Peter Kuo & Mattel’s Barbie
Written by Li-Chang Kuo
In the period of 1980s, as my journey of social service unfolded, it
had a particular memory that I accompanied with a famous toy—‘Barbie Doll’ from 1982 to the earlier 1986,
watched the renewal Barbie climbing from the bottom to the top of the world. Everything
was like God's arrangement to assign me help this Mattel Inc., and rely on the
natural gift of knowledge, wisdom and sincerity to assist them to pass through
the Valley of Baca, and make it a place of springs.
The amazing stories had been circulated around Taipei, people gradually knew the said
company where manufacturing such well-known products in Taishan; and meanwhile,
I won a nickname, ‘Mr. Barbie.’
When I started the social service since 1982, the first idea came up
over mind was ‘Upgrading the Industries,’ unfortunately,
Taiwan was full of second-hand industry to pretend as ‘technological industry’--it
is only the sort of industry doing assemble matters without challenge. But I
found out that famous Barbie’s Mattel Inc. seems into plight after searching
the traditional industry. Indeed, the gate’s guard of Mattel Limited Taiwan
(MLT) saw me and asked the first sentence: "They’re preparing to close,
why you are coming here now?” I responded, “To
rescue Barbie!”
Barbie Doll was launched in 1959; two decades or more gone away, old
state has been revealed—not Barbie herself, but the aging of the workers. Barbie’s
charming face was elaborately done by the make-up affairs; the tool of make-up
was named ‘Painting Mask’ which required
good eyesight to be able to fabricate the sophisticated mask. The aging the
sight losing to actuate the sense of crisis—if there were new fabricators, the
old ones might be laid off—this became a big situation, and as a vicious cycle
to run in the enterprise. So someone suggested that “To develop the remote
control and electronic toys," and the results were getting worse and
worse.
The United States
experienced the era of frustration and disappointment in the 1970s, Dr. William
E. Deming (1900-1993) proclaimed that ‘Japan, the Best’ and ‘If Japan can... Why can't
we?’ Not only harm the pride of American, but also harm American girls' dream –
the elegance of Barbie doll was to push down by Japanese style dolls. Although,
Mattel had a very excellent marketing team, but they’re still to mislead by the
engineering staff. An enterprise’s core competence at mechanical toy tried to
turn the operation to unknown industry of ‘remote control and electronic’ that was very
dangerous and the tragic fate could be imagined. Nevertheless, I assured that
the problems included ‘head, hair, face, body, leg and leg armature’ all can be
solved as I looked into the production at my first glance, because these
improvements for Barbie were much easier if compared to create Taiwan’s
precision industry from nothing.
Upgrading the industry continuously is the way of keeping the
competitiveness, or to be replaced by the others. ‘Technologicalization of the Traditional
Industry’ is my advocacy. Consequently, I made a list of improving
the defects to submit for the top engineering staff. But, I was astonished that
the response was ‘you must prove Barbie can not be saved!’ They did not want
rescue Barbie actually. Outrageous, so that I decided to fight with those evil
intentions to the end. However, the time continually lost, and no chance to implement
for my plan; but “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and
certain of what we do not see.” By faith, the time will be
coming.
For the sake of Mattel’s Barbie lost the existed market, a series of
‘He-man’
had been developed to access the boys’ market and to be successful, because of comics
and cartoons with marketing, the access generated the good effect. Then, a new
He-man put on his chest with a ‘Drum’ which was required to print 6 colors on
each 120 degrees, I recommended the local supplier to purchase the ‘Tampo
Printer’ which quotation shown the unit price as ‘NTD 200,000,000’ and they can come within 10
minutes to do the maintenance if mechanic malfunction. Incredulously, those Engineering
Executives spent more than ten times price to buy back two machines which could
not be used from Hong Kong, and repaired at MLT everyday for a half year. I was
seeing the new year of 1984 began, the best sell product was unbelievable to
absent from the market that just caused by a ‘Drum’ could not be printed, and
more delay more plight. In my evaluation, ‘Hong Kong
machines can be fixed up.’ Yet, all the Mattel’s engineering officials came to
check over the machines, and still was day after day dragged, and nothing to be
changed. Eventually, I really couldn’t bear to write a letter to the top
management in California
to ask them a question, “To Be, or Not To Be?” And then, A Big Beard who was
very angry to call me in his office, first, he blamed me to meddle the matter
not belong to me, and consistently threw that acknowledged letter to me, I saw
the w/b was ‘to
be!’ Big Beard reached his finger to my nose and said, “Peter…You’re
so meddlesome, then the 20th day of May (1984) is a holiday, I give
you that day to fix the machine up!”
