Interview Background The China International Internet of Things Conference held in Shanghai in June 2010 pointed out that the Internet of Things will become a trillion-plus yuan new industry in the global information and communication industry. By 2020, the number of terminals connected to the Internet of Things will reach 50 billion. The Internet of Things industry has the characteristics of long industry chain and multi-industry clusters, and its application scope covers almost all walks of life.

Faced with the arrival of the Internet of Things era, how will such a new concept be applied to the traditional clothing industry? How to deal with the garment industry and clothing market? Experts in circulation, professional markets, and e-commerce industries are invited to share their understanding and understanding of the Internet of Things from their respective perspectives.

What can the Internet of Things do for businesses?

Zhou Zhou: The Internet of Things is one of the most popular vocabularies of the most recent period. How do you integrate with the Internet of Things in the traditional industries of the apparel industry?

Chen Haiquan: For the apparel industry, the integration of the Internet of Things needs a gradual process. Clothing companies should promote the process of informationization based on their own business characteristics. For example, Guangdong Yingda Company adopts RFID technology, from cotton picking, processing, to packaging inspection, which allows manufacturers and raw material bases in many provinces and cities across the country to communicate information via the Internet in a timely manner, eliminating the need for manual inspections and statistics. Greatly improved efficiency; Fujian Jinba has adopted RFID technology in its finished products warehouses and specialty stores, real-time data collection through electronic tags, and timely information sharing and communication with headquarters, which has solved the long-standing problems in warehouse management and supply chain management. problem. The efforts of Guangdong Esquel and Fujian Jinba are worth learning.

Hu Baogang: The apparel specialty wholesale market can also use the Internet of Things to quickly collect and analyze all kinds of information on the apparel industry's market planning, construction, positioning, investment attraction, management, and operations, and realize “intelligent and networked digital trade”. management". For example, the recently-established e-commerce port of Beijing Zhongmeng Creative Management Co., Ltd. integrates the physical market with three-dimensional virtual malls, cloud computing and the Internet of Things to realize intelligent, digitalized digital trade in the professional market. These are the beginnings of the application of the Internet of Things in the apparel specialty market.

He Weijun: RFID tags (such as hangtags) are the most feasible early application of the Internet of Things. RFID tags enable terminal sales to automate warehouse management, sales automation, and post-sale feedback tracking, including multi-library collaborative operations, warehouse receipts and shipments, and inventory operations, location management and first-in, first-out, and optimal inventory and stock-out alarms. Dynamic statistics of unsatisfactory sales, buyer preference analysis, style and break code analysis, automatic counter sales and reconciliations, return control and responsibility tracking. For online sales, it is also possible for sellers, buyers, and third parties to track multi-directional logistics distribution links and time limits.

Chen Xuejun: For the moment, the application of the Internet of Things has been reflected in the apparel industry. For example, 3G mobile phone users can log on Taobao and other enterprise e-commerce platforms to purchase goods and make third-party payment through mobile terminals. In China, apparel suppliers, mobile terminals, and banks are closely linked together based on the Internet of Things. For clothing companies, apparel manufacturers and raw material suppliers, the application of the Internet of Things can also greatly increase the efficiency of business operations. Under the conditions of the well-developed Internet of Things, manufacturers can understand the availability, price, quality and distribution of raw materials in a timely manner. In areas such as regions, garment companies can also effectively compare and select the best choices for manufacturers.

How to connect the Internet of Things?

Zhou Zhou: At present, most clothing companies and apparel specialty markets are still watching the Internet of Things. What are the main difficulties facing the traditional professional market and the Internet of Things?

Chen Haiquan: I think that the informationization of traditional clothing companies needs to break through three basic issues. One is social foundation, market foundation, and enterprise foundation. First of all, the standard specification is an important issue for the social foundation. From the perspective of the apparel industry, it is now time to start with the relevant standards that have been promulgated by the state or will soon be published, and immediately begin the research on the standard of information coding standards for the Internet of Things, and establish relevant codes, implementation standards, and industry norms. Second, the promotion of industrial applications is closely related to market demand. At present, the application of the Internet of Things in the garment industry is still in its infancy. It is possible to select key industries and typical enterprises as pilots to form an overall solution that can lead and radiate effects, and promote them in the same industry and industrial clusters. Third, the company’s own capabilities and resource status are important foundations that determine the application of the Internet of Things. First, corporate executives must change their concepts and attach importance to the construction of enterprise informatization. Second, enterprises must actively integrate internal and external sources, and in particular, must form a mechanism for information sharing with partners. The third is to actively discuss informatization.

Hu Baogang: The management of the apparel specialty market is tightly confined to the management of physical merchants and data. Because these merchants and data are difficult to quantify, resources are not formed, and in particular resources on the Internet are not shared. Therefore, it is difficult to exert professionalism. The value and role of the market. For example, “Internet Trade Port” is currently doing a web of Internet of Things application technology based on web4.0 e-commerce and cloud computing. Realize the "four-in-one" integration of things, including buyers, sellers, banks, and marketers. The application of the Internet of Things is no longer a technical issue. It should be a matter of conception and integration. Therefore, it requires the participation and integration of multiple aspects and areas.

