Strategies for State-Owned Intelligent Robot Technology Research and Application in the Tobacco Industry

The localization of high-tech cigarette manufacturing equipment has greatly promoted the technological transformation of my country's tobacco industry. After nearly ten years of technological transformation, major cigarette factories in my country have basically completed the transformation of their tobacco processing lines and cigarette making and packaging equipment, and their equipment technology has reached the level of the early 1990s internationally. In order to adapt to changes in the cigarette market and enhance the competitiveness of enterprises in the market economy, the focus of tobacco enterprises' automation technology transformation will shift from transforming tobacco processing lines and updating cigarette making and packaging equipment to establishing automated three-dimensional warehouse logistics systems. That is, using automated three-dimensional warehouses and AGV technology to realize the automatic transportation and storage of main and auxiliary materials and finished products in the cigarette production process. The automated logistics system of Samsung from South Korea introduced by Yuxi Cigarette Factory not only provides a model for a new round of technological transformation for my country's tobacco enterprises, but also points out a direction for cigarette equipment manufacturers to develop new products. For example, Kunming Shipbuilding Equipment Group Co., Ltd., through its participation in the installation and commissioning of Samsung equipment, has begun a new "introduction, absorption, digestion, and imitation" of automated logistics systems. Its first self-designed and integrated logistics system will be applied to Qingdao Cigarette Factory.
With China's accession to the World Trade Organization approaching and the increasing demands for intellectual property protection, my country's high-tech equipment industry cannot forever follow the path of "introduction, absorption, digestion, and imitation." Developing high technologies with proprietary intellectual property rights, industrializing them within the domestic market, and gradually participating in international competition is the inevitable path for the development of my country's high-tech industry. Through the intensive research efforts of the "863" project during the Eighth Five-Year Plan period, research institutions, represented by the Shenyang Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have achieved many valuable research results in intelligent robot technology. They have mastered the key technologies of various intelligent robots applied to automated logistics systems, such as AGVs, stacker cranes, and palletizers, and have successfully implemented automated logistics systems in some enterprises. If these high technologies can be combined with the technological needs of tobacco enterprises, transformed into competitive, high-performance products, and industrialized using the new technological upgrading needs of tobacco enterprises, it will greatly promote the true localization of high-tech tobacco equipment in my country and the research, development, and industrialization of emerging high technologies.
Research Strategies for the Nationalization of Automated Logistics Systems in Tobacco Enterprises: The most typical application of intelligent robots in the tobacco industry is in automated logistics systems, specifically Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS) utilizing AGVs. Automated logistics systems are an emerging, modern, high-tech industry, a system engineering project integrating optics, mechanics, and electronics. With the development of computer science and automation technology, logistics management systems have rapidly evolved from simple methods to automated management, enabling automated logistics systems to reach higher levels. Automated storage and retrieval systems are an important component of automated logistics systems. Compared to other material handling tools (monorail trolleys, traction trolleys, conveyor rollers or belts, robots, etc.), AGVs have advantages such as better mobility and flexibility.
The tobacco industry has great potential for the introduction and reform of automated logistics systems. Besides the Yuxi Cigarette Factory, the Qingdao Cigarette Factory in Shandong and the Honghe Cigarette Factory in Yunnan are installing or adjusting automated logistics systems, while the Shanghai Cigarette Factory and the Qujing Cigarette Factory in Yunnan are planning to build such systems. During a survey of these factories regarding their automated logistics systems, when asked why they didn't use domestically produced products, the manufacturers expressed concerns about the localization level of domestically produced automated logistics systems.
Based on our research and technical analysis of the Samsung logistics system introduced by Yuxi Cigarette Factory, we believe that the nationalization strategy for AGV automated logistics systems in the tobacco industry should be studied from the following aspects.
