Recently，McKinsey published《Interview with Yi Xiaogang, CEO of Sany Group：Made in China，Travelers are boundless、The creator is fearless》One article，Director of Sany Group、CEO and Chief Engineer Yi Xiaogang launched a dialogue on Sany's digital transformation and lighthouse factory construction.。
The original report
In the current period“Interview Record of Senior Officials of Lighthouse Enterprise”Medium，Hou Wenhao, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey, Director of Sany Group、Interview with Mr. Yi Xiaogang, CEO and Chief Engineer，And walked into.“The smartest”The Changsha factory。Under the background of digital transformation of manufacturing industry，Both sides revolve around Sany Group.“The original aspiration、Ingenuity、Persistence”In-depth discussion has been carried out.。
As a leading enterprise in intelligent manufacturing，Sany Group has 46 digital factories，And is using the technology of the fourth industrial revolution.，Further Drawing the Blueprint of China's Smart Factory。Among，Sany Group has two factories selected for the Global Lighthouse Network Initiative led by the World Economic Forum and co-founded by McKinsey.，It is also the only two lighthouse factories in the world's heavy industry.。The newly selected Changsha No.18 Factory in October 2022，Compared with that before transformation，Production capacity increased by 123%，Personnel efficiency improvement 98%，29% reduction in unit manufacturing cost%，The transformation has achieved remarkable results。
As the leader of intelligent manufacturing of Sany Group,，Mr. Yi Xiaogang is a firm and continuous innovator.。From the development of a number of world-leading pump Trucks，To build Changsha No.18 Lighthouse Factory，His pace of innovation and entrepreneurship has never stopped.。To actively respond to global sustainable development and domestic“Double Carbon”Aim，He led the team into the new energy track.。
How Difficult Is Continuous Innovation，In the Industrial Revolution 4.The critical period of 0，From their dialogue, we can see the wisdom and courage of China's manufacturing industry in the great change.。The following is an edited transcript of the interview.。
The original aspiration：Be a wise steel tailor
“Steel tailoring is not just about flexible automation.，Have a smarter brain.，These systems are our own intellectual property rights.”
Q
Hou Wenhao：I also interviewed you in 2016.，Can you ask me from 2016 to 2023?，What are the major changes in Changsha Park?？
Yi Xiaogang：The period from 2016 to 2023，It is the key stage for our company to carry out digital transformation and intelligent manufacturing transformation.。Before 2016，Our main focus is on product innovation.。Since 2016，The overall domestic situation and basic background have changed.，China's industrial base has reached a high level.，But at the same time, the homogeneity in the field of construction machinery is serious.。So in this period,，We must think about how to further enhance the core competitiveness of the whole Sany Group.。First，Our chairman emphasizes digitalization.，That is, digitalization and intellectualization。
Products should be intelligent，It means that our entire management system should be informationized.，Decision-making should be intelligent，The most important thing is that the workshop should be intelligent.。Before 2016，We focus on labor-intensive manual work.，Now it is mainly based on the robot operation of information management.，Manual operation is the supplement。Like at factory 18.，At present, there are more than 300 workers，But they are basically engaged in mental work.，Mainly operate the machine program。
Q
Hou Wenhao：As the person in charge of planning and landing of intelligent manufacturing，What is your original intention to build the No.18 Lighthouse Factory??