He Weijun: Although RFID (radio frequency identification end equipment) technology has been applied by many enterprises (especially retail companies and logistics companies), it is mostly confined to a closed system or field. Moreover, the RFID standards are not uniform. RFID products from different manufacturers are incompatible with each other. There are still many unknowns when it comes to Internet of things and information sharing. In addition, the relatively high cost of using RFID tags, companies and consumers need to consider whether high costs can bring the necessary benefits and benefits. More importantly, there are no readers (such as mobile phone readers) that are suitable for instant online use by consumers. All these problems have greatly increased the difficulty in the construction and promotion of the Internet of Things.

The combination of traditional enterprises and the Internet of Things is still faced with the paralysis of cost and utility value. For consumer products, the real need to solve through the Internet of Things is to track the quality and safety of goods, and to check the identity of the goods, technology, and all product information. As the flow status and fixed position of individual goods, there is control, maintenance and monitoring of the use of goods.

Chen Xuejun: One is the popularization of the Internet of Things. If the scale of the Internet of Things does not cover the vast majority of users and cannot achieve Cross-border financing, the role of connecting objects and extending in all directions cannot be realized. Enterprises can only be connected in a small area. . The other is the issue of the business model of the Internet of Things. Since the development of the Internet of Things is still in its infancy, the existing model is that customers use self-built platforms, readers, read terminals, and then lease the operator's network for communication transmission. As a result, the entire development cost will be exerted on one company, which limits the development of the Internet of Things. There is also the problem of cross-industry cooperation. The IoT services of an industry involve countless individual terminals. The areas involved are also very extensive. This requires multiple cooperation to break through this intermediate barrier.

The future of the Internet of Things is not a dream Zhou Zhou: In the future, with the further development of the Internet of Things technology, what is the application prospect of the combination of the traditional clothing industry and the Internet of Things technology?

Chen Haiquan: As the Internet of Things is still a new thing, its promotion and application in the apparel industry still faces multiple difficulties. Whether there are many difficulties in key technologies, funds, or the connection with other industries and data exchange, etc., it needs the cooperation of governments, industry associations, and enterprises to promote the apparel industry and the Internet of Things technology. Organically combined.

Hu Baogang: China's clothing specialty market is often the management of investment and shops. Each of the data in each investment and transaction process needs timely and accurate records. The application of RFID technology and other cloud computing in the Internet of Things in the Internet of Things can precisely realize real-time information management, flexible production scheduling, and accurate tracking.

It can be said that the application of Internet of Things technology has improved the intelligent management level of the apparel professional market and reduced the circulation and operating costs of merchants and commodities. Suppose that the transaction volume of a merchant in a garment market is increased by 20%, the transaction cost is reduced by 10%, and a net profit of 10% can be obtained. Intelligent and networked digital trade management can be realized. The clothing industry market will be intelligent, networked, and digitized in the future. And development has important value and significance.

He Weijun: In the current situation of high cost of Internet of Things technology, I think its application is only suitable for high-end clothing. It is foreseeable that the Internet of Things will also reduce the cost of hardware equipment as much as the Internet, so it will not only be suitable for high-priced products, but also suitable for low-priced products.

The most important thing is the individualized information collection and entry of individual items. Only after the personalization of commodity information is realized and consumers can access such information online at low cost and in real time, the Internet of Things is truly meaningful. At that time, enterprises and individuals will be very popular and universal in their application of IoT. Consumers can purchase a piece of clothing (whether it is shop purchase or online purchase) and can understand all aspects of their design, raw material supply, production process, and distribution process. Relevant information, in particular, more convenient to understand the manufacturers, brands, designers, quality, logistics and all aspects of the process, and even the process time and cost of each link, the problems encountered in the purchase and consumption can be traced back and distinguish the responsible person. That is a wonderful feeling and extremely meaningful to businesses and consumers.

Chen Xuejun: The Internet of Things is the trend of the future. As far as I know, many developed countries have invested huge amounts of senior research into the Internet of Things, such as the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, Italy, and Canada. As far as the domestic situation is concerned, it will take a long period of time from the recognition of the Internet of Things, capital investment, research and testing, group cooperation, and government support to the establishment of a strong network system. This is a leap in China’s Internet technology. At the same time, it requires a high degree of recognition and concerted efforts from all walks of life. The popularization of China's Internet of Things will also face many difficulties and obstacles. However, with the apparel industry as an example, once the Internet of Things is established, the upstream and downstream industry chains will be open and interoperable, so that real information will not be blocked.

Glossary: ​​The “Internet of Things” is a network concept that extends and extends its user-end to any item and item on the basis of the “Internet concept” and carries out information exchange and communication. It is defined as: through information-sensing equipment such as radio frequency identification (RFID), infrared sensors, global positioning systems, laser scanners, etc., according to the agreed protocol, connecting any item to the Internet for information exchange and communication to realize intelligence A network concept that identifies, locates, tracks, monitors, and manages.