Bing Dwen Dwen has been popular since the opening of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.The plush panda mascot wearing an icy shell is a crowd favorite in China.As the manufacturer of the icy shell,JUTION SILICONE is working in full swing to satisfy the unexpected big demand.After February 26,the daily output will increase from 800 to 30000.
Bing Dwen Dwen is in big demand
Stuffed versions of Bing Dwen Dwen have become a very popular souvenir of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games.Its popularity has led to shortages of merchandise across retail outlets, exacerbated by factory shutdowns across the lunar new year holiday period.
According to local media,the official Olympic Tmall store, 50,000 mascots had been sold out already within 15 minutes. Other outlets were instituting limits of one per customer, and “one Dwen at each family” became a hot topic on Weibo, with more than 10 million viewers in 24 hours.
Outside the store, people lining up for hours ,sometimes overnight in subfreezing temperatures, to purchase them.The most popular Bing Dwen Dwen stuffed animals retail for about $30, and enterprising resellers have priced them at up to $160.Maybe the best way to get one is to win an Olympic medal,and the organizing committee will give you one for free.
Factories resume produce after holiday
The good news is,Beijing’s Olympic committee has pledged to increase production of merchandise.They are working with factories to increase supply.
After the Lunar New Year holiday,workers have come back to work,factories start to manufacture and the production will increase rapidly,the situation of short supply will change soon.
The difficulties in making shell
Bing Dwen Dwen is made up of two parts:transparent silicone shell and plush panda doll.Now the silicone shell is the most scarce part in production line.
In fact, the seemingly simple shell is not easy to make:
1.how to keep the shell standing
This seems very simple, but the sample shell easily fell down at the first time.Then we hardened the bottom material of the shell. After continuous exploration and adjustment, appropriate balance point was found to keep the empty shell standing.
2.the print of the ice ribbon
The ice ribbon is inspired by The National Speed Skating Oval (The Ice Ribbon),the flowing bright color lines symbolize the track of ice and snow sports and 5G high technology.
At the beginning of production, no printing factory in the market can directly print the ice ribbon. After continuous cooperation with the printing factory, a relatively mature technology was developed.
3.hard to demould
The “ice shell” is a special shape, so demoulding requires both considerable hand strength and relatively fine technology,the whole process must be carefull not to damage the shell.
JUTION’s responsibility
JUTION SILICONE was selected as the manufacturer of the silicone shell of Bing Dwen Dwen in year 2019,after Beijing Winter Olympic committee investigated several manufacturers,because of the advantage of complete facilities, the factory has its own mold department and print department,and 23-yesrs experience in silicone field.
We feel very proud to participate in the production of Winter Olympic mascot,it is not only an honor, but also a responsibility. Our factory will work on full capacity to complete the order in time.
Daily output from 800 to 30000
The last batch of silicone shell from JUTION SILICONE was delivered on January 22, with a total amount of about 50000.After the opening of 2022 Winter Olympic Games,the amount of order increased rapidly.
To boost the production of shell of Bing Dwen Dwen,precise mold is needed.There are only two molds to use,even the machine running without stop,the daily output is 800 pcs per day.That can’t meet the production,so we decided to open 80 new molds.
In our mold department,all CNC are carving a steel block of pillow size,that’s the mold of Bing Dwen Dwen.These new molds-“Steel Dwen Dwen” will be finished in two weeks.The daily output will reach 30000 this month after the new molds finished.