Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, a historic textile town, boasts a complete textile industrial chain. It accounts for approximately 40% of the national printing and dyeing capacity and has the largest textile professional market in Asia. Nearly a quarter of the world's textile fabrics are traded here, and various new materials and products keep emerging.
"How many new patterns can be created with a piece of cloth?" " With questions in mind, the reporter visited several textile enterprises in Keqiao District to see how traditional industries are taking on a new look.
Develop a wide variety of fabrics with rich functions
Fabric innovation as seen from three pieces of clothing
Flexible flame-retardant carbon-based fiber fabric, bamboo pulp fiber blended functional suit fabric, acetic acid fabric comparable to silk... In Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province, there are a wide variety of clothing fabrics with rich functions, giving birth to many best-selling products with "unique skills". One can sense the innovation of fabrics from just three pieces of clothing.
Look at the fleece jacket.
To protect the achievements of scientific and technological innovation, photography is not allowed here. These words did not come from any cutting-edge laboratory or any special institution, but from a seemingly ordinary textile factory in Keqiao District.
This enterprise is Zhejiang Kekola Textile Technology Co., LTD. In the workshop, the texturing machines, carding machines and other equipment are running at high speed, producing rolls of fleece fabric. Zhou Hongli, the general manager of the company, said, "Since April, purchasers have started to place orders in a concentrated manner. The orders have been scheduled until August and will be busy at least until the end of September."
Fleece is quite common and ordinary. Why is it so popular?
We strive to transform the "common goods" into high-tech products. Zhou Hongli said, "When wearing fleece jackets in winter, the most feared thing is being hit by static electricity. This fabric creatively combines graphene conductive threads with hollow yarns, which not only prevents static electricity but also keeps you warmer."
In recent years, this enterprise has focused on the "blank spots" in the flannel market and launched a series of new fabrics such as polylactic acid eco-friendly flannel and bio-based flannel. Good things have no worries about sales. Zhou Hongli admitted that although the company's output is not high, "while others sell by the kilogram, we can sell by the square meter."
Second, look at the windbreaker.
A piece of cloth is placed in the middle of a glass column. When water is poured onto the cloth, not a single drop seeps down. But when air is blown from under the cloth, bubbles gush out. This is a device placed in Zhejiang Dongjin New Materials Co., LTD.
For clothing fabrics, water resistance and breathability are inherently contradictory. However, by using high-molecular film lamination technology, we have achieved both water resistance and breathability. Xie Pingping, deputy director of the company's innovation center, introduced that the technology for preparing high-quality waterproof and moisture-permeable fabrics was once monopolized by foreign countries, and the related additives and films relied on imports. "We spent ten years honing our skills and overcame a series of problems such as waterproof and moisture-permeable, flame-retardant coordinated finishing, and wearing comfort, bringing the performance of domestic fabrics to the international advanced level."
Relying on continuous innovation, Dongjin Company has opened up new markets. The new multi-functional fabric that is waterproof, moisture-permeable and flame-retardant has seen an additional sales volume of over 30 million square meters in the past three years.
Third, look at the knitted sweater.
At Zhejiang Qise Rainbow Technology Co., LTD., a striped knitted sweater that seems ordinary to a reporter is actually quite sophisticated in the eyes of an insider.
In the past, when tailoring knitted sweaters, an additional hemming process had to be added; otherwise, the edges of the fabric were prone to deformation and loosening. We have innovatively developed free-cut knitted fabrics. By optimizing the fiber ratio and weaving process, we have achieved three-dimensional cutting without the need for hemming. Quan Li, the deputy general manager of the company, said that eliminating one process could increase the efficiency of ready-to-wear production by 25%, which is of great help to clothing enterprises that pursue "quick response" capabilities.
There are already countless knitted fabrics on the market. To stand out from the competition, new fabrics not only need to have their own "tricks", but also cannot be "one-sided". Take this free-cut knitted fabric for example. It also has the advantages of moisture absorption and quick drying, UV resistance, light weight and warmth retention. Quanli, with a look of pride, said, "In the field of multi-functional fabrics, there are many enterprises that can excel in a single aspect, but only a few can integrate multiple functions into one." Therefore, after their new fabric was launched on the market, it quickly gained favor among sportswear and casual wear brands.
