Automating fireworks production in China

As labour shortages continue to plague China, many factories are turning to mechanics in order to alleviate the shortage in manpower.

Below are videos of a reloadable shell pasting machine and a machine that fills tubes with clay plugs.

Our brand new Factory in Liuyang, Hunan, opens!

Factory Office Building - He Sheng

Our new factory "He Sheng" in Liuyang is finally in operation! We have spent almost a year modernising the factory and bringing it up to compliance with current National Safety Standards. This week, we received our permanent 3 year Safety Production Certificate!

This factory is now the largest factory in our Group with an area size of 1000mu (about 66 hectares). In total we now have 3 factories in Guangxi and 5 factories in Hunan:

This is a map of He Sheng Factory - He Sheng

* Golden Dragon Fireworks Factory, Shankou, Guangxi (240mu or 16 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display shells and mines.

View from Top of the Factory - He Sheng

* Tong Tai #1 Fireworks Factory, Shankou, Guangxi (200mu or 13 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display cakes, large rockets and missiles.

* Tong Tai #2 Fireworks Factory, Shankou, Guangxi (230mu or 15 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display roman candles, single shots, modular cakes and display cakes.

* Golden Bell Fireworks Factory, Tai Ping, Hunan - with Dong Tai Assortment Annex. (800mu or 53 hectares)
Produces consumer fireworks including cakes, fountains and assembles assortments. This factory has a 1600m2 testing site with roof and electricity.

* Gugang Fireworks Factory, Sankou Town, Hunan (180mu or 12 hectares)
Produces consumer fireworks including cakes and fountains. This factory has a UN 6 Series compliant testing facility with roof and electricity with an area of 6000m2.

* Dong Yang Fireworks Factory, Dong Yang, Hunan (200mu or 13 hectares)
Produces sparklers, and small consumer items.

 Factory trail - He Sheng

* Jixiu Fireworks Factory, Liuyang, Hunan (280mu or 18 hectares)
Produces Shogun display shells and cakes.

* He Sheng Fireworks Factory, Gaoping, Hunan (1000mu or 66 hectares)
Produces Vulcan display cakes, consumer cakes, rockets and display shells.

Our factories produce only Vulcan/Shogun brand fireworks and OEM fireworks for our customers around the world. All factories are under our control and managed by our own staff. Many staff have been with us since we first opened our first factory in Jiangmen 20 years ago in 1992!

As one of the largest fireworks manufacturing group in China producing only for export, we are in a strong position to control all aspects of safety and quality in our products. Having been established in the firework business since 1974, we understand our customers needs and always keep up to date with the ever changing International Regulations.

Production Update: post-Chinese New Year 2012

It has often been said that Hunan and Jiangxi have the worst weather for fireworks production. Dripping wet in Spring, scalding hot in Summer and bitterly cold in Winter. All conditions which are not ideal for fireworks production.

Each year, right after Chinese New Year, when all the factories return to work, we always face the same problem - rain and humidity. This is typical Spring weather in this part of China. This year, it has been worst as it hasn't stopped raining since the end of the Chinese New Year.

What does rain have to do with fireworks you ask? The principal components of fireworks are all sensitive to humidity.

1. Safety fuse - ever tried to light a wet fuse? Sure, the quality of safety fuse has improved greatly over the years and most safety fuses are now coated with a layer of varnish to keep moisture out. But it can also keep moisture in if the fuse is produced on rainy wet days and it's not 100% fool-proof. Moisture sometimes seep in, especially when the firework is packed in a sealed carton or in plastic wrap leaving you with a product that has uneven timing or sometimes stops firing in the middle.

2. Black powder absorbs moisture. One of the components of black powder is charcoal which absorbs moisture like a sponge. When black powder is wet, it may clump together affecting ignition and burn rate, and sometimes even will not light. This affects the timing, the height of aerial shots, and the burst size of a firework, and can also contribute to frequent stoppage in multiple shot items.

3. Paper - Fireworks are all made with rolled paper tubes. After the tubes are rolled, the glue needs to dry. If the weather is wet, the glue doesn't dry and worst, the paper starts to absorb moisture. If tubes are wet, they can easily change shape, overall affecting the quality of the firework. Worst, the wetness will affect the chemicals in the firework and possibly cause fuse stoppage.

4. Stars - Have you ever watched a firework and thought it didn't have as much color as it should or did you ever come across lots of round black pellets on the ground after a fireworks show? It is possible that the stars have absorbed moisture and hence, did not light. This is what we call a black star. It does just that color - black.