1. Optimization and Reliability Study of AGVs In addition to the cigarette making and packaging process, cigarette production also includes a series of processes such as leaf re-drying and shredding. Besides dynamic logistics analysis of various auxiliary materials, accessories, finished products and production needs, it is also necessary to plan the specific AGV movement patterns, number of AGVs, transportation paths and distances according to the characteristics of the cigarette factory, so as to maximize output, minimize consumption and minimize fault repair time, thereby improving the reliability of AGV operation.
2. Design of Intelligent AGV Controllers Currently, automated logistics system integrators worldwide widely adopt AGV series products from the Swedish company NDC. The design of novel intelligent AGV controllers, a key theme of the National "863" Program on intelligent robots, and the formation of distinctive domestic AGV series products, have significant practical value and social significance. Introducing intelligent control technology into the design of AGV controllers has broad application prospects.
3. Research on New AGV Guidance Technologies Currently, the guidance methods for AGVs widely used both domestically and internationally can be broadly categorized into photoelectric guidance, electromagnetic guidance, inertial guidance, and laser guidance. Each of these AGV guidance technologies has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, how to further develop and research new AGV guidance technologies—such as omnidirectional image guidance technology—to truly possess the visual capabilities of intelligent robots, represents a novel research direction.
4. Design of domestically produced AGV mechanical components: AGV mechanical components such as lead screws are prone to wear and tear. Replacing them with similar foreign products would require a large amount of foreign exchange. It is feasible to replace them with domestically produced products.
The strategy of replacing imported technology with state-owned intelligent robot technology: Tobacco enterprises have high requirements for new technologies and equipment. How to apply state-owned high technology to the technological transformation of tobacco enterprises and promote the research and industrialization of state-owned intelligent robot high technology is a question worth studying. In the past decade, the rapid development of tobacco machinery and equipment production in my country has mainly benefited from national and industry protection policies. However, with my country's accession to the World Trade Organization, in the future, when producing high-tech electromechanical equipment such as automated logistics systems, it is necessary to face the international market and participate in international competition. Therefore, to realize the industrialization of high-tech tobacco equipment in my country, the entire development work needs to adopt corresponding strategies from both technical and management perspectives.
1. Adhere to the principle of "technology-driven and market-oriented" research. When researching, developing, and applying high-tech equipment, tobacco enterprises must adhere to this principle, focusing on key technologies and equipment needed by the enterprise to solve practical problems. In the past, many of our research projects, including some "863" projects, were purely technology-oriented. Researchers did not consider user needs but rather focused on what they could do. They researched theories or technologies without clear application backgrounds, aiming only to pass evaluations, write papers, and apply for awards. This resulted in many research results remaining confined to the laboratory, failing to bring economic benefits to society, and causing a huge waste of human, material, and financial resources. Furthermore, some results were published in papers and quickly transformed into products by foreign research institutions.
2. The key to this research lies in system integration. When researching, developing, and producing complex, high-tech mechatronics equipment such as automated logistics systems, the principle of "doing what is necessary and not doing what is unnecessary" should be adhered to. Achieving the localization of the entire equipment does not require every component to be domestically produced; the key lies in system integration. With the advancement of global industrial integration, the gradual formation of the global industrial division of labor, and the emergence of virtual companies (factories), many large international companies, when manufacturing large equipment, primarily design systems according to user needs and purchase components from various specialized companies worldwide to complete system integration. This saves significant research and development time and costs while ensuring the system possesses advanced technological capabilities. For example, when manufacturing AGVs, Samsung of South Korea manufactures its own hardware such as the vehicle body, while using the world-leading self-driving vehicle control and guidance system from Sweden's NDC company, thus ensuring its AGVs reach world-class levels. While the AGVs produced by the Shenyang Institute of Automation have high technical specifications, their control system uses a relatively outdated STD bus industrial computer, easily raising doubts about its performance and reliability among users. In summary, to get tobacco companies to adopt domestically produced automated logistics systems, manufacturers should focus on the management and scheduling systems of the logistics system. For other components, they should manufacture them themselves if possible. For those that cannot be manufactured at present, especially the key control systems of some intelligent robots, it is best to import them first. After users accept the entire system, the individual components can be gradually localized.
