Consolidating the data foundation and creating a "smart hub", Xingtai city is actively cultivating industrial brains to advance the manufacturing sector's transformation. Recently, at Hebei Zhicheng Wire Co., Ltd. in Ningjin County, copper conductor raw materials continuously rolled off the production line. A new order notification popped up on the mobile phone of the workshop manager, filling the gap in the day's production capacity.
Behind this precise capacity allocation lies the intelligent scheduling of the Ningjin wire and cable industrial brain, known as the Cable Network. The platform aggregates production capacity data from member enterprises in real time. When downstream orders arrive, the system automatically matches processes, delivery times, and transportation routes, recommending the most suitable manufacturing enterprises. Wang Hongxi, General Manager of Hebei Yilan Network Technology Co., Ltd., stated that more than 1,100 wire and cable enterprises are now tightly connected through the platform. Procurement cycles have been shortened from 3 to 5 days down to 1 to 2 days, and logistics costs have been reduced by 3%.
The industrial brain functions as more than just an online trading tool; it serves as an inclusive digital foundation for the entire cluster. Zhu Wenjing, Head of the Information Industry and Integration of Informatization and Industrialization Division at the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, explained that it addresses the common bottleneck of high digital investment costs and difficult transformation faced by individual enterprises. By unifying standards, it converts fragmented enterprise data into cluster-wide resources, enhancing management efficiency and quality transparency while building a new ecosystem of efficient collaboration across the upstream and downstream supply chain.
Since last year, leveraging its distinctive industrial clusters and following a strategy of pilot demonstration first, then replicating experience and scaling up in a tiered layout, Xingtai has accelerated the development of industrial brains. These efforts aim to unblock supply chain bottlenecks through data elements, driving traditional industrial clusters toward a digitalized and intelligent ecosystem while fostering new quality productive forces. The Ningjin County wire and cable industrial brain and the Linxi County bearing industrial brain have both been selected for the provincial industrial brain "Open Competition" list.
Currently, the Linxi County bearing industrial brain is being advanced at a rapid pace. Dong Yong, Director of the County Science and Industry Bureau, said that once completed, the project will remove data barriers across design, production, sales, and after-sales service. It will provide enterprises with integrated services including order matching, capacity scheduling, technical consulting, and financial support, driving the traditional bearing industry toward greater standardization and intelligence.
Meanwhile, the Qinghe County high-end knitting machine internet industrial brain under construction will connect data with other domestic industrial clusters more efficiently and accurately, enhancing its comprehensive capacity to secure high-end international orders. Qinghe County is home to more than 14,000 computerized flat knitting machines, including 4,300 intelligent whole-garment knitting machines, making it the country's largest cashmere intelligent manufacturing base. This year, local authorities are expediting the construction of the high-end knitting machine internet industrial brain.
The platform has already completed development of sections including the intelligent manufacturing center, centralized procurement center, and service center, with plans to begin operations in October. Liu Zhongwu, Head of the Industrial Management Division of the County Science and Industry Bureau, noted that through the platform, all high-end cashmere knitting machines in the county will achieve 5G interconnectivity and capacity integration.
Accelerating the cultivation of industrial brains means deepening scenario implementation and market-oriented operation, expanding industrial brain services to cover more industrial clusters. At the same time, clusters are encouraged to leverage industrial brains for large model adaptation, deployment, and application, enhancing the digitalization level of industrial clusters and the efficiency of coordinated allocation of industrial resources, according to Zhu Wenjing.