The "Energy-saving and Renewal Technique" of Garment Factories: SHEIN Empowers Traditional Manufacturing to Go Green

Author | Zhang Bing

In a 500 - acre factory in Qingyuan, Guangdong, dyeing machines are lined up one by one, like steel giants in formation, swallowing and spitting out colorful dyes, and dyeing the originally plain white grey cloth into various colors. Above the dye vats, steam curls up and gathers into a hazy mist at the top of the workshop.

Passing through the setting workshop where the heat waves are surging, after a dozen setting machines iron the damp fabrics at high temperature, and then through meticulous processes such as napping, sanding, brushing, shearing, singeing, and pilling, the bolts of cloth finally complete their transformation. They are rolled onto wooden cores and transported by forklifts to the quality inspection area.

The interweaving of the roaring of machines and the howling of hot air forms the vivid rhythm of the printing and dyeing factory, witnessing the production of dozens of tons of fabrics every day.

The factory where Lin Wenbin works has a history of more than thirty years and once advanced triumphantly in the industry wave. In recent years, it has tried to transform towards green - low - carbon and cost - reduction by optimizing processes, saving energy and reducing consumption, but the results were meager at first.

The turning point came after the factory participated in the energy efficiency improvement project led by SHEIN in 2024. By increasing investment in equipment transformation and upgrading, in just one year, this effort paid off - the economic benefits brought by the energy efficiency improvement exceeded 6 million yuan, and the energy consumption data decreased significantly.

The transformation of this textile factory is just an epitome of SHEIN's energy efficiency improvement project. Driven by this project, countless suppliers like Lin Wenbin have found new ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

From the intelligent transformation of equipment to the optimization of production processes, from the upgrade of energy management to the coordination of the supply chain, SHEIN is injecting new vitality into traditional manufacturing with an innovative model, allowing these enterprises adrift in the market wave to re - anchor their course.

A 32 - year - old Factory Sets off an "Energy - saving Craze"

Drastic changes in the industry ecosystem often occur without warning.

Lin Wenbin deeply feels this. The enterprise he works for was established in 1993. Its early business was mainly trade. Later, it built a printing and dyeing factory and began to customize fabrics for brands and sell spot goods. Its customers are all over the country, including some well - known sports brands and children's clothing brands in addition to SHEIN.

For a long time in the past, benefiting from the rapid growth of the clothing industry and the strong market demand, the factory was often in full - load operation. Even with an annual production capacity of 30,000 to 40,000 tons, the products were still in short supply. In Lin Wenbin's words, "As long as the cloth is made, there is no worry about selling it."

However, after 2020, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Orders from other customers decreased, requirements became higher, and the factory's expenditure costs increased.

Printing and dyeing, as a key part of the clothing manufacturing industry, is characterized by high energy consumption. This is because the current traditional vat - dyeing printing and dyeing process has strict requirements on temperature, and each step requires a large amount of energy consumption. Energy conservation and consumption reduction have also become key factors affecting the competitiveness of printing and dyeing factories.

In the high - temperature steaming process, for example, the temperature needs to be precisely maintained between 130°C and 140°C, which requires the boiler to continuously and stably supply heat energy. In the operation process of the boiler, coal, as a commonly used fuel, plays an important role, and its energy consumption accounts for a relatively large proportion of the entire printing and dyeing production cost.

Facing the fierce competitive environment, when enterprises are seeking a breakthrough path for "cost - reduction and efficiency - improvement", they often take energy conservation as the primary entry point. The factory where Lin Wenbin works proposed a strategy of "energy conservation and consumption reduction" in 2020, but due to the lack of relevant professional capabilities, "the work was scattered, the progress was slow, and the effect was not so significant."

It wasn't until 2024 that the enterprise participated in SHEIN's energy efficiency improvement project. After the expert group dispatched by SHEIN went to the factory for research, they provided a customized energy efficiency improvement plan. The factory increased investment to transform twelve projects, including installing rooftop photovoltaics, replacing outdated steam traps, introducing energy - saving and water - saving dyeing machines, insulating the dyeing machines, and optimizing the waste gas treatment system of the setting machines.

SHEIN Promotes the Rooftop Photovoltaic Project for Suppliers

Among them, the photovoltaic project is the most prominent transformation measure. In February this year, the factory carried out the first batch of grid - connected power generation. In March, it generated more than 80,000 kWh of electricity. Just this one item brought in revenues of more than 40,000 yuan, significantly reducing the enterprise's dependence on traditional electricity.

