I. Intelligent Manufacturing
Based on this idea, and considering the global manufacturing network environment based on the Internet, a basic architecture for a distributed networked IMS suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises can be proposed. On the one hand, each manufacturing unit is given autonomy through agents, enabling it to be self-governing, independent, and fully functional; on the other hand, the system is endowed with self-organizing capabilities through collaboration and cooperation among agents.
Intelligent equipment addresses the needs of traditional industry transformation and upgrading as well as the development of strategic emerging industries. Key components include intelligent instruments and control systems, key parts and general-purpose components, and intelligent special-purpose equipment. It enables automation, intelligence, lean manufacturing, and greening of various manufacturing processes, driving the overall technological advancement of the equipment manufacturing industry.
Qu Xianming, former vice president of the China Academy of Machinery Science and Technology, pointed out that China's equipment manufacturing industry currently faces problems such as weak independent innovation capabilities, foreign companies dominating high-end manufacturing, lagging development of key components, and slow development of modern manufacturing services. The hallmarks of China's equipment manufacturing industry transforming from "large" to "strong" include: achieving the world's largest market share, having more than half of its industries ranked among the top three in international competitiveness, becoming a key industry influencing the balance of supply and demand in the international market, possessing a number of world-class equipment manufacturing bases with leading international competitiveness and market share, breakthroughs in original innovation, and the emergence of a number of unique and original equipment. Research centers in this field include the National Major Technical Equipment Independent Third-Party Research Center – China Major Machinery Equipment Network.
II. Current Status of Core Technologies in Intelligent Manufacturing
(I) Development of Intelligent Industrial Equipment Application Technologies
Compared to traditional manufacturing models, the most significant characteristic of intelligent manufacturing lies in the extensive use of intelligent, CNC, and mechanical equipment in the production process. This greatly liberates manual labor in manufacturing enterprises and significantly improves production efficiency. In industrial production, the processing precision and level of intelligence of equipment largely determine the quality and grade of products. Currently, many large enterprises in my country have widely adopted intelligent industrial equipment, including high-precision CNC machine tools, intelligent instruments, and seamless production process linkage equipment. For example, emerging materials processing industries, represented by 3D printing, have widely popularized and deepened their expertise in intelligent scanning technology, digital forming technology, model building technology, and material decomposition and recombination technology. Simultaneously, scientific analysis and combination have been conducted to address the different characteristics of metallic materials, photosensitive resin materials, and other printing raw materials, truly realizing a highly efficient and intelligent production operation anytime, anywhere.
(II) Application of Flexible Manufacturing and Virtual Simulation Technologies
Flexible manufacturing is a significant manifestation of the integration and convergence of emerging science and technology with numerical control manufacturing equipment across multiple fields. Flexible manufacturing technology offers substantial advantages in process implementation and manufacturing flow control, and it also forms a crucial foundation for intelligent manufacturing models. In actual production, many manufacturing enterprises combine flexible manufacturing technology with virtual simulation technology. Workers use virtual simulation to model product effects and the entire manufacturing process, while simultaneously using model analysis to proactively address potential problems that may arise during actual manufacturing. Flexible manufacturing technology provides the technical support for intelligent manufacturing methods and also plays a key role in optimizing product manufacturing design and applying digital manufacturing concepts.
(III) Current Status of IoT Application Technology Development
Smart manufacturing has transformed many enterprises that primarily focus on product manufacturing and marketing, which constitute a large portion of the social production and manufacturing sector. It has also provided significant conceptual support and technological assistance to the Internet of Things (IoT) industry. However, with the integration of more new manufacturing technologies into smart manufacturing systems, the massive amounts of data and complex manufacturing processes have placed immense pressure on production and management. This necessitates the use of IoT technologies to provide data and computational support for smart manufacturing systems. IoT technology is primarily responsible for real-time monitoring and scientific analysis of critical data changes and production conditions within the smart manufacturing system. Furthermore, cloud computing enables multiple specialized enterprises to collaborate on the real-time monitoring of smart manufacturing, jointly addressing technical issues that arise during manufacturing. This effectively improves work efficiency and reduces smart manufacturing malfunctions.
