On September 28th, the Frost & Sullivan's (Frost & Sullivan, abbreviated as F&S) 2nd New Investment Expo and the 17th Frost & Sullivan Global Growth, Innovation and Leadership Summit (abbreviated as 'F&S New Investment Conference') High-end Manufacturing Sub-forum was grandly held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Pudong, Shanghai.
The forum has invited 11 heavyweight guests and industry experts, bringing together numerous manufacturing enterprises and investment institutions. They are focusing on the high-end and intelligent development of manufacturing, exploring the future upgrading direction and development trends of the manufacturing industry.
Executive Vice President of Jiangsu Zhongke Intelligent Science and Technology Application Research Institute, Ma Xing
Ma Xing, Executive Deputy Dean of Jiangsu Zhongke Intelligent Science and Technology Application Research Institute, delivered a keynote speech titled "A Brief Discussion on the Current Situation and Future of Intelligent Manufacturing." From the perspective of the global pattern, he clarified the past, current situation, and future of intelligent manufacturing, and proposed the path selection for China's intelligent manufacturing industry as well as his own thoughts.
Ma Xing believes that when we talk about intelligent manufacturing today, if we look back, there are three landmark time points, which are the three industrial revolutions.
He analyzed and pointed out that the representative of the first industrial revolution was the combination of new power (steam) and machinery, where people and animals did not move, but production efficiency was greatly improved, driving consumption through production; the second industrial revolution was the combination of new energy (internal combustion engines) and electricity, where objects moved without people moving, mainly dominated by market-driven production; and the third industrial revolution is the combination of automation and networking, where both people and animals move (machines work under human supervision).
By drawing on the lessons of the past three industrial revolutions, two important insights can be drawn:Firstly, the leap in industrial level is closely related to revolutionary breakthroughs in technology, as the saying goes, 'Technology is the primary productive force.' Secondly, energy and information are the two major driving forces behind the Industrial Revolution.
Since ten years ago, the world has enteredFourth Industrial RevolutionIndustrial production models have undergone a transformation from digitization to networking and intelligence. At the same time, Internet application functions have moved from consumer end to industrial end. The advancement of information technology has become the main driving force behind the entire industrial revolution, but it has also intensified global competition.
Through 40 years of accumulation, China has developed into the world's largest manufacturing country, achieving many accomplishments: its manufacturing output value accounts for more than 20% of the world's total, maintaining its position as the world's largest manufacturing country for seven consecutive years and continuously consolidating this position; among all 22 major categories of manufacturing, seven industries in China rank first globally in scale; among more than 500 industrial products, China produces more than 220 of them at the world's highest levels; China's export of industrial finished products accounts for one-seventh of the global total, making it the world's largest exporter of industrial finished products.
However, 'large scale' does not equal 'strength'. Drawing on history, we see that German manufacturing went from being synonymous with inferior products to representing the world's top-tier standards in less than 40 years; South Korea, relying on the support of the entire nation to nurture several giant enterprises represented by Samsung, has made 'South Korean manufacturing' synonymous with high-quality products in just 20 years; Japanese manufacturing took 30 years to become synonymous with high-quality products. Therefore,Ma Xin said, 'For China's manufacturing industry, the core task over the next 10 years is to make Made in China equal to high-quality products. This is not a task for the next generation, but a shared responsibility of all of us here.'
To become a manufacturing powerhouse, China needs science and technology as its primary driving force. However, it cannot buy or obtain these technologies easily. In this regard, Ma Xin shared three of his thoughts.
Firstly, Ma Xin discussed the bottlenecks in the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. He pointed out that research institutions and universities are the main force in innovation, while enterprises are the main body for achievement transformation. The current core issue is how to establish more efficient 'achievement transformation' channels among them. In fact, China has the world's largest number of scientific and technological personnel and second-highest research funding. The main factors restricting the achievement transformation in Chinese research institutions are systemic and mechanismic issues.Therefore, promoting the efficiency and effectiveness of technology transfer becomes a key to success.
Secondly, he demonstrated the necessity of technology evaluation for industrial investment and promoting industrial development through multiple practical cases.Ma Xing believes that the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the connotation and value of technology is becoming increasingly urgent and specialized, requiring the establishment of a new technology evaluation system based on big data analysis methodologies and resources.
Finally, Ma Xin pointed out that the development of high-end manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing requires a deep integration with the country's 'dual carbon' strategy. The 'dual carbon' strategy can be broken down into three major tasks: green new energy substitution, efficient energy utilization, and carbon capture and recycling.
"If we consider these three tasks as the horizontal axis, and the vertical axis as the four propositions related to intelligent manufacturing: new materials, new equipment, new processes, and informatization, we will find that there exists a two-dimensional space with vast opportunities between the two axes. I hope to join hands with Frost & Sullivan and all other partners to embrace the era and create history." Ma Xing said.
