Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/658237
54 tobaccoasia / Issue 1, 2016 March / April) Integration of IT and Industrial Productivity In 2015, with China's economy slowing down somewhat, a broad and comprehensive drive of technological transformation and upgrade of the country's manufacturing industry came to the forefront of public agenda. As part of the new round of the scientific, technological, and indus- trial revolution, many nations are studying how to grab a commanding lead in development. It became quickly apparent that one of the areas with the most potential is integration of in- formation and communication technologies with various industries, which would provide a driving force for the implementation of smart manufac- turing practices – a fundamental and inevitable approach to give another jump-start to the manu- facturing industry in China with an emphasis on strengthening the manufacturing capacities rather than growing in size. The integration of IT and industrial produc- tion means a deep amalgamation of the latest available technologies with existing manufacturing capacities, which will set information technology as the driving agent of a new wave of industrializa- tion needed by the Chinese economy. The core of such integration will be the support offered to IT deployment in pursuit of sustainable development. Such integration, therefore, is not merely an obscure policy measure open for debate, but at this point, a necessary step required by the realities of the Chinese economy. The tobacco industry of southwest China's Yunnan Province – the largest tobacco-growing region in China and known as the Kingdom of Tobacco – is in a process of technological transformation intended to implement new best practices of smart manufacturing within the context of in-depth integration of IT technologies and industrial productivity. Yunnan Tobacco and Smart Manufacturing The manufacturing workshop of Yuxi Cigarette Factory By Tobacco China Online