Hangzhou, China, September 19, 2018 — Addressing the audience at the end of the morning session here at the 9th edition of The Computing Conference, Jack Ma, Chairman, Alibaba Group urged the manufacturing industry to think different and embrace ‘New Manufacturing’ and to focus on services. He also spoke about surviving the on-going trade war. The theme of this conference is Empower Digital China.
“The year before last, I proposed that we should pursue new areas in manufacturing, finance, energy, and retail. Today we simply call these New Manfacturing, New Retail etc. New Manufacturing will redefine and disrupt the manufacturing industry,” said Ma.
Jack Ma, Chairman, Alibaba Group speaking at The Computing Conference 2018
Ma said it is not enough for the manufacturing industry to just use the Internet or to put sensors on everything. He said companies must embrace AI, Big Data, IoT and other technologies in the era of New Manufacturing. In the future there will be a heavy dependency on data. Ma said companies must use these technologies to gather information about their customers and to know them better. He mentioned that Alibaba is redefining the supply chain, using all these new technologies.
“There will be new challenges and pains in the next 15 years. And in the next 30 years there will be more apps that will change our lives,” said Ma. “Think about the possibility of creating something entirely different,” said Ma.
Alluding to the trade war, Ma said manufacturing companies will need to find their own path. They must be prepared to suffer, he said.
Brian was hosted by the Alibaba Group in Hangzhou, China