Making children's toys from plastic. Raw materials for plastic toys: main criteria for selection. Production of plastic toys

In the sector of plastic toys on the domestic market, a “redistribution” is slowly but surely taking place. A recognized leader, China has greatly weakened its position in recent years. It was supplanted by producers from the post-Soviet space. Next in line is the struggle of our enterprises with Western players, whose market share remains unchanged.

Simple division

There has been steady growth over the past two to three years. Russian market plastic toys. Its capacity, according to gaming industry experts, increases annually by approximately 20–25%. At the same time, experts state that the plastics sector is still very, very far from reaching saturation, and predict no less growth over the next five years. If we talk about the division of the plastic toy market, today the share of producers in the post-Soviet space is about 20%. Approximately 40% are occupied by Chinese enterprises, and the same amount (40%) by manufacturers European countries.

According to experts, just two years ago, Chinese plastic products occupied almost 70% of the Russian market. So, taking into account today’s figure (40%), we can talk about a serious weakening of the Celestial Empire’s position. And the market share of post-Soviet manufacturers is growing every year due to the displacement of goods from China. The main reason is the interest of consumers in high-quality and original toys and the increased welfare of Russians, which allows them not to save on children's goods. “Two or three years ago, buyers purchased mostly inexpensive products: the cheaper, the better,” confirms Andrey Marchuk, head of the marketing department of the Polesye company. – First of all, they were interested in the price. And now they pay more attention to the quality and functionality of the toy.”

“In the next three to five years, the range of plastic toys produced in Russia will expand,” says Rustam Kashaev, deputy director of the Sovtekhstrom enterprise. – Domestic goods will become of higher quality, their design and packaging will improve. Some toys will be produced under the brands of retail chains. However, even all Russian manufacturers taken together will not be able to fully meet the market needs for plastic products for games.”

If we take exclusively the post-Soviet production segment of the plastic toy market, then the balance of power here is approximately as follows: about 70% were “captured” by three large factories - Nordplast (Russia), Polesie (Belarus) and Stellar (Russia), and the remaining 30% comes from smaller enterprises. Opening a plant for the production of plastic toys is a very expensive business (high cost of equipment and molds, huge development costs new products and so on.). Therefore, experts do not predict the emergence of a new major player in this manufacturing sector in Russia and the CIS countries. “In addition, today all foreign companies are trying to open production facilities in China - it is much cheaper,” notes Andrey Marchuk.

"The main competitor of all Russian manufacturers“This is China,” Rustam Kashaev supports his colleague. – It is necessary to develop and produce a product that, in terms of quality, price, and properties, is superior to Chinese products. And pursue a policy so that it is more profitable for Russian trading enterprises to purchase plastic toys from domestic manufacturers. Today, on store shelves, for example, sand sets, mosaics, and medium-sized transport toys without mechanisms are presented mainly by Russian brands. Our task is to ensure that this list expands.”

However, representatives manufacturing sector The Russian gaming industry will sooner or later have to think about competition not only with Chinese, but also with European enterprises. This is much more difficult - after all, the share of European players has remained confidently at 40% in recent years. On their side are well-known brands, high quality, and a well-developed system of promotion and sales. And they are clearly not going to give up their positions without a fight.

Unsatisfied demand

The Nordplast plant is the largest Russian manufacturer of children's plastic toys, one of the leading domestic manufacturers. Over the past two years, the company’s assortment has tripled: from 50 to 150 positions. The main product groups are cars, tractors, sand sets, educational toys, sporting goods and construction sets. The company produces products in various price categories: from inexpensive sand sets to elite garage construction kits.

If we talk about the plant’s sales leaders, it is worth noting the “Nordiki” series (6 variants of cars). It appeared in the Nordplast assortment three years ago and during this time it became a bestseller among other products of the enterprise. According to the plant's specialists, the main advantages of this series, which helped it come out on top, are beautiful design, bright colors, high-quality workmanship and an affordable price. “Nordics” are toys for every day, they are miniature and compact, do not take up much space, the average size of one item from the series is 7x12 cm.

Among the latest innovations of the enterprise are construction sets, educational games, and new sand sets. For example, soon it will go on sale New episode educational games "NAME". It helps children learn to recognize colors and shapes of geometric shapes, and also develops basic mathematical concepts in them. Games will also help develop fine motor skills and creative imagination child.

“Today, the demand for our products exceeds supply: incoming orders exceed the volumes that we produce,” says Oksana Kondaurova, commercial director of the Nordplast plant. “Therefore, in 2007 the plant plans to increase the production of toys by at least 20%.”

Unfortunately, Stellar specialists declined to comment and did not provide information about the assortment. Therefore, we do not have the opportunity to acquaint readers with the point of view on the market processes of the plant’s management, as well as with its products.

Indirect competition

Another largest plant for the production of plastic toys, Polesie, is located in Belarus; it produces more than 350 types of products. The demand for its products in Russia is also growing every year, which entails an increase in production volumes: for example, in the last quarter of 2006, the average monthly processing volume was 270 tons. Polesye products are divided into 4 main areas: transport toys, educational toys (including construction sets), play and sand sets.

The plant’s assortment also includes eight variants of different buckets and four watering cans, plus a variety of shovels, rakes, etc. – thus, due to the different configurations, you can create more than 150 sets for playing in the sandbox. In this group, new items become bestsellers every year. For example, in 2006 the undisputed leader was the original “bucket-flower”. This year, according to the plant’s specialists, the championship will most likely go to a bucket that has no analogues, created using AML technology (the so-called in-mold labeling). The product is very beautiful thanks to full color printing. And high-quality due to the peculiarities of production: the image on it does not deteriorate from water, does not fade or be scratched - that is, it is completely protected from exposure external factors. The factory has already produced 16 different designs of this miracle bucket.

The transport series features a “supergiant car” with an 80-centimeter length that can withstand quite a lot of weight. The product is available in two versions: with a body or with a seat. In the second case, the child can sit on a car - and this is no longer just a car, but a “gurney” for children from 3 to 6 years old. Play sets The products produced by the plant are expensive, so it is difficult to single out sales leaders; everything is sold fairly evenly. Although the set with the “Nanny” doll (changing table, bathtub, doll, clothes, bottles, etc.) can still be put in first place.

