"The joint participation of school teachers and students in Geely's new intelligent LCV digital project to create an intelligent digital Industry 4.0 benchmark factory is of great significance for the transformation and upgrading of the new energy commercial vehicle company and the improvement of the quality of talent training at the school."

On the morning of March 20th, at Xiangtan Institute of Technology, the Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group's new intelligent LCV digital project was officially launched. Over 40 technical experts from Geely Commercial Vehicle Group and Guangyu Mingdao Industrial Internet Company gathered to discuss the construction of a new-generation digital factory for intelligent new energy commercial vehicles based on the industrial Internet platform.

Digital Twinning Integrated Research, Production, Supply, and Marketing Services

In 2022, Geely's Remote New Energy Commercial Vehicle Group settled in Xiangtan and established a new energy commercial vehicle production base in Jiuhua, Xiangtan, with an expected annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles. The project aims to target the two core markets of domestic and international light commercial vehicles (LCV), creating a business model for digital direct sales and co-creation customization. This model aims to meet future intelligent driving scenario demands, leading the automotive industry revolution with cutting-edge technology.

Zhang Xiaohui, Director of Consultation at Guangyu Mingdao, introduced that the LCV project adopts a "digital twin factory" to simulate digital scenarios. On the industrial Internet platform, it integrates the "innovation chain," "industry chain," and "lean chain," constructing a business framework for customized mode production. The project will build an integrated digital service platform for research, production, supply, and marketing, using the C2M intelligent direct sales "co-creation customization" business model. This will establish a "production-sales coordination" sales and service network through online live rooms, mini-programs, and offline direct co-creation centers. The project will leverage advanced intelligent technology to build a digital and customized scene for the "intelligent manufacturing" production base, realizing precise marketing, service, research and development, and production in the "sales-defined research" business model.

"The overall project is divided into two phases of operation, and it is expected to be online by May 2024." At the launch event, Zhang Xuejin, Director of the Digital Manufacturing Department of Geely New Energy Commercial Vehicles, reported on the overall progress and implementation strategy of the project.

Smart Factory Focused on Market and User-Centric Approaches

"This is a brand-new Industry 4.0 version of the smart factory under industrial Internet 4.0. It is not about making modifications to an old factory but building it entirely new from the beginning with a focus on digitalization," said Liu Xiangyang, Senior Vice President of Geely Automotive Group and Chairman of Guangyu Mingdao. In the era of industrial Internet centered around the market and users, innovation-driven development is needed to enhance competitiveness. Understanding the market and user needs, establishing a direct connection with users, and guiding design and manufacturing based on user feedback is the complete essence of intelligence.

He mentioned that marketing and innovation are two fundamental functions of enterprises. The smart factory cannot be limited to the internal operations but should also include the manufacturing and supply chain on the user demand chain. It should transform from a self-management-driven enterprise to a user demand-driven enterprise, turning the factory into an organic life form.

Digital business will create new products, models, businesses, and services. This involves overturning existing organizational structures, building new process architectures based on specific business scenarios, accumulating business knowledge, and then proceeding with product design and innovation.

Industry-Education Integration to Lead High-Quality Development Through Technological Innovation

Liu Xiangyang pointed out that the foundation of technological innovation lies in education. With both industry and education in Xiangtan, Geely can leverage the advantages of industry-education collaboration. The new intelligent LCV digital project needs to strengthen cooperation with Xiangtan Institute of Technology, integrate the resources and strengths of the university, and create a demonstration base for school-enterprise collaboration smart factories. This collaboration should fully leverage the foundational and strategic support roles of education, technology, and talent.

Yuan Libin, President of Xiangtan Institute of Technology, stated that the remote new energy commercial vehicle project is another major collaboration between Geely Group and Xiangtan City. The project involves significant investment and high technological content, aiming to build a benchmark for global new energy commercial vehicles. The university will fully align with the company, taking the construction of the new digital factory as an opportunity. They will select outstanding teachers and students to participate in the project construction, strengthen the integration of industry and education, promote talent growth, and provide comprehensive intellectual support and talent assurance for the enterprise.