This article delves into the innovative application of full-process traceability solutions based on mobile computing and automatic identification technology in the tobacco industry. Through a practical case study of China Tobacco Corporation, a leading tobacco monopoly enterprise in China, this article demonstrates how its deployment of CRUISE2 5G industrial mobile computers and RFID technology achieves precise tracking and digital management from tobacco leaves to finished products, providing key hardware support and an integrated solution for operational transparency and efficiency enhancement in the tobacco industry.

User Background

China National Tobacco Corporation (hereinafter referred to as China Tobacco) was established in January 1982. It is primarily responsible for managing the production, supply, sales, import/export, and foreign economic and technical cooperation of its affiliated enterprises in a centralized and unified manner, in accordance with relevant State Council policies and guidelines as well as national laws and regulations.

Challenges

With the increasing demand for refined and transparent management of production and operations, traditional, decentralized data collection and management models have become a bottleneck for industry development. In 2022, China Tobacco Corporation launched the major construction project of the "National Tobacco Production and Operation Management Integrated Platform." The aim is to connect various tobacco leaf production enterprises, tobacco stations, central tobacco leaf warehouses, and commercial enterprises. The project aims to achieve full-process traceability and management, addressing issues such as data opacity, slow processes, and low efficiency. This is to fundamentally solve the problems of data silos, delayed information flow, low collaboration efficiency, and the resulting regulatory and operational challenges inherent in the previous model.

Before introducing the mobile digitalization solution centered on CRUISE2 5G, China Tobacco faced the following specific operational and management pain points in key links such as tobacco leaf acquisition, industrial production, and logistics distribution:

• Low transparency of full-process data, creating a management "black box": The status of tobacco leaves, from acquisition to redrying, then to cigarette production, finished goods inbound/outbound, and logistics, could not be tracked in real-time and accurately. Disconnected information between links made it difficult for management to grasp the real, coherent business flow and data flow, posing significant challenges for quality traceability, planning/scheduling, and precise decision-making.
• Difficulty in multi-link coordination, leading to slow response: Departments such as production, warehousing, and logistics lacked a unified, real-time data interaction platform, resulting in delays in information synchronization. For example, quality inspection results not being fed back to the production system in time could affect process adjustments; warehouse shipping status not being synchronized with system records could easily lead to discrepancies between book and physical inventory. This coordination barrier reduced the responsiveness and flexibility of the entire supply chain.

By deploying the full-process traceability solution integrating CRUISE2 5G industrial mobile computers and RFID technology, China Tobacco achieved the following core operational and management value:

• Achieved transparent and digital management of the entire industry chain: Using terminal devices like CRUISE2 5G, transparent and digital management of all business processes including tobacco leaves, tobacco stations, cigarette production, and logistics was realized, thereby simplifying the operational management upgrade process.
• Ensured real-time, accurate, and reliable data collection: High-performance mobile computing and identification terminals ensured that data could be collected quickly, accurately, and transmitted back to the central system in real-time in complex environments. This fundamentally eliminated management inaccuracies caused by information delays or errors, achieving "full-process controllable, full-process traceable" operation.
• Significantly improved the efficiency of key business processes: The efficiency of the tobacco leaf acquisition process, workshop and warehouse operations, and finished goods counting and sorting was significantly enhanced. This not only optimized internal operational costs but also strengthened responsiveness to market demands.

After comprehensive evaluation and selection, China Tobacco chose and deployed an end-to-end data collection solution centered on the SEUIC CRUISE2 5G industrial mobile computer:

• Deployment of high-performance industrial-grade mobile data collection terminals: SEUIC CRUISE2 5G industrial mobile computers were widely deployed at key nodes such as tobacco leaf acquisition points, workshops, production lines, finished goods warehouses, and logistics loading/unloading points, for scanning and tracking cigarettes.
• Integration of barcode and RFID technology for precise identification and recognition: Utilizing devices like CRUISE2 5G, 1D/2D barcodes and UHF RFID technology were comprehensively applied to identify tobacco leaves during the recovery and production stages.