Smart transformation drives high-quality growth in automotive industry

Industrial robots weld a car. [Photo by Zhang Minmin for chinadaily.com.cn]

The workshop II department II of Forland Industry under BAIC Foton Automotive Co Ltd was awarded the title of "China's Benchmark Digital Workshop in the Automotive Industry" in 2023 after recommended preliminary review and expert on-site evaluation.

In order to achieve the vision of a "Digital Foton", Forland Industry underwent digital upgrading and transformation in 2022. Through the implementation of a comprehensive industrial Internet top-level architecture, Foton has achieved an operational model that includes informationization of production manufacturing, intelligentization of process equipment, and visualization of logistics and transportation. This has enabled Foton to achieve digital management covering the entire process of the automotive industrial chain.

Dozens of industrial robots wave their arms, with a car coming off the production line. [Photo by Zhang Minmin for chinadaily.com.cn]

The automotive and parts industry is the leading industry in Zhucheng. With the leading role of Foton, Zhucheng has extended, widened, and strengthened the industrial chain. Supporting enterprises such as Daye Shares, Yihe Axles, and SDATK have successively settled in the area and become industry leaders, being selected as a provincial "top 10" industry cluster.

Projects such as the Superior Rubber Project with a total investment of 5.16 billion yuan ($712 million), and the Sailun Engineering Tire Project with a total investment of 1.2 billion yuan, help to extend a relatively complete tire manufacturing industrial chain in the commercial vehicle industry. 

In recent years, Zhucheng has leveraged its five main industries of automotive and parts, health food, textile and clothing, high-end equipment manufacturing, and biopharmaceuticals to create a number of modern industrial clusters. (Edited by Huang Junyao)