Every year, the assortment of the Polesye company increases by 15% due to new products - the company does not replace old products with new ones, but increases the number of positions. “We try to develop and produce products that other enterprises do not have,” says Andrey Marchuk. – This allows you to find your niche and avoid direct competition. Our policy is to focus on original new products; we try to produce products that do not overlap with the range of other factories. Today there are about 40 molds in development, and in 2007 it is planned to release a large number of new toys in all product groups.”

Little brothers

As already mentioned, on the Russian market, except largest factories, there are also a number of smaller manufacturers, including the companies “Abriko”, “Kasson”, “Sovtekhstrom”, “Plastmaster”, “Tekhnolog”, etc.

The assortment range of the Tekhnolog company can be divided into Board games-constructors and prefabricated models. The company's products are unique in their kind and have practically no analogues both in the domestic and world markets: they are assembled without glue, the mobility of the assembled models and the possibility of real shooting. The games produced by Tekhnolog are educational in nature and teach children logic and the basics of strategic thinking. They also stimulate the imagination and provide communication skills.

The Sovtekhstrom enterprise produces more than 300 types of plastic toys: sand sets, kitchen sets, construction sets, mosaics, pyramids, gaming items, sports and outdoor games, goods for children's creativity etc. Kitchen sets are very popular among buyers. They include more than 50 large-sized items, made with excellent quality and in interesting colors.

Top sellers are also sports products and children's art products. “We are trying to produce products that have no analogues among Russian-made goods, or there is a clear shortage,” says Rustam Kashaev. “When preparing to release any new product, we strive not to repeat the size and appearance of existing toys, so that our prices cannot be directly compared with the prices of other companies - price wars are not for us.”

Overseas curiosities

Many domestic dealers and distributors working with products of famous foreign companies, bring high-quality European plastic toys to Russia, which creates healthy competition in the market and gives post-Soviet enterprises an incentive for further growth and development.

The Orion Group company, for example, began its activities six years ago and during this short time has grown into a powerful trading operator. It markets a wide range of plastic toys, which is divided into 10 different categories and includes more than 350 items. These are educational games, construction sets, cars, products for girls, summer assortment, bicycles, board games, rocking chairs, children's sports equipment, as well as electronic micro-dolls. The company is the exclusive distributor in Russia of products from the Orion (Ukraine), Technok (Ukraine), Maximus (Ukraine), and Dolu (Turkey) factories. Orion Group also acts as a distributor soft toy The company Wolt Disney Company and exclusive electronic microtoys from Tomy (these are the world's smallest interactive dolls - micro-babies and micro-dancers).

"On this moment the company has four branches,” says Andrey Nazarov, development director of Orion Group. – The central office is located in St. Petersburg, and branches are in Moscow, Yekaterinburg and Krasnodar region. Our own fleet of vehicles in each of the branches allows us to deliver products to retail outlets and warehouses in as soon as possible».

The brightest and most original new products presented by the Orion Group company, micro-babies and micro-dancers, toys of the Microworld line from the Tomy company. This series of electronic toys has already won the hearts of buyers all over the world, and now it has reached Russia. Microtoys are the world's smallest interactive dolls. Due to their minimal size (3.5 cm) and great functionality, these products even made it into the Guinness Book of Records. Micro-babies can respond to voices, clapping, crawl, talk, sing, drink milk from a bottle and even change their mood. Each character in the series (there are six in total) has his own character and habits. Micro-dancers are small dancing dolls. Their dance style depends on the melody. The toy can choose the rhythm itself, or it can dance to a given melody.

“I didn’t even notice the elephant...”

There is still a sector in the plastics market in which the likelihood of a new production player emerging is quite high.

“In Russia today, no one produces large-sized plastic toys,” says Andrey Marchuk. – This segment will develop; it is practically not filled. Bringing large toys from China is not very profitable; their weight leads to high transportation costs. Of course, there are Western manufacturers producing large-sized plastic. But they are located in Europe, where everything is becoming more expensive, and the cost of such goods is quite high. An enterprise that begins to produce large toys in Russia will have much lower production costs. In addition, shipping costs are deducted. So large plastic toys domestic production will be very, very attractive in price.” But until such a new player appears, the Polesie company is trying to make the most of all available opportunities - introducing large toys into its assortment: cars, sets, etc. The company's specialists note that these products are in great demand today.

The Sovtekhstrom company is also developing an unoccupied niche. “In 2006, we made molds and began producing large-sized toys: Zubr dump trucks and wheelchairs,” says Rustam Kashaev. – Presented the products to our customers and received positive feedback. Already in the first months it became clear that sales of new products would be very successful.”

Wholesale companies are not far behind. For example, the Respect company, the exclusive distributor of the South Korean brands Oxford and Haenim Toys, is actively importing large plastic toys to Russia. “The demand for these products has begun to grow in the last two or three years,” notes Irina Semicheva, executive director of the Respect company. “And in 2006, our sales of large plastics doubled compared to 2005.” The niche for large-sized toys has not been filled; there is very little gaming equipment on the market. Cottage and suburban construction will grow every year, therefore, demand will increase, but there is practically no supply.”

The advantages of Korean brands represented by the Respect company are a wide product range, high quality plastic and packaging. This product is especially suitable for Russian frosty winters: Korean plastic has passed the so-called “Arctic test” - it can withstand frosts down to minus 20 degrees Celsius. In addition, toys from Korea are distinguished by excellent thoughtfulness of every detail and safety. For example, their slides are curved or wavy - they reduce speed, and the steps are corrugated so that the baby’s feet do not slip. Among the new products, it is worth noting play areas - sets of several items, for example, a house, a slide and a swing.

“The main buyers of large plastic toys are kindergartens, play centers and various entertainment complexes,” says Irina Semicheva. – In second place are online stores. On the third - retail chains, which have large retail space(“Mega”, “Hobby Center”, etc.). Then there are buyers from the regions who work “to order” for clients from cottages and country houses. In Moscow, the products are also purchased by “Sports and Recreation”, “Everything for Home and Garden” stores and retail outlets on the highway.” There are many clients and consumers of large plastics today. It's up to the manufacturers.