The iterative transformation of dyeing machine equipment is also crucial. When the SHEIN project expert group inspected, they found that the existing dyeing machines in the factory had the problem of excessive energy consumption and suggested replacing them with new energy - saving equipment. Lin Wenbin purchased a new piece of equipment for actual measurement and comparison. The actual operation data showed that the energy consumption of the new equipment could be reduced by 30% - 40% compared with the original equipment. Based on the detailed feasibility analysis results, the factory quickly launched the equipment replacement work.

At the same time, under the guidance of the SHEIN project expert group, the factory also implemented insulation measures for the dyeing machines. By installing special insulation materials on the dye vats, it can reduce the steam volume by 8% - 10% a day, and dozens of tons of costs can be saved from the daily steam consumption of hundreds of tons.

The optimization of the waste gas treatment system of the setting machines is also quite representative. Originally, each of the 11 setting machines needed a set of waste gas treatment equipment. After the transformation, the waste gas is collected through a centralized pipeline, and the number of equipment such as spray pumps, cooling water tanks, and transformers can be reduced from 11 to 1. While meeting the environmental protection emission requirements, the energy consumption and equipment maintenance costs are significantly reduced.

These transformations were beyond what Lin Wenbin and the factory had previously thought. They had a vague assessment of the project benefits before, while the expert team could calculate them with scientific methods. For example, in the valve insulation project, the experts could immediately calculate the heat loss data through thermal imaging data, which prompted the factory to invest hundreds of thousands of yuan in the transformation three times.

After a series of transformation measures, the factory's initial energy - saving rate reached 10%, the water - saving rate was 16%, and the carbon - reduction rate was also 11%. Lin Wenbin calculated an account for 36Kr Future Consumption. Compared with 2021, the cost of producing one ton of cloth is now equivalent to a reduction of 500 yuan per ton. "We've worked hard for these 500 yuan for many years," Lin Wenbin sighed.

What does 500 yuan mean? Based on an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons, it means a cost - saving space of 15 million yuan. If the multiple machine - passing volumes are taken into account, the saving scale will be multiplied.

For enterprises, cost advantage is directly translated into market competitiveness.

In Lin Wenbin's view, what this SHEIN project brings to them is not only reflected in the business benefits. In addition to giving them fish, the expert guidance also teaches them how to fish, bringing them ideological inspiration. "They taught us methods. After completing these 12 projects, the factory can continue to discover and transform other projects on its own. I think this is the greatest help."

Last year, the company took out 2% of the project benefits as bonuses to reward the employees who participated in the project. This year, the company launched an energy - saving special project called "No Breakthrough, No Progress" within the company. The general manager leads the evaluation committee for review, and the project is promoted in the project management mode to encourage employees to submit relevant projects. At present, employees have submitted 98 projects such as process optimization and process improvement, setting off an upsurge of all - staff participation in energy conservation and consumption reduction.

The "Temperature" of an Air Conditioner

In Zhongshan, Guangdong, there is a town called Shaxi, which has won the title of "Famous Town of Chinese Casual Clothing". In the industry, there is a saying that "When it comes to Chinese casual clothing, look at Shaxi". About 330 million pieces of clothing products are produced here every year.

It is reported that the origin of the clothing industry in Shaxi Town can be traced back to the 1980s. After years of development, Shaxi has become the production base for more than 60 well - known domestic and foreign brands such as Hailan Home, Uniqlo, Anta, and FILA. From textile, fabric, printing and embroidery to finished product processing, Shaxi has built a very complete industrial chain. There are about 11,000 clothing market entities here, and thousands of garment enterprises are scattered all over the place.

In recent years, green transformation through energy efficiency improvement has become the consensus of the Shaxi clothing industry.

In addition, for the garment factories in the industry, the difficulty of recruiting workers in summer is a common problem in the industry, which once gave Liu Yu a big headache.

Liu Yu is a garment supplier of SHEIN, with a 4,000 - square - meter factory building. In 2023, when he was frowning with worry, someone from SHEIN came to introduce the energy efficiency improvement project to him. "I just had a need in this aspect," and the two hit it off.

The first thing to do was the innovation of the air - conditioning system. In the past, the water - cooled air conditioners used in the workshop had poor cooling effects. After participating in SHEIN's energy efficiency improvement project, under the suggestion of the expert team, the factory invested 130,000 yuan to install 6 ceiling - mounted air conditioners to replace the original water - cooled air conditioners. The experts of the project team also provided solutions to the problem of air - conditioner cleaning in the workshop, such as dust and flying fluff.

After the working environment in the workshop was greatly improved, the staff turnover in summer decreased significantly. "Most of the people who came for trial work can basically be hired." The stability of employees directly led to an increase in labor efficiency, and the production efficiency also increased accordingly.

In terms of production equipment, the factory introduced automated sewing machines, which played a key role in energy conservation. The automatic thread - cutting function of the automatic equipment is more precise, making the thread - cutting more fitting without being too tight. In contrast, the old equipment often had problems such as thread breakage and skipping, which not only affected production efficiency but also increased the amount of rework.

