Recently, the State Council issued the notice on the development plan of digital economy in the 14th five year plan. It is mentioned that the development goal of digital economy is to move towards a comprehensive expansion period by 2025, and the added value of core industries of digital economy will account for 10% of GDP.
Equipment manufacturing industry is the backbone of manufacturing industry. As the foundation of industry, it has a profound impact on the development of other industries. So, what is the current digital transformation process of China’s equipment manufacturing industry?
As a deputy to the National People’s Congress and the head of a leading enterprise in the equipment manufacturing industry, Ma Xinqiang, chairman of Huagong Tech Company Limited(000988) board of directors, prepared several suggestions such as “deepening the integrated development of digital economy and equipment manufacturing industry” on the eve of the two sessions of the National People’s Congress.
“At present, the intelligent and digital transformation of China’s equipment manufacturing industry is still in its infancy.” Recently, in an exclusive interview with the reporter of the daily economic news, Ma Xinqiang said that at present, digital technology is developing and changing rapidly, and the digital wave has hit. Traditional enterprises can achieve leapfrog development only by seizing the opportunity and following the trend.
Combined with the recent planning and layout of relevant departments in the development of digital economy, Ma Xinqiang suggested to further clarify the positioning and function of the central region in the development of digital economy. “The Ministry of industry and information technology is expected to further strengthen the overall planning and coordination and support the central region to build a National Digital Application Innovation Center for equipment manufacturing industry”.
East West calculation will promote the construction of national hub node data center
nbd: in the digital economy era, data is one of the most important elements. The recently launched East West calculation project can be called the “South-to-North Water Transfer” in the digital economy era. May I ask if the business of Huagong Tech Company Limited(000988) is related to this, and what impact may the East data and West calculation project bring to the company?
Ma Xinqiang: computing power, as the core productivity in the new economic era, has become the new focus of global competition. As a strategic project in the field of new infrastructure, “computing from the east to the west” will not only promote the construction of data centers at national hub nodes, but also drive the expansion and upgrading of optical modules. At present, the company’s connection business has full orders for Telecom optical modules and data communication optical modules. At the American Optical Fiber Communication Expo held in San Diego, we will display 800g silicon optical modules equipped with self-developed 800g silicon optical chips for 6G network. This year, we will actively break through the key technologies of RoF and 1.6T optical modules to realize product diversification.
On the other hand, the roof of the data center built by the East digital West computing project will be equipped with green and clean electric energy produced by photovoltaic modules, which will be connected to the data center after being processed by inverters, transformers and other processes, and finally used for the power consumption of servers and air conditioning systems in the data center, which will also enrich the application scenarios of the company’s temperature sensors.
nbd: after the start of East data and West calculation project, it will further drive the development of China’s digital economy. For equipment manufacturing enterprises, how will the digital economy enable the industry? At present, what stage has the digital transformation of China’s equipment manufacturing industry entered?
Ma Xinqiang: at present, the intelligent and digital transformation of China’s equipment manufacturing industry is still in its infancy. For the equipment manufacturing industry, the first thing of digital transformation is to change the development mode that the industry currently relies on resource investment to obtain growth, help the industry improve the efficiency of resource use and management and control by integrating information flow, promote flexible production and manufacturing, reduce unnecessary material and energy consumption in the production process, and promote collaborative production upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.
digital transformation of equipment manufacturing industry currently faces two difficulties
nbd: equipment manufacturing industry is the foundation of industry. What are the difficulties or challenges in the current digital transformation of traditional equipment manufacturing industry?
Ma Xinqiang: first, there is a large investment in digital transformation, there are large differences in digital capabilities and intelligent needs between industries and enterprises, complex business scenarios and few mature cases; On the other hand, the supply capacity of industrial software and hardware equipment is insufficient, and the development and innovation capacity of industrial big data is insufficient. In addition, some equipment systems are strictly closed, lack of standard interface design for external communication connection and data sharing, or the design interface is non standardized, and it is difficult to open and transform the system and data sharing, which affects the equipment network access and interconnection and the transformation process.
I believe that there will be great challenges for the future, but I believe that there will be great challenges for the future.
NBD: as an equipment manufacturing enterprise, what digital transformation exploration has Huagong Tech Company Limited(000988) carried out?
Ma Xinqiang: on the one hand, improve the intelligent level of self-developed laser equipment, including the level of processing technology. The MES interface is reserved for our equipment, which has the functions of automatic edge inspection, first article inspection, CCD vision, etc. on the other hand, for many industries such as construction machinery, heavy industry, bridges, pipe fittings and daily consumer goods, we provide an EPC overall solution integrating top-level design and software and hardware based on independent core equipment and information system, From the perspective of intelligent manufacturing service providers, analyze the corresponding information flow and material flow of customers in the whole process from order receiving, production to delivery, and form targeted solutions.
For example, we are now building an intelligent material preparation center for a group, which involves the flexible processing of more than 100 kinds of raw materials with different specifications and nearly 10000 kinds of parts. The technical difficulty can be called “the most in the industry”.
