Chinese home appliance giant Haier Group beefs up efforts to foster new quality productive forces. [Photo/WeChat account: opinionline]

Chinese home appliance giant Haier Group, which is based in Shandong's Qingdao, has seized opportunities brought about by artificial intelligence, transforming its business model and bolstering research and development capabilities in a bid to foster new quality productive forces.

Earlier this year, 12 Chinese companies were included in the 11th group of lighthouse factories released by the World Economic Forum, bringing the total number of Chinese factories on the list to 62. Haier Qingdao Washing Machine Interconnected Factory was among them.

Lighthouse factories represent the highest level of global intelligent manufacturing and are characterized by high efficiency, intelligence and sustainability.

"The selection criteria for lighthouse factories is strict, requiring participating factories to continuously innovate and maintain a leading position in the industry," said Wang Ziqiang, General Manager of Haier Washing Appliances Co Ltd. "The Haier Qingdao Washing Machine Interconnected Factory has continuously iterated and upgraded, applying advanced technologies such as 5.5G high-frequency positioning and digital twins to create multiple intelligent production lines, continuously improving product competitiveness, and achieving new development and breakthroughs".

Within the interconnected factory, every aspect of the washing machine, from ordering and material preparation to production and testing, is instantly recorded in the cloud by the system, said Liu Yanlong, the order manager of the Haier Qingdao Washing Machine Interconnected Factory.

In recent years, the significant role of lighthouse factories has become more prominent, spurring enterprises to continuously transform themselves. This necessitates the continuous switching of molds and product parameters on the production line to meet the production requirements of orders.