2026 is the first year of the “15th Five-Year Plan”. China’s manufacturing industry will move from “big” to “strong” under the dual wave of technological innovation and “dual carbon” goals.
“Accelerating high-level technological self-reliance and leading the development of new productive forces” is becoming an important direction for the transformation and upgrading of various industries.
Faced with this trend of the times, domestic coal machinery and equipment companies are seeking to transform, from “manufacturing” relying on traditional industrial technology to accelerating the move towards “intelligent manufacturing” with intelligence as the core.
Ningxia Tiandi Benniu Industrial Group Co., Ltd. is a typical representative of the transformation of the coal machinery industry.
The predecessor of Tiandi Running Bull is the Northwest Coal Mining Machinery Factory No. 1, which was founded in Shizuishan City, Ningxia in 1966.
At that time, the country was in a critical period of “third-line construction”, and it came into being and became an important fulcrum of the national coal industry equipment system.
Since then, the company has undergone several name changes and strategic reorganizations, gradually transforming from a single equipment manufacturer to an intelligent coal machinery equipment service provider.
From 2006 to 2026, China’s coal industry has experienced a process from the “golden development period” to in-depth adjustment and then to high-quality development. Tiandi Benniu has also experienced several important leaps.
During the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” to the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, the company seized the rapid growth period of the coal industry and built a diversified industrial structure.
The national “Eleventh Five-Year Plan” research project “Super-heavy complete set of equipment for fully mechanized mining face with an annual output of 6 million tons” passed the acceptance inspection. In 2011, the first complete set of conveying equipment for fully mechanized mining face with an annual output of 12 million tons was successfully developed, marking that China’s complete set of conveying equipment technology for super-heavy fully mechanized mining face has reached the international leading level.
In 2012, the company was recognized as a national high-tech enterprise.
Entering the “Thirteenth Five-Year Plan”, facing the situation of overcapacity and market downturn in the coal industry, the company proposed a “dual intelligence” transformation and upgrading path of “manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing and products to intelligent”.
In 2014, the review meeting for the world’s first intelligent control scraper conveyor was held. This equipment integrates intelligent control technology to achieve high efficiency, energy saving and green environmental protection.
The overall technical indicators of the fully-height intelligent fully mechanized mining and transportation equipment developed in 2019 for one-time mining of 8.8-meter-thick coal seams have reached the international leading level.
Since the “14th Five-Year Plan”, the company has established the vision of “a world-class intelligent coal machinery equipment service provider” and implemented the construction of a high-end digital manufacturing (Ningxia) base.
It has built 6 digital workshops and set up 34 intelligent production lines. The construction of intelligent manufacturing hardware system is at the forefront of the industry.
In 2022, the independently developed 480-meter ultra-long working surface intelligent scraper conveying equipment achieved excellent results. In the same year, the company was rated as a national-level manufacturing individual champion demonstration enterprise.
In June 2023, the complete set of intelligent scraper conveying equipment for the 10-meter ultra-large mining height working face passed the factory evaluation, setting a new mining height record in the world coal industry.
In 2025, the company’s declared project was selected into the first batch of pilot lists of the National Data Administration and obtained the national accreditation certificate for testing and calibration laboratories.
Today, my country’s coal machinery industry is facing profound changes.
Tiandi Benniu actively applies AI technology to build full-chain capabilities from intelligent control to remote operation and maintenance.
The mining embedded working condition monitoring device developed in 2024 combines AI algorithms to accurately assess the health status of the equipment and realize intelligent control functions.
The remote operation and maintenance service system for scraper conveying equipment launched in 2025 will achieve a leap-forward breakthrough in intelligent operation and maintenance services.
The relevant software developed by the company has obtained the computer software copyright from the National Copyright Administration, established a unified research and development data platform, and promoted the transformation from an equipment supplier to an “equipment + service” comprehensive solution provider.
During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, Tiandi Benniu actively implemented the national “double carbon” goal and promoted energy conservation, consumption reduction, lightweight design, and remanufacturing technology of coal mine equipment.
Lay out the remanufacturing business, promote lean management, build a digital operation system for the entire value chain, implement environmental protection projects to build green factories, and continue to carry out technological transformation.
Shi Tao, deputy general manager of Ningxia Tiandi Benniu Industrial Group Co., Ltd., said that the company will focus on relevant requirements to improve the intelligence and greenness of its products, and strive to achieve a significant improvement in capabilities in all aspects by the end of the “15th Five-Year Plan”, firmly maintain its leading position in the industry, and embrace a green future.
