By: Elena Mart

When it comes to the textile industry, many people still hold onto traditional industries with low added value, high energy consumption, and labor-intensive characteristics. In the era of the digital economy, with the iterative evolution of new-generation information technology and the accelerated transformation of production factor structure, China is experiencing the transformation and upgrading of its textile industry to a new form and model of intelligent manufacturing. As a traditional, excellent manufacturing industry, how can the textile industry achieve high-quality development? ZHANG Ben, General Manager of Wuxi Shuangcheng Textile Finishing Co., Ltd., gave answers one by one based on his nearly 20 years of work experience.

Building a unique and competitive core brand

In 2009, ZHANG Ben founded Wuxi Shuangcheng Textile Finishing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Shuangcheng Textile”) with the core goal of improving the added value of ordinary clothing fabrics. Under his leadership, the company has continuously increased its technological research and innovation capabilities, transformed its business model, and implemented a comprehensive strategic layout for research and development, production, and sales. ZHANG Ben has established a sound scientific research and development system, market operation system, and quality management system, aiming to create a unique competitive core brand with stable quality and high-quality products.

Around 2014, the company witnessed the rapid growth of its business under the leadership of ZHANG Ben, with new products constantly entering the market. At present, Shuangcheng Textile has internationally advanced production equipment for coatings (film, polishing, oil wax, etc.), hot melt adhesive TPU, PU, PTFE composite, etc., specializing in the production of various types of pure cotton fabrics, polyester cotton fabrics, chemical fiber fabrics, blended fabrics, interwoven fabrics, etc. Among them, the hot melt adhesive composite fabric, high waterproof and moisture permeable coating fabric, EN471 fluorescent fabric, flame retardant fabric, anti-static fabric and other products produced all meet or exceed the quality standards of similar products, achieving a leading position in the industry.

Nowadays, Shuangcheng Textile has established long-term cooperative relationships with several large clothing processing centers in China and has become the clothing fabric supplier of well-known brands at home and abroad, such as American outdoor clothing brands Mammt, Marmot, Columbi, and The North Face; Canadian clothing brands Archeryx, Lululemon, and Canada goose; Italian clothing brands Armani, Prada, Jack&Jones, Fila; French sports brands Decathlon and Salomon; Spain ZARA, Switzerland Intersport, Poland 4F and others. Under the leadership of ZHANG Ben, the company’s revenue has maintained stable growth in recent years and has long been at the forefront of the segmented field of textile fabrics in China. It is a well-known leading enterprise in textile post-processing and a new product development base for textile post-processing.

Continuously improving technological strength and innovation capabilities

As an expert in the field of textile finishing, ZHANG Ben is committed to continuously improving the company’s technical strength and innovation ability. He actively promotes technology research and development and introduces a series of advanced production processes and equipment. ZHANG Ben has developed multiple software copyright systems and patents, which have enhanced the company’s influence and reputation in the industry, played a crucial role in promoting the company to become a globally competitive textile fabric enterprise, and also led the transformation of the textile industry in the digital era.

It is worth noting that ZHANG Ben is actively committed to promoting and applying multiple independently developed software technologies to other companies in the same industry, achieving great development that benefits the entire industry. Under the empowerment of technology, there has been a significant improvement in the efficiency of textile production and a significant reduction in the unqualified rate for each enterprise. The production capacity has also been increased by 5% to 30%.

For example, a domestic benchmark enterprise in the field of functional fabrics for outdoor sports has increased its production efficiency by 12% after using ZHANG Ben’s technology and upgrading the production process. Now, the assembly time for each piece of clothing (such as knitted striped polo shirts) is only 57 seconds, reducing labor intensity by 15% and improving delivery speed by 18%. In the high-end outdoor market in Europe and America, the company has become a supplier of functional fabrics and ready-to-wear products for a series of international high-end outdoor brands such as Polartec, Arc’teryx, Marmot, Rohan, Wiggle, and Uniqlo. In the uniform fabric project for the Beijing Winter Olympics, the company drew on ZHANG Ben’s achievements in dyeing, shaping, printing and other fields, overcame numerous technical difficulties, and successfully won the bid for uniform fabric suppliers such as Beijing Winter Olympics staff, technical officials, volunteers, as well as suppliers of warm knitted fabrics for long-sleeved knitwear from the International Olympic Committee, Chinese delegation, and national team.

Accelerating the transformation and upgrading of the textile industry

Under the leadership of ZHANG Ben, the “intelligent manufacturing” concept and technology he promoted have sparked a wave of self-innovation in the textile industry. Many enterprises are focusing on intelligent transformation and digital transformation, helping to accelerate the transformation and upgrading of the textile industry. In order to comply with the development trend of digitalization, ZHANG Ben deeply integrated new technologies, such as the Internet and the Internet of Things, with the manufacturing industry to create a “Shuangcheng Intelligent Weaving Integration System.” Through technological innovation, he actively seized the new track of digital development and transformed the original production model into a more accurate, fast and efficient digital production and management model.

The “Shuangcheng Intelligent Weaving Integrated System” is equipped with multiple platforms, including energy consumption management, equipment management and monitoring, safety production monitoring and early warning, and intelligent production scheduling. Through these platforms, real-time and accurate data on on-site equipment, processes, quality, energy consumption, and more can be collected, promoting intelligent transformation and digital transformation, continuously reducing production energy consumption, improving production efficiency, and carrying out green and clean production. Relying on cutting-edge technological achievements, ZHANG Ben has won two honorary awards, “Exemplary Individual in Scientific and Technological Innovation” and “Most Innovative Technology in Textile Material R&D in 2022,” at the 20th China Scientists Forum, ensuring him to become a leading figure in the industry.

China’s textile and clothing industry is currently in a leading position globally, accounting for over 50% of the global clothing manufacturing industry. At present, a new era of “intelligent textiles” is approaching, and the textile industry will continue to break through the boundaries of traditional industries. This is also the direction that ZHANG Ben will focus on in the future. “I will continue to learn from the experience of advanced countries, such as the United States, to enhance our value empowerment to the industry,” ZHANG Ben said. He will accelerate upgrading through digital means and promote the development of China’s and the world’s textile industries through global layout and continuous innovation technology.

Published by: Martin De Juan