China's industrial status in 2018: Industry 4.0 is still in the trial stage

The development of intelligent manufacturing needs to go through four stages of automation, informationization, interconnection and intelligence, which are respectively automation (removal and transformation of equipment with low automation level, manufacturing of intelligent equipment with high automation level) and informationization (products and services from physics to Information network, intelligent components participate in improving product information processing capabilities), interconnected (building factory Internet of Things, service network, data network, inter-plant Internet, equipment integration), intelligent (by sensor and machine vision technology to achieve intelligent monitoring ,decision making).
China is still in the later stage of “Industry 2.0” (Electrification). “Industry 3.0” (informatization) is still to be popularized. “Industry 4.0” is trying to do some demonstrations as much as possible, and manufacturing automation and informationization are gradually being laid out.

Figure 2: Intelligent Manufacturing Development Phase and Key Technologies

The era of "manufacturing 2025" is an era of Internet-based intelligent manufacturing. The biggest difference from the previous manufacturing model is that "manufacturing 2025" is to promote intelligence and informationization, not just automation, and a large amount of data generated by automation equipment. Through the sensing system and other paths, acquisition, reaction and prediction, and the formation of actionable big data (AcTIonable Data), help to create three closed loops, namely product development and manufacturing, product design and manufacturing, product quality and Management system. To achieve these intelligent and informatized processes, the following aspects are required:
1. Big Data (AcTIonable Data): acquisition, decision making and forecasting;
2. MOM, MES, virtual design system: realize the management and optimization of the manufacturing process;
3. SCM, ERP, CRM and PLM: Improve the level of enterprise information interaction;
4. Corporate financial management: A centralized financial management platform in the cloud and connected to the industrial chain.

Figure 3: Focus on smart manufacturing

In recent years, many places in the country are planning smart manufacturing development, including Shanghai, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Tianjin, Anhui, Chongqing, Henan, Liaoning, Sichuan, Qingdao, Beijing, Guangdong, Heilongjiang and other provinces and cities are gearing up, or set up robots Alliances related to smart manufacturing, such as Industry 4.0 or Industrial Internet, or specific industry plans.
According to the Prospective Industry Research Institute's "2018-2023 China's Intelligent Manufacturing Equipment Industry Development Prospects and Transformation and Upgrade Analysis Report", the current intelligent manufacturing market situation mainly presents the following characteristics.
First, in recent years, labor costs have risen sharply, and the cost of automated production lines has fallen sharply. The cost advantage has made it possible for enterprises to prioritize the production lines with higher automation levels when they expand production, and have the incentive to transform the original production lines. "As long as you can use robots, you don't need people" has become the consensus of the manufacturing enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta.
Second, the policy support has been unprecedentedly increased, and many of the automated informationization transformations can enjoy local government subsidies. The intelligent transformation has become a project project promoted by some local governments. The “Robot Industrial Park” has become the hottest construction project in the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta.
Third, industrial competition has increased. After 2010, domestic demand has fallen, and external demand has been replaced by competition from emerging countries in Southeast Asia. The prosperity has declined significantly. In order to improve competitiveness, improve product quality, improve production efficiency, and optimize the production process, intelligent upgrade has become a top priority for the manufacturing industry.
Fourth, localization is supported and knowledge dividends are beginning to manifest. The state's support for localization of smart manufacturing has increased year by year. At the same time, the education level of citizens has increased, the number of graduates with higher education has increased significantly, and the advantage of labor cost has rapidly turned into a knowledge dividend, which has led to the rapid development of China's intelligent manufacturing and the acceleration of localization. Taking robots as an example, domestic robot companies have developed rapidly in recent years, and the scale of domestic robot enterprises represented by Xinshida and Eston has expanded rapidly.
While China's manufacturing industry is gradually showing a stable development trend, the intelligent manufacturing industry has become one of the main driving forces driving China's manufacturing industry. In the future, the role of smart manufacturing in China in manufacturing will become more and more important, and the proportion of China's manufacturing added value will occupy a larger share.