I did not know where the courage came from, pounded the table to
say, “Just right one day, who you scare!” The very day’s morning, my right leg
was paralysis and painful, my wife helped me to the intersection to call a taxi
straight to the MLT. Even though I crippled a leg, the machines still fixed up
in one day and running 24 hours per day until MLT to be closed. I resolved Mattel’s
He-man crisis, and therefore I earned the opportunity to attain my plan, and to
bring the standardization, rationalization and automations in this MNC. In
regarding to improve Barbie’s chest, I deeply studied construction of female
breasts in order to avoiding the spot appeared as injection molding. As to the
make-up of Barbie Doll, MLT’s top engineering said, “To spend millions of US dollars
can not improve this problem---“ I just wrote a ‘Teach Plan’ and spent no any
penny of official budget to set up a ‘Mask Fabrication Division,’ and training
10 operators to be the mask-fabricators as dressers. Mattel will never be
limited by the affairs of make-up.
While Barbie was on the market in 1959, but there was a commercial
on TV in 1955, because Disneyland opened in California on the 17th
day of July, a cartoon ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ was sponsored by Mrs. Ruth Handler,
and introduced her created ‘Barbie Doll’ to the girls, and further became the
most popular toy while launched in 1959--we can see the unique character of Mrs.
Handler’s leadership as a paradigm of entrepreneurs. When Thorstein Veblen (1857-1929)
announced that ‘Theory of the Leisure Class,’ women in the 1950s were asked for
the casual consumption to honor their wealthy husbands in the USA. However,
Handler created Barbie to teach girls learning independence, not attachment. So
that I thought Barbie is not only a doll toy, but also a symbol to represent
the progressive of human being. Barbie was a representative figure of ‘Feminism.’
Therefore, I poured the business model of precision industry into MLT to renew
Barbie, and to prove the feasibility of ‘Technologicalization of Traditional
Industry,’ the succeeded experience worthy as precious resource. The Scripture
says “And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in
due season, we shall reap, if we faint not.” Barbie revived,
once again became the world girls’ dream, and reached the mission goal of Mrs. Ruth
Handler, and Peter Kuo as ‘Mr. Barbie’
spread so far.
After preaching the way of upgrading industry for years, the
Authority set the policy to guide the industrial direction for Taiwan’s
enterprises; in addition, U.S. Reagan’s Administration also made an era of
American renewal, Taiwan's vitality was jointly and severally restored; but many
foreign firms evacuated from Taiwan since 1985 to the cheaper labor’s
countries, they said, “Taiwan's national income has reached three thousand US
dollars, there is no investment niche---“ On the other hand, the
result of rescuing Barbie had been accomplished, I must actuate the other
affairs of social service to approach the calling. My simple hope was expecting
to keep Mattel in Taiwan by the Taiwan’s first-hand technologies which I left
behind; unfortunately, MLT’s high level staffs from Purchasing, QC, Engineering
to Production were greedy and irresponsibility everywhere, they did not fulfill
the simple duties. Consequently, I left MLT in April, 1986, Mattel Inc. immediately
shut down the Taiwan
plant.
Reference:
Kuo, Li-Chang (2005:65-91). Open the Way for Next Generation.
Taichung:Panhornic.
