Many migrant workers haven’t returned to work after the Chinese New Year holiday, and factories in China are struggling with a labor shortage. However, for Lingang Factory of SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd. with a tight production schedule, there is no need to panic. At the factory, robots can do the job: 477 welding robots in the vehicle body workshop can automatically pick up various parts and components for assembly and welding, while robots in the final assembly workshop can accurately find the corresponding engines for different car models and transport them to the production line for precision assembly. On average, one vehicle rolls off the production line every 76 seconds at the factory.

Intelligent factories, where intelligent equipment and intelligent robots are applied, are at the forefront of digital transformation of Shanghai's manufacturing industry. Shanghai is also energetically promoting the construction of different kinds of intelligent factories at different levels, with plans unveiled for developing this new track of digital economy.

Developing a tiered system of intelligent manufacturing

"We have Lingang Factory in Shanghai, Pukou Factory in Nanjing, Jingkai Factory in Zhengzhou, and Ningde Factory in Fujian. These factories all have different off-work schedules for the Spring Festival holiday, but all our production plans are interconnected in one backstage system. We therefore have a complete picture of the work resumption at these factories," said Yang Min, Director for Information Systems at SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd. He emphasized that the construction of an "intelligent factory" is a systematic project, which cannot be achieved overnight or follow any set model. Each industry and every enterprise have their own characteristics.

At Lingang Factory, every new vehicle has to go through the test of 4,000 close-up photos in 30 seconds. With 17 camera sets concurrently taking photos of the exterior parts, the system can automatically identify errors and issue alarms real time against any abnormalities in the assembly of any exterior parts on the vehicle production line.

Lingang Factory has built China’s first unmanned vehicle body demonstration production line, becoming a “dark factory." It is a world-leading production line. "This reflects the high degree of mechanization and automation on the assembly line, but it is only one part of the digital factory," said Yang Min. He believed that in light of the fact that the automobile industry has a very complex supply chain, the construction of digital factories will enable carmakers to effectively work with parts suppliers to reduce costs and increase efficiency, thus achieving the ultimate goal of " user orientation".

Through a series of digital means, SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd. has solved the problems of vehicle viewing, use, repair and maintenance that trouble users amid the COVID-19 epidemic, optimized user experience and reduced labor costs. The newly launched "Digital Marketing Transparent Order" app enables users to watch the car manufacturing process real time on their smartphones, thus connecting users with the manufacturing process. " The data-driven philosophy is firmly integrated into the whole production and operation chain, making it possible to maximize the value of manufacturing data.”

This year, Shanghai will follow a pyramid structure to form a tiered intelligent factory nurturing system at three levels: building benchmarking intelligent factories as the guide, constructing intelligent factories as demonstrative models, and creating outstanding scenarios of intelligent manufacturing for promotion. Specifically, there are both big high-end enterprises at the top of the pyramid, such as SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Co., Ltd. which has won the title of "National-level Intelligent Manufacturing Benchmarking Enterprise," and small outstanding enterprises, such as LANBAO which has built 3 fully automatic production lines and 3 flexible production lines and realized data connectivity with upstream and downstream enterprises. As some foreign sensor makers are forced to stop production or reduce output amid the COVID-19 epidemic, LANBAO has seized the opportunity to win more orders. The company has now become the “invisible champion” in the sensor sector.

Shanghai is expected to become the first city to release urban robot density figures across the world

With more demand for industrial robots and highly automated production lines amidst regular epidemic prevention and control, robots work with employees in Shanghai to make corporate production and operation easier, safer and more efficient.

The latest statistics show that the density of robots in key industries in Shanghai has reached 383 units/10,000 workers, higher than the national average of 246 units/10,000. Globally, Shanghai has overtaken Germany (at 371 units/10,000 workers) to rank fourth in the world.

At Shanghai STEP in Jiading, robots on the production line are mass producing and assembling "themselves." This local enterprise, which was founded more than 20 years ago, has the highest robot density among local companies in Shanghai. Currently, all four of its factories are building digital factories, achieving a robot density of nearly 1,000 units/10,000 workers.

The industrial robot density is a gauge of the degree of automatic production in a country or region and serves as an important reference in the digital transformation of economy. Shanghai is expected to become the first city in the world to release robot density data this year.

According to Shanghai’s High-end Equipment Development Plan for the 14th Five-Year Plan Period, the local high-end equipment industry will top RMB 650 billion by 2025 and change from a follower in key segments to a pacesetter in the world. In the field of intelligent robots, Shanghai will step up efforts in three aspects: promoting the upgrading of industrial robots, expanding the population of service (special) robots and making breakthroughs in core robot parts. This year marks the final year of Shanghai’s Special Action Plan for Building 100+ Intelligent Factories (2020-2022), which aims to build 100 intelligent factories and 10 benchmark intelligent factories in 3 years.

In 2021, Shanghai's industrial added value exceeded RMB 1 trillion for the first time, continuing to rank first in China. According to Liu Ping, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, this shows that high-end industries are taking shape in Shanghai, which testifies to the high-quality development of local economy. The construction of intelligent factories will bring new impetus to the sustained and high-quality growth of Shanghai’s industry.

 

Author: Ye Wei, Xinmin Evening News