Amid the push towards automotive lightweighting and the rise of electric vehicles, Ningbo HLGY aims to close the technology gap with advanced international peers. By enhancing digital capabilities, the company seeks to innovate new processes and technologies, expand production capacity, and ultimately boost its core competitiveness and brand value. Intelligent factories and data-driven workshops have become focal points in HLGY’s strategic development plans for achieving leaps in growth.

The goal is to manage the entire mold production manufacturing process and facilitate real-time information and status sharing across multiple stages. By standardizing warehouse operations, introducing intelligent warehousing logistics systems, and enhancing automation within storage facilities, Heli aims to reduce dependence on manual labor and improve inventory management and picking efficiency.

HLGY initiated its digital factory transformation covering aspects from financial accounting, fund management, extensive supply chain, asset management, production execution, quality management, logistics integration, energy management, human resources collaboration, e-commerce, mobile applications, and decision-making analysis. On the production execution front, Ningbo HLGY implemented the Yimo Mold MES system to oversee the entire mold production process. This system enables real-time sharing of information and statuses across various processes, including order management, BOM management, programming management, process design, production scheduling, machining progress tracking, work hour statistics, quality issue tracking, tooling management, and heat treatment management.

A unified data platform during production is crucial for ensuring error-free operations. To establish comprehensive foundational and data archives for the entire mold lifecycle and maintain synchronized departmental information, HLGY integrated systems such as PLM, OA, and MES. This integration allows real-time sharing of mold design, processing progress, and equipment status information during production. The unified integration of multi-system related businesses effectively addresses the problem of information silos across HLGY’s systems.

As digital transformation progresses, production efficiency has significantly improved, and the frequency of material usage has increased. Traditional manual handling methods are increasingly unsustainable for meeting the high-frequency material transport demands on production lines. HLGY urgently requires an intelligent logistics system to complement advanced scheduling, management systems, and automated processing systems to enhance production operations.

In 2020, HLGY deployed intelligent AGV (Automated Guided Vehicle) robots within its mold workshop. These robots generate demand-driven material deliveries and integrate scheduling plans, production reporting, and material pull with various work processes and stations. This results in seamless connectivity between workshop materials, logistics equipment, production equipment, information management systems, and operational personnel. Furthermore, the AGV system fully integrates data links across MES, WMS, and ERP systems. The mold MES system issues production task material requirements to the AGV system, which, upon receiving task allocations from APS/MES, executes delivery according to planned tasks and provides real-time task execution feedback to the MES system.

Previously, HLGY's production department could typically only plan operations a few days ahead. With the implementation of EMAN’s advanced automatic scheduling system, HLGY has been able to plan the scheduling for all orders. The production department can now align production planning with mold delivery deadlines, achieving a workshop scheduling accuracy of over 90%.

The integration of intelligent AGV robots has improved delivery timeliness and increased logistics turnover frequency, reducing material backlog at workstation sides. The 24-hour operational delivery system has enabled HLGY to achieve zero "peak periods" in distribution, improving overall delivery capability by over 30%. Two AGVs can now accomplish the same delivery tasks that previously required three personnel, allowing for normal shift changes.

As a leading enterprise in the foundry mold industry, Ningbo HLGY is capitalizing on the opportunity for transformation and upgrade. By accelerating its digital, intelligent, and information-driven development, HLGY has forged a new identity under the "HLGY Smart Manufacturing" initiative