CPECN

Ignore intelligent manufacturing and risk no future, says industry chairman

Don Horne   

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XCMG is building up the industry’s first intelligent production line for crane turntables with a daily production capacity of 40, the largest in the world.

“The completion of our new intelligent production line affirms XCMG’s position as a world leader in construction machinery manufacturing,” said Wang Min, Chairman and President of XCMG. “In order to lead in the era of IM (intelligent manufacturing), making strategic investments now is key. Any companies that ignore this manufacturing revolution will not have a future.”

The first intelligent production line for large-scale structural components in the industry, it can produce over 20 types of products. At 100-metres long, the line has 168 anchor points on a flexible pallet that can lock every single workpiece accurately in place to smoothly complete the 18 assembly steps necessary to assemble a crane turntable.

An intelligent rail-guided vehicle (RGV) carrying the pallet can automatically dock with a welding workstation to complete the production process with an accuracy of 0.01 degree. Each technician on the line can manage 10 machines, with annual operation mileage of 1,933 kilometres (1,201 miles).

XCMG’s new production line marks a milestone in the multi-variety, limited quantity and discrete manufacturing industry’s exploration of IM. In 2017, China was the world’s largest industrial robot application market with annual sales exceeding 120,000, which were about 1/3 of global production. XCMG currently ranks eighth in the world’s construction machinery industry, exporting to more than 177 countries.

At the same time, China has been the world’s largest consumer of numerical control machine tools for nine years in a row, and 50 per cent of the world’s production volume is installed in Chinese factories. In the past two years, the average production efficiency of Chinese factories has improved by 30 per cent and energy efficiency has increased by 10 per cent.

(XCMG)


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