"All of our purpose is for user experience, and it involves all aspects of the entire value chain, and each link is a huge system." On September 27, at the "2020 China Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Annual Conference" hosted by the 21st Century Business Herald, Zhang Xiaoyi, vice president, CIO and president of the IOT business unit of Midea Group, talked about Midea's digital transformation path and said that a good user experience needs the support of the whole value chain. "We must do a good job in the user experience, to achieve the ultimate in every link, digital transformation is to use digital driven, intelligent is the most important thing is to transform our products, from the original main selling hardware, home appliances to use software to drive hardware, plus content, service driving mode, this is our digital transformation path."
Every business front is driven by data
Zhang Xiaoyi introduced that Midea Group has successfully transformed from a single category and a single domestic operation to a multi-category and global technology group, which currently mainly includes four major sectors: consumer appliances, HVAC, robotics and automation systems, and digital business. It is reported that Midea Group began to transform at the end of 2012, focusing on the digital field, using a system and standards to build digital 1.0 and unify the system. And the previous business model of factory production and layer by layer distribution and pressing goods is reversed, and the operation of Midea's entire manufacturing and supply chain is driven by market orders and consumer demand.
In addition, on the digital platform, Midea has also transformed the previous system based on results and document management into a system based on process support, and basically every link of the business front is driven by data. Zhang Xiaoyi said that in the future, Midea's industrial Internet will be further extended to all aspects of equipment and logistics, and continue to complete digital and intelligent transformation.
In recent years, Midea has supported its entire digital business through the Internet of software, robots, and Ande Zhilian, from the R&D end, retail end to the manufacturing industrial chain, after-sales service logistics, and continued to use the industrial Internet to promote the upgrading of the entire link, and has also achieved good results. He pointed out that compared with the ordinary industrial Internet, Midea's industrial Internet has the support of KUKA's robots and automation, which can extend the entire automation solution.
Midea's industrial Internet has five major characteristics
According to Zhang Xiaoyi, Midea's industrial Internet has the following five characteristics: First, it comprehensively develops industrial software. Midea's comprehensive self-developed industrial software has gradually shifted from private cloud deployment to public cloud, and exported to empower enterprises. Zhang Xiaoyi said that now Midea continues to use the original software except for the financial module of ERP, and all other software has been replaced by self-developed modules, including R&D, digital technology, project management and matching policy, advanced scheduling of manufacturing, marketing, logistics, customer service and other systems. "Now we have actually achieved intelligent operation, and some functional software has broken through industry barriers and the monopoly of international manufacturers."
Second, M.IoT under the new infrastructure, that is, the deep integration of digitalization, robotics and automation. Zhang Xiaoyi believes that its biggest application is to realize the flexibility of the entire process and manufacturing. For example, he said that at present, big data can be used to determine industrial parameters in the R&D stage, and instructions can be transmitted to the group's equipment and manipulators through edge computing, and each equipment can produce different air conditioners to achieve deep integration of intelligence.
Third, 5G + industrial Internet. It is reported that Midea has established strategic cooperation with the three major domestic operators and Huawei, and has established 11 5G+ laboratories. Due to the application of 5G, four to five nets were required for the layout of the industrial Internet in the past, but now using slicing technology and security technology, only one net can be laid out, and the manipulator can also be solved by mobile devices. Zhang Xiaoyi revealed that now Midea and KUKA are jointly using virtual PLC, "after it is made, it should be a revolutionary change in the industry." ”
Fourth, the wide application of AI. On the Midea Industrial Internet, self-calculation, self-learning, visual and auditory detection of industrial parameters have also been widely used in factories. He said, "We hope that all quality will be intelligently and onlinely controlled, and AI technology will be used to replace it without machine equipment to do quality control, which is very widely used." ”
Fifth, the application of digital twins. Zhang Xiaoyi introduced that after Midea realized the digital platform, all systems were online, generating a large amount of data, and Midea combined with management experience to establish a model, based on these data for learning and calculation, and in turn optimized. In addition, all management personnel have their own cockpit, each person can view the data according to their own permissions, understand the status of the company, and the team members of Midea's factory will also manage the team according to the data. Zhang Xiaoyi believes that there are actually two beauties in operation now, "one is the beauty of the physical world, the other is the beauty of the digital world, and the beauty of the digital world is calculated by applying virtual models to find the optimal solution, and then fed back to the real beauty." ”
Fully digital and intelligent
Zhang Xiaoyi said that this year, on the basis of the three major strategies, Midea will further deepen "comprehensive digitalization and comprehensive intelligence". "We are now creating a 'smart life that understands you', not just to make a connection or add an infinite module, but to carry out in-depth intelligent transformation of the product's functions through scenario research." For example, he said that the difference between Rumei's smart recipes and ordinary recipes is that it contains the chef's experience and the results of long-term research in the laboratory, and integrates healthy nutrition into the cooking curve, which can drive the rice cooker and stir-fry robot with one click, and complete the entire cooking process with one click, "This is to create an ecology that leads the smart life." ”
Finally, Zhang Xiaoyi revealed Midea's goals for the next three years, "The first goal is to realize the beauty of data-driven scientific and technological innovation, and use the data of the whole value chain to act on Midea." The second goal is to bring the 'Know Your Smart Life' into 100 million households around the world. The third goal is to accumulate three platforms in this process: Midea IoT platform, industrial Internet platform, and Midea cloud sales (Midea's business operation platform), and turn Midea into a platform-based company. ”
Reference source: 21st Century Business Herald