To accelerate the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry, the central and local governments have recently expedited policy implementation. This includes promoting breakthroughs in core technologies and the application of results, identifying typical scenarios across various industries and fields, increasing support for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and guiding various innovation resources such as technology, funding, and talent to converge towards SMEs.
The windows are bright and the floors are clean, with hundreds of warp knitting machines running at high speed. Only a few workers are present, monitoring the equipment's operation... In the weaving workshop of Huayu Zhengying Group in Jinjiang, Fujian, white yarns quickly turn into fabric and are transported out. Over 10 cameras above the warp knitting machines monitor the production process in real time.
With the intelligent fabric search system, customers can find the needed product among over 30,000 fabric styles in just one second. This is the effect brought by digitalization," said Su Chengyu, Executive Vice President of Huayu Zhengying Group. Since the implementation of digital production, every production stage in the workshop has been connected through big data. The product development cycle has been reduced from an average of 30 days to 15 days, and the product defect rate has dropped from 25% to 5%.
Following the rapid development of 5G, artificial intelligence, big data, and other technologies, numerous manufacturing enterprises are accelerating their digital transformation and intelligent upgrades. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China has been implementing intelligent manufacturing pilot demonstration actions for three consecutive years, cultivating 421 national-level demonstration factories and over 10,000 provincial-level digital workshops and intelligent factories. Technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twins have been applied in over 90% of the demonstration factories. The scale of the intelligent manufacturing equipment industry has exceeded 3.2 trillion yuan.
However, industry experts also indicate that promoting the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry still faces challenges such as technical difficulties and supply-demand discrepancies. It is necessary to further overcome the weaknesses in key core technologies and provide differentiated, specialized guidance tailored to various industry scenarios.
It is worth noting that relevant policy measures will be further strengthened. The recently convened State Council executive meeting reviewed and approved the “Action Plan for the Digital Transformation of Manufacturing.” The meeting clearly specified the need to “identify typical scenarios based on the diverse and personalized demands of the manufacturing industry, categorized by industry and field,” and to “accelerate breakthroughs in core technologies and the application of results, ensuring connectivity of equipment, mutual recognition of protocols, standard setting, and platform construction,” among other specific requirements.
At the same time, efforts are being made to plan and layout major technological innovation projects in the field of intelligent manufacturing, strengthen key components, critical electronic materials, and terminal manufacturing. These efforts also include advancing the construction of intelligent factories and smart supply chains, and creating “small, fast, light, and precise” digital products and solutions. Ministries and local governments are actively deploying and promoting these initiatives to enhance and expand the digital and intelligent transformation of the manufacturing industry.
“We will focus on key industries that have a significant impact on the national economy, strong driving forces, and a solid digital foundation. We will launch special actions for new industrialization empowered by artificial intelligence, strengthen supply and demand docking, standard promotion, and application dissemination, accelerate the intelligent upgrading of key industries, and enhance the intelligence level of high-end equipment, key software, and smart terminals,” said a relevant official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently.
In addition, targeted measures will be implemented for different industry scenarios. For example, Jiangxi will implement “one chain, one scenario” for industries with high upstream and downstream dependencies, such as electronic information, non-ferrous metals, and equipment manufacturing, promoting “chain-based” digital transformation. Anhui will focus on key industries such as electronic information, automobiles, home appliances, and building materials, encouraging industrial enterprises to use new networks like 5G to upgrade internal and external networks.
According to Song Yingchang, Deputy Director of the Informatization and Software Industry Research Institute at the China Center for Information Industry Development, China's manufacturing digital transformation is entering a crucial stage of deepening and materializing. The central and local governments are coordinating to introduce a series of policies, which will establish a comprehensive policy system to accelerate industrial practice and technological innovation. At the same time, these efforts will focus on key industries such as raw materials, equipment manufacturing, consumer goods, and electronic information. They will systematically analyze the transformation needs, pain points, difficulties, and typical scenarios of each industry, providing differentiated and specialized guidance for the digital transformation of various industries.
SMEs are numerous and widespread, making them both a focal point and a challenge for digital transformation. According to the “Research Report on the Digital Transformation of SMEs (2024)” published by the China Center for Information Industry Development, survey results indicate that over half of SMEs consider insufficient funding to be a significant issue in their digital transformation, and more than 60% of SMEs report a lack of digital talent.
To address the weaknesses of SMEs, such as limited technology, funding, and talent, a series of policy “service packages” have been continually introduced.
Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched the 2024 pilot program for the digital transformation of SMEs in selected cities. This year, about 35 cities will be chosen to accelerate the development of “lighthouse” enterprises for digital transformation and cultivate a group of high-quality digital service providers. Additionally, Guangxi has recently allocated supplementary incentive funds for pilot cities in SME digital transformation. Guangdong, Chongqing, and other regions are implementing multiple measures to strengthen the cultivation of digital skills talent.
Song Yingchang believes that with the continuous advancement of special actions to empower SMEs with digital capabilities, the supply system for digital solutions that are smaller, faster, lighter, and more precise will be continually improved. Increased investment in resources such as funding and talent will effectively reduce the costs and difficulties of SME transformation. This will enable a scalable transformation effect, where successful pilot transformations will drive broader adoption.
