New special version bracket series within 50 days

MAFI Asia´s team in Shanghai. From the left to right: Emma Zhang, Andy Zhao, Luke Lu, and Jasmin Shen.

Since the opening of MAFI's Asia office in Shanghai in the fall of 2019, MAFI's business in the Asia Pacific has been rapidly expanding.

Owing to our excellent local team, each individual team member plays like a polygon warrior. Through systematic process assistance, the business can be handled by one person but multiple roles and functions.

Our finance deals with the daily financial management functions, as well as ensures internal control and compliance evaluation of various laws and regulations. Our customer service follows up on the order situation and also takes into account the import and export and procurement plan execution. Our technical engineers are not only designers of customers' requirements, but also masters of product development and production.

As the general manager, I´m acting as a "free man on the field". Besides expanding the business, I also need to keep changing roles to assist and remind the "whole picture" of each function.

Over the past two years, China's 5G rollout has been in full swing. 1.5 million base stations went up. MAFI Asia becomes a unique provider in the mounting solution area. With our solid professional skills, within one and half months, we tailored a set of "special version" antenna bracket series for our Chinese customers from design to prototype confirmation, from tooling development to sample confirmation, from quality control plan to mass production.

“With our solid professional skills, within one and a half months
we tailored a set of ”special version” antenna bracket series.“
Andy Zhao, General Manager, MAFI Asia

Through the in-depth understanding and cooperation of vertical upstream and downstream supply chain, our product positioning and pricing is more in line with the local market. With the cooperation of several local consultant teams, MAFI Asia gradually opened the southeast Asia and Australia markets. For Japan, we also use our competencies to serve the customer in a very local way and local language.

The construction of 5G has entered its third year. We adhere to the strategic deployment of the MAFI Group, close to the local market, with local thinking, plus international cooperation, to serve and meet the local market.
Andy Zhao, General Manager, MAFI Asia

Emma and Luke, two "Millenials" at MAFI Asia

Are the Millenials hard to supervise?
Many senior managers in China share this opinion.
But is it true?
At MAFI Asia, two key employees are ”Millenials”: Emma Zhang, Customer Service Representative, and Luke Lu, Category Manager.
From our interview with them, we got some insight into how they live, how they work, and what they are passionate about.

Left, Luke Lu and his family, right, Emma, practicing yoga.

Question: What is the biggest challenge for you as a Millennials?
Luke: As a young man in the machinery industry, although I have
accumulated some experience when it comes to dealing with new processes, I sometimes still lack adequate experience. I need to continue learning and exploring this road and become familiar with various current processes. At the same time, new processing methods emerge in an endless stream in the industry, and the speed of innovation is relatively fast. If these technologies are applied early, they will help a lot in product design, which requires close communication with production lines and more information to be collected from the Internet.

Question: How do you assess the unpredictability and uncertainty of the future, and how to deal with it?
Emma: The unforeseeable cannot be evaluated. What can be improved is solving problems when confronted with them and always keeping a good attitude.

Question: What are your greatest passions?
Luke: Product development.
Emma: In addition to work, yoga is my most enthusiastic daily practice. I can exercise my mind and body by practicing yoga, maintaining emotional stability, and actively dealing with work and life problems and difficulties.

Question: What do you think society has stereotyped the Millennials?
Luke: I would ignore those stereotypes. There are always differences between individuals. And it is because of the different individuals that would make the group complete.
Emma: I think the perception is that we can´t afford hardship, have no willpower and are self-centered.

Question: What role do you think Millennials can play in social change?
Luke: Many in my generation are engaged in the Internet industry, driving the development of the Internet economy.
Emma: Many of them have the opportunity to go abroad for exchange or
study to gain a broader vision. They bring back some different ideas and grow up in the local environment, which is believed to promote a better society.

Question: Has the post-1990 generation shouldered more responsibilities in society?
Luke: As they grow older, they will have more responsibilities than before. The major one now is to raise the next generation in terms of family responsibilities. And some years later, the obligation to support the senior family member will increase. In terms of social responsibility, I focused on my family and myself. Still, now I also need to consider a larger scope, such as community, street, and town. This is inevitable. As I mature, I will gradually change from participation to dominance. Finally, with the intervention of the next generation, our generation will gradually take a step back.
Jasmin Shen, Finance Controller, MAFI Asia

April hosts both Eastern and Western holiday in China

Left, a traditional Chinese sweet green rice ball, made by asiatic wormwood and sweetened bean paste. Right, during the celebration of Easter, it is common to decorate with colorfully painted eggs.

April is the month in springtime when both Western and Eastern people celebrate their respective seasonal holidays: The Easter holiday and the Tomb Sweeping Day. The former is a Christian festival and cultural holiday, and the latter is a Chinese traditional holiday for honoring ancestors.

Both two holidays do not fall on a fixed date. The computation of Easter is based on the lunisolar calendar (solar year plus moon phase) and the Tomb Sweeping Day is based on the Lunar calendar. In Western culture, people celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from his tomb, whereas, in China, people commemorate the deceased by visiting their graves in cemeteries.

In modern society, the Easter holiday reminds us of colorful Easter eggs, bunnies, and all the other cute imagery in pastel colors.
In China, there is also a special snack that is very popular during the season of Tomb-sweeping day. It is called Qingtuan, made with Mugwort leaves and sticky rice powder. This glutinous treat is traditionally filled with red bean paste and will certainly fill your next spring picnic with its unique herbal aroma.

This spring, many of us in China have unfortunately missed the chance to appreciate the blooming floras and greeneries due to the outburst of the recent wave of Omicron, nevertheless, we still hold hope for a better future and happy reunion upon the hopefully soon-ending lockdown.
Jasmin Shen, Finance Controller, MAFI Asia