Hai'an has stepped up efforts to digitally upgrade its textile industry through a pilot project that combines AI visual inspection with intelligent process control.

Recently, the Hai'an Administration for Market Regulation, in collaboration with Nantong Julian and Lianfa Textile, rolled out a quality management digitalization pilot for the textile sector, offering one-stop services including diagnostics, solution design and system integration for cotton spinning, chemical fiber textiles, printing and dyeing.

The pilot project was officially launched at the end of May 2025. To date, intelligent process control systems and AI-based visual quality inspection systems have been developed and put into trial operations at nine textile companies.

One home textile company in Nantong previously faced major challenges in its traditional fabric inspection process. Manual inspection achieved an accuracy rate of only 50 to 60 percent, while the defect rate reached as high as 8 percent, leading to increased rework costs, raw material waste and risks of delayed delivery.

To address these issues, the company invested 190,000 yuan ($26,984) to introduce an AI-powered fabric inspection machine. The new system standardizes inspection criteria, significantly improving accuracy and efficiency. By linking inspection data directly with the production system, it enables real-time data sharing and smoother production flows. Automation has also reduced dependence on manual labor, easing workforce management pressures and lowering related costs.

Trial operations show that inspection accuracy has exceeded 95 percent, efficiency is more than double that of manual inspection, and labor costs have been reduced by 50 percent.

As a result, the company now saves nearly 100,000 yuan annually, while avoiding risks associated with staff turnover and training. Inspection accuracy has risen from 50-60 percent to over 98 percent, while the defect rate has dropped sharply from 8 percent to just 1.2 percent.