So, today the Russian market of plastic toys is in the stage of “redistribution”. Here, as in all other segments of children's goods, consumer interest in Chinese products is declining. And China has literally lost about 30% of the Russian market over the past three years. This is a very significant share, which was immediately captured by producers in Russia and the CIS countries. They offer high-quality products at affordable prices, a wide range, and constantly introduce interesting new products. Today they practically do not have to “displace” Chinese products - buyers do it for them. In addition, they avoid direct competition with each other - after all, everyone has found their niche in the huge domestic market. And the demand for their products still exceeds supply. But it won't always be like this. Therefore, it makes sense for manufacturers in Russia and Belarus to direct their free forces to fight Western brands. After all, the next large piece of the pie can only be grabbed at their expense.

Igroprom Magazine

IN modern world There is probably no such person who would not dream of studying own business, bringing a stable income. The most important thing is to choose a suitable niche for yourself, study competitors, cast aside all fears and start working.

If you look at the materials from which toys for children are made, these are usually polymers and plastic. Of course, they are highly durable and light weight. However, such materials are obtained artificially and can be harmful to the health of the child. That is why mothers today quite often prefer toys made from natural ingredients such as wood. Currently, the production of children's wooden toys as a business is developing quite actively.

At first glance, it may seem that producing wooden toys is boring. However, if you approach the issue with imagination, it is quite possible to come up with unusual and interesting models. Even the most capricious little customers will like these toys.

We estimate the investments required to start a business

How much money will it take to start producing wooden toys? The production of such products requires availability starting capital approximately 450,000 rubles. Doing business in this area is quite difficult.

Product range

What toys can be made from wood?

Here are just some of the most common types:

cars and other transport: buses, cars, trucks and so on;
railroad: sets with rails and wooden locomotives are very popular;
educational wooden toys: puzzles and pyramids for the development of fine motor skills, puzzles and construction sets for older children.

How to start a business?

What to do if you are interested in wooden toys? Production can be successfully established in your own home. To do this, it is enough to equip a small workshop and register as individual entrepreneur. After this, you can begin the process of making toys that you can then sell. At the initial stage of development client base It’s enough to offer your products to your friends and acquaintances.

Be sure to include a detailed description of sales mechanisms in your business plan for the production of wooden toys. In the future, this will allow you to choose the most effective ones based on a thorough analysis of the main channels.

Hand made

Often the manufacturing process takes a lot of time. But at the same time, the finished product can easily be called hand made. Those who want to get something original and unique will be happy to buy such a toy. In addition, serial equipment for the production of wooden toys does not allow them to be manufactured according to individual parameters. And handmade allows you to make custom-made products of any shape. A skilled craftsman will be able to cut out both Smeshariki and Transformers.

Setting up production

Let's assume that you have set yourself the goal of starting the production of a wooden toy. What companies are there? modern market carrying out similar activities? What do you need to start a business?

Here are just a few points that are worth paying special attention to:

Production premises. Ideally, it should be divided into several workshops or rooms in which various operations are carried out: assembly, painting, processing, and so on.
Equipment and machines for making wooden toys. The minimum set includes: drilling, milling, facing and you will also need chisels, hacksaws and planes.
Materials and equipment for painting. During production, in no case should you skimp on the quality of paints and varnishes, since the products produced are intended for children.
Think in advance about how you will pack your finished products. Both a cardboard box and plastic are suitable for this purpose. Cardboard packaging meets all environmental requirements.

We select personnel

What else do you need to make wooden toys? Production is not only about materials and equipment, but also about qualified workers. The manufacturing process itself must be divided into several technological operations. It is advisable not to organize work in such a way that one person is both an artist and a sawing master.

To produce high-quality and varied products, it is recommended to purchase computer modeling programs. With their help, you can develop original and unusual toy models. The manufacturing technology itself is not particularly complicated. The manufacturing process consists of cutting parts into specific shapes, painting them and assembling them. Despite the fact that this process is quite simple, it is still better to involve specialists for the work. At first, one foreman will be enough for each workshop. Subsequently, when expanding the business, it will be possible to attract additional people.

Competitors

In Russia, the business of producing wooden toys is a fairly popular area. Currently, there are several companies that produce such toys.

Here are just a few of them:

"The World of Wooden Toys".
"Tomik".
"Krasnokamsk toy"
"Vintik and Shpuntik".
"Pinocchio".

What else do those who decide to produce wooden toys need to know? Production should begin only after a detailed study of the product range from competing companies. Your organization can specialize in one thing. In addition, you can start producing toys for children of a certain age category.

How to set up sales

Various methods can be used to sell finished products. First, you should try selling products wholesale in toy stores. However, this method is not always effective, especially when you consider that the windows of modern stores are filled with colorful plush and plastic toys. There is another way: you can open your small store based on production. The third and easiest in reality modern life option - selling through an online store. It’s enough just to develop a website and think about its content. This may contain information about toys, as well as photographs of finished products. If you plan to use this method, be sure to include an additional approximately 50 thousand rubles in the starting capital.

Conclusion

What does it take to start producing wooden toys and become such a major market player as the Krasnokamsk Toy company? Any business requires investment. And in this area you will find a lot of additional expenses.

Here are just a few of them:

purchase or rental of premises;
wages to employees;
purchase of special software products;
purchase of equipment;
purchase of consumables.

All these points need to be thought about if you want to produce wooden toys. It will not be possible to establish production without high-quality equipment. Otherwise, you risk getting defective goods. To avoid extra costs A well-written business plan will help you optimize your business budget.

The quality and cost of the toy directly depend on what raw materials were used in the production process. The more expensive the starting materials, the higher the cost of the final product. However, Russian manufacturers have found ways not to save on raw materials and at the same time not to inflate the price of the product.

