From the three dimensions of the understanding of "intelligent manufacturing"
Wang Xiaoming, Development Research Center of the State Council, Department of Industrial Economics
After the international financial crisis, many countries have a new understanding of the important role of the manufacturing sector in promoting trade growth, improving research and development and innovation, and boosting employment, have put forward national strategies for the manufacturing sector, such as the United States, the United States, the United States and China. They have put forward national strategies for manufacturing, such as the National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing of the United States, Germany's "Industry 4.0 Program" and Japan's "White Paper on Manufacturing". The manufacturing industry is re-emerging as an important manifestation of national competitiveness. In the face of the strategic initiatives of various countries and the major adjustment of the global manufacturing competition pattern, China has also introduced "Made in China 2025", which clearly puts forward intelligent manufacturing as the main direction of the deep integration of the two. So, how to recognize "intelligent manufacturing"? We can start from the dimensions of technological innovation, organizational innovation and model innovation.
First, "smart manufacturing" is not a new generation, but the latest form of advanced manufacturing development. "Intelligent manufacturing" as the latest form of advanced manufacturing once put forward, the manufacturing industry to obtain a wide range of professionals within the response, is becoming China's manufacturing transformation and upgrading of the new direction, the new trend. But we should also see that "intelligent manufacturing" is not just a concept that came out of nowhere, but the manufacturing industry based on its internal development logic, after a long time of evolution and integration gradually formed. It can be said that "intelligent manufacturing" is with the changes in market demand, integrated technological innovation, model innovation and organizational innovation of advanced manufacturing system, is integrated manufacturing, lean production, agile manufacturing, virtual manufacturing, network manufacturing and other advanced manufacturing systems and modes of synthesis.
The second is that market demand is the fundamental driving force for the development of advanced manufacturing. Since the middle of the last century, with the growing prosperity of the market economy, consumer demand for goods has become increasingly diversified and personalized, requiring modern manufacturing industry must have the shortest delivery time, optimal product quality, the lowest product price and the best service, prompting the industrial manufacturing from the initial scale strategy, cost-oriented strategy development to the later quality strategy, service strategy. With the improvement of consumers' environmental awareness, environmental protection strategy has become one of the important orientations of industrial manufacturing again. At present, the single manufacturing development strategy has given way to a comprehensive manufacturing service strategy. The advanced manufacturing system must be able to satisfy the market and social demands in several aspects such as time, quality, cost, service and environment at the same time, so as to obtain the maximum economic and social benefits, which puts forward higher requirements for the manufacturing system and provides a greater impetus for development.
Third, technological progress is a key factor in the development of advanced manufacturing. From the long history of manufacturing development, the development process of advanced manufacturing is also the process of manufacturing technology progress. Watt invented the steam engine, opened the first industrial revolution, but also opened a new chapter of industrialized manufacturing. After the middle of the last century, the development of science and technology has also entered an era of rapid change, electronic information technology and automation technology is developing rapidly, with the Internet as the representative of the information technology revolution for the manufacturing industry has injected a new vitality, computer integrated manufacturing, agile manufacturing, virtual manufacturing and other technological systems came into being. From the 1950s began to appear CNC machine tools, to the 1960s began to appear computer-aided design, computer numerical control, computer-aided manufacturing, to the 1970s computer integrated manufacturing system, the manufacturing industry along a deepening degree of informatization of the rapid development of the path, to the present has been developed to the virtual manufacturing with the help of computer simulation technology and with the help of artificial intelligence of the intelligent manufacturing stage.
The fourth, organizational innovation is the soul of advanced manufacturing development. Ford of the United States invented the assembly line, subverted the traditional European workshop-style production organization, so that productivity increased dramatically, is a typical manufacturing organization innovation. 19th century to the mid-20th century stage of industrial society, the manufacturing system and mode of rigid mass production, the assembly line and the Taylor system of work is widely used. To the second half of the 20th century, the diversification of market demand forced industrial manufacturing to multi-species, small batch, shorten the direction of the production cycle evolution, rigid manufacturing model gradually replaced by flexible manufacturing model, with the corresponding production organization is also by the pyramid type of sectional management to the direction of flattening, matrix management evolution.
For example, Japan's Toyota lean production mode of product development and production are sales as a starting point, according to the order contract organization of multi-species small batch production, in the organization of the production of workers into operational groups, not only to complete the production task, but also to participate in business management. Some large enterprises in the United States to implement agile manufacturing, in order to quickly meet the requirements of consumers high-quality, high-performance products and services, to take a rapid response to the organization, the use of enterprise networks to achieve the exchange of internal work groups and parallel work, the use of the Internet to achieve the off-site design and manufacturing, the timely establishment of the optimal dynamic alliance. By the stage of networked manufacturing, some enterprises have developed into platform-type enterprises, realizing connection with a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises through R&D platforms, marketing platforms and information platforms. Flatness took on a new connotation, with centralized vertical management being replaced by decentralized cooperation, and more direct producer-consumer connections.
