Innovation has become one of the main driving forces of the current construction machinery industry: the key requirements are efficiency and green content in terms of emission and noise. 2019 has been a year in which the global construction machinery industry was rapidly transforming towards the direction of intelligent, green and sustainable. Domestically, China’s construction machinery industry also began the transformation but there’s still a long way ahead. XCMG Group, as the top construction machinery manufacturer, has been dedicated to leading this industry transformation for a long time.
XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department has begun its transition of smart manufacturing since 2008. Its smart manufacturing management system consists of three platforms and one center: Product-Customizing Platform, Internet-Coordinating Platform, Smart Service Platform, and Smart Management Center. Together these platforms and the center have laid a solid foundation for the transition.
The product-customizing platform has realized a full upgrade of its product design and management compacity, which largely reduced the design period and increased its product R&D. The Internet-Coordinating Platform has introduced a large amount of automatic robotic machines, such as assembly robots, DNC Processing Center and other intelligent equipment. This combination of intelligentilized equipment and an online smart management system enables real-time online monitoring, big data analysis and processing optimization, which largely improved the stability of product manufacturing and doubled the life-span of the XCMG Excavators. As for the Smart Management Center, it invites the dealers, salesperson and customers all into one system to provide all-around service.
Apart from the technology and machinery equipment, XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department also values the importance of human resources. Currently, XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department has over 300 technicians, 61% of them have Master’s degree or higher, and since its foundation, XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department has been putting over 4% of its annual costing into the technology innovation field.
Currently, XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department has 532 patents, 125 patented inventions, 37 products have reached the provincial high-tech level and 7 products have reached the international leading level.
Although XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department has reached quite a remarkable stage in its transformation, yet XCMGers never settle for ordinary but keep mounting to be extraordinary. Now XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department is trying to integrate digital technology such as internet, big data and artificial intelligence with advanced manufacturing technology to increase company’s digital capacity further and to fully unfold the intelligent its product design, production and sales service. XCMG Excavator Machinery Business Department eyes on entering the global high-end manufacturing industry.
The XCMG Hydraulics Business Division has also come a long way on its own innovation journey. Although China’s construction machinery industry has been continuously developing over the last decades – the global market share rose from 2.7% in 2004 to 16% in 2018. However, its shortcomings still exist, including the lack of self-developed core technology in the hydraulic division. However, this situation has been largely improved with XCMG Hydraulics Business Division’s innovation over the last decade. It has successfully developed key technology including anti-loosening structure for large cylinder, tri-core cylinder structure technology and key part for high-end load-sensing valve, which not only stabilized the machine but also largely improved the quality, performance and life-span of XCMG products.
With the industry’s trend of digitalization and intelligenlization, XCMG Hydraulics Business Division has upgraded its overall strategic plan, aiming to build its hydraulic valve assembly line into the benchmark of China’s smart manufacturing industry. It has been active in the international market too. XCMG Group has completed its M&A of the FT Company in Germany and the AMACA in Netherland and the XCMG European Research Center has also been launched in Germany, which gives XCMG access to the excellent resources and information in the European market. With such international support and the domestic effort, XCMG Hydraulics Business Division will continue to focus on developing key components, including the hydraulic valves, pumps, motors and the intelligent control technology.
XCMG Group has not only been focusing on the innovation of product, technology and factory, but also the network itself. It has successfully developed the first national industrial Internet platform in China - XCMG Xrea. XCMG Xrea galvanizes enterprise digital transformation on three pivotal levels, including enterprise, production line level, and equipment level. Xrea balances enterprise process frameworks with priority optimization, assisting management, research, and development, operating cost inadequacies with a one-stop platform that tackles the stages of manufacturing, supply chain management, equipment analysis, after-sale service. It currently has more than 680,000 connected devices, covered more than 20 countries along the Belt and Road regions and stationing more than 20,000 devices.
In the age of automation and digitalization, the manufacturing industry has inevitably evolved to become more intelligent and data-driven, and XCMG Group will continue leading the industry’s transition to this smart manufacturing era with dedication and innovation.
