Deloitte suggests more investment in information technology by Chinese manufacturers

Chinese manufacturers must integrate more information technology into the production process in order to fulfill the government's industrial transformation plan, a report by international accounting firm Deloitte showed.

Only 42 percent of surveyed manufacturing companies say they had integrated information technology in their production processes, according to the report.

Forty-six percent of manufacturers admitted that informatization had only been rolled out at one of their multiple businesses, with another 6 percent having not launched any initiative of this kind.

Conducted by Deloitte and the China Machinery Industry Federation, the survey covered over 200 key manufacturing companies of different scales and sub-sectors in China and received 133 valid survey responses.

Manufacturers face major challenges in utilizing software, as well as in collecting and analyzing system data, according to the survey.

China must strongly invest in and embrace emerging technologies, such as 3D printing, robotics and artificial intelligence, to move from a manufacturing giant to a global manufacturing power house, said Gary Coleman, global industry and senior client advisor at Deloitte Consulting.

The Chinese government unveiled its "Made in China 2025" plan in May, in a bid to shift the economy to more value-added production, with an emphasis on technology, informatization and innovation.

On the positive side, the Deloitte report showed the percentage of Chinese manufacturers opting for more extensive use of automation equipment increased to 23 percent in 2015, up from 11 percent in 2013. The highest use of such equipment occurred in auto and electrical machinery firms.

In addition, many Chinese firms are expected to acquire technology through mergers and acquisitions, while using the Internet to improve branding, marketing, service delivery and innovation, according to the report. Endi