Fifth, model innovation is the centralized manifestation of the evolution of advanced manufacturing. Manufacturing model innovation is mainly centered around the degree of response to consumer demand to evolve. With the substantial increase in production efficiency and the great abundance of products, industrial manufactured goods market competition is becoming more and more intense, while the consumer's right to speak is getting bigger and bigger, how to better and faster to meet the consumer's personalized needs has become an important factor in the innovation of the manufacturing model. The parallel engineering adopted by Boeing, General Electric and other enterprises in the United States emphasizes the collaborative design and development of products and their related processes in parallel to shorten the product development cycle. Volkswagen of Germany to implement the modular production mode, the cost advantages of large-scale manufacturing and meet the individual needs of consumers to customize the combination of large-scale customized production, in order to meet the more personalized needs of consumers at the same time, greatly accelerating the response time to the demand.
In order to better serve consumers, the manufacturing industry has seen a new trend of transforming from pure manufacturing to a service-oriented manufacturing model. Under the service-oriented manufacturing model, manufacturing companies provide customers with comprehensive solutions in the form of "products + services". For example, Rolls-Royce in the United Kingdom provides customers with not only traditional maintenance services, but also integrates value-added services to ensure the good use of aircraft in service by airlines.
In short, advanced manufacturing is a customer-centric, constantly responding to changes in market demand, a combination of technological innovation, organizational innovation and model innovation, in order to achieve high-quality, high-efficiency, low-consumption, clean, flexible production, so as to achieve the desired economic and social benefits of the general term of the manufacturing system. Intelligent manufacturing" is the development of advanced manufacturing to the current stage, the integration of the Internet of Things, cloud computing, big data and other new-generation information technology, from centralized control to decentralized enhancement of control, and through the fusion of the Internet of Things and the Internet and the integration of the three integrations (vertical integration, end-to-end integration, horizontal integration), to achieve intelligent, The latest form of socialized production. Understanding "intelligent manufacturing" from the three dimensions of technological innovation, organizational innovation and model innovation is conducive to a better grasp of the current position of China's manufacturing industry and the direction of future efforts, to avoid the tendency to blindly seek new ideas and rush to success.
How to move from "manufacturing" to "smart manufacturing"
Wang Xiwen of the International Economic and Technical Cooperation Center of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)
With the maturity of the mobile Internet, the Internet of Things (IoT), and cloud computing and big data technologies, a new industrial revolution is approaching us. A new round of industrial revolution is coming to us. The manufacturing industry is changing dramatically. Whether it's the U.S. "Industrial Internet" or Germany's "Industry 4.0"; whether it's the role of manufacturing participants, manufacturing concepts, models, or driving force, there is subversion and reconstruction.
(I)
In the last century, the mass production model dominated the global manufacturing sector, which once greatly contributed to the rapid development of the global economy and brought the whole society into a completely new stage. However, with the growing development of the world economy and the increasingly fierce competition in the market, the consumer's outlook on consumption and values are becoming more and more diversified and personalized, and consequently, the uncertainty of market demand is becoming more and more obvious, and the mass production mode is no longer able to adapt to this ever-changing market environment. Moreover, the rise of labor costs and raw material costs also objectively constitute a great pressure on the future manufacturing industry. In addition, by the relative shortage of resources, environmental pressures, increased overcapacity and other external environmental impact, the traditional energy conversion tools as the driving force of the industrial economy will be difficult to maintain. In a way, the development model of traditional industrialization has lost its competitiveness.
Since the 21st century, the manufacturing industry has been facing the opportunities and challenges brought by the global industrial restructuring. Especially after the international financial crisis in 2008, major developed countries began to re-emphasize the manufacturing industry in order to find new ways to promote economic growth. To the United States, Germany and the two major manufacturing powers, for example, the new industrial era, the United States launched the "return of manufacturing" strategy, Germany launched the "Industry 4.0" strategy, it can be said that the two countries in the manufacturing industry on the competing forces, but the purpose of the two countries are expected to seize the dominant right to the future of the manufacturing industry. The two countries are competing in the manufacturing industry. With the United States "manufacturing industry back" strong push and our domestic labor, land and other costs rise, China's manufacturing industry rely on the traditional comparative cost advantage to participate in international competition situation is difficult to continue. Accelerate the development process of manufacturing intelligence, cultivate and develop new advantages, is a new round of international industrial competition in the initiative to promote industrial transformation and upgrading of the major strategic choices.
In the international manufacturing competition intensifies, the traditional comparative advantage no longer exists, a new round of industrial revolution is brewing under the complex background, China's manufacturing industry is facing serious challenges and major opportunities. In the face of opportunities and challenges, the only choice is to build a strong manufacturing country, grasp the current rare strategic opportunities, and actively respond to the challenges, strengthen the overall planning, transformation and upgrading from "manufacturing" to "smart manufacturing", to complete the strategic task of China's manufacturing from big to strong.
(ii)
For the future of manufacturing, developed industrial countries have put forward their own vision. The United States to take advantage of the Internet, so that the Internet annexed the manufacturing industry; Germany based on the roots of the manufacturing industry, so that the manufacturing industry Internet.
