Traditional industries meet new technology! The future of Hong Kong’s textile industry is promising…
The textile and clothing industry, once an important pillar of Hong Kong’s light industry, has been declining since the late 1970s. With the development of new technologies, new opportunities have emerged to revitalize Hong Kong’s textile and garment industry.
In recent years, some new technological innovation companies have joined this traditional industry, while injecting new technologies, new materials, new models and other innovative elements. Looking forward to after the epidemic, the textile and clothing industry has great potential to become one of the models for Hong Kong to create a “new industry”.
Automated production lines solve manpower problems
The main problems faced by Hong Kong in revitalizing its textile and garment industry are, first of all, the high cost of land and manpower. “The industry has been thinking about how to reduce costs and achieve automation.” Huang Weiqiang, professor of the Department of Fashion at the Polytechnic University and CEO of AiDLab, mentioned in an interview with this reporter that a new industry solution is to use data and artificial intelligence (AI) to Improve efficiency and ensure productquality.
The Artificial Intelligence Design Institute (AiDLab), which was put into operation last year and received funding from the Hong Kong government’s InnoHK Innovation Hong Kong R&D Platform, uses AI and human body data to improve product accuracy and reduce costs, and also develop functional clothing and Wearable device.
“In the past, the accuracy of manual cloth inspection was generally only 70%, and only 15 meters of cloth could be inspected per minute. However, with the intelligent cloth inspection machine we developed, the accuracy can not only be improved to 90%, but the inspection can be done every minute. The length of cloth can be increased to 60 meters.” AiDLab cooperates with textile companies to develop intelligent cloth inspection machines using AI to improve the accuracy of cloth inspection. Unspun, a new textile start-up, is developing an automated 3D loom measuring 10 meters by 3 meters. Unspun co-founder Lin Kaiming said in an interview with this reporter: “(In the past) every traditional jeans production line required the use of We have hundreds of sewing machines, but in the future we only need one 3D loom to replace the entire production line.” This will give textile companies the opportunity to move back to Hong Kong.
Introducing environmental protection elements into the production process. What Hong Kong needs to face in revitalizing the textile and garment industry is the pollution problem. One of the reasons for the decline of Hong Kong’s textile and garment industry was the serious pollution problem. Especially after the Drainage Services Department was established in 1989, a large number of dyeing and dyeing factories failed to set up sewage treatment stations. And graduate or go north to develop.
Tao Xiaoming, chair professor of the Department of Textiles and Clothing of the Polytechnic University, admitted frankly in an interview with this reporter that OEM production (OEM) is no longer feasible in Hong Kong. After “re-industrialization”, Hong Kong’s textile and clothing industry should no longer The only way to take the “high pollution” route is to transform into high value-added products. To reduce pollution, Unspun introduces environmentally friendly elements. Lin Kaiming said that the jeans produced by the company mainly use recycled cotton and use ozone for washing and dyeing, which not only saves water, but also can be biodegradable (Bio-degradable), instead of leaving gum like ordinary jeans; in addition, The jeans produced by Unspun do not use iron “denim nails”, but instead use recycled material buttons to achieve the effect of recycling.
New materials and new opportunities
In terms of capturing industrial development opportunities, new materials can be said to be one of the opportunities for the upgrading and transformation of the textile and garment industry. The benefits of introducing new materials include being able to apply them to existing machines, such as using new materials such as fibers and coatings.
Tao Xiaoming pointed out: “Manufacturers can improve their competitiveness and increase profits by using new materials to make clothes. They can also hire more manpower and expand market share.” Tao Xiaoming also said that the introduction of medical elements is an important opportunity for the industry: “For example, socks have introduced a body temperature measurement function for hospitals to collect data. The estimated cost per pair ranges from a few hundred to 1,000 yuan.” “For Hong Kong textile companies, the medical field is a brand new opportunity,” Huang Weiqiang said, AiDLab will take advantage of ” The 4D Body Scanning Laboratory collects dynamic data to estimate body shape and body pressure distribution, and assists companies in developing functional clothing and wearable devices.
