Mechanical arms move with precision, autonomously completing tasks like gripping and assembly; digital twin systems create a "mirror copy" of the production line, making key data visible at a glance and enabling dynamic simulation and optimization across the entire production process; "AI quality inspectors" use algorithms to automatically detect issues such as surface defects and dimensional deviations, achieving millisecond-level high-speed inspections. These intelligent applications are transforming the look of factory floors across the country.
The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines a strategy to promote the "intelligent transformation, digital upgrading, and network connectivity" of manufacturing, including the implementation of smart manufacturing projects and an industrial internet innovation development initiative. Intelligent factories are the key driver of smart manufacturing. Field research reveals that factories nationwide are now deeply integrating big data, artificial intelligence, and other technologies, injecting fresh energy into industrial efficiency, quality improvement, and the reshaping of competitive advantages.
Economies of scale are gaining momentum
A visit to Sichuan Teway Food Group Co., Ltd.'s Shuangliu smart factory shows robots at the intelligent batching station autonomously completing ingredient mixing according to process formulas. AGV carts shuttle materials to the next step, while mechanical arms precisely feed raw ingredients into reaction vessels for cooking. Packets of hot pot base are crafted along this automated line, from batching and cooking to packaging and warehousing, all under 100% digital management with a precise traceability system from raw materials to finished products.
In the past, aspects like cooking temperature and duration relied on the "experience of master craftsmen." Now, the fully intelligent process ensures greater uniformity and stability in product quality. "Through our intelligent upgrade, we've more than doubled the capacity of our single production line and boosted per-capita efficiency by over six times," said Yang Yan, Public Affairs Director at Teway Food. This serves as a vivid example of the broader growth of intelligent factories in China. As key hubs integrating new-generation information technology, advanced manufacturing tech, and modern management concepts, intelligent factories are becoming the main arena for digital transformation and smart upgrades in manufacturing.
Throughout the research tour, it was clear that from industrial robots, intelligent inspection and processing equipment, and automated logistics chains boosting production efficiency, to industrial internet platforms breaking down information silos, intelligent factory construction is driving comprehensive changes in industrial innovation paradigms, production methods, and management models. In recent years, China has implemented a four-tiered cultivation approach for intelligent factories. The foundational and advanced tiers focus on encouraging widespread adoption of smart manufacturing equipment, industrial software, and system solutions to solidify digital and networked capabilities. The excellence and leading tiers concentrate on forward-looking layouts, promoting deep application of new technologies like AI and digital twins, exploring future manufacturing models, and steering industrial intelligence transformation.
Latest data shows China has built over 56,000 foundational, more than 9,000 advanced, and 500-plus excellence-level intelligent factories, along with 15 leading-level ones. "With scenario-based implementation as a key, the four-tier linkage among intelligent factories is accelerating the release of economies of scale, with key industries expanding to deeper levels and integrated innovation across processes, equipment, and software continuing to quicken," said Hao Shimeng, an engineer at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology's Institute for Integration of Informatization and Industrialization.
Deeply reshaping the 'intelligent DNA'
As intelligent technology rapidly evolves, intelligent factories are continuously upgrading. The deep integration of AI is pushing these factories to move from merely "viewing data" to "managing production lines," "optimizing design," and "strengthening ecosystems," deeply reshaping their core intelligence. Before steel coils even reach the rolling mill, AI is already planning the next moves. At China Baowu TISCO's stainless steel cold rolling plant, automatic coil-unstrapping robots and corrugated cardboard robots work in sequence to strip and protect the coils. In the remote control center, AI analyzes robot actions and line conditions in real time, while unmanned overhead cranes grab and swiftly move the next batch of coils. This AI system monitors all 26 robots across the line, with data flows racing alongside the steel coils to ensure smooth operations end-to-end.
Li Shengxiong, head of the cold rolling plant at TISCO, noted that thanks to intelligent algorithms, the "cold rolling industrial brain" enables fine-grained management, including automatic identification of on-site issues and intelligent supervision of operational behavior. Currently, new-generation AI technologies like large models, intelligent agents, and embodied intelligence are rapidly developing and integrating into the manufacturing system, opening fresh opportunities for the leap from digitalization to intelligentization. Research across various factory floors shows AI has become a key variable driving industrial upgrades. In Shandong, Weichai Power Co., Ltd.'s high-end engine smart factory has developed an "AI designer" that independently completes over 1,800 research and development tasks, slashing simulation report time from eight hours to just minutes. In Hubei, Wuhan BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.'s 10.5-generation LCD panel smart factory uses an AI defect management platform that integrates precision inspection equipment across the plant, combining edge computing and super-resolution algorithms for micron-level defect detection. In Jiangsu, Xuzhou Heavy Machinery Co., Ltd.'s mobile crane smart factory has built a dedicated computing cluster, creating five types of industrial intelligent agents for areas like product R&D and production management, driving intelligent collaboration and efficiency gains in key business processes.
Statistics show that in China's leading intelligent factories, AI penetration across business scenarios exceeds 70%, with over 6,000 vertical industry models developed, and AI is rapidly expanding into core production areas such as process optimization, equipment management, and human-machine collaboration.
Continued progress and expanding boundaries
The 15th Five-Year Plan calls for driving technological upgrades and developing smart, green, and service-oriented manufacturing. What's the key to advancing intelligent factory development? The "AI + Manufacturing" Special Action Implementation Opinions, released earlier this year by eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, sends a clear signal for "two-way empowerment" between AI technology and manufacturing applications. By 2027, the goal is to ensure safe and reliable supply of core AI technologies, launch 1,000 high-level industrial intelligent agents, and build 100 high-quality industrial datasets. Making intelligent factories even "smarter" will require focus in several key areas.
At the decision-making level, there's a push to enhance the ability of large models to drive autonomous, plant-wide scheduling. An official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Department of Science and Technology stated that large model technology should be deeply embedded in core production processes, transforming the entire workflow from R&D and design, pilot testing, manufacturing, and marketing to operations management. At the data level, efforts will accelerate to build high-quality industrial datasets. The approach will be scenario-driven, using "small, targeted" pilot projects in key stages and scenarios to break through bottlenecks in industrial data collection, aggregation, and utilization. At the execution level, there's a focus on deepening the role of intelligent agents in enabling flexible production. Pilot projects are already underway; for instance, Zeekr's smart factory uses flexible body assembly systems and AGV scheduling to seamlessly assemble bodies of different models and configurations on the same production line.
"Looking ahead, a factory is no longer just a manufacturing workshop but an evolving industrial 'intelligent agent'" said Li Yi, supply chain management lead at Zeekr's smart factory, highlighting efforts to tackle the challenge of "a thousand cars, a thousand configurations" in new energy vehicles, achieving deeper synergy between customization and scale. On the manufacturing frontline, the boundaries of efficiency and flexibility are constantly expanding; across the supply chain, a resilient, "thinking" network is growing denser. The next-generation intelligent factory landscape is unfolding. Moving forward, the collaborative ecosystem of intelligent factories will continue to grow and evolve, helping unleash a surge of innovation vitality in Chinese manufacturing.
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