On October 12, in the booth of Hebei Iron and Steel Group (HBIS) in the theme exhibition hall, a staff member is introducing the digital products of HBIS group to the audience. (Photographed by reporters Zhao Yonghui and Zhao Haijiang)
The vigorous development of digital economy has a profound impact on the mode of production, management and service of all walks of life. How to guide the deep integration of real economy with digital economy has become a real task in promoting the high-quality development of economy in Hebei province.
At the 2019 China International Digital Economy Expo, Hebei enterprises have shown their latest achievements in the field of digitization from producing process to small things closely related to our daily life. They attract great attention from the audience. These achievements include: intelligent platform for energy management in airport ---- a smart way to use energies such as water, electricity and natural gas through energy net; a "customized blast furnace erosion model" for real-time detection of blast furnace erosion status and logical analysis of erosion change and trend; smart home and smart light post by combining individual needs and ingenious design.
In the era of digital economy, more and more people agree with the idea that " Digit is the primary productivity ". Experts in this Expo reached an agreement that with the opportunities and challenges brought by the digital economy, enterprises in our province should keep up with the time, raise awareness of digit and enhance capabilities as soon as possible, so as to speed up the digital transformation and cultivate new driving forces for development.
On October 12, in the booth of ENN Group in the exhibition hall the visitors are queuing up to experience the "Laikang mirror" ---- an intelligent health detector (Photographed by reporter Zhao Yonghui and Zhao Haijiang)
Improvement in Productive processes
New digital equipment and technologies have been used to realize intelligent manufacturing.
In the displaying zone of Ministry of industry and information technology (MIIT) in hall No.1, more than 100 excellent big data products and application solutions were displayed, among which was the "customized blast furnace erosion model" of HBIS group.
In the past, the erosion status of the furnace was mainly examined by human being. There was a big deviation between the results calculated by humans and the actual situation of the erosion. So it was impossible to remove potential hazard. But now HBIS group developed a set of "models of customized blast furnace erosion". Thanks to this model, the blast furnace erosion can not only be detected in real time through the data collection of special thermocouples for hearth, but be analyzed logically, which provides effective technical support for safe operation of blast furnace.
"Problems in traditional enterprises should be solved in the way of industrial Internet thinking. " said Shen Pei, the general manager of HBIS Digital Technology Co., Ltd. In recent years, higher labor cost, the increasing pressure of environmental protection, and challenges from new foreign technologies, ----- all these render the traditional heavy industry facing more crises. Fortunately, the innovation and development of digital technology provide new channels to solve these problems. At present, HBIS group and Siemens company are co-building a digital plant in the base in Hefei where is located Hegang New Material Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hegang new material"). After completion, it is expected that the yield rate will be increased by 3%, the energy consumption will be reduced by 30%, and the inventory will be reduced by 50%.
A series of digital technologies were used in the production of one pot of water-based paint, such as Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC), high-density storage system, dust-free and fresh air design. This secret of the paint is what Mr. Liu Zhanchuan said to the visitors in front of the exhibition booth of Hebei Chenyang Industry & Trade Group Co., Ltd. Mr. Liu is the CEO of the group.
That Chenyang water-based paint has be developed into a model in this industry is due to the international first-class digital and intelligent automatic production equipment.” After years of practice, Liu Zhanchuan realized that digital technology was an accelerator for quality improve, efficiency promotion and energy choice, thus bringing new opportunities for industrial development.
At the 2019 China International Digital Economy Expo, leading enterprises in many industries in Hebei province displayed their intelligent products, from electronic cars to wheel hubs to food. Let’s look at some examples: the network control and the traction control system (TCS) developed by Shijiazhuang CRRC Rail Transit Equipment Co., Ltd.; the fully automatic water-cooling die casting and mold’s automatic temperature control system of CITIC DICASTAL CO., LTD (Hereinafter referred to as CITIC Dicastal); and the technologies of automatic distillation, micro pressure grain steaming, and three-dimensional fermentation of wine fermented grains independently developed by Hengshui Laobaigan Liquor Co., Ltd, to name just a few.
