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As China's economic development has entered a new normal, the textile industry has launched a "machine substitution" boom that replaces manual labor with automated and intelligent equipment. What has this boom brought to the industry? What problem? Is there a trend change in the industrial workforce?
Difficulties in recruiting workers and expensive labor force to force the textile industry to change machines.
The traditional textile industry is a labor-intensive industry. With the gradual disappearance of China's demographic dividend, the transformation and upgrading cannot be delayed. Mechanization, automation and intelligence have become an effective way to transform traditional industries, promote industrial transformation and upgrading, reduce staff and increase efficiency, and ease the difficulty of recruiting workers. This has also opened the curtain of “machine substitution” in the textile industry.
The report shows that rising labor costs and long-term structural deficiencies in the industry have become one of the main drivers of the “machine substitution” of the textile industry.
In recent years, the growth rate of labor compensation has been increasing. Every year, the company raises the salary of employees once or twice, and the company obviously feels that the labor pressure is increasing. The development of the textile industry requires a large number of textile skilled workers and skilled personnel. In the east, the traditional labor force flows into the provinces, and there is a gap in the local labor supply. However, the technical workers in the central and western provinces who go out to work have returned, causing textile enterprises, especially the eastern textile enterprises, to face the “l(fā)abor shortage”. At the same time, due to the strong work intensity of the textile industry, the mobility of employees is also great. Especially after the 85s and 90s, the young workers are reluctant to engage in monotonous and labor-intensive work. The first-line workers are not effectively supplemented, and many textiles are also made. The company’s long-term lack of work has forced companies to “substituting machines for people”. Take some textile enterprises in southern Jiangsu as an example, companies face about 10% of the shortage every year.
At the same time, the textile industry's industrial upgrading and high-quality development have created demand for smart manufacturing, and “machine substitution” has become the trend of the times. The survey shows that the quality of textiles is the competitiveness of enterprises, and the development of textile quality in China is not optimistic. The instability of quality exists not only between different enterprises and between different regions, but also in different batches within the enterprise. Between products, it directly affects the market competitiveness of products. Intelligent robot production has the advantage of being incomparable in manual production in promoting stable product quality and achieving high quality development.
The report pointed out that at present, the strategic deployment of "Made in China 2025" and "Industry 4.0", as well as the "13th Five-Year Plan of the National Textile Industry" and the corresponding national and local support policies for the upgrading of supporting equipment, constitute the realization of the textile industry. The "machine substitution" smart manufacturing background. Due to the labor cost problem and the impact of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), manufacturing powers such as Europe and the United States have shifted their focus to India, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan and other countries. Whether it is human capital, equipment or technology, Chinese textiles suffer. At the same time, despite the introduction of foreign advanced equipment, many companies have not been able to change the status quo of the industry's relatively backward technology. Therefore, "machine substitution" is imperative.
“Machine substitution” for energy efficiency in the textile industry
This survey has made a thorough analysis of the “machine substitution” effect of some sub-sectors in the textile industry. The report shows:
1. Cotton spinning industry. The technical transformation of large-scale carding and simple carding, high-efficiency and coarse, high-efficiency tight-spinning long-staple, automatic winder, etc., yarn quality indicators and average labor, energy saving and consumption reduction reached a new level. In particular, the application of the spun yarn intelligent doffer greatly reduces the labor intensity of the spun yarn workers, and the employment can be reduced by more than 40%.
2. Chemical fiber industry. Through the intelligent technology transformation of flexible technology, energy saving and consumption reduction, the product differentiation level, quality performance and production efficiency are obviously improved, and the number of labor is greatly reduced.
3. Functional textiles. The company has introduced a large number of high-performance automated warp knitting machines, knitting flat knitting machines, large circular machines and supporting finishing equipment to develop various functional knitted fabric products for clothing, shoe materials, home textiles and industrial applications, which have adapted to the domestic and international market demand trends.
4. Footwear manufacturing. Emphasis on design concept improvement and intelligent manufacturing, clothing function, art, fashion design continue to strengthen, design and sewing processing, finishing level has made significant progress. Advantageous enterprises such as Qipai, Qipirang, Jiumuwang and Jinba adopted robots instead of manual spreading, and implemented logistics process automation, which greatly reduced labor intensity and improved production efficiency.
5. Printing and dyeing industry. From the experience of advanced regions, after printing and dyeing enterprises implemented “machine substitution”, the water consumption per 10,000 yuan of industrial added value decreased by more than 15%, energy consumption decreased by more than 17%, industrial wastewater discharge decreased by more than 10%, and water reuse The rate is 52.7%, saving labor costs by nearly 60%.