And China is in the process of accelerating industrialization, the manufacturing industry is an important pillar and foundation of the national economy. The State Council executive meeting held in March this year stressed the need to comply with the development trend of "Internet +", with the deep integration of information technology and industrialization as the main line, focusing on the development of a new generation of information technology, high-grade CNC machine tools and robots, aerospace equipment, marine engineering equipment and high-tech ships, advanced rail transit equipment, energy-saving and new energy vehicles, electric power equipment, new materials, energy-saving and new energy vehicles. Automobiles, electric power equipment, new materials, biomedicine and high-performance medical equipment, agricultural machinery and equipment in 10 major fields, strengthen the basic capacity of industry, improve the level of technology and product quality, and promote intelligent manufacturing, green manufacturing. It can be said that the "Internet + industry" will promote the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, to achieve the ambitious goal of "Made in China 2025".
In the past, mention of the manufacturing industry had to mention the smile curve. In the international industrial division of labor system, enterprises in developed countries often occupy high-end positions in the industrial chain such as research and development, after-sales service, and manufacturers in developing countries are squeezed in the low-profit zone of production and manufacturing. As far as the global industrial chain is concerned, despite the fact that "Made in China" is all over the world, most of the Chinese manufacturers are in the middle of the "Smile Curve" in the production and manufacturing links, investing a lot of labor and obtaining pitiful profits. Previous thinking that want to get rid of the traditional manufacturing industry's low value-added situation, we must extend to the "smile curve" of the research and development and service at both ends, through high-tech industrial upgrading and the development of manufacturing industry around the service industry is the way to go. From the industrial level, "research and design" means the development of high-tech industry, and "marketing and service" means increasing the proportion of service industry around the manufacturing industry. However, this process will encounter many challenges, and can not substantially out of the bottom of the smile curve, and can not be out of the bottom of the smile curve in the short term.
But, "Internet + industry" era, many issues are changing. Manufacturing in the traditional sense of the value creation and distribution model is undergoing a transformation, with the help of the Internet platform, enterprises, customers and stakeholders have to participate in the value creation, value transfer and value realization of the various aspects of production and manufacturing. Because "Internet + industry" is not only "information **** enjoy", but also widely carry out "physical **** enjoy", so as to form a new value creation and sharing mode, create a new **** enjoy economy, drive the new **** economy, and promote the development of the economy. This will lead to a new value creation and sharing model, creating a new ****sharing economy and driving mass entrepreneurship and innovation.
(3)
In May this year, "Made in China 2025" was introduced. This plan focuses more on the medium and long term, mainly focusing on strengthening the areas where China's industry needs to be strengthened, and depicts a clear roadmap for China's road to modernizing itself into an industrial powerhouse.
First, it emphasizes the integration of new-generation information technology and manufacturing. In recent years, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has been committed to promoting the "integration of the two" work, through the integration of information technology and penetration, the traditional manufacturing industry has had a significant impact. However, with the arrival of a new round of industrial revolution, cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things and other new generation of information technology in the future role of manufacturing industry is increasingly important. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the integration of new-generation information technology and manufacturing industry as the main line on the basis of the integration of "dualization" to achieve the milestone goal of "Made in China 2025".
"Made in China 2025" emphasizes the promotion of intelligent manufacturing as the main direction to promote the intelligence of the manufacturing process. Pilot construction of smart factories/digital workshops in key areas, accelerating the application of human-computer intelligent interaction, industrial robots, intelligent logistics management, additive manufacturing and other technologies and equipment in the production process, and promoting the simulation and optimization of the manufacturing process, digital control, real-time monitoring of state information and adaptive control. Accelerate the promotion and application of product lifecycle management, customer relationship management and supply chain management system, and promote the integration of key links such as group control, design and manufacturing, production, supply and marketing, business and financial convergence, etc., so as to realize intelligent management and control. This is the next step in the realization of the transformation and upgrading from "manufacturing" to "smart manufacturing" shows the direction.
Second, emphasizing the change from resource-driven to information-driven. With the development of mobile Internet and cloud computing, big data and other new-generation information technology, the factory floor more and more powerful intelligent equipment to wireless way to realize the Internet or equipment interconnection. This has given rise to the Internet of Things and the Internet of Services, promoting the integration of the physical world and the information world in the form of information-physical systems. It can also be said that the information physical system will enable the manufacturing field to realize the interoperability and interconnection of resources, information, objects, equipment and people, forming intelligent manufacturing.
"Made in China 2025" will be smart manufacturing as the main direction of attack, through interoperability and interconnection, cloud computing, big data, these new generation of information technology, and the previous information technology, automation technology, combined with the production equipment in the factory and the equipment, workers and equipment to achieve vertical integration, the whole factory within the linkage, the formation of the information-physical system, you can collaborate with each other, The production mode has changed from resource-driven to information-driven. Information-driven product manufacturing process, reflecting the value of intelligent manufacturing, that is, to be able to scientifically arrange the production process, improve productivity, personalized custom production, but also adjust the use of resources, the most energy-saving way, so as to truly realize the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.