Crossing the Technology Divide Towards Smart Manufacturing

How far are we from Iron Man? Walking into Tesla's factory is completely different from walking into Tesla's showroom. In the showroom, people pay more attention to the avant-garde design style of sports cars, simple and flexible body lines, post-modern body interiors and attention to detail. The details of the user experience, once you're inside a Tesla factory, are fascinating, as well as how efficiency and elegance are combined in a highly automated manufacturing model.

As the CEO of Sanye Group, Zheng Liming is not only committed to promoting the development of trade and investment between China and the United States, but also an observer with unique insights and keen judgment in the field of technological innovation. , Hewlett-Packard and other company executives, with footprints in high-tech enterprises in the United States, Europe and Asia. A visit to Tesla's factory in Fremont, California left a deep impression on him.

2013 was a big year for Tesla. Its latest product, Model S, was honored as the 2013 Model of the Year by the American "Automotive Trend" magazine, becoming the first new energy vehicle to receive this honor; in addition, it also won the title of the highest-rated car in the history of the highly influential "Consumer Reports" in North America. . But even before that, Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and the prototype of the Hollywood movie character "Iron Man", faced a huge challenge.

Reducing vehicle prices is an extremely important part of Tesla's business model, and high manufacturing costs are the biggest obstacle. When Tesla's first model, the Roadster, was ordered in batches, Musk had a headache due to the high production cost. After a lot of hard work, the cost of a single car was finally reduced to less than $100,000. Even so, losses followed.

After investigation, Musk found that the cost control of the outsourced manufacturer was a problem. After all the pain, Musk decided to no longer rely on manufacturing outsourcing, bought the joint venture manufacturing plant of Toyota and GM in Fremont, and spared no expense to transform it. Just like the "Iron Man" Stark's combat armor in the movie has been continuously upgraded from MK I to MK II, MK III..., the new robots serving in Musk's factory are far more advanced than their "predecessors".

"The most eye-catching thing in the factory is the multi-tasking robots that can perform multiple jobs and are good at multiple processes. Although most of them have only one robotic arm, they can handle positioning, welding, riveting, gluing, etc." Do it all alone'", Zheng Liming explained. Automobile and mechanical equipment manufacturing are the earliest and most widely used industries for robots, but most of the previous robots were single-function and highly specialized. Welding cannot be polished, and sprayed cannot be assembled. This created a series of problems, as the need for robots with different functions caused procurement budgets to skyrocket, and the production line became too bloated and rigid to dynamically adjust as orders changed.

"Multitasking robots are all software-driven and can be 'trained'. After a technician writes a specific program for it and debugs it, it learns a new 'craft'", Zheng Liming said. Multitasking robots can be deployed in different job types and processes, allowing manufacturers to flexibly organize production capacity and ensure high flexibility and high efficiency throughout the production process. It is precisely by virtue of the intelligent manufacturing method that Musk has steadily increased the production capacity of the factory. With the continuous advancement of the mass production of electric vehicles, the price of a bicycle will be closer to the popularity level of mass consumers, and this is exactly what "Iron Man" ” refers to the sword of the planned third model GenIII.

Tesla factories represent the world's leading level of intelligent manufacturing. Although China's industrial automation has made great progress in the past ten years, the gap with the frontier is still very obvious. In terms of the number of robots with 10,000 workers in the manufacturing industry, China has 21 robots, the world average is 55 robots, Japan and South Korea have about 300 robots, and "Iron Man" has 530 robots. The gap between them can be seen at a glance.

The gap blocks the road

Zheng Liming believes that the gap between China and the United States may not be as big as most people think in terms of intelligent and automated equipment manufacturing. "If we compare the best companies in China with 'Iron Man', the gap is much smaller. I saw a smart banking machine in Huawei last month, which is much more capable than traditional ATMs, not only can |Manages deposits, withdrawals and transfers, and can also help bank customers to open accounts and apply for debit cards and credit cards by themselves. I have never seen such advanced equipment in the United States.”

This The biggest feature of this type of remote bank teller machine is that it combines customer self-service with the assistance of remote agents in the bank's customer service center. Through remote video and intelligent identification technology, remote agents can provide customers with "face-to-face" business management and 24-hour service. . "Thousands of such machines are about to be put into use, and the Chinese can also build first-class smart devices," Zheng Liming said excitedly, "Behind this is Huawei's huge investment, a company that is willing to invest 15% of its business revenue in research and development. The company is very admirable."

"Many Chinese companies like to follow the trend and follow the trend. Smartphones are popular, so they all make smart phones; 3D printers are popular, so they rush to 3D printing. How many people have seriously thought about it. What are the core competencies of your own company, how should it be combined with market demand, and how should it be cultivated? How many companies are willing to invest 15% of their sales in R&D?"