Strictly control the quality

Today Russian toy manufacturers are fighting for decent quality reasonable price in rather unfavorable raw material conditions. If we take, for example, such source material for the production of toys as artificial fur, then throughout the entire territory of the post-Soviet space you can find only three plants for its production. One is in Russia, the second is in Ukraine and the third is in Belarus.

The second material widely consumed by gaming industry enterprises - polypropylene - is produced by only 4 plants in a country with a population of one and a half billion. Three of them have existed for quite a long time, since Soviet times, when production was at a qualitatively different level and was constantly fueled by the state. While the fourth - Nizhnekamsk - is a purely opportunistic phenomenon, justified by an acute shortage of raw materials on the market. Manufacturers working on polypropylene highly value the quality of more expensive Korean and Finnish polymers, while the level of affordable Russian polymers still leaves much to be desired. But even if we do not take into account the quality of domestic raw materials, four plants for a huge country, according to expert economists, is very little.

One of the largest Russian factories, Nordplast, uses six types of raw materials in the production of plastic toys, but about 80% of the entire raw material base is polypropylene. The company relied on inexpensive Russian materials, but with the condition of consistent quality from batch to batch. Oksana Kondaurova, commercial director of the Nordplast plant, says: “We process about 200 tons of polypropylene every month. Most of it is domestically produced. We take the quality of raw materials seriously; the enterprise has incoming control of all incoming materials and components. We purchase polypropylene in Kapotnya and Ufa. We usually pay for raw materials with a deferred payment period of a week to a month.” “We purchase imported raw materials, but no more than 10% of the total volume of consumables,” says Oksana Kondaurova. – This is due to the constant change in prices for imported and domestic raw materials. For example, we had experience in purchasing imported polypropylene produced in Korea and Finland: they have the material good quality. Accordingly, working with such material allows you to reduce losses and speed up manufacturing process. We started purchasing, but after a while the raw materials became more expensive. The volume of purchases has decreased - we cannot sharply increase the cost of production and increase the price for the end consumer in conditions of fierce competition. However, to improve quality and when developing new, more complex toy parts, we are increasingly using materials from imported manufacturers. Among other things, the choice of raw materials of domestic brands is small. So, last year, to produce a new type of product, we began to use imported brands of polypropylene, polystyrene and ABS.”

Minimize losses

However, not all enterprises can purchase Russian raw materials. According to Sergei Oreshin, director of the Alanger company, domestic raw materials are well suited for enterprises with a large number of castings producing standard products. “They usually have a special workshop for crushing low-quality products - because according to the technology, 20% of secondary raw materials can be used in the production of final products,” he explains. – We have a different approach: defective products do not exceed 4% and are not reused. This allows you to save on its storage, processing and optimize production costs.”

The Alanger company has developed its own method of reducing production costs when purchasing expensive imported raw materials. Sergey Oreshin shares the secrets of “optimization”: “We use polystyrene to produce toys; our company purchases exclusively imported raw materials. We tried working with Chinese, it is quite cheap, but its quality is unstable. It contains a lot of additives, so-called inclusions, due to which the product stops adhering. And this directly affects the final product. The situation is the same with Indian raw materials. That's why today we settled on the German brand BASF: stable quality, precise deliveries. German polystyrene is about 20% more expensive than domestic polystyrene. However, when working with Russian materials, production defects amount to the same 20–22%. Even low price polystyrene cannot compensate for such losses. In addition, German raw materials are delivered in convenient packaging, completely sealed and moisture-proof. And from domestic polystyrene, as experts say, “water just oozes out.” We also purchase imported Austrian dyes approved for use in the food industry. This is a very important point: after all, the consumers of our products are children, so we do everything to ensure that the toys are absolutely safe for their health.”

Alanger purchases German polystyrene and other materials from a Moscow supplier specializing in the sale of imported raw materials in Russia. This eliminates all problems with delivery and customs. In addition, the company can purchase the required quantity of products at any time. The supplier was selected carefully, based on an analysis of several similar companies.

Prepare in advance for crises

According to gaming industry experts, resource crises of varying severity happen all the time. The main thing in this case is to insure yourself in advance. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a situation where production simply stops. Oksana Kondaurova says: “We encounter commodity crises about twice a year. in spring Russian factories stop for preventive maintenance, and in winter there is a problem with transporting raw materials during the New Year holidays. Therefore, every year by May and December we create the necessary reserves. Of course, storing large volumes is not very convenient, but this is our main raw material, and interruptions in its supply can lead to a stop in production.”

Chinese commodity dominance

If you try to sketch a raw materials map of the world, using even relative data, Russia will not be among the leaders in terms of the level of internal raw materials turnover. Which in itself is quite paradoxical. We have vast territories, oil and other natural resources, constant complaints about unemployment and an urgent need for gaming industry enterprises for high-quality inexpensive raw materials. However, and most experts in the toy industry admit this, the title of raw materials leader is still firmly held by the countries of Southeast Asia. Thus, according to RBC magazine, China is currently increasing its resource consumption at a frantic pace. In many positions he is already No. 1 in the world. Being the largest importer of ore, aluminum, zinc, and the second largest importer of oil, China is becoming a full participant in international market relations. By producing huge quantities of various raw materials within the country, China is able to dictate prices for them on the world market. And the thesis “Chinese means cheap” is no longer tenable.

Fashion for toys is subject to no less frequent changes than fashion for clothing. Trends, materials, details, colors, styles change. No country, except China, is capable of producing such a quantity of raw materials needed by the gaming industry (including the Russian one) in a short time. This is due to the fact that China, like no other country in the world, has learned to minimize energy costs. Combined with cheap labor force and the status of the world's second-largest oil importer, this ability allows the country to maintain its position as the No. 1 supplier of raw materials for the toy industry. A huge number of world-famous toy makers have already taken the path of 100% transfer of production to China. Most Russian manufacturers place orders at factories in the Middle Kingdom. The dynamics of the outflow of orders to China today significantly exceeds the dynamics of the development of the Russian raw materials industry. Assessing this state of affairs, experts find it difficult to make predictions. Some predict that Asian countries (China, India, Taiwan) will continue to absorb raw materials and transfer production there Russian companies. Others leave Russia a chance to use its full potential and become a competitive country producing raw materials. However, both of them make allowances for both the current Russian legislation (to open any production in the homeland, you will have to face a huge number of financial and bureaucratic difficulties) and the Russian mentality. “We haven’t even really learned how to make gasoline,” the head of a large company shares his opinion with our magazine. production company gaming industry, who wished to remain anonymous. - Despite great amount extracted oil, we still sell it in its pure form, instead of refining it in the country, using processed products in other production and making the same polymers in our homeland, and not buying plastic made from our own oil from the Chinese at inflated prices prices."