A responsible person from the Economic and Information Technology Bureau of Keqiao District introduced that in recent years, local textile enterprises have continuously strengthened the deep integration of technological innovation and industrial innovation, and have been constantly making breakthroughs in high-end fabrics and functional fabrics. Some have even developed exclusive products, enhancing their competitiveness and popularity. Many fabric enterprises have become core suppliers of international mainstream brands.
It has made remarkable achievements in fields such as automobiles, aerospace, and medical care
Market expansion can be observed from three products
The modern textile industry is no longer confined to clothing. A series of high-performance and high-value industrial textiles have made significant contributions in fields such as automobiles, aerospace, and medical care.
Carbon fiber is "woven" into the low-altitude economy.
Entering the exhibition hall of Zhejiang Jinggong Integrated Technology Co., LTD., a "flying car" catches the eye. The wings, fuselage and propellers of this aircraft are all made of carbon fiber, significantly reducing its weight. Chen Liang, assistant to the company's president, introduced that carbon fiber is known as "industrial black gold", featuring high strength, light weight and corrosion resistance, and is suitable for low-altitude aircraft. The company has already taken on many parts manufacturing businesses. In addition, carbon fiber is also widely used in fields such as building Bridges, offshore wind power, humanoid robots, and sports equipment.
In the assembly workshop of the enterprise, rows of carbon fiber production equipment such as filament winding machines and heat setting machines are all set to go. The winding machine is the core equipment for carbonizing raw silk. Previously, only a few countries had the manufacturing capacity. In recent years, Jinggong Technology has made unremitting efforts and achieved domestic substitution. The entire production line is over 300 meters long, with more than 360,000 components for various equipment. We have achieved full domestic production from software to hardware. Chen Liang said that the company's market share of carbon fiber equipment has reached the first place in China and the third place in the world.
Superfiber synthetic leather is laid into new energy vehicles.
When you come to Zhejiang Meisheng New Materials Co., LTD., it feels like stepping into a car manufacturer, with everything from the ceiling, columns, seats to headrests available. In fact, we are an enterprise specializing in new textile materials. Qian Guochun, the chairman of the company, took out a ball of "cotton" and said, "This is microfiber, composed of 37 fibers. The microfiber synthetic leather made from it is widely used in automotive interiors, and many well-known new energy vehicle manufacturers are our customers."
This enterprise, which has been engaged in the artificial leather business for decades, was once plagued by homogenization and price wars. Later, the company focused on the direction of super-fine synthetic leather and grew into a national-level "little giant" enterprise specializing in niche markets. Our products can withstand 35,000 scratches and abrasion without damage, remain colorless after up to 700 hours of exposure to the sun, and also maintain their properties of being odorless, pollution-free, light-resistant and anti-aging. Qian Guochun said that the price of the company's high-end products can reach ten times that of ordinary synthetic leather.
Artificial blood vessels are synthesized from polymer materials.
Textile materials are also shining brightly in fields such as medical and health care. Inside the Zhejiang Modern Textile Technology Innovation Center in Keqiao District, the center's director picked up a white hose and said, "This is a new generation of artificial blood vessels made of high molecular materials, which can be used for dialysis. Compared with the first-generation products, using the new artificial blood vessels does not require taking anticoagulants and can be repeatedly punctured, making it safer."
Beside the artificial blood vessels, there are displayed medical tissue patches woven from silk protein, which can be used to repair the abdominal wall tissues. In addition, the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fibers used for weaving the parachute of the Shenzhou-17 re-entry capsule, the special cables for teeing the "Deep Sea No.1" energy station, and the industrial filaments used for highway guardrails... All kinds of novel textile products are "flying into the sky and diving into the sea", which is astonishing.
Industrial textiles involve many new materials and new processes, and cannot do without original innovation from "0 to 1". The person in charge of the center said that the Zhejiang Modern Textile Technology Innovation Center has joined forces with enterprises, universities, the government and other forces to cultivate an innovative ecosystem. It has formed more than 10 research teams from universities and enterprises, covering fields such as industrial filament, nylon melt direct spinning, and textile coatings. It has overcome many key technical difficulties and strongly supported enterprises in exploring new markets and seizing new business opportunities.
Systematic innovations have been achieved in all links from design, manufacturing to circulation and sales
Industrial renewal viewed from three Systems
After years of transformation and upgrading, "Keqiao Textile" has become a regional brand worth over 100 billion yuan. Behind the value leap of "a piece of cloth" lies the systematic innovation of the entire chain of the local textile industry, from design, manufacturing to circulation and sales.
