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This article analyzes the smart manufacturing development of SANY Heavy Industry, a leading enterprise in the equipment manufacturing industry, focusing on its transformation process and the construction of the IoT platform. It discusses the construction of smart manufacturing and industrial IoT platforms for Chinese manufacturing enterprises, providing a reference for building industrial IoT platforms and implementing smart manufacturing.
1. SANY Heavy Industry’s Smart Manufacturing Development Process
Analyzing the development of smart manufacturing at SANY Heavy Industry reveals three stages: product intelligence, manufacturing intelligence, and service intelligence. Among these, product intelligence is in the initial stage, manufacturing intelligence is in the intermediate stage, and service intelligence is in the advanced stage, with increasing levels of intelligence as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: The transformation process of smart manufacturing in enterprises
To achieve a transformation towards smart manufacturing, SANY Heavy Industry actively engaged in the research and development of intelligent products. With the development of the IoT, SANY Heavy Industry keenly recognized the significant role IoT would play in the equipment manufacturing industry. In 2005, SANY Heavy Industry took the lead in researching core components and technologies based on the IoT and began applying GPS technology in the equipment manufacturing industry, achieving functions such as positioning, tracking, monitoring, identification, diagnosis, and production management of equipment, becoming the first company in China to realize such capabilities.
In 2009, SANY Heavy Industry established a smart equipment company, focusing on the research and development of intelligent products in various industrial equipment, including sensing manufacturing, control, backup, protection, and remote diagnostics, becoming the first company in China’s industrial manufacturing sector to develop intelligent technologies and products. In 2011, SANY Heavy Industry founded Huaxing Digital Technology Co., Ltd. in Shanghai, primarily researching and developing hardware and software products, instruments, and intelligent management systems for equipment, forming a complete set of intelligent terminal devices that facilitate real-time remote monitoring and maintenance of equipment. The process of product intelligence development at SANY Heavy Industry is illustrated in Figure 2.
Figure 2: The process of product intelligence development
SANY Heavy Industry utilizes big data analysis to monitor equipment operation data more accurately, improving product power efficiency and reducing fuel consumption. Additionally, big data applications assist R&D personnel in analyzing product structures, using data-driven development models to identify which models are more popular and market-oriented, providing high reference value for product design.
In summary, the process of product intelligence at SANY Heavy Industry includes three stages: initial GPS usage, establishment of the smart equipment company, and establishment of the digital technology company, while actively applying big data analysis to gradually realize product intelligence. Product intelligence is the initial stage of the enterprise’s transformation towards smart manufacturing, focusing on the application of intelligent technologies and big data in the product development process, committed to developing intelligent products.
2. Manufacturing Intelligence
While conducting product intelligence research and development, SANY Heavy Industry also actively pursued the intelligent transformation of the manufacturing process. In 2007, SANY Heavy Industry began exploring the development of an M2M platform, collaborating with China Mobile’s Changsha branch to develop the “SANY Engineering Machinery Equipment Intelligent Service System” project, establishing the “M2M Remote Data Collection and Monitoring Platform.” This platform consists of three subsystems: data collection and reverse control system, smart channel system, and M2M application system.
After 2010, SANY Heavy Industry strengthened the application of the M2M system in information collection and transportation, further refining the “M2M Remote Data Collection and Monitoring Platform” into three sub-platforms: the first is the equipment remote monitoring platform, which includes a monitoring technology support platform and device data statistics platform, providing information on equipment quality improvement, after-sales tracking, and service parameters; the second is the pump truck monitoring and maintenance system, which develops intelligent products with independent intellectual property rights using advanced theories of mechanical intelligence in the equipment manufacturing industry, enhancing monitoring and maintenance capabilities, optimizing work efficiency; the third is the intelligent service system, which achieves synergy and work among on-site machines through real-time sharing of information about site conditions, concrete delivery consumption, vehicle usage, and actual operation of pumps and mixing facilities.
After years of development, by 2011, SANY Heavy Industry successfully established the largest M2M system nationwide, capable of dynamic expansion based on 500,000 terminals. The subsystems of the M2M remote data collection and monitoring platform are illustrated in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Subsystems of the M2M remote data collection and monitoring platform
With the continuous development of manufacturing intelligence and the application of the IoT platform, in 2012, SANY Heavy Industry built Factory No. 18 in the Changsha Industrial Park, becoming a demonstration workshop for smart manufacturing in China. Before the construction of the workshop, the factory model was simulated using information technology to plan the entire design in advance through logistics simulation and production process reasoning, preventing potential issues during construction and saving costs. The entire workshop implemented flexible production, allowing machines and production lines to produce and assemble different parts and products, and to be reconfigured at any time based on demand. Intelligent terminals were installed at employee workstations to assist employees in querying standard operating procedures and installation methods.