In addition, the old equipment was prone to oil leakage, which caused stains on the clothes and affected the product quality. After replacing the new equipment, these problems were significantly reduced, and the production efficiency increased by 3% - 5%. The expansion of production volume led to a significant reduction in the average cost of rent, electricity, etc., and it was also a considerable cost - saving in a year.

In the past, the factory never paid attention to the reuse rate of condensed water. After the experts of the SHEIN project team intervened, the factory added a condensed water recovery system and reused the collected condensed water as boiler make - up water. After the transformation, the temperature of the returned water increased to over 60°C. Usually, the condensed water with a temperature of 30°C received through ordinary water pipes was just dumped. Taking the boiler as an example, the power consumption for heating from 30°C to boiling is significantly higher than that from 60°C. After the transformation, the power consumption rate of the boiler was significantly reduced.

The lighting system in the workshop was changed from "area total control" to "workstation single control". In the past, one button controlled the whole area, and it consumed power at full capacity whether there was someone working or not. Now, each workstation has an independent switch. Coupled with the operation training of "turn off the lights when leaving" for employees, meaningless power loss is avoided.

In addition, the factory adjusted the steam pressure from the data set casually based on the personal experience of employees to more scientific data. This simple change significantly reduced the problem of joint air leakage. The insulation treatment of the steam boiler pipeline not only avoids the risk of employees being scalded but also improves the energy utilization rate by reducing heat loss.

Liu Yu said that before the transformation, everyone was used to problems such as equipment aging, oil leakage, and air leakage. "We always thought the old equipment could still be used. It wasn't until the expert group came and provided us with customized solutions that we realized how much impact each item had."

Liu Yu is not the only one with such an idea. Many garment factories are like him. "They thought a little air leakage didn't matter much." In fact, after these transformations, statistics showed that the overall electricity cost of Liu Yu's factory could be reduced by 7% in a year.

Through data comparison, Liu Yu found that the hidden costs caused by the failures of the old equipment every year far exceeded expectations. The investment in equipment renewal could be recovered through efficiency improvement in just one year. Now, influenced by SHEIN's energy efficiency improvement project, like the printing and dyeing enterprise where Lin Wenbin works, Liu Yu and his employees have also realized the importance of energy efficiency improvement. He now plans to invest 100,000 yuan every year for equipment iteration, so that the improvement of production capacity and cost optimization form a positive cycle.

Liu Yu's transformation achievements have attracted surrounding factories to come and learn, and Liu Yu is very willing to teach them experience and share technical solutions, driving more enterprises to participate in the energy - saving transformation project.

Technological Innovation as the Underlying Driving Force

The transformation stories of Lin Wenbin's and Liu Yu's factories are just the tip of the iceberg of SHEIN's green and carbon - reduction initiatives.

It is reported that from 2022 to the end of 2024, SHEIN successively launched a series of customized and universal energy - saving and emission - reduction projects, including the Clean by Design project, the Supplier Energy Efficiency Leader project, and the integration of energy conservation in standardized supplier factories. It promoted supplier factories to implement more than 650 energy - saving transformation measures, effectively reducing the energy consumption of water, electricity, gas, etc. in the factories, and helping suppliers save nearly 100 million yuan in costs in total. Just the water - saving alone is equivalent to the annual water demand of about 150 garment factories.

Energy - saving Lamp Transformation for Suppliers

Against the background of the global acceleration of carbon neutrality, the green transformation of the textile and clothing industry has become a key part of building a modern industrial system. As an innovator in the fashion retail field, SHEIN is based on the digital on - demand fashion model and integrates green and carbon - reduction throughout the entire business process.

SHEIN's green practice always takes technological innovation as the underlying driving force. Not long ago, the recycled polyester intermediate recycling technology jointly developed with Donghua University transformed waste textile materials and PET bottles into low - carbon and environmentally friendly recycled polyester fabrics.

The empowerment of suppliers is not only limited to the technical level but also penetrates into the innovation of the management system. For example, in a fabric supplier factory in Foshan, the digital transformation of the dyeing process not only reduced the water consumption by 18.2% but also realized the visualization of the production process through the integration of digital tools, driving a 20% increase in management efficiency, which proves the collaborative value of greening and digital - intelligence.

Recently, SHEIN announced that its net - zero emission target for 2050 and its short - term and long - term scientific emission reduction targets have been approved by the SBTi (Science Based Targets initiative). This breaks the traditional logic in the fashion industry of "emphasizing the terminal image and neglecting the source governance".

In the journey of the traditional industry towards a modern industrial system, SHEIN's practice