Schneider Electric, a French multinational that specializes in energy technology, has seen its Putuo factory achieve an 82 percent increase in per capita production efficiency and a 63 percent reduction in the new product development cycle by leveraging AI and digital technologies.

The nearly 30-year-old factory, located in the Future Island High-Tech Park, Taopu town, Shanghai's Putuo district, serves as a production base for core industrial control components. Facing surging orders and a four-fold increase in product variety driven by the booming new energy market, the factory has embraced digital transformation by integrating machine learning (ML), AI-generated content (AIGC), automation, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The factory has introduced a third-generation, fully automated, modular, flexible production line. Boasting modular designs and quick connectors, the line enables plug-and-play reconfiguration. Four-axis robots provide flexible material feeding, while an AI-powered visual quality inspection system ensures real-time quality monitoring.

Serving as the pivotal center for flexible production, the end-to-end supply chain system enables real-time integration of order, inventory, and equipment data. Powered by ML and operations research algorithms, the system dynamically formulates optimal production schedules.

A key innovation is the factory's human-machine collaborative operation and maintenance system. Maintenance staff can access real-time equipment parameters via augmented reality (AR) glasses, which enable voice-interactive, hands-free operation. A large language model (LLM) automatically analyzes the factory's maintenance case databases to recommend optimal troubleshooting solutions. This system has cut maintenance time by 30 percent, combining the expertise of veteran workers with AI computing power.

Source: Official WeChat account of Shanghai Putuo Media Center at "shputuo"