In late autumn, the land of the three Xiang rivers is full of vitality. Three years ago in autumn, General Secretary Xi Jinping walked into the production workshop of Sunward Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. in Changsha, Hunan Province, inspected the equipment manufacturing process, learned about technology R&D and production and manufacturing, and expressed appreciation for their innovative spirit. The General Secretary pointed out that independent innovation is the life of an enterprise and the foundation for an enterprise to overcome difficulties and grow and develop; key core technologies must be firmly grasped in our own hands.

[Same period: Chen Sheng, Party Secretary of Sunward]

The General Secretary's earnest words encourage Sunward to keep advancing toward the goal of becoming a world-class equipment manufacturing enterprise. We persist in pioneering innovation, which means researching and producing things that are not available in domestic and foreign markets.

Walking into Sunward, one has to raise one's head as high as possible to see the top of the rotary drilling rig. With a maximum output torque of up to 1,280 kN·m, a maximum drilling diameter of up to 7 meters, a drilling depth of more than 170 meters, and a maximum walking weight of the fully equipped machine of 470 tons, these main technical parameters point directly to the "world's best."

At the excavator debugging site, several pieces of equipment are undergoing intense debugging. The boom moves up and down; when it descends, gravitational potential energy is stored, and when it rises, it is released, thereby achieving energy saving and consumption reduction. The F-series excavators using this new energy-saving technology have already been mass-produced by Sunward, saving more than 10% in fuel consumption compared with similar products, and have become star products on the market.

Innovative products such as the world's tallest pile frame, the world's longest-boom excavator, and the internationally first double-layer quick-press immersed tube machine have emerged one after another at Sunward. In recent years, Sunward has developed nearly 100 new products, revenue has broken through the 10 billion mark, and innovative products are showing a trend of surging forth.

[Same period: Jiang Yalin, supervisor of Sunward's Industrial Engineering Department]

At present, Sunward is making every effort to tackle digital twin technology. A virtual production line with exactly the same equipment parameters, performance, and logical relationships as the real production line is established in a computer, allowing real production line data to assign values and simulate the virtual production line; the virtual production line then guides and controls the real production line, continuously optimizing the production process and improving production efficiency and product quality.

Following the development trends of unmanned, intelligent, and electrified operations, Sunward is accelerating the integrated innovative application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, and big data with high-end equipment, exploring a new "smart manufacturing" model of digital integration across the entire product life cycle, and launching intelligent products such as remote-controlled excavators, 5G rotary drilling rigs, 5G intelligent rock drilling rigs, 5G aerial work platforms, and unmanned mining trucks, which are widely used in emergency rescue, hazardous workplace operations, and other fields.

"Intelligence" has become a shining label of Sunward. Persisting in innovation-led development, Sunward's advanced manufacturing is advancing at an accelerated pace on the new journey with solid steps.