The main types of raw materials for the production of plastic toys.

Entrepreneurs' interest in this direction commercial activities, like the production of toys, can be explained not only by the conclusions of analysts about the good prospects for this business, but also by the presence of their own small children. But, regardless of the reasons that made you pay attention to this direction entrepreneurial activity, for the successful organization and development of your enterprise, it is necessary to study in detail all the nuances of the business, including production technology and advertising events.

In this regard, the presented article is an indispensable assistant, both for experienced small and medium-sized businesses, and for novice entrepreneurs who are determined to please children with beautiful and high-quality toys own production. This information will be of interest not only to business representatives (entrepreneurs, investors and bankers), but also to theorists of economic disciplines, university students who plan to organize their own business after receiving a diploma, as well as young mothers and fathers who want to know how and what toys are made from their babies.

Toy production - a general plan for organizing your business

Despite the optimistic forecasts of experienced analysts regarding the production of toys in Russia, you should focus on the market situation in this segment that has developed in your region.

This means that the initial stage of this commercial project includes detailed marketing research:

level of demand for children's toys;

the most popular types of these products;

how many companies are engaged in the production and sale of toys;

whether companies from other regions are present on the market (what they offer, what prices they set, etc.);

study of representatives target audience(income level, average number of children in a family, what part of the family budget is spent on purchasing toys).

Based on the data obtained, you can plan your future business: draw up an approximate range of products for children, calculate the optimal volume of toy production, make a list of necessary raw materials and consumables, and also determine what specialists are needed for the effective operation of the company. We can say that at this stage your task is to draw up a general “picture” of the future enterprise.

Based on the product range you have compiled, you need to think about production technology. A big plus for the organizer of the presented line of business activity is the presence of experience in this industry. As a last resort, you will have to invite a specialist to work, who will begin to perform his duties even before the start of production activities.

He must choose the optimal technology for manufacturing products for children, find high-quality equipment for the production of toys from different types of raw materials: soft, wooden, plastic, etc., and also help with the selection of personnel.

In addition to purchasing the necessary equipment, you need to find a premises in which the production of products for children will be carried out. Be prepared for hefty expenses for repair work and compliance with the requirements of fire inspectors and representatives of Rospotrebnadzor. Without them, you will not receive all the necessary permits.

One of the most important points is the creation of a real business plan, which should take into account all the costs associated with the organization and development of your commercial project. Mainly financial document it is necessary to record not only one-time costs and monthly production costs, but also risks that exist even in cases where the most reliable project is planned. Be sure to think about advertising your company and its products, which it is advisable to do even before starting toy production.

If you decide to engage in entrepreneurial activity, but you are not a full-fledged businessman, then you need to register with tax office, statistical authorities and relevant funds. Many novice businessmen are most frightened by this procedure, but such fears these days are completely unfounded. It will take no more than ten days to complete the documents, and, unlike the situation in the 90s, you will not have to visit many offices in government agencies every day. Registration, both individual entrepreneur and legal entity carried out in one place, quickly and without additional costs.

Selection of priority types of products and their production technology

In order to cover all segments of the children's toy market, large financial investments are required.

As a rule, at the “start”, each entrepreneur begins his activity, focusing on one direction:

wooden Toys;

plastic products;

Stuffed Toys;

production of goods for children from different materials.

The main criteria that new manufacturers need to take into account are the safety of the products and the interest of little “experts” in them. Experienced business entities who have been working in this industry for many years recommend developing toy designs using the advice of child psychologists. They will help you create not just a bright and beautiful toy, but will also make sure that the product contributes to the development of the child. The result is safe, beautiful, attention-grabbing and educational children's toys.

In the process of creating new products, the following factors must be taken into account:

the age of the children for whom the toys are intended;

offers of similar (or very similar) products from competing companies;

the cost of production of these products;

its competitiveness.

Many representatives of this line of commercial activity test their products with the help of their children and their friends. Large companies first produce a trial batch to check the children's reaction, and then make changes (if necessary) and launch full-scale production.

After choosing a priority direction and forming a product range, you need to select the optimal production technology. In this case, the size of the starting capital plays a decisive role. Some entrepreneurs start their activities by organizing the production of wooden toys, which are made 50-80% by hand. Naturally, the cost of these products will be high, and the production volume will be small. Such workshops often work to order, and the mechanism for generating profit in this case differs from traditional ones; many craftsmen work not to increase production volumes, but to improve the toy itself. They will make 5-10 unique products that will bring him more money than a hundred toys made using an assembly line method.

To produce children's goods in large volumes it is necessary:

find a room;

purchase equipment;

obtain all permits;

hire staff;

start the toy making process.

Legal issues

To organize a new direction of business activity, it is necessary to have all the permitting documentation, first of all, you must register with the tax office, statistical authorities and special funds. But, before that, you need to choose a legal form for your future business. If you plan to work in a small workshop, using the labor of 2-5 workers, then it is quite enough to draw up documents as an individual entrepreneur and write an application for choosing a simplified taxation regime.

Entrepreneurs who decide to produce large volumes of children's toys in order to cover not only the local market, but also to please children from other regions of Russia, it is best to register an LLC. This organizational and legal form may be the only possible option for registering a business if you have partners participating in the business on equal terms; if you plan to expand your activities and conquer foreign markets; when you need to get a loan for business development. In addition, there are individual factors that influence your choice in this matter. But do not forget that the costs of registering a toy production business should be recorded in your business plan.

