Under the strong driving force of the national new infrastructure strategy, China’s manufacturing industry is experiencing an unprecedented wave of digital transformation. New generation information technology represented by artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and blockchain are accelerating breakthroughs, paving the way for the future development of the manufacturing industry. The outbreak of the new crown epidemic has accelerated this process, transforming digital transformation from a “plus point” for enterprises to a “must-answer question” related to survival and development.
Looking at the world, digital transformation has become the core strategy to drive corporate growth. According to industry data, in 2020 alone, the added value of global digital transformation-related industries reached US$18 trillion. Among the top 1,000 companies in the world and China, the vast majority put digital transformation at the core of their corporate strategy. This trend is not an isolated case, but a consensus and inevitable choice for the entire industry. Authoritative organizations predict that in the next few years, most business relationships will achieve a human-free interaction management model, and digital transformation will have a disruptive impact on up to 90% of industries. This means that if companies do not embrace digitalization, they will face the risk of being eliminated by the market.
As the ballast of the national economy, driven by the new infrastructure strategy, the manufacturing industry is accelerating its deep integration with cutting-edge technologies such as industrial Internet, 5G communications, and artificial intelligence. 31 provinces and cities across the country have issued policies to vigorously support the development of the big data industry. At the national level, data has been elevated into production factors and clearly proposed to accelerate the cultivation of the data factor market. These policy orientations provide solid guarantees for the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and also send positive signals to encourage enterprises to increase investment and innovation in the data field.
In the torrent of digital transformation, data has become a key production factor driving business reconstruction. The traditional manufacturing development model is facing huge challenges from cross-border competition. Some companies that were not originally in the manufacturing industry have successfully subverted the original market structure and seized the initiative with their data-driven innovation model. For example, through big data analysis, enterprises can achieve more accurate production planning predictions and significantly reduce inventory costs; by monitoring global supply chain data in real time, enterprises can optimize material procurement strategies and respond to emergencies in a timely manner; by using customer behavior big data and VR technology, enterprises can quickly iterate product design and achieve highly personalized customization.
Dell Technology has formed a unique core competitiveness by building a three-dimensional development path of “digitalization-networking-intelligence”, providing a valuable reference for the digital transformation of manufacturing. The relevant reports released by Dell in cooperation with domestic authoritative institutions provide professional guidance for the transformation of traditional industries from the theoretical and practical levels. Networked collaboration, intelligent production and personalized customization have become the goals pursued by many companies. The widespread application of Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables enterprises to monitor production line efficiency in real time and optimize production processes through in-depth data analysis. AR/VR technology provides a new way for operator training, significantly improving the training effect and production safety. More importantly, these technologies do not exist in isolation, but collaborate with each other to form an organic whole and jointly drive the digital transformation of enterprises.
Faced with the demand for massive data processing, the integration and application of multiple technologies has become an inevitable trend. Hadoop, MPP and traditional database technologies have their own strengths. Enterprises need to flexibly select and combine different technical solutions based on their own data scale, data structure and business needs. It is crucial to build a complete data management system, and it is necessary to conduct refined classification management according to the dimensions of data life cycle, form and timeliness. For data with high real-time requirements, technologies such as stream computing and memory computing can be used for rapid processing to meet the needs of real-time decision-making; while for historical data, data mining technology can be used to provide strong support for R&D optimization and preventive maintenance.
In specific enterprise practice, many enterprises face prominent pain points such as complex system connections and insufficient computing performance. A large domestic group has cleverly created five typical big data application scenarios through in-depth research on data applications and transformed them into standardized data products. In addition, the group has also built a powerful big data computing and distribution platform to realize agile data analysis and standard push. This measure not only improves production efficiency and optimizes supply chain management, but more importantly, it also greatly helps improve product research and development and creates new competitive advantages for enterprises. This case fully demonstrates the great potential of data-driven.
In short, the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry is booming under the dual role of policy support and technology-driven. The continuous advancement of technologies such as cloud computing, big data, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence and 5G has provided a continuous impetus for transformation. From design, R&D to production and operation, the entire industrial chain is undergoing a profound digital reconstruction. For the vast majority of manufacturing enterprises, following this historical trend, building a complete digital system with data as the core is the key to seizing the opportunities of the times, occupying a favorable position, and welcoming a broader space for development. In the future, data-driven intelligent manufacturing will become the core competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.
