Automated guided vehicles shuttle through the workshop and transport various parts to different production lines. The huge robotic arm completes each step incessantly and quietly. The humming sound of machines and noise of factory floor conversations associated with traditional manufacturing processes are largely absent.  

That’s the scene at the Lingang Base of Shanghai-headquartered SAIC Motor Passenger Vehicle Co., one of China’s top automakers.  

But SAIC is not alone. More and more factories in Shanghai are making use of advanced technologies like robotics, artificial intelligence, and big data to revolutionise the factory setting.  

In the Chinese economic powerhouse of Shanghai, a fresh round of industrial upgrading is supporting the country’s drive to foster strategic emerging industries and technological innovation, putting into practice the vision of “developing new quality productive forces.” Propelled by applications ranging from large-scale scientific installations and high-quality incubators to robots, automobiles and biomedicine, the notion of new quality productive forces is permeating every aspect of production process in the east China city, enhancing efficiency and quality. 

Intelligent applications 

The Lingang Base is located just a short distance from the sea. Completed and put into production in September 2008, the 1.2-million-square-metre plant is one of the core production facilities of SAIC Motor, including vehicle and engine manufacturing.  

In addition to making vehicles for SAIC’s four independent brands – IM, Rising Auto, Roewe and MG – the base also serves as the main centre of innovation for the auto giant.  

Guan Yizhong, general manager of SAIC’s Public Relations Department, recalled that the automaker used to rely on workers in Shanghai to hammer and forge complex body panels. Now, the entire manufacturing process is digitised, with production coordinated through smart devices and digital platforms.  

Inside the base, along the assembly line where vehicles move at a measured pace, workers at different points are busy tightening screws or marking spots, while the more complicated or heavier operations are left to robotic arms. 

“On average, a new car rolls off the production line every 70 seconds in this plant,” Chen Peifeng, chief of the Lingang Base, told ChinAfrica.  

In 2023, SAIC’s overall vehicle sales reached a new historical high, with overseas sales reaching 1.21 million units for the year, a year-on-year increase of 18.8 percent, ranking first in the domestic industry, which helped China to surpass Japan to become the world’s top automobile exporter. Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) was particularly outstanding, with 1.12 million units sold throughout the year, a year-on-year increase of 4.6 percent. 

The Lingang Base is a microcosm of the transformation and upgrading of Shanghai’s traditional automobile industry. As intelligence, digitalisation and low-carbon development become the future trend, Shanghai’s NEV industry is ascending to a new height. According to data from the Shanghai Statistics Bureau, Shanghai’s NEV production reached 1.29 million units in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 35 percent, accounting for 13.4 percent of the national production.

Sustainability gains  

Located 80 km from SAIC’s Lingang Base, Baosteel Co. under China Baowu Steel Group is witnessing a similar industrial upgrading.  

Baowu Group is a large state-owned steel company headquartered in Shanghai. In recent years, Baowu Group has continuously promoted the structural upgrading of China’s steel industry and enhanced its consolidation through mergers and acquisitions. It has now become a globally competitive steel company with a high level of modernisation.  

Walking into Baosteel, one can see how the steelmaker is trying to match the modern image of the Shanghai City with a green manufacturing transformation. In its cold-rolling workshop, an “AI brain” supports the main control room with only three operators. Robots have replaced manual work in the workshop, so the lights are often turned off to save energy. Even automotive panels that require high process complexity can be smoothly produced with almost no lighting. 

The production process of steel is energy intensive and generates high carbon dioxide emissions. So, the steel industry’s green and low-carbon transformation is crucial for the country’s sustainable development. While achieving world-leading steel production, Baosteel also emphasises green, low-carbon development. 

The company independently developed the first domestic integrated flue gas treatment technology, which meets the highest industry standards. The world’s first backup system for coke oven flue gas purification is constantly lowering emissions. 

There is also a zoo on the factory premises that is home to 65 national first-class protected wild animal sika deer, 76 blue peacocks and a variety of birds. “The presence of these environmentally sensitive animals is a good indicator of environmental quality. They have thrived here for more than 30 years, fully proving the high ecological quality of the factory,” Li Jungong, chief engineer of the zoo, told ChinAfrica. 

In recent years, Baosteel has made breakthroughs in developing key low-carbon metallurgical process technologies, said Liu Shijun, deputy general manager of Baosteel’s Operation Centre. In 2022, Baosteel announced a carbon neutrality action plan, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 30 percent by 2035, and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. 

Raising innovation level  

In CHINT Group’s Shanghai transformer factory, robots stack silicon steel sheets as thin as 0.23 mm one on another in accordance with the design requirements. A single robot can stack more than 1,680 layers within 24 hours, which is equal to the work of six experienced workers in one day. 

Another remarkable achievement is the use of oil in transformers. While transformers typically use mineral oil, CHINT’s persistent efforts have led to the adoption of vegetable oil, a renewable and degradable alternative. This transition has resulted in a reduction of carbon emissions by 98 percent. 

The company has achieved a groundbreaking milestone with the development of a 750-kv natural ester-filled transformer, the highest voltage level in the world to date, astonishing global industry players. Offering a comprehensive product range from 10 kv to 750 kv, CHINT is now the world’s leading manufacturer in terms of sales volume for natural ester transformers. 

From frigid Finland to the deserts of Saudi Arabia and the tropical rainforests of Ecuador, CHINT has expanded its footprint to over 100 countries and regions. According to Chen Chengjian, vice chairman of CHINT Group’s electric company, international business accounts for about 30 percent of their total revenue. 

To date, CHINT has constructed photovoltaic power plants with a combined capacity of more than 30 gw around the world, which can provide more than 34 billion kwh of green electricity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 30 million tonnes every year. 

Innovation has always been a cornerstone of CHINT’s growth, according to Chen. 

As of the end of 2022, the company had developed over 900 products, obtained 404 patents, led or participated in revising 215 national industry standards, and engaged in over 30 industry-university-research collaboration projects.

African Times published this article in partnership with ChinAfrica Magazine