From April 1 to April 2, the 2024 Steel Industry Intelligent Manufacturing Alliance Annual Meeting and the Three-Year Action Kick-off Meeting of the Steel Industry Digital Transformation Project were held in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province.

The meeting focused on promoting, implementing and interpreting the "Work Plan for the Digital Transformation of the Raw Materials Industry (2024-2026)" of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and officially released the "Three-Year Action Plan for the Digital Transformation Project of the Steel Industry" and the "Guidelines for the Construction of the Digital Transformation Project of the Steel Industry"."2023 Steel Industry Digital Transformation Assessment Report" marks the official launch of the three-year action for the digital transformation project of the steel industry. The action clearly states that by the end of 2026, the overall goal of "4,321" will be achieved, that is, to promote and apply excellent typical digital transformation scenarios in 40 industries, create 30 digital workshops that can be used for reference and replicated, and select 20 digital benchmark demonstration factories., create 5 to 10 enterprises that achieve "digital ecological leadership" and promote the construction of a digital transformation ecosystem.

Jiang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Vice President and Secretary-General of China Iron and Steel Association, Song Xiangdang, Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Hebei Province, Wen Gang, Director of the Steel Division of the Raw Materials Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and Li Yiren, Deputy General Manager of Hegang Group, delivered speeches at the conference. Wang Guodong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor of Northeastern University, and Wang Feiyue, director of the State Key Laboratory of Complex System Management and Control of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, gave special speeches. Feng Chao, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the Science and Technology and Environmental Protection Department of the Steel Association, Jiang Shangqing, Director of the Metallurgical Science and Technology Development Center, Fu Xinfeng, Director of the Science and Technology and Environmental Protection Department of the Steel Association and Executive Secretary General of the Intelligent Manufacturing Alliance, and Jiang Tao, Director of Digital Marketing of Hegang, presided over the meeting. Liu Difei (Director of the Institute of Integration of Informatization and Industrialization of China Academy of Information and Information Technology), Fu Xinfeng, and Li Zhi (Deputy General Manager of MCC Saidi Group respectively) commented on the "Work Plan for Digital Transformation of the Raw Material Industry (2024-2026)" and "Steel Industry Digital Transformation Project Three-Year Action Plan" and "Steel Industry Digital Transformation Project Construction Guide" are interpreted.

Jiang Wei said in his speech that since its establishment in April 2021, the Intelligent Manufacturing Alliance has developed into a comprehensive platform that conforms to the requirements of the Internet era and connects collaborative innovation between steel companies, digital transformation suppliers, scientific research institutes, standardization institutions, etc., and strives to create an ecosystem of upstream and downstream collaboration, innovation, and win-win results. The value of the alliance is gradually emerging, and its influence, appeal, and cohesion inside and outside the industry are increasingly enhanced.

Jiang Wei believes that in recent years, relying on the growing power of the alliance, the industry's digital transformation has made remarkable achievements and is at the forefront of China's industrial field. In 2023, the investment in digital and intelligent transformation of enterprises will increase, with an average investment of 38.5 yuan per ton of steel, an increase of 8.7 yuan from the previous year; the awareness of data management has gradually increased, and 63.3% of enterprises have established specialized agencies and full-time teams to carry out data governance, an increase of 12.2 percentage points compared with the previous year; the application density of robots (including unmanned equipment) reached 54 units (sets) per 10,000 people, a 50% increase from 36 units (sets) per 10,000 people in the previous year. Enterprises above designated size of 5 million tons have basically achieved the connection of management and control, integration of production and marketing, and seamless business and finance. In addition, smart factories and intelligent centralized control centers are becoming a new trend. 40% of enterprises have applied three-dimensional visual simulation technology in their main production lines;79.6% of steel companies have piloted applications of big data models, and 18.4% of enterprises have carried out Local AI (artificial intelligence) applications.

Jiang Wei said that in the future, we must promote the industry's digital transformation project well and quickly; unify the industry's digital transformation consensus and optimize the digital transformation promotion path; and through the three-year action of the digital transformation project, concentrate the outstanding forces of the ecosystem to help steel companies, especially The majority of small and medium-sized enterprises achieve digital transformation with the lowest cost, highest efficiency, and greatest benefits. He said that the "Guidelines for the Construction of Digital Transformation Projects in the Steel Industry" clarifies the connotation, direction, goals, methods and measures for steel companies to promote digital transformation, and provides companies with reference for digital transformation through excellent cases, from factory design and construction, products and six key areas: process design, digitalization of steel production, operation management and control, information security, and data ecosystem help companies find the right positioning, clarify the direction, and implement it step by step. Promote the steady and long-term digital transformation of the steel industry.

Regarding the next digital transformation path of the industry, Song told the party that Hebei Province will make every effort to promote intelligent transformation from three aspects: building systems, expanding scenarios, and leading the way. Wen Gang proposed that to promote digital transformation, we must rely on standardization construction to standardize the development path of intelligent manufacturing; take the application of new technologies as an opportunity to build a development pattern of intelligent manufacturing; and use the creation of new scenarios as the starting point to consolidate the foundation for the development of intelligent manufacturing. Wang Guodong pointed out that in the digital age, if the steel industry wants to achieve high-quality development with quality, efficiency, cost, efficiency, environment, emissions, etc. as indicators, it must vigorously build the innovation infrastructure of steel enterprises and carry out "artificial intelligence + industrial control". Promote intelligent transformation of digital transformation, digital brain-replacement, and model replacement, and build a full-process steel, integrated industrial control-type generative AI large model project model with low cost, high efficiency and zero risk.

The meeting held an award ceremony, which commended the units and individuals who made outstanding contributions to the work of the Intelligent Manufacturing Alliance in 2023, the award-winning works of the 3rd Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Competition (Steel Industry Track), and the top ten outstanding solutions and the five best solutions for intelligent manufacturing in the steel industry in 2023. The awarding ceremony of the Steel Association's Industrial Software Standardization Working Group was held; and the Alliance's Intrinsic Safety Intelligent Working Group was established.

During the meeting, representatives from China Information and Technology Institute, Xingcheng Special Steel, Puyang Iron and Steel, MCC Jingcheng, Hegang Digital, China Unicom and other companies shared excellent cases. Representatives from steel companies, scientific research institutions, and intelligent manufacturing solution suppliers exchanged views on topics such as data governance, intrinsic security, and smart supply chains.

The conference was hosted by the Steel Association and the Steel Industry Branch of the Intelligent Manufacturing System Solution Supplier Alliance, hosted by Hegang Group, Hegang Digital, Hebei Province Metallurgical Industry Association, MCC Jingcheng, Metallurgical Science and Technology Development Center, and co-organized by China Unicom Smart Steel Corps, MCC Saidi Information Technology (Chongqing) Co., Ltd. and Beijing Shougang Automation Information Technology Co., Ltd.

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author| Fan Sancai

edit| Wang Zhi

audit| Liu Jiajun

planning| Chen Xiaoli