3. Reliability is a key indicator for users when selecting equipment. Modern cigarette production is essentially a highly automated, continuous process. Long-term reliable operation is a fundamental requirement for all equipment. Equipment failures can significantly impact production, with economic losses often exceeding the equipment's intrinsic value. Therefore, major cigarette factories invest heavily in highly reliable imported equipment to replace unreliable components. For example, cigarette factories replace many electrical switching components annually, mostly using imported parts to ensure reliable operation and minimize downtime. In the past, much product research in China focused on technological advancement and system performance indicators, resulting in many products or projects passing technical evaluations but failing to enter the market. To ensure high reliability in complex systems like automated logistics, the overall system structure and reliability target MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) must be carefully studied during the design phase. However, a highly reliable design is far from sufficient; a rigorous quality assurance system is also essential during manufacturing. Finally, it is essential to provide users with accurate and detailed technical information, clearly explain the operation and usage environment of the equipment, and conduct thorough training to ensure that users truly understand the specific requirements and consciously operate and maintain the system in accordance with regulations, thereby achieving system reliability in application.
4. The organic integration of factories, universities, and research institutions is an effective way to develop high-tech products. However, the development of China's high-tech industry still faces some challenges in adapting to the market economy. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Soviet system was adopted, with research, development, and production of new technologies and products undertaken separately by the Academy of Sciences or universities, research institutes, and enterprises. These entities, belonging to different departments, exhibited a serious disconnect, leading to a research focus on theory over application, development work with little consideration for production processes, and product production operating on a consistent schedule for several years or even decades. Since the reform and opening up, this situation has improved in some regions and industries, with the emergence of some high-tech enterprises with enhanced independent development capabilities. However, overall, China's largest and strongest scientific and technological force remains concentrated in universities and research institutions. Although they produce some research results each year, very few are truly applicable to practical situations. Besides technological reasons, this situation is also related to mutual distrust and the distribution of benefits between enterprises and research institutions/universities. Research institutions, including those involved in the "863" high-tech research program, are unwilling to easily transfer their results to enterprises. Enterprises, due to market risks, are also unwilling to pay high prices for these results. Even if some technological achievements are transferred, if enterprises and research institutions do not establish long-term cooperative relationships and fail to continuously update and transform the technology, a new technology or product will become obsolete within a few years. Therefore, the state needs to guide and encourage this through policies, provide financial support and assistance, and strengthen horizontal cooperation between manufacturing enterprises and research institutions and universities to achieve a complete integration of research, development, and production.
5. Strengthen Publicity and Change User Perceptions. Theoretically, the basic principle for product selection is practicality and price-performance ratio. Under the condition of meeting usage requirements, products with a good price-performance ratio should be the first choice. However, due to certain gaps between some of China's high-tech products and foreign products in terms of performance, quality, reliability, craftsmanship, appearance, ease of use, and maintenance, the perception that imported goods are superior to domestic goods is deeply ingrained in tobacco enterprises. To change this situation, in addition to the continuous efforts of design and production departments to gradually overcome the shortcomings of domestic products and narrow the gap with foreign products, extensive product promotion and patriotic education are also needed, along with appropriate policy guidance. Currently, China's tobacco industry has relatively abundant funds for technological upgrading and high requirements for the operational efficiency and reliability of systems and equipment, thus particularly favoring imported products. However, not all imported products are necessarily better than domestic ones. For example, Samsung's AGVs from South Korea exhibit some malfunctions, their management and scheduling systems have significant shortcomings, and their overall technical level is not superior to that of China's "863" program. Because some of China's high-tech departments have failed to conduct effective advertising and appropriate promotional activities, these high-tech products remain unknown to users. If some of my country's high-tech products were to engage in extensive advertising and promotion like foreign electronic control product distributors, then the industrialization of my country's high-tech products would see significant development.