With the digital transformation of the global manufacturing industry, intelligent manufacturing has become an important means of fostering new growth drivers in China, allowing the country to build itself into a manufacturing power.

Intelligent manufacturing refers to a system highly efficient, green, Internet-based and customized, incorporating the design, manufacture and recycling of products based on new technologies such as big data and the Internet of Things.

In recent years, China's intelligent manufacturing has taken shape, with investment increasing in research and development and breakthroughs made in core technologies. However, the competitiveness of China's intelligent manufacturing is still inadequate compared with developed countries.

China's traditional manufacturing industry is undergoing transformation and upgrading. Many enterprises are at the middle or low end of the industrial chain, lacking resources and impulse to switch to intelligent equipment. Even those enterprises which are using intelligent machines are at a preliminary stage in intelligent manufacturing.

It is thus imperative to recognize the revolutionary effect of intelligent manufacturing on industrial growth and use modern technology to transform traditional production methods.

Innovation should be promoted to independently develop key technologies and equipment such as industrial robots, intelligent sensors and control systems. A customer-based business model needs to be established to learn about consumer demands through means such as Big Data analysis, to better meet their requirements and add value to products.

Enterprises should be encouraged to use innovation from other countries to improve their competitiveness as well.

(This is an edited excerpt of an article published in People's Daily on May 28)