In the first quarter of 2026, equipment manufacturing companies in Shandong Province showed an eye-catching development trend. While traditional business revenue grew steadily, AI computing power-related businesses showed an explosive trend.
This phenomenon reveals that Shandong manufacturing is relying on decades of technological accumulation to accurately position itself in the global computing power infrastructure wave and open up a second curve of high-quality growth.
In terms of traditional fundamentals, Shandong Province has disclosed about 84 listed companies in the mechanical equipment, power equipment, and automobile categories in their 2025 annual reports, with a total operating income of approximately 619.6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of approximately 8.8%.
The leading company Weichai Power’s total engine sales in the first quarter of 2026 reached 221,000 units, and its leading position in the industry continues to be consolidated.
The solid performance of traditional businesses provides solid “ballast” and cash flow support for the company’s strategic transformation.
The construction of global AI computing power centers has created a rigid demand for stable power supply and efficient temperature control.
Shandong companies have quickly entered these two core tracks by relying on their manufacturing experience in high-reliability equipment.
In terms of power supply guarantee, Weichai Power’s large-bore engines for data center backup power will have sales surge by 259% year-on-year in 2025; sales in the first quarter of 2026 will reach more than 500 units, a year-on-year increase of over 240%.
Jereh has crossed over from oilfield equipment and won orders for gas turbine generator sets totaling more than US$1.1 billion in the North American AI power supply market, with delivery scheduled for 2028.
In terms of temperature control and cooling, Binglun Environment provides cold sources and heat exchange devices for global data centers. As of the end of 2025, its contract liabilities have reached a record high of 1.238 billion yuan, showing that orders are full and future growth is strongly guaranteed.
Yuan Shuai, deputy secretary-general of the Zhongguancun Internet of Things Industry Alliance, pointed out that this type of technology migration is by no means a simple “repackaging”, but the result of decades of industrial manufacturing experience accumulated by companies.
Shandong companies not only provide external computing power infrastructure products, but also deeply integrate AI technology into the entire internal production process to achieve cost reduction, efficiency improvement and model innovation.
Soton Development has invested tens of millions of yuan to lay out 100,000 data collection points, use AI algorithms to optimize 8 key production links, and build 19 intelligent manufacturing scenarios.
Its intelligent dispatch center can match the optimal production factory for nationwide orders within a few minutes, and the company was successfully selected as a national outstanding smart factory.
Shandong Huiquan Industrial independently developed MRIs clothing AI production system, breaking the constraints of traditional linear assembly lines.
The system realizes automatic and optimal dispatch of orders, shortening the order delivery cycle from 3 days to 30 hours, reducing management costs by 20%, and increasing output value by 30%.
Yantai Donglin Precision plans to integrate AI technology into the entire process of injection molding production and finished product inspection, aiming to reduce trial and error costs and improve inspection efficiency and accuracy.
Transformation is not an enterprise’s struggle alone. Industrial ecology and government guidance provide key support.
The largest humanoid robot data training center in Shandong Province and the first in Jinan City has been officially opened. It can produce more than 3 million high-quality data sets every year and provide customized data training services for high-end equipment, logistics and warehousing and other industries.
Shandong Province has launched the first batch of “artificial intelligence + manufacturing” pioneer applications for 10 key industries such as chemical industry and equipment. The goal is to promote the penetration rate of AI applications in enterprises above designated size to reach more than 50% and create a replicable “Shandong model”.
Shandong Zhanggu and Tsinghua University established a joint research center to focus on the intelligent upgrading of industrial and mining equipment and promote the transformation of products from “selling hardware” to “hardware + software + services”.
The transformation path of Shandong equipment manufacturing enterprises is clearly presented as a “two-wheel drive”: on the one hand, the traditional main business builds a solid foundation for growth, and on the other hand, it relies on industrial know-how (technical know-how) to seize new markets derived from AI computing power.
This kind of transformation based on profound manufacturing heritage not only opens up new space for valuation and growth for individual companies, but also provides practical examples that can be used for reference in the intelligent upgrading of traditional manufacturing industries across the country.
