With technologies as the leading power and intelligence as the core, Banan District of Chongqing ranks the first in the rate of smart enterprise transformation and upgrading in the city in 2021, which significantly improves the district's smart manufacturing capability.

Agile industrial robots working efficiently at workshops in Zongshen Industrial Park are the epitome of the automatic intelligent workshop transformation of the company.

the Smart Workshop of Zongshen (photo/ Shangyou News)

The smart manufacturing production line, newly developed by Zongshen Power Machinery, incorporates 49 sets of special automatic equipment, 54 industrial robots, 3D vision systems, QR code laser engraving systems, RFID readers/writers, and thousands of sensors. The company has achieved digital management and Internet-based real-time control covering the whole process, including Product Lifecycle Management at the product design stage, Enterprise Resource Planning, Manufacturing Execution Systems, and Programmable Logic Controllers.

According to the Economic and Information Technology Commission of Banan District, the district has supported enterprises applying smart manufacturing equipment and software in key steps and developing technological transformation projects involving smart manufacturing units, smart production lines, digital workshops, and smart plants. In total, it has invested over 20 million yuan (about 3 million U.S. dollars) in 152 projects. In 2021, the district ranks first regarding the rate of enterprise smart transformation and upgrading in Chongqing, which remarkably improves its smart manufacturing capability.

After Zongshen Power Machinery transformed its No. 1011 production line, the number of operators was halved, production efficiency increased by 14%, and the defect rate, operating cost, and energy consumption per unit decreased by 26%, 17%, and 29%, respectively. Meanwhile, product quality, durability, and noise reduction performance were greatly ameliorated, and products tend to be defect-free.

The pavilion of Ba'nan DIstrict at Smart China Expo (photo/Shangyou News)

Banan District carried out the action plan of the innovation-driven development strategy led by big data intelligence. It attended the Smart China Expo for four consecutive years, held the 2019/2020 "Smart China Cup" Industrial Design Competition and the 2018/2019 International Drone Race Competition. The district has established 32 smart plants and digital workshops, three municipal-level smart manufacturing role models, and completed the smart transformation of hundreds of projects. The number of newly-built 5G base stations reached 2,150 and that of national demonstration enterprises implementing the integrated management system of industrialization and informatization and pilot demonstration projects of Industrial Internet 10 and 17, respectively. The district also has built one transportation industry identifier resolution secondary node. It now has 3,046 technology-based enterprises, 49 municipal and two national enterprise technology centers, ten municipal SME technology R&D centers, and four municipal industry and information technology key laboratories. It pools 35 enterprises above designated size engaging in "chip, LCD panel, intelligent terminal, core parts, and IoT" and 40-odd Big Data Intelligence application projects, such as smart industrial parks, smart policing, and smart city management. All of these bolster the development of Chongqing into the Powerhouse of Smart Manufacturing and the Famous Smart City.

Centering around the strategy of "One District and Five Cities," Banan District intensifies efforts to maintain growth, adjust structure, and enhance momentum. It strives to promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries and the development of emerging ones. Currently, traditional and emerging industries are progressing together and supporting each other.

From January to July, the output value of industries above designated size in Banan District increased by 28.3%, industrial investment grew by 34.1%, and the output value of strategic emerging manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing industries was up by 35.9% and 36.3%, respectively. The industrial economy registers stable performance with good momentum for growth and improvement in quality and efficiency. In 2021, the total industrial output value is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan and industrial investment 10 billion yuan.