Yulin Manufacturing: Brewing “WALL-E”

In the Machinery Industry Park of Minle Town, Beiliu City, a project called Hongchao Industrial High-Precision Mold Manufacturing is underway. Thirty percent of this project’s products are smart robot components, with an annual output value reaching 700 million yuan. Yet, this is just a microcosm of Yulin’s thriving smart robot industry. Yulin’s manufacturing sector not only provides supporting services for China’s rapidly growing robotics industry but is also actively exporting its own robot products nationwide.

The “Yulin-made” robot is really “cool.”

Stepping into Guangxi Kaizong Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in the Wendi Industrial Park of Bobai, the company’s head, Huang Haidong, led the reporter to the company’s production and R&D workshop. Pointing to a gleaming yellow robotic arm, he said with pride, “This is our latest-developed automatic spraying robot—currently a leading product not only in Guangxi but throughout China. Once it’s finalized and put into production, annual output will exceed 500 units, essentially capturing the entire domestic market for automatic spraying systems.”

During spray-painting operations, the odor can be somewhat toxic. Therefore, Kaizong Machinery, a manufacturer of spray-painting equipment, introduced several invention and utility patents related to spray-painting robots from Guangxi University in November 2014. Together, they developed robotic arm spray-painting equipment and spray-painting robots. This product represents a domestic first—just one machine can replace the work of 35 human workers, and it also enables more efficient material usage during spraying. After the product is launched on the market, the company is expected to experience explosive growth.

Yulin Zhengfang Machinery Co., Ltd. entered the robotics manufacturing sector even earlier than Bika Zhongji Machinery. As early as 2010, the company successfully developed Yulin’s first-generation robot—a milestone for local Yulin enterprises at a time when China’s robotics industry was still in its infancy. After six years of development, the company has mastered core robotic control technologies and has since developed three industrial robots. Among these, five technological projects—namely the tubular robot body, BS (ball-bearing) reducers, robot motion-control programming systems, double-layer ball-bearing reducers, and cycloidal ball-bearing reducers—have been granted national utility model patents.

Wen Hui, a software engineer at Yulin Zhengfang Machinery Co., Ltd., told reporters that the company boasts hardware facilities such as a robot manufacturing and processing workshop and a robot integration workshop. Currently, it is equipped with multiple sets of advanced CNC machining equipment and testing devices, has established a robot design and development platform, and continues to expand its production scale and upgrade its equipment.

The “Yulin Advantage” of Robots

Robotics manufacturing is a hallmark industry of Industry 4.0. Compared to other cities in China that are located near numerous universities and research institutes, Yulin City does not have a significant advantage in terms of technical talent. Yet, how is it still able to achieve certain levels of development?

Wen Hui said that robots can be seen as intelligent mechanical devices. Yulin City’s machinery manufacturing industry, led by Yuchai, holds a competitive edge in the domestic market; therefore, Yulin is well-positioned to take the lead in the development of intelligent robots.

Leveraging external expertise is also one of the reasons behind Yulin’s breakthroughs in robot manufacturing. Industrial robots are currently a rising star in the machinery manufacturing industry, yet their lengthy R&D cycles have made them a daunting prospect for many companies. To address this challenge, Kaizong Machinery has assembled an R&D team comprising experts from research institutions such as the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Mechanical Science and Guangxi University, effectively tapping into “external brains” to overcome technical hurdles.

Accelerate development to grab a bigger slice of the pie.

Hongchao Company is a mold manufacturer based in Shenzhen, specializing in the production of high-precision molds. Its suppliers include world-class high-tech companies such as Bosch Machinery. Many of its products are tailored for the robotics industry, which has extremely high precision requirements. As a result, Chen Huaxin, the company’s CEO, has an exceptional understanding of the robotics industry. He said: “By 2025, global robot output value is expected to reach 30 trillion yuan, with China accounting for one-third of the global consumption share. Within the next three to five years, service robots and industrial robots will replace the full-time workloads of 75 million people, including domestic workers and mining personnel.”

Chen Huaxin suggested that Yulin’s machinery industry should conduct more research on the global and Chinese developments of the robotics industry. “Yulin’s machinery manufacturing boasts strong production and R&D capabilities. It should seize the opportunity presented by the rapid growth of the robotics industry—even if it’s only in providing supporting services, this still represents a substantial ‘crown jewel’.”

However, the high R&D costs of industrial robots have left many Yulin entrepreneurs shaking their heads. For instance, Kaizong Machinery has invested nearly 10 million yuan since 2014, yet it still hasn't been able to finalize production. “We hope that the government and financial authorities will introduce specific support policies for the robotics industry—policies that provide targeted assistance!” said Huang Haidong. (Reporter Zou Jiang, Intern Qin Jianning)

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Yulin Manufacturing: “Replacing Humans with Machines” Is No Longer Novel

On March 22, inside the massive automated production line of Beida New Building Materials Company in Dalun Town, Beiliu City, reporters saw a giant robotic arm steadily picking up dozens of bricks and swiftly placing them onto a transport vehicle. “This is a robot,” said Li Ruidong, the company’s head. “With just one grab, it lifted as many as 36 bricks, weighing a total of 800 kilograms.” Dalun Town is a very remote township in Yulin City. As a symbol of advanced manufacturing, the presence of robots in such a remote brick factory demonstrates that the application of robotics is gradually being embraced by Yulin’s manufacturing sector.