"Big data is a new source of production in the era of digital economy. It is of great significance." expressed Li Qiaoman, the general manager of KEPPLER Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. He said data collection in traditional manufacturing enterprises is facing many problems due to various types of automation equipment, and different interfaces between manufacturers and the data. In order to be digitized, enterprises should start from the technical architecture and optimization algorithm, and conduct deep and multi-dimensional analysis on process equipment, so as to provide comprehensive data support for enterprise digitization.
Shen Pei totally agrees with this idea. With more than 20 years' working experience in the information technology industry, he found that although some enterprises started their transformation very early, departments within were used to working isolated, and they seldom share information. When the functions of big data are not related to each other, the potential of big data is far from being unlocked.
Shen Pei believes that the goal of digital transformation is to develop the whole process of economic activities and create benefits. Enterprises must take the whole situation into consideration, break the " Information solo " so to improve the value of data.
Improvement in Services
Customized Products and Smart Services
In hall No. 8, the smart system for energy management of Changsha Huanghua International Airport by ENN group attracted a group of visitors. They were listening to one member of their staff." The brightness of the light can be adjusted automatically. It will be on whenever it detects human movements. "
Intelligent energy management system of Changsha Huanghua International Airport is a customized project for energy reforming and optimizing by ENN using energy network. Through the digital transformation of energy use (water, electricity and gas) in the terminal building, the energy efficiency in Huanghua International Airport in Changsha was increased by 23.5%, and energy cost was reduced by 15%.
"The digital economy has not only brought about changes in the mode of production, but also the reform in ways of providing services." According to Xu Gang, senior vice president of ENN group, big data analysis, cloud computing and other digital technologies can help enterprises transform into hybrid business model of "product plus service". So they can enter the market with new services and thus get new competitive advantages.
Many years ago, aiming at the unknown field of digital economy (which is known as "blue sea"), ENN group developed the digital energy network. By July 2019, the network has provided services for more than 100 industrial parks, more than 500 energy-consuming enterprises and nearly 60 energy suppliers in China.
"Digital technology can constantly monitor consumers’ needs, develop the potential markets, and lead to the upgrading of consumer products", said Wang Chunying, director of big data application center in Hebei Sailhero Environmental Protection High-tech Co., Ltd. In the past, monitoring of air detection equipment was mainly done by humans. It took several members of staff to do the job in one enterprise. But with the rapid development of digital technology, remote monitoring makes it possible that one staff can be responsible for several enterprises. Relying on the big data collected, Sailhero began to provide environmental protection consulting services to the government and enterprises from more than 30 counties and cities in China.
"Digital technology makes it possible for enterprises to customize products and offer intelligent services," said Wang Hang, sales director of Hebei 3D.IMK Technology Co., Ltd. In the past, few manufacturing enterprises would like to offer customized products because they could not be mass produced, so the cost was very high but the efficiency is low, and the producing process was too long. Today, 3D digital modeling allows customers to see the finished goods in advance; dynamic programming can change the models according to customers’ needs without reducing the efficiency. These advanced technologies attract Hebei enterprises to change their ideas and join the area of customized production.
Seeing the prospect of customized production, Wang Hang joined the newly established Hebei 3D.IMK Technology Co., Ltd. in 2017, entering the 3D printing industry. "The distinct advantage of 3D printing is to offer customized service, completely meeting customers’ needs." Wang said.
A survey shows that many enterprises in Hebei province have attached a lot importance to the product itself (the hardware), but ignore the service part (Software). This is where they are different from some well-known foreign enterprises. Data shows that in manufacturing intelligent aircraft engine, General electric (GE) gets its profits 30% from the sales of physical products while 70% from the maintenance and repair services.
As the digital economy era is around the corner, enterprises with innovative thinking in Hebei province have been extending their businesses from providing only products to offering services. They now can provide digital services based on the data collected through intelligent and networked products.
"The digital economy provides a great opportunity for enterprises to improve their soft services." Experts believe that enterprises in Hebei province should learn from advanced experience at home and abroad. They are expected to provide customer-oriented and flexible products by using digital technologies. When they combine the new production mode with the new service mode, the quality and efficiency of the supply system will be improved. (reporter Gong Xianyun)
