BEIJING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- China Mobile, one of China's largest telecommunication operators, and tech giant Huawei, are going to help Hebei-based steel enterprise HBIS Group Co., Ltd. build a "5G+intelligent manufacturing" laboratory, which is regarded as a pilot project to facilitate the intelligent transformation and digitalization of China's steel industry.
According to the strategic cooperation agreement signed by the three sides on Thursday, the main task of the laboratory is to establish an integrated industrial Internet platform with technologies including 5G, big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI), and carry out intelligent manufacturing application projects based on the steelmaker's reality, eventually forming innovative solutions that can be replicated and promoted in the whole steel industry.
A senior manager at Huawei Enterprise Business Group (EBG) commented that the HBIS Group Co., Ltd. has always been an industry leader in digitalization, and Huawei is willing to take the lead in exploring intelligent manufacturing application solutions combined with 5G technologies with the company, helping it become a multinational group with global brand influence.
Nowadays, the competence of steel industry does not depend solely on steel, but also on modern technologies and business model innovation, said Yu Yong, president of the HBIS Group Co., Ltd. He believes that technologies including 5G will trigger major transformation of the steel industry in terms of production model, structure, business model, and market strategies. Well-aware of the upcoming transformation, the company must keep itself at the forefront of the trend.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially rolled out commercial 5G licenses on June 6, which is seen to be a new engine for the country's structural reform of the supply front, creating immense space for the innovative development of industrial manufacturing. (Edited by Li Wenxin, liwenxin@xinhua.org)