CRI听力:Changsha's manufacturing turning smarter

The city of Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, is considered one of the manufacturing centers of China, with four of the world's top 50 machinery manufacturing companies based in the city.

The industrial development is now turning increasingly more innovative.

SANY, a Chinese multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company headquartered in Changsha, is the sixth-largest heavy equipment manufacturer in the world.

Among its advancements, SANY built the pumping services for the construction of the Khalifa Tower in Dubai, which is the highest building in the world.

SANY also provided heavy mobile cranes to save the 33 miners in the 2010 Chilean mine rescue, and its business also covers road construction, port machinery construction and heavy equipment.

SANY currently operates six domestic industrial parks throughout China, and also owns and operates numerous manufacturing facilities overseas, many of which are in countries involved in the Belt and Road initiative.

"Our global manufacturing and sales network covers the Belt and Road route. In Europe, India, Russia and domestically in Xinjiang, we have built manufacturing bases or offices. This is part of our broader internationalization drive. The party secretary of Hunan told us in one of our European factories that we must strive to be the leading Belt and Road company. We plan to continue to solidify our businesses in these countries. We are expected to have two to three billion yuan worth of sales this year in India," says Liang Linhe, the CEO of SANY.

Based around its manufacturing expertise, SANY has also developed its own platform for the Internet of Things, connecting all its equipment with its data network.

He Dongdong, deputy CEO of SANY, says this has made the company's manufacturing more intelligent and efficient.

"Through the live parameters of our equipment, such as the power of a working crane, we are better able to utilize our research for improving our equipment. Meantime, in our smart factory, all the machines being produced are connected to the internet. In this way we can constantly monitor the production process and achieve total digital manufacturing. With regard to after sale service, our internet-connected machines can help increase the efficiency of repairs, which helps increase our customer satisfaction," says He.

Also based in Changsha, Chaint Robotics is a high-tech company which designs and produces robotic manufacturing equipment.

The company provides automated solutions to customers in various fields such as rail transit, automobiles, engineering machinery and aerospace.

"In 2014, our iron casting robot represented team China to attend the IERA Awards, the highest awards in the international robotics industry. We won the top prize for innovation. This is the first time a Chinese company has won the competition since China joined the International Federation of Robotics. Used on the assembly line of Dongfeng car manufacturing, four of these iron casting robots can do the same work as 40 people. Most importantly, the quality of the products we manufacture has increased by 80% to 90%," says Gao Di, a deputy manager with Chaint.

Gao says with robotic technology becoming more mature in China, he believes more and more industries will start moving toward smart assembly lines.