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Industry 4.0 Has Arrived in Hunan — Are You Ready?

Release date: 2019-08-27

The Hunan Industry 4.0 Innovation Center was jointly established by Siemens of Germany, the Changsha Municipal Government, and Hunan Zhongnan Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. Drawing on digital twin technology together with Zhongnan Intelligent’s extensive application scenarios and intelligent manufacturing experience, the Center is dedicated to providing manufacturers with the most advanced and complete digital enterprise solutions, helping Changsha and Hunan become a global capital of intelligent manufacturing.

Overall Architecture of the Industry 4.0 Innovation Center

The Hunan Industry 4.0 Innovation Center comprises five core components: the Digital Enterprise Capability Center, the Intelligent Innovation Laboratories, the Industry Solutions Research Center, the Intelligent Manufacturing Ecosystem, and the Talent and Knowledge Platform.

Digital Enterprise Capability Center

The Digital Enterprise Capability Center spans the five stages of product design, production planning, production engineering, production execution, and services, embodying the core digital twin concept in which validation is production and the physical is data. It brings together the world’s most advanced intelligent manufacturing solutions in one place, providing a model and demonstration for the intelligent manufacturing of high-end equipment and guiding enterprises through digital transformation and upgrading.

Seven Intelligent Innovation Laboratories

The laboratories comprise the Laser Technology Application Laboratory, the Special Equipment Surface Treatment Laboratory, the Virtual-Technology-Based Robotic Lightweight Welding Laboratory, the 5G-Based Digital Production Line Laboratory, the Industrial Internet and Blockchain Laboratory, the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and the Academician Workstation and Postdoctoral Research Station. The laboratories serve as the Center’s window for external services: alongside exchange and demonstration, their resources support joint research and practice with local universities and enterprises, enabling the Center to draw up roadmaps tailored to each client’s situation, diagnose and analyze problems, and deliver solutions.

Industry Solutions Research Center

The Industry Solutions Research Center is dedicated to delivering digital solutions for specific industries. Building on more than 110 representative application cases from Zhongnan Intelligent and on Siemens’ digital twin technology, the Center continuously studies and maps out typical business processes, standard work templates, latest developments, and technology directions in the relevant industries, refining and improving its industry solutions on an ongoing basis to support future commercial applications.

Intelligent Manufacturing Ecosystem

The Center brings in partners for joint R&D to build an intelligent manufacturing ecosystem, serving needs that range from early-stage exchange and feasibility analysis through project planning and implementation. It pursues joint applications for government programs at all levels and targeted development of enterprise-specific research topics, drawing on advanced research institutions to drive technological innovation, promote the integration of industry, academia, and research, support the transformation and upgrading of regional manufacturing, and strengthen independent innovation capability — establishing the Center as a new calling card for intelligent manufacturing in Hunan and across China.

Talent and Knowledge Platform

The platform adopts a training system that combines the virtual with the physical and theory with practice. Built on digital twin technology spanning the entire industrial chain, it is dedicated to developing the Center’s own teaching faculty, cultivating intelligent manufacturing talent for schools and for enterprises, and pursuing international exchange and cooperation in talent development. Building on the completed Digital Enterprise Capability Center, Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Laboratories, and Industry Solutions Research Center, and working with partners, the Center offers a range of services to regional manufacturers. These include complete digital factory solutions for large and medium-sized enterprises; the construction of specialized laboratories and training bases for the education sector; intelligent manufacturing study and training programs for government officials, business executives, technical professionals, and university faculty and students; and day-to-day services such as showroom tours, thematic seminars, and international exchange and cooperation. Guided by the principles of a high starting point and high positioning, and based in Changsha and Hunan while serving the whole country, the Center will track and lead the latest developments in intelligent manufacturing technology, respond to regional manufacturers’ transformation and upgrading needs, and build complete intelligent manufacturing solutions covering the entire value chain.