,000-square-foot annex to the existing factory that will house an extra 8,000 workers and significantly boost production when it is completed in 2007