Industrial internet seen as being the key to Midea's business strategy

The industrial internet will help not only fundamentally change the manufacturing method at home appliances giant Midea Group, but will contribute to the upgrading and transformation of China's entire manufacturing industry, according to one of its leading executives.

"Undoubtedly, the industrial internet is the new trend in manufacturing and economic development," said Zhang Xiaoyi, vice-president of Midea.

Zhang made his remarks after Midea, based in Foshan in Guangdong province, launched a new industrial internet platform on Friday, as the company looks ahead to future sustainable business growth after 50 years of development.

The platform, known as M.IoT, features connectivity to the cloud and collects a massive amount of industrial data, and more importantly, provides comprehensive solutions that cover the entire value chain from research and development and manufacturing to scale.

"Such solutions, which integrate manufacturing know-how, software and hardware, are the outcomes of Midea's insightful understanding of industrial mechanisms and extensive experience in business practices," Zhang said.

According to Zhang, Midea has teamed up with Visual Components, a leading developer of 3D manufacturing simulation software and solutions, to become one of the top three players in digital simulation-capable of offering digital imagery of the entire production cycle, from R&D to manufacturing, to use.

KUKA and other leading robotics and automation service providers in Midea Group also enhance the company's hardware strengths, Zhang said.

Midea took over KUKA, a major German robot manufacturer and automation service provider, in 2016.

"Five decades of experience in manufacturing, together with extensive experience in such key steps as raw materials processing, manufacturing of key components, injection, molding, sheet metal processing and final assembly, has equipped Midea with extensive necessary know-how in industrial internet," Zhang said.

The new industrial internet platform has already been used in internal manufacturing in Midea's production facilities in Nansha in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, and several other processing facilities nationwide.

"With the initial success of Midea's internal pilot projects across China, the M.IoT solutions are now ready for rollout to more companies and industries," Zhang said.

The platform is expected to serve as a facilitator to connect to the cloud by offering either customized digital transformation services for large enterprises or cost-effective package solutions for medium-sized businesses, according to Zhang.

"Midea has spotted the opportunities by offering tailored solutions relevant to the needs of Chinese manufacturers," Zhang said.

Large enterprises, usually characterized by massive internal and external systems and complex industrial scenarios, require strong technical strength to help tackle such complexities. Small businesses, on the other hand, are quite often daunted by the large amounts they have to invest in cloud connection and in equipment and staff, according to Zhang.

"Customized solutions can be offered to large manufacturers with complex needs for digital transformation and tried-and-tested package solutions to small businesses so that they can be connected at a lower cost," Zhang said.

The global industrial internet platform market size is expected to reach $91.4 billion by 2023 and the Asia-Pacific region is projected to develop at the highest compound annual growth rate, according to a report by market research firm MarketsandMarkets.

In China, with the enforcement of such policies as the Guideline on Deepening Internet Plus Advanced Manufacturing and Industrial Internet Development Action Plan (2018-2020), an explosive growth of the industrial internet can be expected, according to Midea.

"The industrial internet, characterized by the capability to integrate components, information, business process and people, is expected to make cost reductions, efficiency improvements and quality guarantees possible by supporting data analysis and informing decision-making," Zhang said.

The new industrial internet platform will help Midea become one of China's first independent industrial internet platform providers, leading the industry with its strong and comprehensive capabilities in manufacturing.

"Already written into Midea's well-defined strategic roadmap, the new industrial internet platform, with its features of proven applications and three unique advantages, is expected to offer effective solutions to address the needs of the traditional manufacturers for upgrades and transformation," Zhang said.