This photo taken on June 21, 2024 shows bristles of toothbrushes at an exhibition hall of Yangzhou Sanfeng BRUSH Co Ltd in Hangji township of Yangzhou city, East China's Jiangsu province. [Xinhua/Li Bo] Hangji Township, covering about 40 square kilometers, is located in the eastern suburbs of Yangzhou City in east China's Jiangsu Province. As an important production base for toothbrushes, the small town boasts over 2,000 toothbrush manufacturing and supporting enterprises and produces around 7.5 billion toothbrushes each year. They are exported to more than 80 countries and regions, meaning that one in three toothbrushes produced in the world comes from Hangji. In recent years, local government of Hangji has been encouraging enterprises to drive intelligent and digital transformation through technological innovation, relying on leading enterprises, e-commerce industrial parks, the toothbrush museum, and other resources to advance brand building and boost the development of the toothbrush industry. (Xinhua/Li Bo)
NANJING: At a Sanxiao toothbrush factory in East China’s Jiangsu province, employees were carefully monitoring robotic arms performing precise injection moulding on the production line.
In an adjacent exhibition hall, another employee was busy attending a video call with an overseas client.
Sanxiao Group is a prominent member among approximately 2,000 companies that anchor the toothbrush industry in Hangji township, Yangzhou city.
This industrious township, occupying less than 40 sq km, produces 7.5 billion toothbrushes annually, with the products exported to over 80 countries and regions.
Interestingly, one out of every three toothbrushes worldwide comes from Hangji, which was aptly named “China’s toothbrush capital” by the China National Light Industry Council in 2003.
The roots of Hangji’s toothbrush manufacturing industry stretch back to the late Qing Dynasty (1644 to 1911) when an innovative farmer revolutionised toothbrush design by crafting them with ox bones and pig bristles.
Industry insiders have long viewed the toothbrush industry as a low-margin sector, constrained by a short industrial chain and meagre profits.
However, this once-underestimated industry has been at the forefront of a silent revolution in recent years, driven by increased efficiency, technological advancements and innovative ideas.
“We have invested one billion yuan in constructing our new smart factory,” said Han Xiaotian, assistant to the chairman of Sanxiao Group.
“Equipped with intelligent robots, automated assembly lines and a smart management system, our factory operates non-stop, with production efficiency up by some 50%.”
Innovation has been a key catalyst for driving industry transformation.
Yangzhou Sanfeng Brush Co Ltd, in collaboration with a leading artificial intelligence (AI) research company from south China’s Shenzhen, has recently developed an AI-powered electric toothbrush. — Xinhua
