Over 30k smart factories established in China: ministry
BEIJING: China has built over 30,000 basic-level smart factories as part of a nationwide push to accelerate industrial digitisation and intelligent upgrading, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
The initiative, under the smart factory gradient cultivation action, has also seen the creation of 1,200 advanced-level and 230 excellence-level smart factories. This achievement highlights the significant progress that has been made in reshaping the country's manufacturing landscape, according to the ministry.
The 230 excellence-level factories, distributed across all 31 provincial regions in China and covering over 80% of manufacturing sectors, have carried out nearly 2,000 advanced scenarios, including smart warehousing, AI-powered quality inspections, and digital research and development, said MIIT.
On average, these factories are 28.4% shorter in product development cycles, 22.3% higher in production efficiency, 50.2% lower in defect rates and 20.4% lower in carbon emissions, said the ministry.
MIIT, alongside five other state agencies, jointly launched a smart factory gradient cultivation action last year and classified smart factories into four tiers based on technological maturity and integration depth: basic-level, advanced-level, excellence-level and pioneer-level.
For instance, basic-level smart factories are required to develop foundational capabilities in digitisation and networking. This involves deploying the necessary smart manufacturing equipment, industrial software, and systems centred around typical scenarios of smart manufacturing. By doing so, they can achieve real-time data collection, automation of key production processes, enhance the informatization of production and operational management, and utilise intelligence exploration in certain aspects.
Moving forward, MIIT will expand excellence-level smart factory promotion and prepare to launch pioneer-level cultivation, aiming to further promote the expansion, deeper integration, and elevated evolution of intelligent manufacturing, it said.
By RSS/Xinhua
