At 8:30 p.m. on July 19, in the welding workshop of Digital Die Stamping Company, an auto parts company located in Caidian Economic Development Zone, after being debugged by Li Xing, the robot project manager of Wuhan Zhongshe Robotics Co., Ltd., a mechanical arm in the welding workstation After "intimate contact" with the stamping parts, sparks of cold light are emitted.
After nearly 3 hours of debugging, the running trajectory of this robotic arm has reached the best state. After rubbing his sore thigh, Li Xing devoted himself to the debugging of another mechanical arm.
Since the beginning of this year, there have been obvious changes in the production workshops of some auto parts companies in the Caidian Economic Development Zone: Some production lines that used to produce fuel vehicle parts have begun to produce parts for new energy vehicles. At the same time, some processes that were previously completed manually Started to be completed by automated equipment one after another.
24-hour continuous rotation of robot production enterprises
CMEC Robotics provides customers with intelligent production line solutions. Photo by correspondent Cai Jingkai
More than 50 engineers in the 8 project teams of CMEC where Li Xing works have been working 24 hours a day since the beginning of this year.
The strong demand for intelligent technological transformation of auto parts companies has brought a large number of orders to this industrial robot manufacturer that provides automation solutions.
That night, the production workshop of Digital Die Stamping Company was brightly lit. Li Xing and his colleagues were busy around an automated welding workstation: holding the controller and constantly adjusting the trajectory of the robotic arm.
Digital Die Stamping Co., Ltd. is an enterprise engaged in the R&D and production of automobile molds and auto parts. In order to meet the new orders of the new energy vehicle project of the OEM, the company introduced the batch consisting of 27 sets of fixtures and 9 mechanical arms from Zhongshe Robotics Co., Ltd. automatic welding workstation.
Since the automatic welding workstation was put into production in June this year, Li Xing and his colleagues have to go to the digital die stamping company to follow the production at least 5 days a week. He said that he would record all the problems found during the daytime follow-up. They adjusted the equipment from night to dawn, so that it would not affect the next day's production.
Different from CMEC Robotics Co., Ltd.'s focus on the field of robot intelligent welding technology, Boaosi Co., Ltd., which is also located in Caidian Economic Development Zone, focuses on designing and manufacturing non-standard automatic assembly and testing equipment according to customer needs.
A smart auto parts factory in the Sino-German International Industrial Park. Photo by reporter Chen Liang
In the production workshop of a well-known auto parts company in the Sino-German International Industrial Park, the staff of Boasi Company is rushing to the project node and debugging an electronic thermostat assembly and testing line before mass production.
According to Zhang Dezhi, manager of the manufacturing department of Boaosi Company, this automated production line integrates 18 processes including assembly and testing, and can produce an electronic thermostat for new energy vehicles in 25 seconds.
It is understood that the order volume of nearly 20 industrial robot companies in Caidian Economic Development Zone generally increased by 15% compared with the same period last year.
Auto parts companies move from manufacturing to "intelligent manufacturing"
Boaosi staff are assembling automated production equipment. Photo by reporter Zhang Heng
"It only takes 30 seconds for an automated workstation to produce and weld a 70-centimeter-long body cast iron special-shaped part, and the pass rate is over 99.9%, which is difficult to achieve with traditional production methods." Zhou Jianxin, director of the mold technology center of Digital Die Stamping Company, said that the company In recent years, the investment in automation transformation has exceeded 130 million yuan.
Zhou Jianxin said that production efficiency, product quality, and operating costs are one of the reasons why enterprises have increased their efforts in technological transformation. "Stable production tempo and good product rate can not only reduce the production cost of enterprises, but also greatly enhance the competitiveness of the industry."
Zhang Dezhi said that the efficiency of the customized fully automatic production line is at least 5 times higher than that of the original production line, and it can also realize the production of various products through quick change of tooling.
It is precisely because of these reasons that many auto parts companies have taken advantage of the "digital intelligence" wind and moved from manufacturing to "intelligent manufacturing" in the process of actively promoting "smart transformation to digital transformation" in Caidian District in recent years.
Caidian Economic Development Zone is the "main battlefield" of Caidian industry. As of now, 30% of the 136 regulated auto parts industrial enterprises are implementing intelligent transformation or have completed the transformation in the past two years.
In an interview with reporters, the heads of several auto parts companies said that driven by new energy vehicles, the speed of model replacement by OEMs is accelerating, and the cycle of new model development and remodeling is getting shorter and shorter.
"Auto parts companies can only adapt to the requirements of the product development cycle of vehicle manufacturers if they actively embrace digital and intelligent technologies. Digital and intelligent technologies can also help companies reduce costs and increase efficiency, and enhance core competitiveness." Zhou Jianxin said.
Internet empowerment seizes the new track of new energy vehicles
The Industrial Internet Empowerment Center showcases digital solutions. Photo by reporter Chen Liang
The Industrial Internet Empowerment Center, located in the Enterprise House of Wuhan Sino-German International Industrial Park, demonstrated Germany's most cutting-edge industrial Internet of Things overall solutions and digital solutions, such as industrial artificial intelligence and edge computing, AR digital twins, and SIMICAS digital test benches.
The Industrial Internet Empowerment Center, jointly established by Caidian District, Siemens, and China Electronics Optics Valley, provides free smart certificates for key auto parts in terms of improving production efficiency, reducing production costs, and ensuring stable quality through the government's purchase of services. Professional diagnosis and recommendation report for modernization transformation, helping enterprises transform to the track of key components of new energy vehicles.
Bus Maipu Technology Co., Ltd. is a professional, special and new "little giant" enterprise specializing in the research, development and production of automotive interior parts. Through diagnosis, the Industrial Internet Empowerment Center helps enterprises build energy monitoring systems and improve energy efficiency.
Du Sa, assistant to the general manager of the company, introduced that the company has invested 40 million yuan to complete the intelligent upgrade of automobile sun visors and components, and the intelligent sun visor products that can automatically adjust the angle according to the intensity of sunlight have been successfully delivered to new energy vehicle manufacturers .
Up to now, the Industrial Internet Empowerment Center has issued diagnostic reports for nearly 50 auto parts companies in the Caidian area.
The relevant person in charge of the Caidian District Science and Economics Bureau said that the district has gathered a number of key parts and components companies for new energy vehicles, including Webasto, BorgWarner, Digimodel, and Fuhang Precision. Caidian is taking advantage of the basic advantages of the automobile and parts industry to promote the upgrading of enterprises and increase the share of new energy and intelligent networked auto parts.
The key components of new energy vehicles and intelligent connected vehicles are one of the four leading industries in Caidian District. Through the "four major competitions" of project construction, investment attraction, innovation drive, and business environment, the district has comprehensively built for auto parts companies "Dare to do" stage.
Caidian District also organizes activities such as innovation and entrepreneurship salons, project roadshows, and instructor lectures to help auto parts companies in the transformation period improve product competitiveness, accurately grasp market demand, and optimize marketing models.