ANN/CHINA DAILY – In Heze, a prefecture-level city in Shandong province, Juye county is advancing green and low-carbon development to modernise its manufacturing sector.
Juye has embraced the concept of “ecological priority and green development”, aligning with national, provincial, and municipal initiatives to achieve the goals of peak carbon emissions by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060.
At Zhenxing New Building Materials Co Ltd, automated production lines are now in use, with robotic arms efficiently unloading, grouping and packaging sintered bricks.
General Manager Wang Tongli explained that the factory previously relied on manual labour, which limited efficiency.
However, the switch to automation has significantly boosted productivity.
“Compared with traditional production methods, our production efficiency has increased by 50 per cent, and front-line operators have been reduced by more than half,” Wang said, adding that ample orders have given the enterprise full confidence in development and made employees more hopeful in their future.
Wang’s complete production line – from adobe making to packaging – was designed and manufactured by Shandong Juxiang Machinery Co Ltd, which focuses on research and manufacturing of intelligent high-end equipment.
Through collaboration with research institutes and universities both inside and outside Shandong, such as Xi’an Wall Material Design and Research Institute, Shandong Academy of Sciences, and Shandong Jianzhu University, Juxiang Machinery has independently developed 12 types of wall material production automation equipment and obtained 42 national patents.
Chairman of Juxiang Machinery Pang Shou’en said, “As one of the earliest companies in our industry to be listed on the New Third Board, Juxiang Machinery has been committed to solving the industry’s difficulties and bottlenecks, transforming and upgrading towards green manufacturing.”
“We allocate eight per cent of our annual sales revenue to research and development funds to meet customer needs. Currently, the ‘Juxiang’ brand brick machines and kiln equipment have a market share of 15 per cent in China, ranking third nationwide,” he noted. He highlighted that green manufacturing is a key link in achieving ecological industry and an important way to enhance green development in Juye.
In order to embark on the path of green, low-carbon and high-quality development, Shandong Jinniu Vehicle Industry Co Ltd implemented a technical renovation project for the automatic production equipment and coating production line of specialised vehicle parts in September 2023.
With a total investment of CNY60 million (USD8.45 million), the project plans to add 20 sets of automatic production equipment for specialised vehicle parts, an electrophoretic powder coating production line and renovate factory buildings comprising 6,000 square metres.
At present, the project’s infrastructure has been completed and some equipment have begun installation, said General Manager of Shandong Jinniu Liu Hongyao adding that upon completion, the project can help save 80,000 kilowatt-hour of electricity and cut 10 manual jobs, boosting social and enterprise benefits.
The intelligent manufacturing industry in Juye is moving towards a high-end, intelligent and green orientation.
In the first half of this year, the county achieved a regional Gross Domestic Product of CNY23.891 billion, a year-on-year increase of 7.3 per cent, while the growth rate of major economic indicators ranked first in the city of Heze.
