Translated with AI
Bai Zhigang, a senior engineer for intelligent vehicle design, fine-tunes an intelligent heavy-duty truck at a plant of FAW Jiefang Group Co., Ltd. in Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province, People's Daily reported, citing Xinhua.
With 19 years of experience in the automotive industry, Bai Zhigang has moved from traditional truck design to the development of intelligent connected vehicles, riding the wave of the rapid development of intelligent manufacturing in China.
In his new job, he equips cars with sensors to enhance their autonomous recognition capabilities and selects appropriate controllers to enable autonomous driving in certain scenarios. This helps reduce driver fatigue and improve safety.
"Our job is to figure out how to bring benefits to users through intelligent driving," said Bai Zhigang. "In particular, we are responsible for the design of the entire system architecture, software development and calibration."
China's smart connected vehicle industry has seen rapid growth in recent years as the country seeks to take a leading position in reshaping the global auto industry. Bai Zhigang's rise reflects the transformation of China's traditional auto industry into an intelligent one.
As China advances toward high-quality development, new professions are emerging across the country. In 2024, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security announced the official recognition of 19 new professions, including intelligent connected vehicle maintenance specialist, intelligent manufacturing system maintenance specialist, and industrial Internet maintenance specialist.
New job categories have also emerged in China's high-speed rail industry, the golden calling card of intelligent manufacturing. Dozens of rail vehicles have been assembled in an orderly manner on an assembly line operated by CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co., Ltd.
Under the direction of senior engineer Bao Hongyang, workers used smart wrenches to apply torque to bolts.
"Based on the data loaded into the backend, we can confirm that the system is working normally," Bao Hongyang explained.
In the past, there was no way to record torque data, and work quality depended solely on workers' sense of responsibility, making it impossible to track quality problems. Now, the data speaks for itself. According to Bao Hongyang, only when the specified standard tightening torque is reached can a bolt be considered properly tightened.
Since joining CRRC Changchun in 2008, Bao Hongyang has been responsible for developing instructions for large computer numerical control machines that process parts such as doors and windows for high-speed trains. As high-speed trains become faster, intelligent manufacturing has become an integral part of the entire life cycle of rail transport in China.
Bao Hongyang currently needs to develop and maintain a large number of intelligent manufacturing systems that enable "silent" equipment to "talk" via data, thereby improving production efficiency and minimizing product failure rates.
At a substation in Jilin City, Jilin Province, power quality manager Li Sihan monitors the instrument panel to check a newly installed heat monitoring device. Developed by Li, the device can be preventively and repaired even under voltage, which has significantly reduced power outages and maintenance costs in the region.
"Traditional heat monitoring tapes require a complete power outage for maintenance, which seriously affects the quality of power supply," said Li Sihan. "With the new heat monitoring device, we can troubleshoot without shutting down the power in a separate closed circuit."
According to Li Sihan, the emergence of power quality management specialists reflects China's transition from ensuring power supply to ensuring power quality in the power grid.
Today, China's intelligent manufacturing equipment sector continues to expand, with numerous national demonstration factories, provincial digital workshops and intelligent factories being established.
Data shows that more than 90 percent of these demonstration factories are using technologies such as artificial intelligence and digital twins. Thanks to the efforts of workers like Bai Zhigang, Bao Hongyang, and Li Sihan, China is transforming from an industrial giant into a smart manufacturing powerhouse.
(Editor: Yang Qian, Deng Jie)