Robots are no longer a novelty.

Yuchai Group is one of the earliest manufacturing enterprises in Yulin City to introduce robots. In 2010, the Yuchai Foundry Center within the Yuchai Industrial Park completed the world’s first advanced production line that employs robotic core-setting technology. This production line consists of eight state-of-the-art robots, each with distinct functions.

These robots have played a crucial role in precision machinery manufacturing. Having tasted the benefits, the Yuchai Foundry Center has now expanded their use on an even larger scale. Currently, the center employs more than forty robots. The extensive use of high-precision robots has elevated the accuracy of castings, production efficiency, and the level of automation to a whole new stage.

If in 2010, the application of robots was still a novelty for Yulin’s manufacturing industry, six years later, robot adoption has gradually scaled up. Today, the use of robots has permeated an increasing number of industrial processes at Yuchai Manufacturing. In the production workshop of Yuchai Power Company, as a robotic arm swings and rotates, metal plates weighing three to four jin are swiftly grabbed and placed onto the next workstation—smoothly and efficiently. Meanwhile, numerous industrial robots are busily performing tasks—from retrieving goods from the warehouse, to automated assembly, automatic painting, and finally, placing finished products into storage—all with pinpoint precision. Compared to manual operations, robot-based production has significantly boosted efficiency.

According to a reporter’s investigation, Hongbang Food Company in Beiliu City and Beidaxin New Building Materials Co., Ltd. in Beiliu City have also introduced robots into their production processes. Some savvy business owners have even begun using robots in the service industry. A restaurant in Yulin’s urban district has introduced two robots—one to deliver food and the other to dance and liven up the atmosphere—drawing in many new customers for the restaurant.

Business Opportunities Inherent in “Replacing Humans with Machines”

Zheng Haibiao, an equipment maintenance engineer at Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd., summarized the advantages of applying robotic core-setting technology. First, the core-setting process has been simplified—reduced from the original seven steps required by manual core-setting machines to just two steps with the robot, significantly boosting production efficiency. Second, the use of core-setting fixtures and core molds has been greatly reduced. Since the robotic core-setting fixtures are universal, they can be used for different models within the same product category. Third, casting precision is remarkably high; the high precision of robotic core setting ensures superior casting accuracy, resulting in castings with thin walls and excellent quality, thereby achieving lightweight casting designs.

For Beilu City Beida New Building Materials Co., Ltd., the application of robots has significantly enhanced the market competitiveness of its products. The company is a large-scale brick factory that produces 250,000 red bricks per day. Under the traditional production process, the company would have required nearly 500 workers; however, it now employs only 28 workers. The four robots introduced by the company have replaced a substantial number of manual laborers, greatly boosting efficiency. As a result, the production cost per brick has been reduced by 0.1 yuan compared to traditional brick factories, and this cost reduction accounts for more than 30% of the total cost.

“Replacing humans with machines” deserves serious attention.

Li Ruidong told reporters that the primary reasons for factories to implement “replacing humans with machines” are as follows: First, “replacing humans with machines” is an effective way to address the high cost of labor and the difficulty in recruiting workers; second, by replacing humans with machines, enterprises can improve product quality, enhance production stability and standardization, and boost labor productivity and technological contribution rates. At the same time, robots can surpass human physical limits, enabling operations in specialized environments and ensuring precise and stable performance, thereby enhancing enterprises’ market competitiveness.

According to reporters, “replacing humans with machines” is becoming a key pathway for upgrading and transforming manufacturing in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong Province. In Dongguan and other areas of the Pearl River Delta, an increasing number of enterprises are adopting industrial robots. “Replacing humans with machines” has also become a government initiative; governments in Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shunde, Zhongshan, and other cities have all introduced policies to provide support and incentives.

Right now, “replacing humans with machines” is still a relatively new challenge for the manufacturing sector in Yulin City. However, labor-intensive industries such as daily-use ceramics and the electronics industry are also grappling with the pressing issue of labor shortages, while the machinery industry urgently needs to improve its technological precision. According to reports, some business owners in Yulin already have plans to introduce robots. Yet, given the current sluggish market conditions, introducing robots requires substantial capital investment—for instance, Beida New Building Materials Company spent 20 million yuan on just four robots, and retrofitting production lines to accommodate these robots adds even more considerable costs. “We hope the government will collaborate with relevant universities and research institutes to launch research projects on ‘replacing humans with machines’ specifically targeting Yulin’s traditional industries, and introduce supportive policies to back these efforts,” said Li Ruidong.