Huang Weiqiang revealed that AiDLab is cooperating with hospitals to develop orthopedic functional clothing. The goal is to cooperate with voluntary organizations and nursing homes to develop shoes suitable for diabetic patients. There are many benefits to the personalized production model. One of the reasons why Hong Kong is expected to reintroduce the textile and clothing industry is the rise of the personalized model. “Compared with the 1960s and 1970s, today’s textile and garment industry pays more attention to personalization and production speed, requiring “more styles, small batches and short production periods”. If Intelligent production can reduce space usage and inventory, improve efficiency and increase profits.”
Luo Baiqiang, executive director of Cinda International and vice president of the Manufacturers Association, who is engaged in the textile and garment industry, said in an interview with this reporter. Luo Baiqiang believes that textile and garment companies can move some value-added processes back to Hong Kong: “Including processes such as sample production, the relevant processes used to take two weeks to complete, but today they can be shortened to two to three days through 3D technology. Relevant technologies can improve the coherence of the production process, and can also increase speed and efficiency.” In response to personalized productionIn response to the impact of the model, Unspun chose to set up production lines in different regions. Lin Kaiming said: “If the customers are from Europe, we will naturally find Turkish manufacturers to produce.” He explained that the above approach can avoid the entire business in the event of a single market supply imbalance. Risk of paralysis. (Part three of the “Hong Kong New Industries” series.)
Incubators help industry transformation
Nan Fung Group, which transformed from textiles to real estate development in its early years, has established Nan Fung Workshop in recent years, dedicated to cultivating fashion technology companies and technology entrepreneurs, and establishing strategic partner cultivation bases, venture capital funds, work spaces, etc. Regarding the possibility of “re-industrialization” of Hong Kong’s textile and garment industry, Nan Fung Workshop mentioned in response to this newspaper that Hong Kong mainly acts as a bridge between China and the West, connecting international fashion brands and mainland suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers. Role.
Nan Fung Workshop pointed out that under the “re-industrialization” of the textile and garment industry, existing problems must be solved from a more macro perspective. At the same time, we must develop towards sustainable supply chains and production methods. Nan Fung Group has been actively investing in and cultivating new textile start-ups in recent years, including Unspun, which uses 3D scanning and textile technology to provide customers with customized jeans, and Algaeing, which uses algae as dyes and fabric production.
Unspun co-founder Lin Kaiming said frankly that there are few incubators in Hong Kong that focus on the retail, Internet of Things and clothing industries. The advantage of Nan Fung Workshop is that the companies funded by the platform are engaged in industries that are related to physical products. Unspun was established in 2017 and earlier received US$7 million (approximately HK$54.6 million) in seed round financing. Lin Kaiming pointed out that it will conduct Series A, Series B and Series C financing in the future.
Talent training is essential
Currently, although colleges and universities offer courses in the textile industry, it is also labeled as a sunset industry.
Scholars and the textile industry believe that in addition to deepening knowledge training, designer training should also be strengthened, and different training institutions should be integrated to create greater synergy. Tao Xiaoming, Chair Professor of the Department of Textiles and Clothing of the Polytechnic University, said frankly that in order to promote the technological upgrading of the textile and clothing industry in Hong Kong, the lack of sufficient relevant knowledge training for students studying in the Department of Textiles is a major problem. She said: “In the past, data analysis and color management were required to ensure that graduates from the textile department were required to take them. However, due to the poor enrollment situation in recent years, the above subjects have been changed to no longer required. Therefore, there are fewer graduates in recent years. Knowledge and skills.”
In fact, the “Made in Hong Kong: A New Chapter for Hong Kong Industry” research report published by the Federation of Hong Kong Industries earlier mentioned that Hong Kong is hiring color managers, data analysts and programmers in the textile industry. It is definitely difficult. It is suggested that the Hong Kong government optimizes the “Reindustrialization and Technology Training Program”, subsidizes relevant enterprises to train talents, and at the same time introduces new business models to revitalize traditional industries, hires older technicians in Hong Kong, and encourages re- Employmentand passing on skills.
Luo Baiqiang, executive director of Cinda International and vice president of the Manufacturers’ Association, believes that Hong Kong’s textile industry is not complete, especially the shortage of talent supply for fashion designers. He suggested strengthening training to combine Hong Kong’s local culture with fashion: “Hong Kong fashion designers lack an international perspective. Training can target this, and they must have both an international perspective and Hong Kong’s local sentiments.”
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