Yangtze Optical builds smart factories

Yangtze Optical Fibre and Cable Joint Stock Ltd, the largest supplier of optical preform and fiber in the world, has seen its production efficiency rise sharply thanks to its intelligent manufacturing program.

The speed of fiber drawing has reached 3,000 meters per minute, up 38.9 percent compared with 2012, when the company launched its first advanced manufacturing program. It is one of the fastest fiber drawing techniques in the world, said Yan Changkun, vice-president of YOFC.

Yan said that China's cloud computing, big data, 4G network and the national broadband system are developing very fast, generating large demand for optical fiber and cable. However, companies that are able to offer whole-package solutions in the industry are mostly from overseas at the moment.