Yi Xiaogang：In fact, Sany Group has long wanted to develop intelligent factories and intelligent manufacturing.，But we didn't know how to implement it at that time.。One day，We suddenly found that the World Economic Forum has the standard of lighthouse factory.，It shows us the way.。The upgrading of the Lighthouse Factory No.18 is based on two major historical backgrounds.。First，China's industrial base has been greatly improved.，Including information technology、Computer means and robotics, etc.，The surrounding industrial technology has also been greatly improved.。Like this，The construction of the lighthouse factory will be possible.。
The second historical background is that the knowledge structure of China's labor force has changed a lot.。All these years，The labor force is shrinking，However, the knowledge level of the labor force is constantly improving.，It lays a good foundation for intelligent manufacturing.。Under these two historical backgrounds,，This is a golden opportunity.。
Q
Hou Wenhao：In the process.，What are the hard and bright moments?？
Yi Xiaogang：We belong to the heavy equipment manufacturing industry.。It has several characteristics.，First of all, every part is very heavy.，It often weighs several tons.。Secondly，Heavy equipment manufacturing industry has many varieties.、Industries producing in small batches。There are only tens of thousands of our largest varieties.，Usually thousands of units.、Hundreds of units。So，In heavy equipment manufacturing industry，There are many varieties again.、Small batch industry，It is quite difficult to realize unmanned intelligent manufacturing.。
According to our chairman,，Our entire manufacturing industry is like“Tailor of steel”。“Tailor of steel”It is the steel plate pulled from the steel mill.，Small pieces cut into pieces，And then welded together.，After precision machining,，Form a giant machine.，Solve the problem，And perform complex operation。Steel tailoring is not just about flexible automation.，Have a smarter brain.。It's“ Soul ”Or oursMOMSystem andIoTInternet of Things。If the workshop does notIoT、MOMAndWMS，All the machines won't work.。These systems are our own intellectual property rights.，Developed by ourselves。
There are many subtleties involved.，We call it“The devil is in the details.”。For example，You may think that visual recognition is simple.，However, many practical problems will be encountered in practical engineering applications.。Visual recognition by ambient light、Pixel precision、The size of the part has a great influence.。If the part size is large，Then the accuracy will decrease.。And when we do welding,，The accuracy of all edge positions shall be within 0.Within 1 mm。If 0 is not reached.Within 1 mm，After welding is completed，The dimensional accuracy of the whole component cannot meet the requirements.。Our welding robots are very accurate in positioning，An arcing signal is generated when a contact point is close.，When the system detects a signal，The robot will record its spatial position.，And perform automatic correction。
Precise positioning of assembly welding workstation in Sany Changsha No.18 factory
Ingenuity：Be a Craftsman with Digital Intelligence Skills
“Of the future‘ Worker ’Will become‘Process Engineer’And‘Senior skilled worker’，They won't lose their jobs.”
Q
Hou Wenhao：I heard that you lived and ate at Sany during the project.，Struggle for a long time。Can you tell the story of the people behind it?？
Yi Xiaogang：Technical problems are not the biggest problem in the whole process of lighthouse factory implementation.。The biggest problem comes from our workers' habits.，They are used to manual operation.。For example，Machining of parts can be fully automated，No manual intervention required。But some workers are not used to it.，Worried that parts will be scrapped，So he always works for a while.，We need to open the equipment door and have a look.。Actually，This, on the contrary, disrupts the rhythm of fully automated operation of the entire machine.。
So it involves a change of philosophy.。Now, if you go to factory 18,，You will find that workers are no longer used to focusing on a part.，Instead, they are accustomed to observing electronic screens.，Understand anomalies and changes。If an alarm occurs，The exception is handled。Originally, one worker could only be responsible for one piece of equipment.，Now one worker can be responsible for 10.，Even 20。The working environment of the workers is good.，The labor intensity is low，Wages are also higher.。This is for businesses and workers.，It is a win-win situation.。
Q
Hou Wenhao：In the future, Sany Group will realize“Three threes”The goal of，Three thousand industrial workers、30,000 engineers and 300 billion in annual sales。From your perspective，Of these three goals,，Which is more difficult?？How it should be achieved？
Yi Xiaogang：I think the most difficult thing is the industrial workers.。Someone once asked me a sensitive question.，When there are only 3000 industrial workers，Will many people lose their jobs?。Actually，Of the future“ Worker ”Will become“Process Engineer”And“Senior skilled worker”。They work in an office.，Responsible for computer control、Optimize parameters and scheduling, etc.。So，The overall number of employees will not decrease.，Employees will not lose their jobs.。We now have nearly 200 billion in sales.，Nearly 50,000 employees。I think when it reaches 300 billion,，We still need these employees.，Let them do more innovative things.。