SMEs have a lot of difficulties in "changing machines"
The report shows that “machine substitution” has an incomparable advantage in replacing labor to improve productivity, but there are still many difficulties for the majority of textile enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises.
First of all, the one-time investment of “machine substitution” is high, corporate funds are tight, and financing is difficult. Enterprises prefer to maintain the status quo and are not willing to invest huge sums of money. More than half of the companies surveyed visited more than 10 million yuan, the highest even billions. In addition, in recent years, factors such as rising corporate financing costs and difficulties in financing have made enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, discouraged from “machine substitution”. At the same time, the layout of the factories and production lines of some old enterprises and small enterprises cannot provide sufficient space for the equipment upgrade of “machine substitution”, and the renovation, expansion and even new construction of the factory will further increase the cost of “machine substitution”. At present, the country is promoting de-leverage to reduce leverage and reduce the overall debt ratio. The bank's available loan quota is greatly reduced, the financing cost is high, and only the quota has no funds. In order to maintain normal operations and ensure cash flow, enterprises are reluctant to invest in large-scale equipment and high-tech equipment.
Second, the government supporting policies need to be further refined.
Thirdly, the domestic textile machinery production level still can not meet the needs of high-quality textile production. Imported machinery is expensive, prolongs the recycling cycle of capital investment, and increases the maintenance cost of daily equipment. The research shows that the digitalization and intelligent improvement of equipment is not like the simple and extensive technical transformation in the past, which can be completed by counterfeiting or commissioning trial production. Rather, it requires enterprises to cooperate more with universities and automation equipment research units to comprehensively integrate from the process flow to the overall production process. There are many uncertainties in the process of R&D.
Fourth, the textile workers' culture and technical level are relatively low, and the technical talents are seriously lacking. After the introduction of automation equipment, the demand for various technical talents will increase sharply. Textile enterprises need to carry out training or introduce high-level technical personnel, which is undoubtedly a big burden.
Fifth, the wages of textile workers in the central and western regions are relatively low, and the subjective willingness of enterprises to “machine substitution” is not strong.
"Machine substitution" will change the industry's employment structure
Since the first industrial revolution, the replacement of labor by machines has become an irreversible trend. The modern machine manufacturing "machine substitution" is to directly turn the machine into a labor force. Has it already had a major impact on the traditional labor market and enterprise employment?
According to the research report, the labor-intensive characteristics of the textile industry will not change in the short term. According to the survey, at present, "machine substitution" is not implemented in the entire production process of an industry as a whole or a certain enterprise, but is applied in a large number of production links in certain industries or enterprises. In other words, robots only replace manual operations in individual industries and links. In the short term, they mainly have a positive impact on production efficiency and product quality improvement. They will not change the characteristics of the textile industry with high labor intensity, and will not cause serious problems. Unemployment problems.
The survey results show that the current workforce in the textile industry is relatively stable. The textile industry did not cause workers to be laid off because of “machine substitution”, but sought “machine substitution” because they could not find workers. Behind the "machine substitution" in the textile industry is the reality that textile talents are seriously inadequate and enterprises are striving to rob workers. At present, textile enterprises do not have the hidden troubles of large numbers of first-line workers being laid off. Most of the employees who have been streamlined because of "machine substitution" have been transferred to the original enterprises, and a small part of them have flowed to other enterprises. The workforce is relatively stable, and the pressure of social resettlement of laid-off labor is still relatively small.
The research report also pointed out that "machine substitution" will change the employment structure of the textile industry. For labor-intensive textile companies, the “machine substitution” will significantly reduce the proportion of first-line workers and optimize the personnel structure. Low-skills and even some skilled workers are replaced by robots, and the technical positions for debugging, maintaining, and controlling robots are relatively increased.
“Machine substitution” will put new demands on labor skills. In the past, it was “single-type labor”, and the future would be “digital labor”. Human labor will increasingly be combined with electronic and intelligent. The improvement of employees' technical skills is a strong support for enterprises to implement and promote "machine substitution". It is an inevitable choice to apply human-computer interaction technology to achieve collaborative production of labor and machines. It is a powerful guarantee for enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
"Machine substitution" will give birth to new jobs. Although “machine substitution” squeezes the employment space of low- and medium-skilled workers, it does not reduce the total number of workers. While “machine substitution” is curbing or eliminating some old production capacity and traditional positions, it is also spawning new employment and entrepreneurial space and development momentum.
The report pointed out that the employment difficulty of those with large age and low technical level will increase. After adopting advanced machinery and equipment and improving production efficiency, the proportion of people with lower comprehensive ability will be reduced differently, generally between 50% and 90%. Under the same circumstances, the employment rate of young, highly educated and skilled people is higher. The employment rate of those who are older and have lower skill levels is lower.
