How can the new generation of industrial software give Guangdong's manufacturing industry a "soul"?
Industrial software is the "soul" of modern industry, and with the continuous emergence of new manufacturing scenarios, the new generation of industrial software is empowering various industries.
On November 5th, the 2023 Industrial Software Ecology Conference, hosted by the Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, and organized by the Electronic Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Guangdong Digital Chemistry Society, was held in Shenzhen. The Guangdong Industrial Software Industry Fund, OpenGeometry Open Source Community, and National Industrial Software Industry Education Integration Community were established on site to expand and strengthen the province's industrial software industry.
New technologies and architectures have injected new vitality into industrial software and applications, and also called for a new industrial ecosystem to empower the development of various industries such as manufacturing. We need to integrate human, financial, material, knowledge, data and other resource elements, jointly participate in various links of industrial software from technology product research and development to promotion, promote the optimization and reorganization of industrial software related elements, and thus build a good industrial ecology, "said Wang Yunhui, Deputy Director of the Fifth Institute of Electronics of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Guangdong Action provides underlying 'root' technology for industrial software
Industrial software has a wide range of application scenarios, high market demand, and promising development prospects in Guangdong Province.
According to data from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, the software industry in Guangdong has developed rapidly, with continuous breakthroughs in core technologies and a relatively complete industrial ecosystem. In recent years, the industry scale has continued to grow by more than 15%. As of 2022, the province's software and information service industry revenue has exceeded 1.7 trillion yuan.
New technologies, new markets, and new scenarios have put forward innovative development needs for industrial software, which cannot be separated from the support of technology, funding, and talent.
Industrial software is the 'root' of high-end manufacturing. It can be said that only when the roots are deep enough can the tree grow high enough. "Professor Shan Xiaowen from Beijing Normal University said that the geometric kernel engine is equivalent to the 'chip' of the industrial software industry, and is the core root technology for digital design, digital manufacturing, digital modeling and simulation, digital services and operations. At present, there is an urgent demand for cloud geometry kernels in the development of new generation industrial software.
At the meeting, the Guangdong Industrial Software Industry Fund was also announced. The initial scale of the fund is RMB 2.1 billion, mainly invested in unlisted enterprises with leading technology in the upstream and downstream fields of industrial software and its industrial chain, focusing on investing in start-up and growth targets. The fund accelerates the research and application promotion of core software through financial means, and cultivates an industrial software industry ecosystem for China, especially Guangdong Province.
In order to provide a solid talent foundation and technical support for the new generation of industrial software, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), and Shenzhen Information Vocational and Technical College have led a cross regional national industrial software industry education integration community, consisting of 56 enterprises, universities, and vocational schools. The aim is to gather high-quality resources for industrial software industry education, cultivate composite high-quality outstanding engineers, skilled craftsmen, national craftsmen, and high-quality technical and skilled talents with engineering innovation capabilities in the field of industrial software.
Expert opinions on strengthening the ecological construction of industrial apps
Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, digital twins, industrial simulation... What changes will the new generation of information technology empower industrial software and bring to the manufacturing industry?
"Now let's talk about software defining cars. In my opinion, software defines the future and software defines the world." Chen Shiyi, academician of the CAS Member, pointed out that at present, artificial intelligence is developing rapidly. "Industrial software+artificial intelligence" will make artificial intelligence develop rapidly in the manufacturing industry, and will also be the most important application of artificial intelligence development in the future.
In addition to technological breakthroughs, further empowering the manufacturing industry with industrial software requires the formation of a better industrial software ecosystem.
"Let enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, be willing to 'go to the cloud platform', which requires the platform to provide a better industrial software ecology." Li Peigen, academician of the CAE Member, believes that the development of industrial software cannot be separated from the construction of industrial APP ecology. The construction of an industrial APP ecosystem requires both the development of platforms, bases, and factory operating systems, as well as the formation of a collaborative ecosystem between platforms.
For example, a factory, whether it is automated manufacturing, operation, or supply chain, needs a platform similar to a factory operating system to support it. There are many tools in this operating system that can develop many applications, just like there are many apps on mobile phones.
At present, in the field of industrial software, some platform based apps, industry common apps, user developed apps, and ecosystem sharing apps are emerging. The richness of these industrial apps is an important symbol of promoting the development of the industrial software industry. ”Li Bacon said.
The new generation of industrial software has made numerous breakthroughs, but due to its complex system, numerous categories, and wide coverage, it still faces some bottlenecks and shortcomings.
