Jinjiang, Fujian: Benchmarking, Excellence, Ecology, Courageous Innovation, Boosting The "Number" Run Of Traditional Manufacturing

As a major manufacturing province, Fujian's traditional manufacturing industry not only has many categories, but also accounts for a high proportion. The number of enterprises in the most representative textile, footwear and clothing industry accounts for nearly one fifth of the province's manufacturing industry. In Jinjiang, Fujian, textile, footwear and clothing are the two most important 100 billion industry clusters in the region. However, there are a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises. Faced with the challenges in the process of digitalization, enterprises dare not or will not transform. How to solve this problem? Look at the reporter's research.

During the investigation, the reporter came to a textile production enterprise in Jinjiang, Fujian. In the huge workshop, there were almost no staff, only one textile equipment was busy. So, how to solve the problem of broken yarn of equipment, which has been the most troublesome problem for the textile industry, and has always needed to rely on a lot of manpower for patrol inspection? This enterprise has installed 5G digital quality inspection systems such as machine artificial vision, laser, infrared, etc. for each equipment, and also equipped with temperature and humidity control equipment. While reducing manpower, the product quality has also been improved, with the qualification rate rising from 75% to 95%.

General Radio reporter Wei Ming: Through digital upgrading, each such knitting equipment can operate tens of thousands of yarns at the same time, which is more than three times the number of conventional equipment. For example, the fabric in my hand has a variety of structures such as full velvet, semi velvet and non velvet, as well as a large number of irregular patterns and staggered layers. However, weaving such a piece of fabric does not require multiple cutting and splicing, only designers need to input the edited graphics into such equipment, and it can be woven and formed in one time like printing.

At present, this enterprise is being promoted locally as one of the digital transformation demonstration cases in Jinjiang. Previously, digital transformation often persuaded small and medium-sized enterprises to quit due to high costs, uneven input-output and other factors. Setting up demonstration cases can enable more wait-and-see enterprises to make a decision on transformation and upgrading.

More and more enterprises have made up their minds, but what should they do? Fujian Jinjiang took the initiative to find ways and solutions for enterprises, led the establishment of an industrial digital service collaboration alliance, and brought high-quality digital service teams, scientific research institutes and other institutions to serve enterprises nearby. At the same time, Jinjiang also adopts policy subsidies and other forms to facilitate the capacity docking between leading enterprises and SMEs. While cooperating upstream and downstream, leading enterprises drive the rapid growth of potential SMEs.

In addition to Jinjiang, at present, all parts of Fujian are taking measures to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of traditional manufacturing. In Changle, Fujian, it has also built a regional industrial Internet platform, accessed hundreds of local production enterprises, and helped a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises improve quality, reduce costs and increase efficiency through collaborative design, centralized purchase and distribution, quality control, etc. By the end of 2025, Fujian will strive to have more than 66% of enterprises whose key business links are fully digitized in the province.

Innovation has become a common practice, and traditional manufacturing industry has shown new vitality

Nowadays, the innovation of traditional manufacturing industry represented by textile shoes and clothing in Fujian has become a common practice. Some enterprises have realized the transformation of their business model through innovation. As long as consumers measure foot shape data in the store, the automated production line behind the store can produce a pair of customized shoes that fit the consumer, and can also use AI technology to draw the pattern consumers want.

According to the statistics of the science and technology department of Fujian Province, the proportion of R&D investment of Fujian enterprises in the R&D investment of the whole province remains at a high level of about 88%, 12 percentage points higher than the national average. It can be said that today, Fujian's traditional manufacturing industry is no longer competing for price, but has realized the transformation to compete for technology.