Shanghai Welcomes Intelligent Manufacturing

XIA YUANYUAN

IN recent years， Shanghai has begunimplementing intelligent manufacturingprojects. It has formulatedplans for high-quality development，built high-standard smart factories， cultivatedcapable companies， and set up

efficient public service platforms. As aresult， it has gained an overall advantagewith its high-end value chain， a completeindustrial chain， a coordinated innovationchain， and a concentrated resourcechain， which have made “Shanghai manufacturing”intelligent.

China Today took a close look at howconventional enterprises are realizingsmart development and how industrialinnovation is driven by technological innovationto develop new quality productiveforces.

At SAIC Motor Passenger VehicleCo.s plant in Lingang in Shanghai， automatedguided vehicles （AGVs） whiz past，transporting automotive parts to theproduction line where huge and nimblerobotic arms perform some of the manufacturingprocedures. This high-flexibilitymanufacturing base is the first of its kind in China to apply traditional and newenergytechnologies throughout themanufacturing process.

Traditional Giant Hits a New Track

Opened in 2008， the Lingang base，with an area of 1.2 million square kilometers，is one of SAIC Motors majormanufacturing bases， producing vehiclesand engines. It makes passenger vehicleproducts for the four major brandsunder SAIC Motor， namely IM Motors，Rising Auto， Roewe and MG， and is alandmark in this enterprises innovativetransformation.

Guan Yizhong， general manager ofSAIC Motors Public Relations Department，said in the past that SAIC Motorworkers made the outer body panelsmanually， using hammers and iron mallets.Today， the base uses a digital operationsystem in the entire industrial chain，with collaboration between equipmentand digital platforms.

“Every 70 seconds a new car rolls off the assembly line in SAIC Motor's Lingangbase， or in other words， we make 43cars each hour，” said Chen Peifeng， directorof the Lingang vehicle factory of SAICMotor.

In 2023， SAIC Motor sold a record 1.2million units in overseas markets， up 18.8percent year-on-year， the highest amongdomestic auto brands for the secondconsecutive year. This helped China surpassJapan in becoming the world's largestcar exporter. Its new-energy vehicle（NEV） sales were particularly impressive，with annual sales of 1.12 million units， a4.6 percent increase from a year earlier，making it the second largest domesticNEV maker.

The Lingang base is a typical exampleof the transformation and upgradingof Shanghais traditional automotiveindustry. In response to the trend ofsmart， digitalized， and greener development，SAIC Motor is aiming to reach ahigher level. According to data from theShanghai Municipal Bureau of Statistics，Shanghai manufactured 1.29 millionNEVs in 2023， up 35 percent from a yearearlier， accounting for 13.4 percent of thenational total.

Green Transition

Baoshan Iron & Steel （Baosteel）Baoshan base， 80 kilometers from theLingang base， is another example of traditionalShanghai industries transforminginto “intelligent manufacturing.”

Baosteel is the core enterprise ofChina Baowu Steel Group Corp.， whichis listed in Fortune's Global 500. Establishedin 1978， Baosteel led Chinas steelindustry onto the path of modernization.Today， it is promoting developmentthrough innovation. “We pursue higherend，smarter and greener development，seeking to optimize and upgrade the entireindustrial chain，” Baosteels GeneralManager Wu Xiaodi said.

In a smart workshop for automotivepanels at Baosteels cold coiling factory，overhead cranes move up and down andunload steel coils smoothly without anydriver or ground operator. The entireworking area is almost dark， earning it the name "Lights-out Factory."

The "Lights-out Factory" is a smartfactory. Baosteels cold coiling area employsthe highest number of robots onthe manufacturing line in China. In additionto the unmanned cranes， other automatedoperations include automatedrobot spraying， intelligent inspections，automatic slag removal， and automaticunbundling. It is the first unmannedsmart factory in China's steel industrywhere several operations can be completedautomatically， significantly improvingworkplace safety and operationalefficiency.

The iron and steel industry is a majorenergy consumer and a significant emitterof carbon dioxide， so its green andlow-carbon transformation is crucial toChinas sustainable development. Baosteelhas a 30-year-old "Sentinel Zoo"，housing sika deer， pigeons， and peacocks.“Sentinel” is an apt name for it becauseit shares the responsibility of monitoringBaosteels environment. “These animalsare sensitive to environmental conditions.Some pollutants cannot be detectedby instruments but some animals act like environmental monitors， providingreal-time feedback on the factory's ecologicalconditions，” Li Jungong， engineerand director of zoo management， toldChina Today .

Liu Shijun， deputy general manager ofthe operation center at Baosteel， said thecompany regards China's “dual carbon”goals as its own goal. It has establisheddemonstration production lines of zerocarboniron and steel and made breakthroughsin key low-carbon metallurgytechnology. In 2022， Baosteel announcedit would achieve the technical capabilityto reduce carbon emissions by 30 percentby 2025， realize the 30 percent reductionby 2035， and become carbon neutral by2050. Liu pointed out that over the pastsix years， Baosteel has achieved energysavings equivalent to 1.2 million tons ofstandard coal， or reducing three milliontons of carbon dioxide emissions eachyear.

Ge Dongbo， chief engineer of ShanghaiMunicipal Commission of Economyand Informatization， said Shanghai haspromoted the transformation and upgradingof its manufacturing industrywith industrial innovation as its coredriver to create a new developmentimpetus. Besides， it is promoting digitaltransformation in its manufacturing sectorby developing industrial networksand intelligent factories.

Shanghai， a pioneer in establishingan intelligent factory hub， has fosteredthree national intelligent factory models，19 state-level demonstration intelligentfactories， 111 state-level excellent intelligentmanufacturing scenarios， and 177municipal-level intelligent factories. Anintelligent factory can increase productivityby 50 percent while decreasing operationalcosts by 30 percent and energyconsumption per unit of added value by13.8 percent. All this is helpful in developing new quality productive forces.