"I think the gap lies in Here, there is a gap in concept. The reason why Huawei has done so well is because its concept is already ahead of the world.” Zheng Liming added, “As for the gap in concept, there is another point. We have communicated with family members that when it comes to the automation of the production process, everyone tends to focus on saving labor costs.”

In recent years, due to changes in population structure, labor employment and social security laws and policies, “ "The shortage of migrant workers" and the surge in labor costs have eroded the profits of labor-intensive companies, forcing many companies to start "machine substitution". Zheng Liming said that coping with cost pressures is a direct driving force for production automation, but it should not stop at the superficial issues of machine replacement and cost savings.

"The real meaning of production automation is far more than that. By using automation equipment such as robots, the efficiency can be improved for single and heavy operations, the safety factor can be improved for dangerous operations, and the operation accuracy can be improved for fine operations. In this way, the labor intensity of workers can be reduced, operational errors and defective product rates can be greatly reduced, and product quality and production efficiency can be improved.”

In addition, the technical gap in reality is like a gap, which cannot be avoided. of. Zheng Liming said that in order to shorten this gap, China must catch up, increase R&D investment, and let R&D personnel go out. Entrepreneurs and engineers should attend exhibitions and seminars more, seek and obtain the most cutting-edge technology and market information, cooperate with industry associations, universities and scientific research institutions, especially communicate with foreign institutions.

Build a bridge to intelligent manufacturing

Mr. Wang is the head of an intelligent equipment manufacturing company in Shenzhen. The wind is booming, but in recent years, the technological gap at home and abroad has made him deeply worried. As an engineer, he pays special attention to the latest trends and trends in the industry. Every time he goes abroad, he pays attention to collecting information about foreign counterparts and industries. He found that China is usually 3-6 months behind foreign countries in terms of relevant technology and industry information. This creates a huge technological gap invisibly.

From 2012 to 2013, China successively issued four national-level planning documents related to the robotics industry. The applications of robots are also increasingly broad, covering industrial automation, education, medical and health, agriculture/mining/forestry, household and entertainment, detection and inspection and many other fields. Starting from Harbin in the north, Guangzhou in the south, Shanghai in the east, and Xi'an in the west, a large number of enterprises related to robots and intelligent and automation equipment have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. A large number of small and medium-sized enterprises are either producers of robot bodies and components, or system integrators serving end users. Although Mr. Wang's company is only a microcosm, his distress is the general feeling of the entire group of engineers in China's robotics industry.

“We understand the needs of Chinese engineers and have been serving them for almost 30 years,” said Brandon Smith, president of eMedia Asia, a subsidiary of Global Sources. “The online community of eMedia Asia has 2 million users, including 300,000 engineers and technicians related to the field of automation, their online browsing and community discussions show that Chinese engineers are paying more and more attention to the robotics and intelligent equipment industry. To meet their needs, eMediaAsia will be launched in early 2014' Robotnet', focusing on the technical solutions and information of the robot supporting industry, provides the latest industry and technology trend analysis."

Since joining Global Sources in the 1980s, Brandon Smith and his colleagues have gone all the way. Through "Electronic Engineering Special", "International Electronic Business", "Electronic System Design" magazine, website and other information platforms, it provides technical information services for electronics and IT companies and engineers in China, Taiwan, Taiwan and other places. In the past 30 years, his Chinese has become better and better, and he prefers to be called by his Chinese name, Shi Bolian.

Shi Bolian said: "In layman's terms, intelligent devices such as robots are composed of three categories of software and hardware: sensors, controllers and other electronic components are the 'nervous system', which is the brain of the robot; software It is the 'cognitive system', which is responsible for issuing, transmitting and executing various instructions; the mechanical components are the 'skeletal system' and the 'dynamic system'. Engineers need to design, assemble, transform, and do system integration. The information in these three parts is lacking No. Roboticschina.com is to use our nearly 30 years of experience and expertise in the above three fields to integrate the above three types of information to help engineers easily retrieve and query.”

“For The core components of robots, such as reducers, servo motors, controllers, etc., have been imported in China for a long time. Moreover, their unit price is very high, and they account for a large proportion of the cost of robots. The market in the international market will fluctuate due to many factors. The rapid upgrading of semiconductor components and integrated circuit products has brought many challenges to China's local robotics industry," Shi Bolian emphasized.

"We will maximize the use of the industry-leading information channels of joint ventures and international partners, and present the most cutting-edge market information, industry trends, technology trends and design solutions to Chinese engineers and robot product developers. Supply and demand sides, help them to gain inspiration in R&D and design, inspire each other in discussions and exchanges, and strive for initiative in negotiation and procurement. We hope that through our efforts, we can build a bridge across the technology gap and help China's local robotics industry to move forward The road of independent innovation.”