5. Bamboo / Wooden sticks - ever seen moldy bamboo or wooden sticks on your fireworks? Yep, it's because it's often so wet in China and high levels of condensation contribute to the rapid growth of mold.

Factories have to make sure none of their fireworks suffer from the above problems, so it takes longer for production to complete as they wait for a day where the sun may come out and dry up some of this moisture. When you consider the fireworks will be loaded in a sealed container for around 3-4 weeks, with the high humidity trapped inside and condensation, it is often a good idea to unload your fireworks, inspect the cases for any signs of dampness and place them in a warm dry area with plenty of good air circulation so they can dry out as fast as possible. Usually the fireworks will function properly afterwards if caught in time.

A 10 day forecast for this week shows rain every day in Liuyang .. except one day with a small chance of sun peeking from behind the clouds.



Beihai does not fair much better, with a little more sun, but rain every day.



All these are contributing to the worsening delivery and production time in China. It does not help the overall situation with a general shortage of workers in fireworks factories. We continue to advise our customers to order early and well ahead of your season. The next weather hurdle will be the Summer when temperatures can reached 40° Celsius (or 104° Fahrenheit) last year and all factories were ordered shut for one month.

恭禧發財!! Gong Xi Fa Cai!!

A very Happy New Year of the Dragon to all!! As we enter another challenging year in manufacturing in China, below is an interesting article this morning from the local Hong Kong English paper South China Morning Post about the workforce in China.

Liuyang Government bans production of fireworks until 27th August due to extreme hot weather

Today the Liuyang government issued an official notice banning all production of fireworks and firecrackers until August 27th, 2011. The month long ban adds to an already difficult delivery situation for fireworks, which has come under pressure by lack of workers and increasing costs. Most affected will be the Guy Fawkes season, which will no doubt spill onto the New Years, Chinese New Year and then the July 4 season.

Our advise is to early EARLY to avoid delays!!!

New display shell tracking system implemented in China

Last year, due to an increase in accidents arising from the sale and use display shells in the domestic consumer market in China, the government implemented a new online tracking system for display shells manufactured in China by authorized display shell factories.

Below is a photo of the tracking label that is required by our Vulcan shell factory to put on each of their shells. All shells can then be tracked by the Chinese Government through an online system. Each UN carton is also required to have a barcode on the exterior.

The label includes the size of shell, date of manufacture, type, class, size, powder weight and factory name. The entire barcoding system is purchased and supplied by the Chinese Government.

Photo of Liuyang - Circa 1980s

Here is a photo we found of Liuyang, Hunan in the 1980s!! Incredible how the city has over the past 30 years.

Lunar New Year highlights China labor issues

Click HERE is for an interesting article describing the current labour situation in China.

Heavy Snow in Liuyang, Hunan - January 18th 2011

This is a video of the snow in Liuyang filmed from our office on Guizai Road!

Bad News ... It's Snowing in Liuyang ..

It has started snowing in Liuyang, which is not good news, as it means production will slow down and workers will not show up for work ... This makes delivery even worst in light of the dwindling fireworks workforce experienced by factories in both Hunan, Guangxi and Jiangxi.

SHOGUN | VULCAN Newsletter 2010

Our Latest Newsletter is out! You can download from here!

High Temperatures in Northern China

As of today all factories in Liuyang are ordered to stop working for a period of 20 days due to extreme high temperatures.

The authorities give the possibility to a very limited amount of factories to apply for a special permission to continue production during this period.
We are trying to get such a permission for our own factories and expect this process to take approximately 10 days.

Hopefully we will get the permission and can continue the production in our Liuyang factories after 10 days but nevertheless delays in deliveries are to be expected.
We will try our best to keep the delays to a minimum and will keep you updated on the status of your orders.

It is very likely that the Liling Hunan, and Jiangxi provincial government will follow and call a halt to all fireworks production.

Note that Guangxi government normally will not issue such order, and so our factories in Guangxi are producing as scheduled.

COMING SOON .. All new SHOGUN VULCAN website!

The new site will consolidate all our products into an easy searchable database!! Customers will be able to download test reports for all their products, which will be kept on our host server, accessible 24 hours a day!

Hot weather hits northern China, fireworks production delayed

The heatwave continues in northern China with Beijing having recorded more than 10 days with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit) during the month of July, according to the National Meteorological Center of China.

