The Zhejiang Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology and the Provincial Department of Finance have released the list of demonstration projects for the transformation of production and manufacturing methods to be implemented in 2024. Wanxiang Qianchao Co., Ltd.'s "Wanxiang Qianchao Lightweight, High-Strength, High-Efficiency Universal Joint Assembly Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Upgrade Project" has been selected as a demonstration project for intelligentization and high-end development, while Zhejiang Wanxiang Precision Engineering Co., Ltd.'s "Digital Transformation Project for Mass Production Application of Integrated Automotive Electronic Products in Automotive Wheel Hub Bearing Units" has been selected as a demonstration project for green development.

The Demonstration Project Plan for Transforming Production and Manufacturing Methods is a major initiative launched by Zhejiang Province in 2021. It focuses on ten landmark industrial chains, emphasizes the concept of green development, and adopts a competitive selection process to provide preferential support to a group of demonstration projects that are intelligent, green, and service-oriented. This initiative aims to guide enterprises in accelerating the transformation of their manufacturing methods and support the creation of “Future Factories.”

Both the universal joint and the wheel hub unit are industry-leading products. By implementing intelligent, high-end, and green projects, we will achieve full-lifecycle tracking of carbon footprints for both high-end customers and our products, drive collaborative upgrades across the industrial chain and supply chain, and position our company as a leading benchmark for green, intelligent manufacturing in the industry.

Wanxiang Qianchao Lightweight, High-Strength, and High-Efficiency Universal Joint Assembly Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Upgrade Project

Through deep intelligent transformation, the project has built a 5G+ industrial internet platform that connects upstream and downstream industrial chains, establishing a benchmark “Future Factory (Smart Factory)” for the industry. This initiative enhances intelligent manufacturing capabilities and boosts production line flexibility. At the same time, a digital and intelligent operational system has been established, enabling data to be online, processes to be online, and decision-making to be online, thus creating new models of intelligent manufacturing and new investment approaches. The project strives to become a world-class, globally leading innovation and intelligent manufacturing hub for automotive components. Furthermore, by adopting strategies such as lightweight forging, technology standardization, product series development, and parts commonality, the project has implemented over 300 technological cost-reduction and innovation initiatives, meeting users’ and markets’ demands for high cost-effectiveness, expanding product profit margins, and strengthening the company’s competitiveness. The comprehensive performance indicators of the project’s products have reached or surpassed the advanced levels of similar foreign products, filling a domestic gap in the market. These products not only meet the requirements of domestic automakers in developing their own brands and upgrading from “Chinese products” to “Chinese brands,” but also enable Chinese component enterprises to actively participate in global competition and promote their high-end and international development.

Automotive Wheel Hub Bearing Unit Integrated with Automotive Electronics—Mass Production Application and Digital Transformation Project

The project employs advanced equipment manufacturing processes and intelligent management solutions, building five key application scenarios: digital design, intelligent production, digital management, green manufacturing, and safety-oriented control. This integration achieves a deep fusion of green, digital, and intelligent technologies. The project comprehensively upgrades aspects including production, logistics, quality, energy management, and infrastructure, reaching an advanced level in green and intelligent manufacturing. The project focuses on energy-efficient product design, low-carbon design, and lightweight design, optimizes production processes, and adopts green manufacturing and processing technologies characterized by low energy consumption, short process flows, and high efficiency and precision. These efforts aim to reduce energy consumption, minimize environmental pollution, enhance energy management capabilities, and implement green transformation projects centered on improving energy efficiency, promoting clean production, and maximizing resource utilization. The project accelerates the establishment of a green manufacturing system primarily composed of green products, green factories, green industrial parks, and green supply chains.

Wanxiang Qianchao is dedicated to the research, development, and manufacturing of automotive components, and provides systematic and collaborative solutions for the modularization of automotive parts. Its universal joints and wheel hub units are world-leading and number one in China; its drive shafts, constant-velocity joints, bearings, and other products are also industry leaders in China. The company boasts a portfolio of single-item champions and specialized, sophisticated, and innovative enterprises. Moving forward, Wanxiang Qianchao will continue to keep pace with the times and foster innovative development, guided by the mission of "making the air cleaner." Centered around three major strategies—globalization, technology-driven innovation, and digital-intelligent transformation—the company will tackle two critical technological challenges: bottleneck bearings and standardized chassis systems. It will also break new ground in green design technologies, adopt clean manufacturing techniques, accelerate digital upgrades, enhance digital and intelligent operational capabilities, expedite the construction of digital factories, and continuously strengthen its core competitiveness in manufacturing, technology, and quality in the global market.