Andrew Ng, a leading figure in U.S. artificial intelligence research, once remarked that AI will become “the new electricity”—transforming not just one industry, but all industries. With the launch of Germany’s Industry 4.0 initiative and the United States’ National Strategic Plan for Advanced Manufacturing, the global manufacturing landscape has undergone a major shift, with smart manufacturing emerging as the primary focus. In August 2015, China unveiled its Made in China 2025 plan, signaling the country’s strategic drive to transform and upgrade its manufacturing sector through smart manufacturing.
　　Driven by the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the explosive advancement of cutting-edge technologies, China’s manufacturing sector has witnessed swift progress in automation and intelligentization, spurring a robust recovery in the domestic machine tool market. Amid today’s opportunities and challenges, Chinese machine tool manufacturers must align with the overarching theme of smart manufacturing and pursue breakthroughs with a spirit of craftsmanship. Yixing Intelligent exemplifies this commitment by steadfastly upholding its brand identity, relentlessly pursuing high‑quality products, and honoring the ethos of artisanal excellence through unwavering dedication to specialization and precision.

After more than seven years of implementing the CIM initiative under China’s 863 Program, it has been concluded that “CIM represents a new philosophy for organizing, managing, and operating enterprise production. By integrating computer hardware and software with modern management, manufacturing, information, automation, and systems engineering technologies, CIM brings together the three key elements—people, technology, and business management—throughout the entire production process. It also seamlessly integrates and optimizes the flow of information and materials, thereby achieving high product quality, rapid time-to-market, low unit costs, and excellent service (T.Q.C.S, standing for Time, Quality, Cost, and Service), enabling enterprises to gain a competitive edge in the marketplace.”

　　As the corresponding technologies for achieving integration, the commonly recognized components include: data acquisition, allocation, and sharing; networking and communication; shop-floor equipment controllers; and standards and specifications for computer hardware and software. Meanwhile, concurrent engineering, as a management philosophy and working model, has been applied and has gained prominence in the field of automation technology since the late 1980s, further advancing the integration of unit‑level automation technologies. Typical achievements and products include CIMS (now known as Integrated Manufacturing Systems) factories and flexible manufacturing systems (FMS).
　　In China, small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as quasi-large enterprises, continue to pursue a low-cost approach to industrial control automation. Industrial control automation comprises three hierarchical levels—basic automation, process automation, and management automation—arranged from bottom to top, with basic and process automation forming its core. Since the 1990s, the development of PC‑based industrial computers (commonly referred to as industrial PCs) has led to the rapid proliferation of PC‑based automation systems, which integrate industrial PCs, I/O devices, monitoring equipment, and control networks, thereby becoming a key pathway for achieving cost‑effective industrial automation.
　　Intelligence, openness, networking, and informationization have become the primary trends shaping the future development of CNC systems and machine tools: advancing toward higher speed, greater efficiency, higher precision, and enhanced reliability; moving in the directions of modularity, intelligence, flexibility, network connectivity, and integration; shifting toward PC‑based architectures and open systems; giving rise to a new generation of CNC machining processes and equipment, with mechanical manufacturing trending toward virtual manufacturing; fostering the convergence of information technology (IT) and machine tools, thereby driving the development of advanced mechatronic machine tools; ushering in nanotechnology as a new growth driver and enabling groundbreaking advances; and accelerating the development of energy‑efficient, environmentally friendly machine tools to capture a broad market.

　　Smart manufacturing seeks to embody human intelligence in manufacturing processes and integrate it into human–machine collaborative systems, enabling manufacturing equipment to perform intelligent functions such as sensing, reasoning, decision-making, and learning. By leveraging online condition monitoring, autonomous process‑knowledge acquisition, and closed-loop autonomous execution, it continuously enhances equipment performance and adaptive capabilities, making it an indispensable approach for the production of high‑quality, complex components.
　　The three key values of intelligent manufacturing are personalized customization, supply-chain collaboration, and flexible production.
　　Among them, one of the core objectives of the “Industry 4.0” and “Made in China 2025” initiatives is to promote customized production while simultaneously reducing the time‑related costs of the manufacturing process. Shifting from products to services and from a “manufacturing‑centric” approach to one centered on customer‑specific customization—this is the mission that the times have entrusted to the manufacturing sector.
　　The true essence of “Industry 4.0” is not the pursuit of so‑called high technology, automation, or unmanned factories, but rather the use of advanced digital and smart manufacturing technologies to meet customers’ personalized needs as quickly as possible—thereby enhancing customer satisfaction and securing a company’s competitive edge. Intelligent production is merely a means; personalized customization is the end goal. And to deliver on this promise, achieving flexible manufacturing is paramount. By building “smart” production units that enable real‑time communication with customers, suppliers, and partner firms, and that support agile scheduling, Industry 4.0 replaces traditional mass‑production assembly lines with flexible, small‑batch manufacturing cells—lowering costs and accelerating the ability to meet increasingly personalized demands.

　　Looking ahead, as demand for industrial automation and factory intelligence continues to grow, the development of smart manufacturing will remain the dominant trend in China’s manufacturing sector. Yixing Intelligent will continue to prioritize intelligence and digitalization, while further strengthening its core technologies and product offerings.
Building on its quality and service capabilities, the company leverages cutting-edge technologies such as big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence to accelerate market penetration, capture mid-to-high-end market share, and secure a competitive edge in the industry.