In 2019, SANY Heavy Industry decided to transform Factory No. 18 into a benchmark for lighthouse factories in the machinery manufacturing industry. After a year of development, Factory No. 18 achieved a higher level of intelligence, allowing technical workers to respond to material requirements at all workstations through a single device, and the use of intelligent robots became more proficient, improving per capita efficiency, output value, and resource utilization.
From the analysis above, it is evident that SANY Heavy Industry has achieved intelligent transformation in the production process by constructing the IoT platform—M2M remote data collection and monitoring platform, actively applying big data analysis, and ultimately establishing a smart factory, realizing manufacturing intelligence. Manufacturing intelligence is the intermediate stage of the enterprise’s transformation towards smart manufacturing, where the focus shifts from single product intelligence to the application of intelligent technologies throughout the entire manufacturing process, constructing IoT platforms and utilizing big data to achieve comprehensive smart manufacturing.
With the manufacturing of intelligent products at SANY Heavy Industry, to better address after-sales issues and product maintenance problems, SANY Heavy Industry pioneered the development of the ECC system (Enterprise Control Center) in 2008 to prevent equipment downtime from causing losses to customers. This system can accurately and real-time locate service personnel and vehicles, allowing customers to call a 24-hour service hotline when equipment issues arise, enabling ECC to dispatch efficiently and effectively, guiding customers to troubleshoot or arrange for service personnel to visit. In addition, the system can provide other value-added services, such as automatically triggering alarms when equipment leaves a designated work area.
In 2014, the arrival of the “Industrial Big Data” era prompted SANY Heavy Industry to recognize the greater value of the early established customer after-sales service equipment monitoring and control system. SANY Heavy Industry optimized and improved the early ECC system and developed a new ECC platform—Customer Service Platform, for storing and analyzing big data. Through the “ECC Platform,” SANY Heavy Industry proactively engages in big data applications, digitally and informationally transforming the entire process of production, manufacturing, and service, utilizing computer storage analysis and shared communication. The ECC platform enables bidirectional control and remote monitoring of all hardware and software controlled by equipment, sending real-time operational data from over 200,000 customer devices to the backend system for optimization analysis. The primary users of the ECC platform include agents, operators, customers, and R&D personnel. The functions of the ECC platform are illustrated in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Function diagram of the ECC platform
Through the ECC platform, SANY Heavy Industry has made customer service more intelligent. Customers can use the ECC platform to monitor their equipment in real-time, receiving information about their equipment from the system, making it more convenient for them. When equipment malfunctions, the ECC platform can achieve faster troubleshooting based on real-time detection results, changing the previous “passive” service model, thus improving customer service levels and managing financial risks. Moreover, through data diagnostics of equipment operation conditions, SANY Heavy Industry can predict potential failures, informing customers of possible issues before they occur, allowing them to take preventive measures to extend equipment lifespan and health, reducing customer losses, and utilizing big data to analyze customer service needs to design products that better meet customer requirements, while optimizing the service process through big data analysis.
In summary, SANY Heavy Industry has established the ECC customer service platform to monitor the operational status of customer equipment, quickly assisting customers in resolving operational issues, and leveraging big data technology to identify customer needs, thereby providing better service. Service intelligence is the advanced stage of the enterprise’s transformation towards smart manufacturing, where enterprises manage the entire product lifecycle, deeply integrating products, manufacturing, and services to achieve an intelligent product service system.
2. Comparison of the Three Stages
SANY Heavy Industry’s transformation towards smart manufacturing occurs through the three aspects of product intelligence, manufacturing intelligence, and service intelligence, as compared in Table 1.
Table 1: Comparison of Smart Manufacturing Development Stages
SANY Heavy Industry simultaneously began the processes of product intelligence and manufacturing intelligence transformation. After achieving initial scale in intelligent product development, it then undertook the transformation towards service intelligence. In all three processes, big data analysis and applications were integrated. Through the coordinated development of these three aspects, SANY Heavy Industry has successfully achieved its smart manufacturing transformation. Product intelligence focuses on how to integrate SANY Heavy Industry’s products with intelligent technologies to enhance functionality; manufacturing intelligence shifts from a product-centric focus to applying intelligent technologies across the entire production process, utilizing an IoT platform to achieve intelligent manufacturing through mining and analyzing extensive operational data; service intelligence addresses after-sales service issues by constructing the ECC platform to manage the entire lifecycle of equipment, extending equipment lifespan and health, reducing customer losses, and providing manufacturing-type services centered around customer value.