We need“Upgrade”Existing industrial workers，And we“Trinity Institute of Technology”A large part of the work is to carry out training in this area.。At“Trinity Institute of Technology”，We can see many robots simulating intelligent manufacturing plants.。So，Training workers and upgrading their skills is the single most important task.。On the other hand，When field devices become more intelligent，Ensure the normal operation of the equipment、Failure prevention and maintenance is a big challenge.。So，We also attach great importance to the training of maintenance and repair personnel.。The enterprise is developing in the process of continuous improvement.，Everyone is constantly improving themselves.。
Q
Hou Wenhao：Intelligent manufacturing can really improve efficiency.，But there is still some rather difficult work to do on the production line.，For example, assembly line automation。How should we improve the automation rate of the first line?？
Yi Xiaogang：At present，The biggest challenge we encounter in the heavy equipment manufacturing industry and the intelligent manufacturing of the lighthouse factory is the assembly link.。So，Intelligent manufacturing and intelligent assembly，What we can do is to minimize the manual labor of assembly workers.。Take a small example.，At present, we have prompt operation instructions for each station.。When workers are assembling，Our information system will perform some operations and processes.，Prompting through voice and other methods。We have a closed-loop detection system.，When the workers finish the installation,，The system will detect the completion of each process and assembly task.。Of course，To be completely unmanned.，It is still difficult at present.。The main bottleneck is that there is no giant manipulator.，But I believe that the future can be achieved.。
Persistence：Be a happy traveler of continuous innovation
“My happiness actually comes from technological achievements.、Invention patents and new products，This kind of happiness from the heart has always been my goal.”
Q
Hou Wenhao：You once said that your two least favorite words were，“That's what other people do.”And“Others have not done so.”。Sany's innovation has been fed back to the enterprise.DNAMedium。In the field of intelligent manufacturing，How do you interpret these two sentences?？
Yi Xiaogang：“Because other people do it.，So I do the same.”And“Because no one else has done it.，So I haven't done that yet.”。The reason why I object to these two sentences，Because it particularly affects the innovation culture of an enterprise.。We should learn from others.，But we should innovate on the basis of learning.，You can't imitate。If you just imitate，Then the enterprise will stagnate.，Transcendence cannot be achieved。
For innovation，We propose“Break the fear、Be bold and innovative”。Why break the fear?？Sometimes innovation is not complicated.，It is a sudden surge of thought and inspiration.。Why encourage bold innovation?？Innovation is risky，Sometimes it fails，Bring losses，But if it works，It will bring huge benefits.。So，We encourage R & D personnel to be bold and innovative.。
If an employee does something wrong,，There may be penalties.。But if employees fail to innovate,，Causing losses to the company.，The company will never punish.。Previously, when we innovated in high-strength materials,，It took nearly two years.，Heat treatment of raw materials、The proportion of boron element and carbon element is adjusted to the heat treatment equipment，Failed many times.。It is this that encourages innovation.，Sany Group has been innovating in technology in recent years.、A series of achievements have been made in product innovation, intelligent manufacturing and informatization.。
Q
Hou Wenhao：You have fought for Trinity all your life.，It is still on the road of innovation.，Now he devotes himself to the new energy industry.，Have you ever thought of taking a little rest?？
Yi Xiaogang：My happiness actually comes from achieving results in technology.、Obtain invention patents and launch new products，This kind of happiness from the heart has always been my goal.。We have advantages in the field of equipment manufacturing.。The development of battery equipment production line is our strength.。We will strive to make the battery production equipment more advanced.、More automation、Better quality，This is also the goal I pursue.。
In addition，Because we are very familiar with our own construction machinery and construction Vehicles.，It is our advantage to promote electrification in this respect.，It's also my personal goal.。The electrification of construction machinery still has some way to go.，We're worth the effort.。But I believe，Use less than 3~5 years，The electrification of construction machinery will certainly emerge.。
Q
Hou Wenhao：Can you send a message to those manufacturers who are struggling in the process of intelligent manufacturing?？
Yi Xiaogang：Intelligent manufacturing technology has matured，Every colleague in manufacturing industry should pursue the future of intelligent manufacturing.。
Hou Wenhao：You have also been continuing to innovate and start businesses.，Although the journey is difficult，But because of this hardship.，Only in the end did I get something.。Like when you climb to the top.，Look back，The past is worth it。