"Machine substitution" also requires the government to send charcoal
The report suggests that the government should actively guide enterprises to carry out technological innovations to help enterprises solve the difficulties encountered in the process of “machine substitution”.
The first is to strengthen the technical force of “machine substitution” in the textile industry. Encourage and support domestic and foreign universities, research institutes, multinational corporations and textile enterprises to jointly build R&D centers, strengthen the construction of enterprise engineering (technical) centers, broaden various channels for enterprises to enhance the technical strength of automation and transformation, and combine various advantageous resources to jointly cooperate. Develop the technologies required for the company to replace people with machines. Increase the investment in the "machine substitution" industry-university-research cooperation, set up a "machine substitution" industry-university-research cooperation project, give priority to funding support and talent introduction, and promote the rapid implementation of production, education and research. By optimizing the representative enterprises of key industries, we will help enterprises to build a “machine substitution” demonstration line, and lead the textile industry to implement the “machine substitution”.
The second is to ease the pressure on the “machine substitution” of textile enterprises. Increase the financial subsidies for “machine substitutions” for textile enterprises, and change the special subsidies for “machine substitution” from “post-subsidy subsidies” to “pre-subsidy subsidies”. A special incentive fund was set up to give special rewards to the industry's first “machine substitution” demonstration line. Accelerate the reform of the credit system, strengthen the credit support for “machine substitution” enterprises, reduce the financing burden of enterprises, reduce the cost of credit, and enhance the financial services for the real economy. Optimize the tax and fee system to reduce the tax burden of “machine substitution” companies.
The third is to do a good job in the guidance and service of the "machine substitution" in the textile industry. We will do a good job in planning and guiding the "machine substitution", formulate a medium- and long-term development strategy plan for the "machine substitution" in the textile industry, and guide enterprises to use domestic automation equipment to revitalize the local intelligent equipment manufacturing industry. Actively promote the construction and improvement of the "machine substitution" system in the textile industry, including the "machine substitution" project approval system, project promotion system, supervision system, evaluation system, reward and punishment system, etc., to standardize management processes and constraints. The mechanism provides institutional guarantee for “machine substitution”. Organize the establishment of a “machine substitution” comprehensive service platform to provide technical intermediaries and organization and coordination services for various units and groups involved in “machine substitution”.
Trade unions take the initiative to do three things well
The report suggests that trade union organizations should play their own advantages and take the initiative in the process of “machine substitution”.
The first is to promote the government to train all kinds of talents needed for "machine substitution" and improve the skill level of employees. Fully seize the favorable opportunity for talents to move to emerging countries and actively introduce high-end equipment technology professionals from developed countries. Promote the government through macro guidance, overall coordination and financial support, so that enterprises and higher vocational colleges can jointly implement the "machine substitution" order-based talent training program. Accelerate the establishment and improvement of the public service platform for the construction of industrial workers in the quality improvement of industrial workers, improve the vocational skills appraisal system, and create a good institutional environment for the construction of a group of industrial workers with reasonable structure and high quality.
The second is to actively guide and urge enterprises to establish a human resource management concept that attaches importance to the development of industrial workers. Explore the establishment of a long-term mechanism for the development, cultivation, use, evaluation and encouragement of industrial workers, and give full play to the key role and main position of enterprises in promoting the reform of the construction of industrial workers. At the same time, through the form of technical exchanges, skill competitions, and post training, the position of industrial workers is promoted; through the labor model innovation studio, the “teachers and apprentices”, the migrant workers’ “job learning dreams”, and the employee education and training demonstration bases, etc. Workers' skills and personal development provide a broad space.
The third is to protect the legitimate rights and interests of employees in all aspects. Enterprise trade unions should actively participate in enterprise management, and through the democratic management form such as the employee representative assembly system, timely and fully understand the direction of enterprise development, grasp the post adjustment information in advance, do a good job in organization mobilization, psychological counseling, transfer training, etc., and help employees adapt to new ones quickly. Job position. "Machine substitution" will change the labor time, labor intensity and labor mode of employees. When the trade unions organize collective bargaining, they can strive for greater benefits for employees in terms of wages, overtime pay, rest and vacation, and occupational health. At the same time, local trade unions should do detailed and re-employment assistance, include laid-off and unemployed people in the scope of employment and entrepreneurship services and related employment and entrepreneurship policies, find out the employment needs, and strengthen targeted vocational guidance and job introduction.
Dongyang Laichi Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. is a well-received nonwoven fabric manufacturer, specializing in production and sales: nonwoven fabrics, elastic nonwovens, spunbond nonwoven fabrics, medical nonwovens.