Equipment manufacturing company Sany Group has teamed up with Beijing Mobile Communications Co Ltd, a unit of China Mobile, and ZTE Corp, to launch an integrated cloud-network solution for increased use of 5G tech in the manufacturing sector.

According to Sany, by using China Mobile's private network, the integrated cloud-network solution will be able to optimally match business scenarios in industrial parks, enable use of innovative applications like data acquisition, machine vision and digital twin, a virtual representation of a physical object or system across its life cycle.

It will also boost the quality and efficiency at workshops and facilitate innovative integration of 5G and the industrial internet.

Dai Qinghua, senior vice-president of Sany Group, said:"Sany has always been embracing 5G technology with an open mindset. The integrated cloud-network solution is crucial for addressing the issues related to building Sany's industrial internet, such as network connections, application integration, and operation and maintenance, accelerating the company's digital transformation."

China should accelerate innovation in network construction, as well as the building of demonstrative intelligent manufacturing plants, said a draft guideline issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology recently.

As the first batch of China's intelligent manufacturing pilot enterprises, Sany attaches great importance to digital transformation and leading the industrial upgrade of the equipment manufacturing sector.

According to a report published by the China Center for Information Industry Development Consulting, last year the country's investment in the construction of key new infrastructure areas like industrial internet, big data centers, 5G, and artificial intelligence, reached 1 trillion yuan ($155 billion). Between 2020 and 2025, the accumulated investment in the industrial internet sector is expected to be about 650 billion yuan.

"By the end of last year, Sany had invested about 50 million yuan in industrial internet. Information from over 10,000 sets of equipment in 17 industrial parks across the country can be displayed on a large screen at once. The industrial internet is helping us to better manage the equipment, doubling the production capacity of the plants," said Dong Mingkai, deputy dean of Sany's intelligent manufacturing research institute.

According to Dong, the millisecond-level industrial control cannot be achieved with 4G networks or traditional industrial networks, and the deployment of 5G can solve the problems.

Industry experts said that 5G characteristics like low delay and broad connections match the business needs of the industrial internet, and the integration of 5G and the industrial internet is empowering key sectors such as equipment manufacturing, aviation, steel and coal.

Beijing Mobile, Sany and ZTE will further expand cooperation in 5G and the industrial internet to energize more small and medium-sized enterprises, said Xia Bing, general manager of Beijing Mobile.

Ma Bingying contributed to the story.