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Internet+ continues to drive the digital transformation of China’s tobacco industry.
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Digital technology is effectively implemented in all sectors of China’s tobacco industry.
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Digital technology is effectively implemented in all sectors of China’s tobacco industry.
The Chinese tobacco industry continuously explores how to better use “Internet+” technology (which means to integrate internet with traditional industries). In April 2003, the State Tobacco Monopoly Ad-ministration (STMA) launched the construction of the “Cigarette Production and Operation Decision-Making Management System”, a model for integration of IT application and industrialization. With the rapid development of digital technology, in 2020 STMA proposed to implement its “digital transformation” strategy.
Since then, the industry actively explored digital transformation and the innovatively applied “Internet +” in wider fields, yielding fruitful results in the whole industry chain, such as smart manufacturing of cigarettes, smart platforms enabling tobacco farmers to embark on the “digital road”, and “data on the cloud” enabling cigarette marketing with a “nerve center”.
Smart manufacturing: strengthening the network and empowering the platform
How do traditional cigarette manufacturers like China Tobacco (Sichuan) Industrial Corporation achieve digital transformation? And how do they empower digitalization? They hold that the most important thing is to improve production efficiency, product quality, resource allocation ability, shorten the product development cycle, reduce production and operation costs, and fully stimulate the driving role of new data elements.
In 2021, China Tobacco (Sichuan) compiled and completed its 14th five-year-plan for the network and telecommunication, in which the roadmap and construction table for digital transformation during the period was made. At present, the firm completed the construction of a provincial-level proprietary cloud and data center, and compiled the Data Management Standard and General Outline, smoothing data circulation channels.
Aiming at digital workshops and smart factories, all tobacco factories under China Tobacco (Sichuan) successively carried out data center computer room renovations, accelerated the construction of 5G private networks, and provided a high-speed and stable network environment for various “5G+” innovative application scenarios. Based on the CPS Smart Factory pilot of the Chengdu tobacco factory, the Shifang, Mianyang, and Xichang tobacco factories offer a reliable data aggregation management platform for massive information from equipment, process, and quality in the production process, and also builds a strong “neural network” of the factory.
To improve the efficiency of product r&d, China Tobacco (Sichuan) built a big data platform for the r&d of cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products based on the concepts of product data management and project management. In 2021, the firm focused on exploring the application of middle platform (packaged business capability) components and the application of “big data +”. This measure improved the efficiency of raw material guarantee and usage forecast of key brands by more than 60%; cut the average development time for new products by 50%; and reduced the frequency of product maintenance by 60%.
Smart agriculture: “Well Grow Tobacco with a mobile phone”
A mobile phone is all one needs to complete online contracts for tobacco planting and information requests; keep track of the temperature and humidity in the greenhouse where tobacco seedlings are being grown; and, after placing an online order and scheduling an appointment, have professional staff members visit the fields to help farmers grow tobacco successfully. These are but a few examples of what can be achieved, benefiting from the development of China Tobacco (Yunnan) Commercial Corporation’s “Well Grow Tobacco with a Mobile Phone” app. It encourages the comprehensive integration of modern information network technology with tobacco production, operations, and management..
“It’s so much easier to grow tobacco now. Download an app on your mobile phone, and you can easily do everything,” said Tai Hongwei, who lives in Li Haozhai Village, Li Haozhai township, Jianshui county, HongheHani and Yi autonomous prefecture, Yunnan province. He has been cultivating flue-cured tobacco for more than 20 years. The app opened his eyes [to new possibilities].
App users can choose professional services available in nine tobacco production links including seedling, machine farming, and ridging, as well as also choose the cooperative to provide the corresponding services with price transparency. The core technologies, learning materials, and other information access features are all integrated into the technical service module. It is important to note that the module specifically sets up “agricultural technology consulting” and introduces tobacco production experts to provide tobacco farmers one-on-one technical consultation services to facilitate online real-time Q&A. Tobacco farmer also can purchase resources for their crop, such as plastic film and organic fertilizer, through the service module of the program.
Smart logistics: logistics management in “point, line, and chain”
When it comes to logistics, the logistics center of Anqing Branch under China Tobacco (Anhui) Commercial Corporation takes digital transformation as the entry point to further revitalize the stock of logistics resources, deepen resource sharing, information exchange, and process connection, continuing to improve the efficiency of logistics operations and achieve new achievements in the “point, line, chain” of logistics management.
“Point” refers to the infrastructure. On the one hand, the comprehensive management and control platform for logistics is used to connect information islands, integrate discrete data, delve deeply into the value of data resources, unlock the efficiency of data resources, and enhance the capacity of data to support business development and efficiency. On the other hand, digital technology is also used to empower new sorting lines to realize real-time monitoring and display of data such as sorting efficiency, operation time, failure point, and failure time on a large screen while encouraging the development of digital workshops and advancing the overall elements, dynamic perception of all links, interconnection, data integration, intelligent management, and control.
“Line” refers to the business procedure. Using the procurement system to enable digital management of the procurement process, the “warehousing queuing system” was developed to display the warehousing sequence in real time, utilize the “Lean Guard” app to make the equipment maintenance process paperless, develop the “Jiandaoyun” applet to make it possible to approve training, business trips, reimbursements, and other links online, and gradually “cloud” the logistics business process to create a comprehensive solution.
“Chain” refers to the integration of the logistics supply chain through the establishment of a cigarette sorting and distribution information tracking platform, digital application of vehicle monitoring system, etc., to build an ecosystem together with all links in the supply chain.
Smart network building: tailor-made precise services
In recent years, China Tobacco (Guangxi) Commercial Corporation provided retailers with more “tailor-made” precise services according to the actual needs of customers, such as the transformation of terminal image, non-tobacco business expansion, financial credit support, customer education and training, etc.
Since last year, all branches under China Tobacco (Guangxi) Commercial Corporation actively connected with major banks to build an online financial support service platform, providing retailers with more than RMB900 million in financial loan support. Meanwhile, they carried out a total of 265,000 training sessions for more than 658,000 retail customers. Through large-scale, multi-level, 3D training, modern business knowledge and business skills are passed on to retail customers to improve their operating capabilities.
China Tobacco (Guangxi) Commercial Corporation promotes data marketing, and continuously enriches “online + offline” services, providing more business support for retailers. They also developed an all-in-one recorder that supports all-product code scanning, all-way payment, and all-store management, allowing smart and easy-to-use modern business tools to help customers operate. In addition, they built a benchmarking platform to help retailers increase their income with scientific and practical modern business methods and extensively carry out marketing competitions among retailers. Live channels, cloud classrooms, and smart sharing platforms are also widely integrated with cigarette business to help more retail customers carry out intelligent operations.