In conclusion, SANY Heavy Industry has promoted its intelligent transformation through the coordinated development of these three stages, enhancing product R&D capabilities and realizing the value of equipment across its entire lifecycle, ultimately providing better service for customers.
Based on the case analysis of SANY Heavy Industry, it can be concluded that manufacturing enterprises undergoing intelligent transformation through industrial IoT typically experience three stages: product intelligence, manufacturing intelligence, and service intelligence. The collaborative development and interaction of these three stages gradually lead to the realization of smart manufacturing.
Manufacturing enterprises need to undergo product intelligence transformation during their intelligent transformation process to provide customers with intelligent products. Intelligent products are the foundation of smart manufacturing. Enterprises should focus on applying emerging technologies such as digital technology to the product layout of industrial equipment, developing intelligent terminal devices like mechanical instruments and intelligent management control systems, collaborating with intelligent software companies, and collecting and analyzing intelligent needs from downstream customers in the supply chain to facilitate intelligent R&D, thus enhancing product management and production processes, improving efficiency, and producing higher quality products for customers. Additionally, enterprises should emphasize the introduction of intelligent talent to manage the detailed processes of intelligent products and establish a product knowledge base.
2. Manufacturing Intelligence
Building on intelligent products, manufacturing enterprises can timely control and collect data on production processes by constructing industrial IoT platforms, making manufacturing processes more precise and effectively managing the manufacturing site while keeping track of progress. Enterprises can collaborate with intelligent technology companies to introduce intelligent equipment while actively engaging in intelligent product development, emphasizing resource sharing during the manufacturing process, applying production information management systems such as MES, and focusing on cultivating intelligent talent throughout the production process. Therefore, manufacturing enterprises should strengthen their transformation towards manufacturing intelligence, build smart factories, and prioritize flexible manufacturing to effectively utilize resources and enhance production efficiency.
Manufacturing enterprises should focus on both the product design end and the customer service end, starting from both ends of the smile curve. By mining customer demand information, manufacturing enterprises can design products that better meet customer needs; at the same time, by monitoring operational data of equipment and wear of key components in real-time, they can provide early warnings before issues arise, achieving proactive maintenance and precise cost control, significantly enhancing the quality of customer service. Through the transformation towards service intelligence, manufacturing enterprises have changed traditional manufacturing models, gradually completing control over the entire lifecycle of products and enhancing customer value. Enterprises should also consider introducing advanced service talents, intelligent service facilities, and developing intelligent service software to optimize service processes.
From the perspective of the supply chain, it is essential to incentivize upstream and downstream enterprises to share information and study customer-oriented service operation platforms. Service intelligence runs throughout the entire process of product intelligence and manufacturing intelligence, representing a deep integration of products, production processes, and services. During this integration process, the coordinated realization of product intelligence and service intelligence ultimately forms an intelligent product service system.
In the context of the “Industry 4.0” revolution and the era of big data, how to successfully undergo intelligent transformation is an urgent issue for manufacturing enterprises. This article employs a descriptive single-case study method, using SANY Heavy Industry as the case study object, to explore its construction of the IoT platform and transformation towards smart manufacturing. SANY Heavy Industry’s approach to intelligent manufacturing transformation encompasses product intelligence, manufacturing intelligence, and service intelligence, providing valuable experience for Chinese manufacturing enterprises to implement smart manufacturing and develop industrial IoT.
In the long term, the value of intelligent products and equipment across their entire lifecycle will continue to rise, and industrial IoT and smart manufacturing will exert significant impacts on traditional manufacturing models. To address the challenges and impacts brought about by the smart manufacturing model, manufacturing enterprises should establish good partnerships with upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain to jointly build a foundational big data platform for the entire industry, leveraging platform value to achieve intelligent transformation and win-win cooperation.
The original article was published in “Manufacturing Technology and Machine Tools” 2022, Issue 7, by Xi’an University of Engineering Management, He Zheng, Li Yanni, Yang Xiaohong
Text | Original
Editor | Network Business Department
Source | New Industrial Network