This coming week in Liuyang, Hunan, the temperature is expected to remain in highs of 38-40 degrees Celsius (or 101-104 degrees Fahrenheit). As soon as the temperature reaches 32 degrees Celsius (or 90 degrees Fahrenheit), all fireworks production involving mixing of chemicals must stop. Assembly of fireworks is stopped when temperature reaches 35 degrees Celsius (or 95 degrees Fahrenheit)

Guangxi Fireworks Factory stop work

As a result of an accident on 14th April in a fireworks factory in Hepu, Guangxi, all fireworks factories in Guangxi have been ordered to stop production until further investigation.

廣西合浦花炮廠發生爆炸 2死2傷 聽眾來信
推薦給朋友
2010年4月14日 星期三

4月14日，廣西北海市合浦縣一家花炮廠發生爆炸事故，事故造成2人死亡，另有2人受傷。
據大陸媒體報道，14日5時45分左右，合浦縣鐵山港花炮廠上藥工房發生爆炸，繼而引發和藥工房發生爆炸，事故導致2人死亡，2人受 傷。目前，兩名傷員已被送往合浦縣醫院救治。

合浦縣是廣西著名的煙花炮竹生產地，事故原因正在調查中

Shogun Website featured in Next Magazine - Hong Kong!

Flipping through the locally published Next Magazine, we found our Shogun website featured in one of their articles about fireworks! Roughly translated, it is mentioned that fireworks are illegal in Hong Kong, but it is legal in the US and Europe. Before you go there to legally shoot some fireworks, you can click and view the videos of the fireworks on the Shogun website before buying. The website lists all the countries the fireworks are sold including opening hours - very convenient.

Wanzai County - Fireworks plant blast kills three, injures four in E China

All factories in Wanzai County have been ordered closed for inspection as a result of an accident in a fireworks factory last Tuesday on 7th May, 2009.

Below is article from www.chinaview.cn 2009-05-08

NANCHANG, May 7 (Xinhua) -- A total of three workers were killed and another four injured in a fireworks plant blast Thursday in east China's Jiangxi Province, local government said.

The explosion occurred at around 2:50 p.m. in Fuhao Fireworks Plant in Tanbu Town, Wanzai County, an official with the county information office said. Two died on the spot and one died in hospital. All the workers were locals.

The privately-run plant has all its production-related licenses, the official said, declining to give his name. The local government is investigating the accident.

9th International Fireworks Festival in Liuyang, Hunan, CHINA

The International Fireworks Festival will be held this year between 22nd May and 24th May.

More details at http://www.ifaorg.com/en/

"Fireworks are a pleasing gem in Chinese culture that offers a sense of beautity beyond comparison with their spectacular sights, infinite connotations, and poetic appeal. Liuyang, China’s “capital of fireworks" and the permanent seat of the headquarters of the International Fireworks Association, has held eight successive China (Liuyang) International Fireworks Festivals with flying colors, which has made it world-famous. In order to further promote the fireworks culture and to enhance economic and trade exchanges and corporations at home and abroad, Liuyang is going to hold the Ninth China (Liuyang) International Fireworks Festival and Chinese Fireworks Industry Exposition on the beautiful Liuyang River from 22nd to 24th May, 2009. Built round the theme of “Light the Dreams, Bless the Motherland", this festival will consist of a grand fireworks evening, the third international musical fireworks competition, daylight fireworks performance, fireworks trade exposition and conference, an exhibition of new kinds of fireworks, the list of the Top 60 fireworks companies, the election of the Chinese Fireworks Angel, and so on. At that cheerful moment, with the most advanced fireworks, most exquisite display technique and most artful arrangement, the Liuyang fireworks companies will sing and dance with all the people to present the most honest paean to our motherland to celebrate her 60th anniversary.

We hereby extend to you our sincere invitation, in the hope of getting together with you in colorful Liuyang in this romantic May time."

Zhang Yimou: Fireworks to dazzle on Oct 1

China Daily (March 9 2009)

Riding on the success of the Beijing Olympics last year, movie maestro Zhang Yimou is ready to treat audiences again with a fireworks extravaganza for the 60th anniversary of the country's founding on Oct 1 in Tian'anmen Square.