In the operation of the project, we have achieved 100% automation rate of steel sector cutting and blanking and more than 90% automation rate of sorting. The central control system receives the production and nesting plan by undertaking the MES system and nesting system, and dynamically commands the work of equipment, intelligent driving and AGV unmanned car according to the plan priority, equipment working status and progress, so as to improve the production rhythm and efficiency. According to our estimation, through the operation of this project, the efficiency will be improved by nearly 10 times.
equipment manufacturing enterprises need to make intelligent manufacturing planning for digital transformation
NBD: combined with Huagong Tech Company Limited(000988) experience, what suggestions do you have for the digital transformation of traditional equipment manufacturing enterprises? From the perspective of policy, how will it help the digital transformation of traditional equipment manufacturing industry?
Ma Xinqiang: the construction of intelligent manufacturing cannot be achieved overnight. A lot of pre work needs to be carried out before construction. Enterprises must comprehensively carry out the construction of lean management and control system, use lean methods and ideas to promote the coordination of manufacturing system, and secondly, make a systematic plan for intelligent manufacturing.
In November 2021, the Ministry of industry and information technology issued the development plan for the deep integration of informatization and industrialization in the 14th five year plan, which proposed to accelerate the digital transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry; Build demonstration leading backbone enterprises and expand “specialized, special and new” small and medium-sized enterprises. It is suggested that the following five measures can be implemented in combination with the needs of enterprises:
First, it is suggested to set up incentive funds for intelligent transformation of industrial enterprises. Encourage industrial enterprises to adopt new technologies, processes and equipment, and carry out intelligent technological transformation of production facilities, process conditions and production services, so as to improve production efficiency and product quality.
Second, cultivate intelligent transformation and digital transformation service subjects. Encourage intelligent transformation and digital transformation service providers to become bigger and stronger, support service providers to expand the market, accelerate the global layout, and develop into leading enterprises in the industry through the combination of technology and capital; Support service providers to cooperate with equipment suppliers and software developers, promote the integrated application of intelligent manufacturing equipment, core software and industrial Internet, and improve comprehensive service capabilities.
Third, build an intelligent transformation and digital transformation innovation system. Support the construction of standard innovation system. Implement the standard leading strategy, improve the standard system related to intellectualization and digitization of key industries, strengthen the sharing of standardization resources, carry out the construction of standardization pilot, demonstration and base projects in key areas related to intellectualization and digitization, seize the standard opportunity and strive for the voice in international competition.
Fourth, create an application ecology of intelligent transformation and digital transformation. Strengthen the construction of digital intelligence talent base, and encourage enterprises and schools to carry out intelligent transformation and digital transformation training platform construction.
The fifth level is to support the construction of national industrial security and emergency data sharing platforms, as well as the construction of national industrial security and emergency risk management and professional data sharing platforms.
suggest supporting the central region to build a National Digital Application Innovation Center for equipment manufacturing
NBD: as the leader of an enterprise in Central China, in the “suggestions on deepening the integrated development of digital economy and equipment manufacturing industry” at the two sessions this year, you mentioned the proposal to support the central region to build a National Digital Application Innovation Center for equipment manufacturing industry. Can you talk about this idea in detail?
Ma Xinqiang: in the notice on the “14th five year plan” digital economy development plan issued by the State Council this year, it is mentioned that “relying on Beijing Tianjin Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Dawan District, Chengdu Chongqing dual city economic circle” and other key areas, we will promote the coordinated development of cloud network and integrated computing network, and promote the digital transformation of industrial parks and industrial clusters, There is no clear reference to the positioning, functions and responsibilities of the central region in the development of digital economy.
In recent years, driven by the national supply side structural reform and the “rise of central China” strategy, as well as the efforts of local governments to attract investment, the manufacturing industry in Central China, especially the equipment manufacturing industry, has greatly improved in terms of technology accumulation and industrial agglomeration level, including transportation equipment manufacturing, special equipment manufacturing General equipment manufacturing and other fields are at the forefront of China.
At the same time, Hubei Province, entrusted with the mission of “building a fulcrum and taking the lead”, has the State Key Laboratory of laser technology, the State Key Laboratory of digital manufacturing equipment and technology and the national network security talent and innovation base. The development of optoelectronic information industry ranks in the forefront of the country and has a good base for the development of digital economy. In addition, as an old industrial base, not only traditional industries are actively transforming and upgrading, but also strategic emerging industries in Hubei Province are making full breakthroughs. Therefore, there is unlimited potential in both digital industrialization and industrial digitization, which has a realistic foundation to promote the integrated development of digital economy and equipment manufacturing industry.
The Ministry of industry and information technology is expected to further strengthen the overall planning and coordination, support the central region to build a National Digital Application Innovation Center for equipment manufacturing industry, take the lead of leading enterprises, and cooperate with universities, relevant national and local key laboratories, engineering research centers and upstream and downstream enterprises to carry out research on common problems of digital integration of equipment manufacturing industry, Formulate national and industrial standards and carry out collaborative research on important national and local projects.