Considering the fact that the products in question are intended for children of different ages, it is necessary that it undergoes certification. The received document will be one hundred percent confirmation that this toy is of high quality and safe for children’s health.

Beginning businessmen need to know that the production of toys that copy cartoon characters, TV series, etc. impossible without a special license that confirms your right to produce these products.

Another set of documents is required for production premises. Your workshop must comply with all fire safety requirements (fire extinguishers and fire shields, emergency exits, etc. are required). The fire inspector controls all these issues and provides the appropriate permission. In addition, the room must have working water supply, sewerage and electricity, and care must be taken to ensure ventilation and maintain normal temperature.

Personnel, advertising and sales of toys

The issue of forming a company’s staff directly depends on the scale of production and the availability of sophisticated equipment.

In addition to ordinary workers who will be directly involved in the production of toys for children, the following are required:

equipment adjuster;

Shift Supervisor;

technologist;

Foreman.

The next category of company employees consists of: the head of the entire company, chief accountant, designer, sales manager, office manager, as well as other employees who contribute efficient work companies. But do not forget that in each individual case there are certain points that can influence the formation of the staff.

When considering the production of toys as a business, it is necessary to remember that any line of commercial activity will not make a profit if you do not engage in advertising. In this situation, it is possible to carry out promotional activities even before the production workshop starts operating. It is best to simultaneously engage in advertising in the media, distributing leaflets and creating a company website, developing pages in in social networks, as well as placing relevant advertisements on all available resources.

The effectiveness of promotional activities will be shown by the process of selling the first batches of products. By this time, young mothers and fathers living in your region should already know the name of the company and the range of toys offered.

The sale of goods for children can be organized as follows:

with help world wide web, focusing on small wholesale parties;

sell toys to specialized stores, supermarkets and others outlets small wholesale batches;

sign agreements with private kindergartens and other child care institutions;

open your store right next to the production workshop.

Economic indicators

As you may have guessed, it is impossible to give any general example to demonstrate this area of commercial activity (a workshop where thousands of toys are produced per month cannot be compared with a small workshop). But if we take average statistical data based on information provided by real entrepreneurs, then we can say that to open a workshop (one-time costs) you need about 1,500 thousand rubles. Such a business should pay off after a year or two of normal operation. That is, your average monthly profit will be at the level of 100 thousand rubles, which is a good indicator even for a steadily developing economy, and in this case we're talking about about unsatisfactory macroeconomic indicators.

If you organize this business at home, then you need a lot less money, main expense items:

purchase of raw materials;

wages of hired employees.

Profitability, gross income and net profit in this case depend on your skill and ability to sell. But today you can find many examples when home business for the production of unique toys allows you to make a decent profit.

A detailed study of all aspects of the production and sale of toys shows that this is a promising and interesting area of commercial activity that can be organized without having huge capital and other resources for “starting”.

The production and sale of children's goods for entrepreneurs has long been considered a promising activity. The situation has not changed in our time. A clear confirmation of this is the huge selection on the market of toys intended for children of various age categories.

On the other hand, quantity is not the main indicator, since modern people They prefer to buy useful and high-quality things for their child. In this regard, we can safely say that the production of wooden toys is a promising type of business activity.

Market Review

As an analysis of the domestic children's goods market shows, the lion's share of it belongs to cheap products of Chinese origin. If several decades ago goods from the Middle Kingdom were considered a real curiosity, now in the vast majority of cases they are nothing more than consumer goods, of which our consumers are frankly tired. As a rule, these products are made from low-quality materials.

Nowadays there is a situation on the market where domestic consumers are increasingly giving preference to more expensive, but high-quality and environmentally friendly products. This is especially true for parents. In this regard, the business plan for the production of wooden toys now looks very relevant.

Advantages

Toys that are made of wood have a number of advantages over their plastic counterparts. First of all, in this case we are talking about the environmental safety of such products for children. In addition, they are more durable and have an original design.

As a business, the production of wooden toys looks very attractive due to the need to invest a small amount of financial resources at the initial stage.

As practice shows, usually about 50 thousand rubles are enough to purchase equipment and organize this type of activity.

The entire manufacturing process in this case is quite simple and consists of preparing blanks, processing them, painting and packaging.

Wooden toys are not inferior to their competitors in such an aspect as modernity. The fact is that, in addition to the usual classic models (pyramids, cubes, cars), the market now offers a wide range of modern varieties. Among them in Lately The most popular were toys with electronic elements, as well as educational models.

Required equipment and personnel

A factory for the production of wooden toys should consist of several rooms. Each of them will specialize in certain types the works discussed earlier - processing, assembly and painting. As for tools, at the initial stage it will be enough to acquire a milling machine with digital program control, as well as drilling, edge banding and grinding devices, a chisel, a hacksaw and a plane.

Knowing the main characteristics of future products, as well as the potential scale of production, we can draw conclusions about the need for certain tools. Among the consumables, in addition to the wood itself, packaging materials are needed (bags, boxes), as well as varnishes and paints, which must be selected for reasons of their environmental friendliness.

The production of wooden toys cannot be organized without hiring appropriate specialists. At the initial stage of business development, you can do some of the work yourself, but you will still have to call two or three more people for help.

It is advisable that they have some experience in this field. In the future, subject to achieving certain successes, it will be possible to additionally hire artists, designers or other specialists. In order to save money, it is better to deliver the goods yourself at first.

Sales of finished products

Having organized this type of business activity, such as the production of wooden toys, it is necessary to first think through ways to sell the finished product. As practice shows, the best option is the opening of a website.

In addition, you can try to establish cooperation with specialized stores. Such products are valued quite highly abroad. On the other hand, one cannot help but note the fact that the production of wooden products there is properly organized. In this regard, in order to interest foreign consumers, it is necessary to create exclusive handmade original models.

conclusions

In order to successfully establish the production of wooden toys, a novice entrepreneur needs to master a number of professions, starting with a sales manager and ending with the director of a company. It is recommended to hire additional personnel only after a stable number of orders appears and sales income increases. Based on the experience of many similar companies, this activity has every chance of becoming the main business of life and bringing a stable profit.

