The “15th Five-Year Plan” outline proposes for the first time “improving the level of digital and intelligent development” and explicitly “promoting the deep integration of the real economy and the digital economy.”
So, what new opportunities will “digital intelligence” bring?
Let’s go into a pilot-level smart factory in Xuzhou, Jiangsu and find out.
In this factory, a “digital intelligence” upgrade is underway.
When international orders for more than 50 cranes of 9 models were placed at the same time, the production system was activated instantly.
The smart equipment in the factory is even more powerful, and the entire production process for the next 30 days has been planned.
Each production line can automatically transform according to the new configuration. In just 10 minutes, all production lines will have a completely new look.
Zhuo Feng, a process planning engineer at the Intelligent Manufacturing Research Institute of the XCMG Machinery Hoisting Division, said that in the past, the preparation period for model change was about five to six hours. In the era of digital intelligence, equipment will “think” and the overall productivity will increase by about 30%. Engineering machinery can also achieve customized production.
What gives production equipment the ability to think?
It turned out that among the 38 scenes in the five major links of this factory, including construction, R&D and design, and production operations, 25 scenes used AI technology, involving 35 intelligent models.
In the intelligent manufacturing R&D center, R&D personnel use digital twins to remotely monitor production progress.
Zhao Meng, a technical engineer at the Intelligent Manufacturing Research Institute of XCMG Machinery Hoisting Division, said that the program can be sent directly to the on-site robot to allow it to perform production work.
In addition, the research and development of a new crane welding model is also being stepped up. This intelligent model, which integrates a number of cutting-edge digital technologies, will completely change the existing production model when it is officially put into use in 2027.
What new opportunities can a “thinking” factory bring?
On the smart production line, 26 smart devices work together; on the welding equipment, 3 robotic arms cooperate, and more than 10 data collection terminals collect and analyze data; the end laser sensor can measure distance and avoid obstacles.
By 2030, such a production line is expected to drive investment of more than 100 million yuan, and the new investment in digital and intelligent transformation of the entire factory will exceed 1 billion yuan.
My country is cultivating 15 leading smart factories like XCMG, covering multiple fields, and has driven the collaborative upgrading of more than 1,300 upstream and downstream factories.
During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, dozens more will be built.
Ao Li, deputy director of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, pointed out that the “15th Five-Year Plan” is a critical stage for accelerating the popularization of digital intelligence in the manufacturing industry.
Driven by “digital intelligence”, the national integrated computing power network will be closer in the next five years, and data infrastructure is expected to attract direct investment of about 400 billion yuan each year; the intelligent industry is booming, and the cloud computing market is expected to exceed 3 trillion yuan; by the end of the “15th Five-Year Plan”, the scale of artificial intelligence-related industries will exceed 10 trillion yuan.
With the upgrade of digital intelligence, the demand for new occupations is accelerating.
Xuzhou Engineering Machinery Technician College has newly launched the intelligent equipment major, attracting many young people.
Zhang Lina, the dean of the school, has set up 6 new majors around the pilot factory scene.
At the same time, colleges and universities are also actively developing digital intelligence tracks, and many undergraduate colleges and universities across the country are offering related majors.
Zhejiang University offers a variety of courses and special training projects for undergraduate students, and launched the AI + X Micro Major 2.0 plan.
Currently, there is a talent gap of about 4 million people related to artificial intelligence, and the demand for talents in the field of intelligent manufacturing exceeds 10 million.
In the next five years, digital intelligence technology will empower thousands of industries in all aspects.
Students expect AI to bring personalized solutions to learning, such as formulating exclusive study plans and making textbook content more vivid; business leaders hope to use AI data to optimize product ordering and popularize AR shopping guides; the medical field can use AI to break geographical barriers and achieve remote consultation; transportation technology companies will tackle unmanned and human-machine collaboration technologies to allow citizens to experience the convenience of technology.
Digital and intelligent transformation is injecting strong innovation momentum into China’s economic development and pushing various industries to a new stage of development.