Zhang Yimou is surrounded by mediapersons yesterday on the sidelines of the CPPCC session. Jiang Dong [China Daily]
"It will be a celebration for every Chinese citizen," Zhang told China Daily yesterday at a group discussion by art and literary members of the 11th National Committee of the CPPCC.
"It won't simply be a 'big show'. I intend to bring every Chinese cheer on the birthday of the motherland," the director of the Beijing Games opening and closing ceremonies said, without elaborating.

Zhang was also unfazed by safety and security concerns over the use of the pyrotechnics, following a massive blaze at State broadcaster CCTV's new complex in downtown Beijing last month that was sparked off by illegal fireworks.

"We shot off 700,000 fireworks during the Games under strict safety regulations. I won't worry too much about it," he said.
Zhang, who is famous for directing movies like Raise the Red Lantern and Hero, also said he would make a film for the anniversary celebrations and is working on the script for it.

"I became known through films about rural life in China I will keep on making such films," Zhang said.

As a famous member of 11th National Committee of the CPPCC, Zhang tried to sneak pass reporters on his way into the Great Hall of the People at the opening of the Second Session of the CPPCC on Tuesday, but an alert female reporter spotted and tried to stop him from behind immediately.

Members of the press also found Zhang when he took a short break from yesterday's group discussion at a hotel in Beijing.

When asked about his stance on the hot topic of Chinese celebrities changing their nationalities, Zhang said those were personal decisions.

But the director added he had given up his United States green card since making films in China made it inconvenient for him to hold onto the residence permit.

Zhang also expressed his concern over how some Chinese people were still eating wild, endangered animals in parts of the country.

"It has tarnished China's image abroad and we should put a stop to such practices," he said.

As for his take on the ongoing financial crisis, Zhang said he would leave it to the experts.

"Its too vague for me. The economists should be the ones explaining to ordinary people how and why the crisis happened."

Beijing's New Year lunacy

South China Morning Post 20-2-2009 by Zhuang Pinghui

After the capital's disastrous celebrations, there is public support for a ban on fireworks. But not everyone agrees it will be effective.

Because of her job, Wang Qunying has not been able to have a relaxed Lunar New Year celebration for four years. As a security officer in the Zhonglouwan neighbourhood service centre, which includes Beijing's historic Drum and Bell Towers, Ms Wang had to patrol the hutongs between 5pm and midnight to keep an eye out for potential fires.

"My heart was right up in my throat during the holidays," she said. "Our neighbourhood is composed of only single-storey houses with dead weeds on the roofs. They could easily catch fire because of the fireworks."

With fire extinguishers at hand, she was stationed in the open space between the two towers on Lunar New Year's Eve where a huge crowd, many of them foreigners, celebrated by setting off fireworks.

One foreigner fired a rocket that landed on a roof and caused a fire, and another set off a floating lantern that ignited a tree. Neither incident caused injury or financial loss.

But that was not the case with the inferno that engulfed the Mandarin Oriental building at the new CCTV complex, killing a firefighter, almost destroying the hotel and setting off a debate about whether the mainland authorities should reimpose a ban on fireworks.

The authorities said the fire, which burned for nearly six hours, was caused by CCTV illegally setting off fireworks so powerful they required municipal government approval. But even to Ms Wang, whose job is fire safety, it's an unnecessary debate.

"Without fireworks, Lunar New Year would never be the same. You can't deprive people of their right to celebrate the occasion in its traditional way. We should come up with other methods to reduce the danger," she said. Ms Wang said she supported having organised fireworks shows in open spaces so that the public could still have the flavour of traditional celebrations while pollution, noise and danger could be kept at acceptable levels.

There are signs that this is a minority view, however. With the images of raging flames and showers of red ashes still fresh in the minds of many, nearly 70 per cent of people in an online survey said fireworks should be banned because of the noise and danger.

According to official figures, there were 75 fires with 46 people injured in Beijing on Lunar New Year's Eve because of fireworks. Many also complained about the lingering smell and heavy smog after the fireworks frenzy of the Lantern Festival - the last day of the Lunar New Year.

The city's environment watchdog confirmed that the air pollution index, which measures major pollutants, hit 307 in the 24 hours to noon on February 10. That level equates to "very polluted" by national standards and was the worst for the capital since June.

The Beijing People's Congress has listed a study of whether to change the Beijing Fireworks and Firecrackers Safety Management Regulation in this year's work plan, prompting talk of a ban being reintroduced.

For 13 years, the city banned fireworks but the prohibition was lifted for the Lunar New Year holidays in 2006 after public consultation. More than 200 cities imposed the ban in the 1990s but, by 2005, at least 106 cities, including Shanghai and Hangzhou, had relaxed it.