Only by establishing an industrial ecosystem with circulatory and hematopoietic functions can we systematically solve the difficulties faced by industrial software under various bottlenecks such as funding, market, and technology, avoid the problem of treating the head and foot, and fundamentally solve the development dilemma of industrial software, "said Wang Yunhui.
Specifically, Wang Yunhui suggests breaking through the difficulties from four aspects: improving the industrial software standard system, promoting industrial software adaptation verification, perfecting industrial software public services, and promoting the promotion and application of industrial software. Establishing standards, emphasizing adaptation, strengthening services, and promoting applications are the key to ensuring a good ecosystem and high-quality development of the industrial software industry through the collaboration of government, industry, academia, research, and application. Collaboration is the value of the future, win-win cooperation is the structure of the future, and symbiotic win-win cooperation is the foundation of future competition
Enterprises explore the creation of a new generation of industrial software toolchain
Collaborative design, virtual verification, remote operation and maintenance... New scenarios, solutions, and models of intelligent manufacturing are emerging one after another, making the new generation of industrial software an indispensable part of the intelligent manufacturing process.
Industrial software has become the bottom line capability for Huawei hardware engineers to innovate and reach new heights. No engineer can develop a leading product without industrial software, "said Qiu Shuiping, CTO of Huawei Industrial Software and Industrial Cloud. Huawei's business scope covers different fields such as ICT infrastructure, cloud computing, digital energy, and intelligent automotive solutions, which also puts higher demands on industrial software.
To further enhance the collaborative efficiency between industrial software, Huawei Cloud has partnered with dozens of tool software vendors to officially launch the hardware development production line CraftArts on the forum. Qiu introduced that CraftArts is aimed at hardware R&D engineers, providing one-stop IT toolchain services for hardware design, development, simulation, trial production and other operations. It creates circuit board EDA toolchain, structural design toolchain, industrial simulation platform, and design and manufacturing integration platform for the industry.
Currently, over 18000 Huawei engineers are developing tasks on the CraftArts circuit board EDA toolchain, which can shorten the development cycle of high-density and highly complex PCBs by 40% compared to the industry average, and increase the success rate of one version by 30%. ”Qiu said horizontally.
In recent years, more and more small and medium-sized enterprises have actively explored the path of digital transformation with the empowerment of industrial software.In previous years, leading enterprises took the initiative to explore transformation, and now some small and medium-sized enterprises are also actively exploring it, "said Liu Xianwei, Deputy General Manager of SIE Industrial Software and IoT subsidiary." SIE has two heavyweight products on display this time, one of which is the new generation product SMOM based on Huawei's industrial data model. We will continue to explore new products and services with Huawei Cloud based on the new generation SMOM to help enterprises achieve digital innovation and transformation; The second is the self-developed "Gushen Industrial Internet Platform". This year, it was selected as the "national team" of the "double cross" Internet platform. Small and medium-sized enterprises account for about 30% of its service objects. The platform has nearly 5000 industrial application APPs, 1000 industry knowledge models, and more than 1000 enterprises in total. Now it has served more than 150 enterprises and more than 500 digital chemical plants in Guangdong, Fujian and other regions. "
Liu Xianwei told reporters that currently, small and medium-sized enterprises account for about 30% of the service recipients. "The new generation of industrial software has greatly lowered the threshold for digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprisesLiu Xianwei introduced that SIE helps enterprises achieve refined management by serving industrial knowledge from 23 industries, including cost reduction and efficiency improvement, quality improvement, internal collaboration, and industrial chain collaboration. It helps enterprises enhance competitiveness from the perspective of overall supply chain collaboration, such as how to achieve shorter delivery cycles, reduce comprehensive inventory costs, and improve equipment efficiency.
On the one hand, through the collaborative management of upstream and downstream contract manufacturers and small and medium-sized enterprises in the supply chain by top enterprises, the new generation of industrial software helps enterprises reduce transformation costs; On the other hand, through intensive order platforms, logistics platforms, cloud factories, etc., industrial software helps small and medium-sized enterprises to receive orders uniformly, distribute materials uniformly, and purchase centrally, while the requirements for improving quality standards and process requirements "force" small and medium-sized enterprises to transform and upgrade.
Facing the future, SIE Information will take technology as the driving force, product as the starting point, work with Huawei Cloud to continue to deepen the application scenarios of the industry, build a new generation of industrial software system, lead the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, and inject surging power into the construction of a manufacturing power and a digital China.
