ethiopian students visited the world's largest air-conditioning compressor manufacturer and learned about "guangdong intelligent manufacturing" - this automated factory in guangdong builds the "heart" of an air conditioner every 6 seconds
2024-09-29
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chief planner: du chuangui, lin haili
presidential candidate: hu quan jiang zheng
executive coordinator: zhao peng and li guohui
yangcheng evening news all-media reporter fu yi wen zeguang
air conditioning has become a daily necessity for many people. to build an air conditioner, the compressor is an indispensable core component. many people don't know that one of every two air conditioners in the world uses a compressor produced by guangdong meizhi (gmcc).
how are such a large number of compressors produced? why do domestic compressors have such a high market share? recently, yonatan (chinese name: prince), an ethiopian student from guangdong university of foreign studies, visited the world's largest air conditioning compressor manufacturing base - meizhi technology industrial park (meizhi xingtan factory) in shunde, foshan, to see the smart modernized production workshop, experience firsthand what "guangdong intelligent manufacturing" means.
most production lines are operated by robotic arms
as soon as he entered the meizhi xingtan factory under the scorching sun, the prince sighed: "it's finally cool. i really can't live without air conditioning." the meizhi exhibition hall on the first floor of the factory displays household air conditioners, central air conditioners, etc. produced by meizhi. compressor models for different types of air conditioners. the prince noticed the slogan on the wall of the exhibition hall, "one of every two air conditioners in the world uses a meichi compressor" and couldn't help asking: "is this true?"
zhang hewen, the manager of meizhi technology industrial park, told him: "that's right! in 2006, meizhi ranked first in the global market share, and sales will exceed 100 million units in 2021. in 2023, meizhi's air-conditioning compressors will have the largest market share in the world. the share reached 45%.”
when he walked into the factory and took a quick look, the prince noticed that "something was wrong" - the factory was not full of workers as he had imagined. most of the production lines were filled with robotic arms, with workers assisting in the operations. zhang hewen introduced to the prince that the current automation level of meizhi technology industrial park has reached 65%, and the number of robots for 10,000 people has reached 1,000. in other words, every 10 workers are equipped with one robot.
"currently, there are different small production units in the factory used to produce various parts, including sheet metal workshops, wire winding workshops, machining workshops, assembly workshops, etc." zhang hewen said, "finally, each component will be assembled. it’s like building lego.”
taking the machining workshop as an example, the factory has implemented full-process automatic distribution, ai appearance inspection, ai-guided framing, and an intelligent management system for tool spare parts, etc., which can realize production with few people or no one, that is, a "black light workshop" . zhang hewen said: “these mature technologies and cases will be replicated and promoted to meizhi’s other bases around the world.”
"how long does it take to produce a compressor in such a smart factory?" wang zi asked another question.
zhang hewen said: "a compressor requires multiple parts, and the production time of these parts varies. on average, it is 3 seconds, and it may take longer. meizhi uses continuously iterative processes and leading automation technology to ensure product quality. under the premise of stability, we can improve production efficiency. on the assembly line, we can roll off a compressor in 6 seconds.”
achieve "no. 1 in the world" in the field of compressors
how to ensure quality while producing efficiently? the prince asked based on the slogan on the wall of the showroom: "so many air conditioners around the world are using your compressors, so what are the advantages of the compressors you produce?"
zhang hewen introduced that meizhi continues to lead the world in technology, and there are three typical cases of technological innovation. they are environmentally friendly refrigerant technology leading the global refrigerant substitution process, high-efficiency energy-saving frequency conversion technology to promote global energy efficiency upgrades, and low-temperature heat pump heating technology to help northern coal. the electricity conversion policy was implemented. "take environmentally friendly refrigerant technology as an example. as early as 2004, meizhi has been paying attention to green and energy-saving home appliances, and has made in-depth research and development of r290 environmentally friendly refrigerant one of its core strategies." zhang hewen said.
meizhi has been on this road for many years to become the world's number one in the field of compressors. zhang hewen said that in 1995, meizhi successfully manufactured its first compressor by introducing foreign technology, but there were still many technical problems that needed to be overcome. "in order to achieve complete independent research and development, meizhi strongly supports talent training and overcomes r&d and production problems time and time again." zhang hewen said that in 2006, meizhi compressor ranked first in global production and sales, and it still maintains this position today. as of 2019, 500 million rotary compressors have rolled off the production line.
in addition, zhang hewen also revealed a "secret" to the prince - in september this year, the billionth compressor produced by meizhi had rolled off the production line.
the one-day visit to meizhi opened the prince's eyes, and he was even more impressed by the high-quality and efficient "guangdong intelligent manufacturing". the prince said that his hometown is in distant ethiopia, where he can also see home appliance brands from guangdong. “i know that guangdong brands have gone global, but i did not expect that the research and development of chinese home appliance parts has become so advanced, and the production has also it’s very smart.”
acknowledgments丨college of international student education, guangdong university of foreign studies