If you take a closer look at modern toys, they are mainly plastic and polymers. Yes, these are light and durable materials, but their chemical components are harmful to the child. For this reason, mothers began to give preference to toys made from natural materials, in particular wood. And the production of wooden toys has become a very popular niche in business.

Assortment of toys

It is only at first glance that it seems that toys carved from wood are boring and uninteresting. But if you approach the matter with enthusiasm and creativity, you can come up with original models that will interest the most capricious young buyer.

Video from the World of Wooden Toys (MDI) factory

Our business assessment:

Starting investment - 450,000 rubles.

Market saturation is average.

The difficulty of starting a business is 9/10.

So, what toys can be made from wood?

Transport (car, tractor, etc.).
A railway with wooden rails and a train (sounds strange, but such sets are very popular today).
Educational toys made of wood (for the little ones - pyramids, and for older children - puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, construction sets).

With your own hands

If you know how to make simple toys with your own hands right at home, or you have a small workshop, then you can register an individual entrepreneur and start selling your work. You can start with friends and acquaintances who will pass on information about your mini-business through word of mouth.

Making wooden toys with your own hands often takes a lot of time, but the finished product can safely be called hand-made, a proud and fashionable word for today. Such products will be eagerly purchased by those who want their children to have everything unique. Also, such a business makes it possible to make some specific toys to order, because a real craftsman can cut even Smeshariki or Transformers out of wood.

Universal woodworking machine Enkor Corvette-320

Large production

If your goal is a real mini factory for the production of wooden toys, then you will need:

Production room. It would be good if it had several rooms (workshops) in which various events would take place. technological processes: wood processing, painting, assembly, etc.
Machines for the production of wooden toys (at least milling, drilling, grinding, facing) and other tools (planes, chisels, hacksaws, etc.).
Equipment and consumables for painting work. It will be impossible to skimp on the quality of paints and varnishes, because... products are intended for children.
Package. Wood will be better off in plastic than in cardboard box. Although the latter is more environmentally friendly.

Staff

The production and sale of wooden toys is not only about equipment and materials, but also about personnel. There must be a division of labor, i.e. It is undesirable for one person to be both a sawing master and an artist at the same time.

To produce higher quality and more diverse products, you can purchase special computer programs, which will make it easier to develop original toy models. The technology for producing wooden toys itself is no different. The process involves cutting out the parts, painting them and assembling them. But no matter how simple the process is, you cannot do it without specialists. At the initial stage, one person for each workshop is enough. Subsequently, the business can be expanded and attract additional employees.

Potential competitors

The production of children's wooden toys as a business in Russia attracted the interest of many enterprising people who opened the following companies:

"MDI" - World of Wooden Toys (manufactured in China).
"Tomik" (Tomsk).
"Vintik and Shpuntik" (manufactured in China).
"Buratino" (made in China).
“Krasnokamsk toy” (Perm).

Before starting your own production of wooden toys from scratch, look at the range of products of the listed companies and take note of some ideas. You can settle on a specific type of wooden toys, making this your specialty. Or produce a wide variety of products for children of all ages.

Marketing methods

Implement finished products possible in different ways. The first option: sell in bulk to toy stores. It’s simple, but often wooden toys on display are overshadowed by soft “singing” cats or colorful transformers. Therefore, there is a second option: open your own small store based on production. It can be located near the workshop.

Third option: online store. To do this, you just need to develop a website and fill it with content containing information about toys and their photographs. Developing an online store is another plus of 50 thousand rubles towards the initial capital.

The best home based business ideas for women.

Business idea: production of toothpicks with a logo.

How to write a business plan for the production of socks?

Initial Investment

You can’t get by with small expenses here, because there are a lot of cost items:

rent (purchase) of large premises;
hiring specialists;
purchasing a computer program and training employees to work with it;
rental (purchase) of equipment;
purchase of consumables.

You won’t be able to buy equipment for the production of wooden toys cheaply. The machines must be new to avoid defects. Hooks, unevenness - all this threatens microtraumas for the child, which is unacceptable.

If we take an approximate amount, the starting capital will be 400-500 thousand rubles. If you draw up a competent business plan for the production of wooden toys and protect it properly, you can get a grand or just a loan from a bank. The payback for the project begins after the first batches are sold, because the price tag for wooden toys is usually quite high. It will be possible to fully “recoup” the invested funds in a year or a year and a half, depending on the success of the enterprise.

Advantages of wooden toys

Many entrepreneurs, when choosing a direction in business, are driven not only by financial, but also by ethical considerations. They want to receive not only profit from the enterprise, but also moral satisfaction. Wooden toys for children are an ideal option in this case, because you create safe, natural products that bring joy.

You should immediately take into account that toys made of wood are products for a narrow circle of consumers. Parents whose children are used to playing modern Transformers and tablets will not buy a wooden train or car for their child. It will simply be pointless.

Your clients will be modern mothers who understand the benefits of wooden toys:

environmentally friendly products;
durability unlike plastic analogues;
domestic production (today has a high reputation among Russians);
unusual design, original models;
a return to childhood, because modern parents mainly played with wooden cars and trains.

Practice shows that a love for wooden toys is instilled literally after one model falls into the hands of a child. Therefore, your efforts will not be in vain. Sooner or later, the attention of most children and parents will be riveted to wooden toys, and your enterprise will receive maximum fame and, consequently, profit.

The high interest in such an area of commercial activity as the production of wooden toys can be explained not only by the desire of many entrepreneurs to organize a profitable and promising business, but also by caring for our children. Modern materials for the production of toys can be compared to a time bomb.

Of course, plastic and polymers belong to the category of durable and reliable chemical compounds, but some of them can cause harm to children, despite the constant monitoring of the SES and institutions that issue quality certificates for products for children. The terrifying picture of infant mortality and the general health of children makes us look for the reasons for such negative phenomena. And in this list, toys play an important role.

The presented article discusses the main points of the organization and development of the production of products for children from environmentally friendly wooden materials. Readers will learn what it takes to create your own company, how you can organize the commercial production of toys from natural raw materials with minimum size starting capital, and will also receive information about the main problems that await budding entrepreneurs on the path to implementing this commercial project.