Design stage, intelligent customization.
When I met Li Yajian, the person in charge of Shaoxing Boya Clothing Co., LTD., he was busy debugging the intelligent clothing customization system with engineers. After a customer places an order at a suit store, they remotely upload a full-body photo. On the company computer, the "Smart Version System" starts to draw lines, such as the collar, the main body, the lining, the interlining... In less than two minutes, various suit silhouettes that fit the body shape and come in different styles are made.
In the past, customizing clothing was time-consuming and laborious. Li Yajian, who started as a tailor, was well aware of the pain points in the industry: "Traditional customization was highly dependent on the individual experience and level of the tailor, and the design and modification were very complicated." Nowadays, we apply artificial intelligence technology. From customer body measurement to style selection, then to matching the pattern and starting the cutting, the system can automatically complete it within five minutes, while the traditional tailor-made method takes at least several days.
The manufacturing process operates automatically.
In the workshop of Zhejiang Yingfeng Technology Co., LTD., mechanical arms schedule production and prepare materials according to the production plan. The material dissolution system precisely matches the water volume, water temperature and dissolution time. After being made into liquid dye, it is sent into the machine through pipelines for fabric dyeing. The processes of material weighing, material feeding, material dissolution and cleaning are completed automatically. This set of intelligent equipment for the textile printing and dyeing industry is produced by Zhejiang Shaoxing Fuyuan Technology Co., LTD.
Dyeing and printing is a meticulous job with high requirements for labor. The weighing of dyes, uniform stirring, and the addition of auxiliaries - none of these can be the slightest deviation. Our set of equipment can avoid human operational deviations, help printing and dyeing enterprises streamline production time, reduce material consumption, and increase the yield rate by about 5 percentage points. Hong Ping, the chairperson of Fuyuan Technology, analyzed, "Don't underestimate these few percentage points. The output of textile printing and dyeing is large and the competition among products is fierce. Even if the yield rate drops by just one percentage point, it will reduce profits and even lead to the loss of orders." At present, the company has cooperated with over a hundred large-scale printing and dyeing enterprises. In recent years, the average annual growth rate of equipment sales has exceeded 100%.
In the transaction process, online matching is conducted.
When opening the "Magpie Order Assistant" mobile mini-program and entering "Knitted Fabric", a long list of supply enterprises immediately pops up. MAO Yonghua, the person in charge of Shaoxing Naiqiu Textile Products Co., LTD., a trader, selected the products of Shaoxing Mingyu Dyeing and Printing Co., LTD. "I placed an order for 1,200 meters of ivory white Roman fabric. I can also track the order progress on my mobile phone. The production process, the quantity of goods dispatched and other information are all clear at a glance." "
There are numerous textile enterprises in Keqiao District. In the past, when traders wanted to cooperate with manufacturing enterprises, they either had to visit each factory one by one for inspection or rely on recommendations from acquaintances, which was quite costly. Nowadays, the industrial brain has built a bridge for connection. As long as traders put forward their demands, they can quickly find suitable manufacturers. Luo Yucheng, deputy general manager of Shaoxing Keqiao Weaving and Dyeing Industry Brain Operation Co., LTD., said.
Including the above-mentioned mini-programs, the Keqiao Weaving and Dyeing Industry Brain has integrated over 190 applications, with more than 4,000 enterprises settled in, over 110,000 registered engineers, and over 30,000 sets of core production equipment connected. Whether you are a buyer or a seller, whether you are looking for fabrics, talents or policies, you can ask Industry Brain.
In the three years since its launch, the Industry Brain has facilitated over 74 million square meters of online fabric transactions and increased the communication efficiency of the industrial chain by more than 50%. "By leveraging artificial intelligence technology, we are developing new large models and digital humans that can act as' managers' for enterprises, providing one-stop matching of production and sales demands, and also serve as' advisors' for them, generating personalized analysis reports. This industrial brain will become even smarter." " Luo Yucheng said.
A responsible person from the Economic and Information Technology Bureau of Keqiao District stated that they will support more small and medium-sized textile enterprises in their digital and intelligent transformation, explore the application scenarios of artificial intelligence in areas such as process, inspection, and energy consumption, and help the industry recreate new advantages and regain new vitality.
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