ABB Group is a world-renowned high-tech manufacturing enterprise and one of the world's robot manufacturing giants. With an investment of US $150 million and an area of 67,000 square meters, the newly opened robot Gigafactory is ABB's largest robot research and development, production and application base in the world.
Inside the gigafactory, "clever" artificial intelligence robots are at work, collaborating with workers, assembling parts in "embroidery skills" and moving materials in "hercules".
"The Gigafactory is digital, intelligent and low-carbon. The operation of the Gigafactory is another important milestone in ABB's development in China. We will take advantage of the Gigafactory's larger capacity and more advanced and flexible manufacturing processes to serve the Chinese market and further radiate to the Asia-Pacific region." Liang Rui, president of ABB's robotics business unit in China, said the Gigafactory has a global R&D center, where the vision of "in China, for China" and "for the world" can be realized.
The picture shows the exterior of ABB robot Gigafactory. Photo by Fang Zhe, Xinhua News Agency
The global research and development center within the Gigafactory, which adopts an open collaboration model, will accelerate innovation in artificial intelligence, digitalization and software in the future, and further tap the application potential of robots in logistics, medical health, wearable intelligent devices and other fields.
Tang Wenkan, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Economic and Information Technology Commission, said that ABB is the world's leading robot and intelligent manufacturing system integrator, and has deeply integrated into the development of Shanghai's intelligent manufacturing industry over the years. Shanghai is driving industrial digital transformation with smart factory empowerment, leading enterprises to create new heights in the robot industry, and optimizing and improving the industrial development ecology through integration and interoperability.
Tang Wenkan introduced that the scale, technical strength and application level of Shanghai's robot industry have long been leading in China. In 2021, the output of industrial robots in Shanghai exceeded 70,000 units, a year-on-year increase of 34%, and the density of robots in industrial enterprises above designated size in the city reached 260 units per 10,000 people, more than twice the global average.
The Pudong New Area, where ABB's robotic gigafactory is located, is currently building a leading area for socialist modernization and vigorously developing "intelligent manufacturing" industries, including ABB's robotic gigafactory.