But sociologists, people in the fireworks industry and even security officers such as Ms Wang said a ban would not solve the problem, and could make it worse.

"It's like giving up eating because you might choke," said Zhang Hui, president of the Tourism Development Research Institute under Beijing International Studies University.

"Lighting fireworks is a traditional celebration that brings special family joy. The government should strengthen inspections to ensure supplies are of good quality and people follow safety rules to fire them. The problem is not the fireworks."

Wu Youcheng, Beijing sales manager of Dou Dou Fireworks, one of the three official fireworks distributors in the capital, agreed that a blanket ban was no solution.

"From past years' experience, people would still set off fireworks even when there was a ban and they would try to sneak fireworks in from unofficial channels, raising the risk of them being substandard and causing accidents. The consequences [of a ban] would be much worse than lifting the ban and ensuring the fireworks on the market are of good quality," he said.

Even when the city government urged residents to buy fireworks through official channels - temporary shops set up in designated areas and selling products from the three official distributors - many still drove to counties in Hebei to buy supplies. Across the border, fireworks stands were set up on roadsides near highways and prices were at least one-third below those in Beijing.

The demand for fireworks has been rising steadily over the years, indicating greater general enthusiasm for the pyrotechnics, said Wu Liyu, general manager of Beijing Fireworks, another of the three official distributors and the official supplier to national ceremonies such as the Olympics opening and closing ceremonies.

The company had seen sales soar from 400,000 boxes in 2006 to 500,000 boxes this year, well above the 50,000 or so it sold during the years of the ban. A box contains around 30kg of fireworks.

Residents have also been more willing to pay high prices, in some cases thousands of yuan for a box of fireworks with special effects such as the "smiling face" and "big footprint" made popular during the Beijing Games.

"Apparently, residents have the money and enthusiasm for fireworks celebrations. A complete ban would cause social resentment," Wu Liyu said.

It would also be a catastrophic blow to the fireworks companies and some sectors of the industry, which was vital to the economy of some cities, he added.

Industry insiders said 80 per cent of fireworks were manufactured in Liuyang and Liling in Hunan province, and Pingxiang, Waizai and Shangli in Jiangxi, and were economic mainstays in those areas.

Both executives said it would be more sensible and practical to solve the problem by stricter inspection of the industry and better education of consumers. They said there were already strict regulations on the production, storage, transport and use of fireworks, and the problems were caused by people not respecting them.

Hundreds of registered factories manufacture or process fireworks in Hunan, in addition to the many small-scale workshops that employ manual labourers and often cause deadly accidents - 22 people died in four separate factory accidents across the country last month.

Even in big operations such as Dou Dou's, workers still need to mix and fill powder by hand - the most dangerous link in the production chain. Big companies have established inspection procedures or separate production into stages, to reduce risk, but these precautions are seldom seen in small workshops.

Beijing, with its abundance of sites of historical and political importance, has strict regulations on fireworks but they are poorly enforced, the executives said.

"You are allowed to put no more than 20 grams of powder in a cylinder up to 40mm in diameter and if the firework creates a bloom in the sky, it should be between 25 metres and 70 metres high," Wu Liyu said. "But from my observation, many fireworks must be outside the regulations or they could not produce such magnificent effects."

Beijing also forbids all fireworks within 100 metres of important sites such as historic buildings, kindergartens, nursing homes, hospitals and roads. But the mountains of ash and rubbish on Beijing's streets were clear evidence that these rules were flouted.

As well, fireworks can only be used during certain hours. Nevertheless, explosions rocked the capital late into the night. "I think it's better to control the damage from the consumers' end," Wu Liyu said.

"Say a family budgets to spend 500 yuan on fireworks, they can start by buying them through official channels, buying less dangerous ones if they are for children and strictly following the regulations."

He said the most effective way was to educate people about the right way to set off fireworks, to prevent tragic consequences. It would also save on the costs of monitoring the annual extravaganza. More than 750,000 people, including police, city inspectors, neighbourhood service officers such as Ms Wang and volunteers, were deployed during the first six days of the holidays.

Wu Youcheng said there should also be greater awareness of environmentally friendly fireworks, which have a less overpowering powder smell and no noise.

"There are many stubborn habits that among Chinese have been corrected, such as spitting. I believe recklessly setting off fireworks will also be corrected, given time," he said.