5G, AI transforming manufacturing

In the bustling manufacturing hubs of Zhejiang province, a quiet but profound revolution is underway as the traditional hum of manual assembly lines is being replaced by the precise, synchronized movements of robotic arms and automated guided vehicles.

At the heart of this transformation is the integration of 5G networks and artificial intelligence, spearheaded by China Mobile Zhejiang Branch, which is empowering local enterprises to cultivate new quality productive forces and leap from traditional manufacturing to intelligent production.

The robust computing power driving this industrial evolution stems from the China Mobile Yangtze River Delta (Jinhua) Data Center. As one of the largest data centers in East China, the facility spans 280 mu (18.67 hectares) and is built to national A-level standards, earning a diamond five-star internet data center certification. With over 3 billion yuan ($441.6 million) already invested, it currently houses 13,000 racks with an IT capacity of 86 megawatts.

Recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology as a 2025 national-level green computing facility, it maintains an advanced power usage effectiveness of 1.24, saving 34 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and reducing carbon emissions by 18,000 metric tons annually.

A 5G-powered sun

Nowhere is the application of this computing power more evident than at Ronma Solar Energy Group's 5G smart factory in Jinhua, Zhejiang. As a State-level high-tech enterprise focusing on monocrystalline silicon solar cells and photovoltaic modules, Ronma Solar Energy Group has become a benchmark for the deep integration of high-end equipment manufacturing and the digital economy.

Walking into the factory's massive workshop, one is greeted by a futuristic scene: hundreds of automated guided vehicles navigate autonomously without magnetic strips or QR codes, relying instead on 5G-enabled visual navigation and AI algorithms for real-time dynamic mapping.

Xiong Zhoushi, general manager of China Mobile Jinhua Branch, highlighted the unprecedented scale and stability of this digital infrastructure. "Our factory spans 580 meters in length and 100 meters in width. We have over 800 devices, including 223 AGVs, all connected via 5G. Since it began operating, there has not been a single network interruption," Xiong said.

Xiong further explained the intricate automated workflow. "Our workshop has 14 process steps. For instance, after a battery cell completes the oxidation process, it is automatically loaded onto an AGV, which then follows programmed instructions to move seamlessly to the next production stage. Everything is unmanned and automatically controlled by our software systems. Our daily production capacity for battery cells is 3.78 million pieces, and actual output has reached 3.7 million. This 97 percent capacity utilization rate is currently the highest in the country's photovoltaic industry."

The integration of AI has penetrated every facet of Ronma's operations. The factory utilizes a digital twin platform that creates a precise 1:1 mapping of the physical production line. This allows for automatic roaming and first-person AI digital human inspections, which automatically pop up equipment ledgers as they pass by machines. This transparency even allows overseas clients to remotely check their order progress, reducing overseas client reception costs by 14 percent.

He Liang, dean of the Ronma Solar Research Institute, emphasized the transformative impact of these technologies on quality control and energy management.

"We've integrated AI visual inspection to replace manual checks, effectively solving issues like missed inspections and false positives. Our accuracy rate for identifying various defect categories now exceeds 90 percent, which has significantly reduced our labor needs," said He.

"Furthermore, we've implemented an intelligent AI model for parameter tuning during high-temperature processes. This model dynamically analyzes massive amounts of data to optimize variables, lowering energy costs by 9 percent. We also use predictive maintenance algorithms to detect hotspot risks, attenuation abnormalities and electrical connection issues before they cause downtime," added He.

Cross-industry renaissance

Beyond the energy sector, China Mobile's digital empowerment is catalyzing upgrades across diverse traditional industries.

In the textile industry, Zhejiang Truelove Blanket Technology Co, known globally as the "World Blanket King", has partnered with China Mobile to build the first cloud-based 5G textile intelligent inspection factory. Utilizing 5G's low latency and high reliability, the system monitors the operational status of 8,000 yarns in real time. If a yarn breaks or skips, the system instantly identifies it and halts the machine. Now, a single female worker can oversee 12 machines simultaneously. Defect lengths have been reduced by 90 percent, saving the company nearly 3 million yuan in annual labor costs.

Similarly, Zhejiang SAFUN Industrial Co, a national manufacturing single-champion enterprise, has utilized an AI research and development design agent to overhaul its development process. By leveraging intelligent parsing, virtual simulation and knowledge reuse, the company has slashed its research and development cycle from two months to just five days, which is expected to boost overseas orders by 30 percent annually.

In the traditional Chinese medicine sector, Zhejiang Shouxiangu Pharmaceutical Co has built the country's first "50G PON + Wi-Fi 7"10-gigabit pharmaceutical park. The company is now taking its AI integration a step further with its "AI Ancient Formula" project. By utilizing a dual-model strategy of "Tongyi Qianwen + DeepSeek", the system digitizes ancient texts like Danxi Xinfa to automatically generate prescription plans. To support this, their computing resources are expanding from dual A100 GPUs to an 8-card A100 setup. Soon, an AI Q&A agent will allow managers to ask conversational questions like,"What was the wall-breaking qualification rate of lingzhi (ganoderma lucidum) spore powder in Workshop A last week?" and receive instant, data-driven answers.

Even the cultural sector is experiencing a digital renaissance. In Hengdian World Studios — known as China's Hollywood — the newly established Film and Television Cultural Industry Brain has accumulated over 3.9 billion pieces of structured data.

Lai Enhui, AIGC head at Zhejiang Gewu Zhizhi Culture Media, pointed out the drastic changes in production speed. "A 120-minute AI short drama can now be completed in about two weeks. Our team can produce around 10 such dramas a month," Lai said. Utilizing China Mobile's MoMA cloud model services, studios can render complex visual effects securely in days rather than months, while also pioneering new formats like AI comic dramas.

To ensure these technological leaps are not isolated success stories, China Mobile is actively working to replicate these models across the manufacturing spectrum.

Ni Jun, deputy manager of the government and enterprise department at China Mobile Jinhua Branch, outlined their strategic roadmap. "We are currently focusing on three major local industries: power tools, textiles and magnetic materials. Our approach is to first build a benchmark enterprise to extract standardized digital solutions," Ni said.

"We rely on our strong grid-based operational capabilities. In Jinhua, we have 74 grids covering all towns and streets. Our grid managers can visit factories door-to-door to discuss digital transformation plans. We diagnose each enterprise's current digital maturity and provide tailored AI scenarios — filling in exactly what they lack — to drive industrywide cost reduction and intelligent transformation," he said.