Production of wooden toys - prospects for this business

Despite the fact that our country has all the prerequisites for the production of wooden toys, this business does not belong to the category of popular areas of commercial activity. In all of Russia there are less than a hundred factories, factories, shops and workshops that produce wooden products for children. At the same time, in Europe this figure is at the level of several hundred, excluding small workshops and individual specialists in the manufacture of wooden toys. So, the first reason why you should pay attention to this area of business activity is the lack of manufacturers of quality toys made from natural raw materials.

The main competitors in the domestic market of wooden products are Chinese factories and factories. But they cannot compete with domestic producers. Chinese toys are no different high quality, they are difficult to classify as developmental products, and the unstable situation on the foreign exchange market has had a negative impact on their value. The absence of real competitors confirms the fact that the production of wooden toys in our country can be considered as a promising business.

The unstable situation in the economy and the deterioration of the financial situation of many citizens of our country have a negative impact on the purchasing power of the population. But even in these difficult conditions, loving parents will not spare money to purchase a quality product made from natural raw materials for their child.

That is, this industry will develop even during a period of general decline in production. And the most important argument in favor of the development of this field of activity is that wooden toys are absolutely safe for the health of your children.

Taking into account all the above facts, we can conclude that the production of children's toys in Russia is a promising area of commercial activity that is of interest both to experienced businessmen and investors, and to beginners. But you should not think that everyone who organizes an enterprise for the production of products from natural raw materials will immediately begin to earn huge sums of money. To do this, you need to work hard and be prepared to solve a large number of issues related to finding talented craftsmen, obtaining permits, renting premises, purchasing equipment, etc.

We welcome your comments!

The Vesna factory - at that time still the Toy artel - appeared in 1942. Since then, toy production has never stopped. The factory produces 1,200 types of various children's play products, of which about 500 are dolls. Production workshops and the sites are located in Kirov and beyond - in Slobodskoye, Lyangasovo and Batashi. The product is sold through a dealer network in 70 regions of Russia, as well as to the CIS countries. Branches of the company have been opened in Orel and Nizhny Novgorod. The Village visited the factory and found out what and how the dolls are made.

Toy Factory "Spring"

One of the oldest manufacturers of children's toys in Russia

Location: Kirov

The number of employees: 530

Date of foundation: 1942

The process of developing a new doll model before it appears on the store shelf takes about nine to ten months. According to the factory’s business plan, there should be about a hundred such new products per year. Every day the production produces about three thousand dolls. Models change every day, usually there are 30–50 types.

First, artists, fashion designers and designers develop an image new toy, make sketches of the appearance and accessories. Then the sculptor-former makes from plasticine the shape of the future parts of the doll - the head, arms, legs and torso. Based on them, a plaster mold is created, then a wax mold and, finally, a metal galvanic mold. This is what is used for the next stage of production - rotational molding.

On the rotary section, the galvanoforms are filled with PVC plastisol (polyvinyl chloride-plastisol) from the dispenser and hermetically sealed. Then the disks, equipped with galvanoforms, are placed in a rotary furnace, where they are rotated in three parallel planes and simultaneously heated. This procedure does not allow the plastisol to sinter, but distributes it evenly over the walls of the mold. As a result, the substance “gelatinizes” - turns into a dense solid material. All furnaces are computerized, and, depending on the program and product, on average the galvanoforms are inside for 8 to 16 minutes at a temperature of 140–270 degrees. After this, in order to easily remove semi-finished toys, they are cooled in a special chamber.

Parts of plastic dolls - torsos and legs - are made using extrusion blow molding. In an extruder - a processing machine - the plastic is melted and released into the open mold of the doll's torso or legs. After filling, its edges close, and compressed air is supplied inside, which accelerates the molten material throughout the mold cavity. From open form The finished product is removed and sent to the plastics processing area.

In this area, holes are drilled in the torsos of the dolls so that the doll can be assembled and, if the doll is voiced, a sound device can be inserted. All texts spoken by the dolls undergo psychological and pedagogical examination. The expert gives an opinion that listening will not harm the child and will not cause aggressive actions, but, on the contrary, will develop the necessary skills. Here it is determined at what age a child can play with this doll. In addition, each toy has a certificate of conformity.

Next, the products go to the art department. Here the designers give the blank the appearance of a doll. First, hair is sewn onto the toy using a special sewing machine. Before performing this procedure, the heads are heated in special heating drums at a temperature of about 65 degrees: when the plastisol is soft, it is easier to stitch it. Italian nylon fiber is used for hair. Straight hair of dolls is sewn directly from bobbins, and for wavy hair, steamed nylon is used, which comes from the manufacturer folded in rings.

After this, the designers give the dolls a “makeup”: they blush their cheeks with an airbrush, and paint eyebrows and lips with a brush. Then the semi-finished product goes to a specialist who inserts the eyes. Some of them are produced right there at the factory, but the main share is from a Spanish manufacturer.

The next stage of doll production is assembly. The factory produces soft-stuffed dolls (the head, arms and legs are made of plastisol, the body is made of non-woven material and filled with a hypoallergenic mixture of synthetic fiber and foam rubber) and plastic (the body and legs are made of plastic, the rest is made of plastisol). At the same stage, the dolls are dressed and combed. For each toy, fashion designers have developed their own clothes and hairstyle.

One of the popular doll models is Anastasia. She has 11 collections, including, for example, “Sport” (Anastasia the figure skater), “ Folk motives"(Anastasia is a Russian beauty) or "Professions" (Anastasia is a teacher).

The factory has several sewing workshops for the production of clothing. One of them has a knitting section where knitted items are made for dolls. Each doll usually comes with several outfits - the one in which it is sold, and additional ones that can be purchased separately. Dressing up toys has a positive effect on children's fine motor skills. Self-adhesive Velcro is most often used as fasteners so that a child of any age can handle them.

And finally, the final stage - the dolls are packed into boxes, which are placed in corrugated boxes. In this form, the toys are sent to the warehouse and then hit the store shelves.

photos: Evgeniy Ananyev