More smart factories in the pipeline to facilitate car industry in Shanghai

Shanghai will build over 200 demonstration smart factories by 2025, including many carmaking plants, to push the automotive industry's high-quality development, city officials said during the ongoing Auto Shanghai 2023 event on Thursday.

Digitalization and intelligence are gradually penetrating into the automotive industry, which brings opportunities and risks for car-makers, speakers told the High-quality Development and Innovation forum held today, a part of the Auto Shanghai.

In 2022, Shanghai produced 3 million cars and the automotive industry output reached 800 billion yuan (US$115.9 billion). By the end of last year, there were 100 smart factories in the city, 22 from the automotive industry, according to the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Informatization.

By 2025, Shanghai will build 200 demonstration smart factories, and promote 1,000 smart manufacture usage scenarios. The smart factories feature digital diagnosis, industrial robots and smart management.

Smart manufacturing and automotives are the two "advantageous tracks" in Shanghai. The automotive field has always been at the forefront of the intelligent manufacturing industry development and smart factory construction. It will accelerate the development of high-end, intelligent and green manufacturing, said Han Dadong, director of the smart manufacturing promotion division of the commission.

Also during the forum, a smart manufacturing professional committee , under the Shanghai Automotive Parts Industry Association, was founded on Thursday.

The committee is designed to provide a broader communication platform, further strengthen in-depth cooperation between industries, and provide more overall standards and professional solutions for the development of smart manufacturing in the automotive industry. It will become an "industrial brain" for the entire industry.