A CALL TO ACTION AS THE WORLD’S TOP TRAILER BUILDER IN TERMS OF COMBINED VEHICLE OUTPUT, CIMC VEHICLES IS TURNING TO INTELLIGENT MANUFACTURING TO TRANSITION AWAY FROM THE ‘MADE IN CHINA’ STIGMA ASSOCIATED WITH ITS MASS PRODUCTION ACHIEVEMENTS.
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utdated production lines and obsolete organisational structures are impacting CIMC Vehicles’ current operations, yet without these challenges, the Chinese industrial powerhouse would find no momentum for transformation, according to CEO and President, David Li. He explains that even though CIMC Vehicles implemented automated production processes as early as 2014, at the time it
CIMC Vehicles President and CEO, David Li.
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identified the need to upgrade its manufacturing infrastructure as well as reshape the organisation from the ground up. This would take for the form of restructured management and a directive to standardise the CIMC product range to be in-line with market trends and demands. Recognising the benefits of utilising its global network, CIMC now begins the production process of each of its trailers in the digitalised factory called the ‘Light Tower’ factories, which is one of four new purpose-built built semiautomated production facilities in China. Key components are then sourced from all around the world. The business has moved from the traditional labourintensive manufacturing model to a technology-intensive manufacturing model; abiding by the principles of cross-ocean manufacturing, local engineering and global supply chain. Li confirms that CIMC’s ‘intelligent upgrade’ of its production lines introduces advanced equipment for processes such as automated cutting, loading and unloading of materials and welding. This manufacturing hardware has the capability to receive and carry out requests, comprising Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM), Manufacturing Execution Systems (WEMS), Warehouse Management Systems (WEMS), and Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP). The sequence for developing these sub-systems is important, Li says, because the ERP will not work if the production lines are not connected and the data is not available. After two years of planning and construction, mass production eventually started at the first lighthouse plant in Dongguan City of Guangdong Province in the middle of 2016. Currently, three plants under CIMC Vehicles are about to be upgraded as lighthouse plants with the automated IoT equipment in the final phase of debugging and optimisation. CIMC Vehicles claims to be ahead of its peers regarding the development of smart technologies, too. For instance, the OEM equips its semi-trailers with multiple sensors at critical locations to transmit the collected data to a terminal so that the client can monitor the entire process. When a semi-trailer is transporting temperature-sensitive cargo such as food, it is necessary to
