The elevator manufacturing industry in Southwest China's Guizhou province has gone all out to achieve high-quality development, by taking advantage of big data and smart manufacturing.

Inside China Aviation Guizhou Elevator Co Ltd's smart manufacturing workshop in Zunyi, Guizhou, nearly 100 technicians are busy operating equipment to produce elevator components at full capacity.

At the workshop, 26 smart robots are capable of processing the components of one elevator each minute, and producing 500 sets of elevator doors daily.

"This year, we have already completed the production of over 100 units of elevators. It is estimated that we will complete over 300 units in the first quarter," said Xiong Changbo, director of the smart manufacturing workshop of China Aviation Guizhou Elevator Co Ltd.

Advanced technology is aiding the whole manufacturing process.

In the smart manufacturing workshop, the front end of every production line is equipped with a display screen, which shows information about the production lines, including daily tasks, the number of completed orders and work progress. Workers scan a QR code to track orders. Compared with handwritten work orders previously, this not only saves time, but also helps in achieving 100 percent accuracy.

"We need to fill out 30 sheets of work orders at most per day. In the past, handwritten work orders easily resulted in omissions or filling errors. There is no such thing now. Digitalization greatly helps to improve our work quality and efficiency," said Zhou Jian, a technician at the production line.

"Through the empowerment of 5G, QR codes are assigned to each link in the production line. During every link, technicians only need to scan the code to start work, making production management efficient and convenient. This not only eliminates missed or incorrect orders, but also immediately detects errors. If the code cannot be scanned, the problem is spotted, checked and traced immediately, greatly reducing the rework rate," Xiong said.

In 2023, the company produced over 2,000 units of elevators, with a production value of over 500 million yuan ($69.3 million). Driven by the Belt and Road Initiative, it has signed contracts with elevator enterprises from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and other countries and regions, and is planning to export around 300 units of escalators this year.

Zhan Junhao, founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, said: "Guizhou has a strong industrial foundation and rich manufacturing experience, which gives it a solid foundation in the field of elevator manufacturing. At the same time, the Guizhou government has been vigorously promoting the development of industrial cloud big data and intelligent manufacturing, providing strong policy and technical support for the industry."

He said that in the field of elevator manufacturing, the national pattern is characterized by diversification and fierce competition.

Due to the acceleration of urbanization and better quality of life, the demand for elevators continues to grow. Major elevator companies are increasing investments in research and development to improve product quality and service levels, in order to compete for market share.

Data from the 2023 World Elevator & Escalator Expo held in Shanghai in July showed that China remains the world's largest elevator market. It is also the most dynamic and promising market in the world. Over 80 percent of new elevators globally are produced in China each year. As of the end of 2022, the elevator inventory in the Chinese market was close to 10 million. With rapid urbanization, the number is estimated to grow.

In the first half of 2023, the cumulative production of elevators and escalators in China totaled 745,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 12.9 percent.

Apart from enterprises in Guizhou, elevator manufacturers from Liaoning, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces have also taken a leading role in the industry.

"In the future, the elevator manufacturing industry will become intelligent, green, and service-oriented. With the continuous development and application of technologies such as the internet of things, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, the industry will have more efficient and intelligent production and service models," Zhan said.

"At the same time, with the improvement in environmental awareness and the deepening of sustainable development concepts, the elevator manufacturing industry will also pay more attention to green production and the research and application of environmental protection technologies," he added.