In the wave of rapid technological development, Zhongqing Robot is rising at an alarming rate.
On May 22, Zhongqing Intelligent Manufacturing (Shenzhen Honghualing) base was officially opened, and the first batch of T800 humanoid robots successfully rolled off the production line.
This intelligent manufacturing base located in Nanshan, Shenzhen has a construction area of 12,000 square meters. The production line integrates manufacturing, assembly and testing, and can roll off a humanoid robot every 15 minutes.
Looking back on the past, two years ago, most products in the humanoid robot industry were still hand-built one by one by engineers in the laboratory, and it was considered good to be able to produce dozens of units a year.
Zhongqing will make its first test prototype in 2024, and achieve small-scale production of PM01 at the level of 100 units in 2025. This year, it has jumped directly to the delivery capacity of 10,000 units. This leap is not a big leap.
Zhongqing chose to place its manufacturing base in Nanshan Intelligent Manufacturing Honghualing Base after careful consideration.
This is the country’s first industrial demonstration project to move production lines to high-rise buildings instead of building factories on large flat areas.
What’s more important is its location advantage. Zhongqing’s R&D headquarters and Honghualing manufacturing base are both in Nanshan District, which only takes 25 minutes by car.
Since humanoid robot technology iterates very quickly and advances on a weekly basis, this model of R&D upstairs and manufacturing downstairs allows engineers to adjust code in the morning and go downstairs to see the assembly results in the afternoon, shortening the distance between R&D and production to almost zero.
In addition, the supply chain is also a major advantage of Zhongqing.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has the most complete electronic hardware industry chain in China. Zhongqing can find core component suppliers such as joint motors, sensors, and lidar within a two-hour drive from the surrounding area.
If a problem is encountered on the production line, it is discovered in the morning, solved in the afternoon, and materials can be replenished in the evening. The loop is closed on the same day. This kind of response speed is difficult to achieve in other places.
The Honghualing base has built a complete manufacturing process, covering raw material quality inspection, parts assembly, complete machine assembly, offline testing, shipment and after-sales maintenance.
Zhongqing has made great efforts in four aspects, including supply chain quality control, production process standardization, intelligent manufacturing upgrade, and working condition testing and verification.
The production line has introduced automated lines and equipment such as locking, gluing, and laser welding, increasing production efficiency by 40%. A digital management system has also been adopted to make the production information of each link traceable and traceable.
In terms of quality control, all T800s must undergo 79 full-dimensional quality inspections and 46 simulation tests under different working conditions before leaving the factory to ensure that there are no problems in the hands of customers. The goal is to ensure that the performance of 10,000 units of the product is consistent, stable and reliable.
Zhao Tongyang, founder and CEO of Zhongqing, said that from the first test machine in 2024 to the realization of a delivery capability of 10,000 units today, Zhongqing is accelerating into a new stage of industrialization and commercialization.
It is worth mentioning that Shenzhen has just started production, and Zhongqing’s planned global manufacturing headquarters in Zhengzhou High-tech Zone is also in progress.
The first phase of the 8,000-square-meter base has started construction, and the planned smart production line with an annual output of 5,000 units is expected to be put into production in the near future. The second phase of the 60-acre smart production line is also being planned, with the goal of achieving a production capacity of tens of thousands of units within 3 to 5 years.
From an industry perspective, Zhongqing’s mass production breakthrough is of great significance.
In the past, the humanoid robot industry focused on whether it could be made, but now it focuses on whether it can make more, better, and cheaper.
From laboratory prototypes to production line batch products, a series of hard skills such as engineering capabilities, supply chain management, and quality control are required.
Zhongqing has completed the production line in Shenzhen. It is worth looking forward to whether it can go steadily and far in the future.
