On April 22, 2026, the signing ceremony for the Midea KUKA East China Smart Manufacturing Center project was held in Kunshan. The project will be located in the Kunshan High-tech Zone, covering an area of 28 acres, with a planned additional investment of $30 million. The focus will be on expanding the production capacity for industrial robots and smart manufacturing. Additionally, new smart warehousing and logistics systems will be constructed, including stacker cranes, shuttle vehicles, and intelligent software systems catering to various industries such as automotive, home appliances, and pharmaceuticals. The project will also establish lightweight and flexible robot production lines for all-scenario applications. Consequently, six business segments—KUKA Robotics, KUKA Mobile Robotics, KUKA Automotive Automation, KUKA Industrial Automation, Swisslog Logistics, and Swisslog Healthcare—will achieve coordinated deployment in East China for the first time. This integration will form a systemic capability spanning from robot units to smart logistics and medical automation. It is understood that upon reaching full production capacity, the project is expected to generate an annual output value exceeding 3 billion yuan. Unlike conventional capacity expansions, this initiative represents a profound strategic upgrade. While robot manufacturers previously focused primarily on hardware delivery, the key change with the Midea KUKA East China project lies in the integration of its technological expertise in heavy-duty robots, mobile robots, automotive and industrial automation, combined with Swisslog's advancements in smart logistics and medical automation. The formation of this matrix signifies Midea KUKA's transition from an "industrial robot supplier" to an "all-scenario smart manufacturing system integrator," moving beyond selling robotic arms to providing complete automation solutions from production lines to warehousing. Leveraging KUKA's global advantages in heavy-duty, high-precision robots, the new base will primarily serve the automotive parts and high-end manufacturing clusters in the Yangtze River Delta region. The newly added lightweight and flexible robot production lines can accommodate diverse scenarios such as automotive welding and 3C electronics precision processing, thereby continuing to strengthen competitiveness in high-end manufacturing processes. The emphasis on "all-scenario lightweight and flexible robots" in the project plan essentially involves introducing KUKA's autonomous mobile robots to act as "transporters" between production lines. This will replace fixed tracks or manual transport, enabling dynamic connectivity between production lines and warehouses, and transforming the production process from "intermittent" to a "continuous flow." In 2007, Midea acquired approximately 94.55% of German robotics firm KUKA for about 4 billion euros (approximately 29.2 billion yuan), officially positioning itself as a major global player in robotics. Today, Midea has developed a relatively complete portfolio of robotics products for industrial, commercial, and home scenarios, evolving from single devices to system integration. This progression also provides the industry with a reference model for transitioning from conceptual pursuit to tangible value realization. The establishment of the Midea KUKA East China Smart Manufacturing Center project serves as a vivid illustration of the "new industrialization" strategy. The deep collaboration between KUKA and Swisslog within the same base not only enhances the production capacity of robot units but, more critically, integrates smart logistics with flexible production systems. For Kunshan, which hosts a large number of electronics manufacturing services and parts manufacturers, the primary challenge in automation lies in material flow and warehouse efficiency. By forming a closed loop between Swisslog's logistics systems and KUKA robots, an "end-to-end" automation solution can be delivered to enterprises, reducing the complexity for small and medium-sized businesses adopting smart manufacturing. The implementation of this project will provide a reusable automation upgrade path for the local extensive manufacturing base, aiding Kunshan's substantive leap from a "major manufacturing city" to a "strong smart manufacturing city." Simultaneously, it adds a crucial automation anchor point to the world-class advanced manufacturing cluster in the Yangtze River Delta.
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