Recently, the results of the 5th Intelligent Manufacturing Innovation Competition were announced. Two achievements spearheaded by MCC Huatian—"Key Technologies and Applications of AI + Intelligent Manufacturing for Hot-rolled Long Product Workshops" and "Global Smart Logistics System for Steel Raw Material Yards and Docks Based on 5G + IGV Unmanned Driving"—were selected as finalists in the "AI+Manufacturing" Solution Track and the Raw Materials (Steel) Industry Track, respectively, and both received Excellence Awards. These achievements effectively demonstrate the company's technical expertise, system integration capabilities, and engineering implementation proficiency in the fields of steel intelligent manufacturing and smart logistics.
This competition was jointly organized by the China Iron and Steel Association, the Steel Industry Sub-Alliance of the Intelligent Manufacturing System Solution Provider Alliance, and the Steel Industry Digital Transformation Promotion Center. With the theme "Innovation Builds Dreams, Intelligence Creates the Future," it focused on areas such as intelligent equipment/industrial robots, intelligent production, smart operations, cross-regional collaboration, and AI+Steel, soliciting innovative solutions and typical application results from the industry. Expert judges conducted a comprehensive evaluation based on technological innovation, engineering practicality, and promotion value, selecting a group of exemplary entries from numerous online submissions. After an intense roadshow and defense session, the final awards were determined: 1 First Prize, 3 Second Prizes, 6 Third Prizes, 17 Excellence Awards, 3 Best Creativity Awards, and 3 Most Investment-Worthy Awards.
The achievement "Key Technologies and Applications of AI + Intelligent Manufacturing for Hot-rolled Long Product Workshops" targets key process chains in long product lines, forming a replicable set of intelligent technologies. The project addresses common pain points like high energy consumption, significant quality fluctuations, and reliance on experience for key operations, proposing a systematic solution driven by both "mechanism models and data intelligence." It focuses on key links such as continuous casting, hot-charging/direct rolling, reheating furnaces, thermo-mechanical controlled processing (TMCP), and finishing, building an online perception, simulation, and optimization control system featuring cloud-edge-device collaboration. Through the integrated application of technologies like digital twins for billet flow in front of furnaces, intelligent combustion control for reheating furnaces, optimization of TMCP water-cooling parameters, and machine vision and robot collaboration in finishing areas, it promotes the shift of production from "experience-driven" to "model and data co-driven." This achievement has been validated and applied on multiple typical hot-rolled long product lines, showing stable operational results and providing support for improving process stability, reducing manual intervention, and promoting energy conservation and consumption reduction.
The achievement "Global Smart Logistics System for Steel Raw Material Yards and Docks Based on 5G + IGV Unmanned Driving" takes the dock-raw material yard-steelmaking feeding chain as the main line, exploring a new smart logistics model of "global unmanned operation + whole-process visualization." The project tackles challenges in the raw material logistics of steel enterprises, such as "mixed traffic of people and vehicles, high safety risks, low scheduling efficiency, and lack of information transparency," proposing an integrated solution of "intelligent equipment + smart roadside units + cloud control platform." Leveraging 5G communication and multi-source fusion high-precision positioning, combined with intelligent scheduling algorithms and digital twin visual monitoring, it creates a comprehensive management and control platform integrating Transport Management System (TMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS), and whole-process visualization. By establishing unified data standards and interface specifications, it achieves efficient coordination with systems such as ERP, Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM), and unmanned weighing, supporting global linkage and closed-loop control of the dock-raw material yard-steelmaking feeding chain. Guided by the EPC project "Unmanned Driving Intelligent Warehouse Management and Dispatch System for Steelmaking Raw Material Yard and Dock" for Zhenshi Group Oriental Special Steel, the project aims to build a demonstration for global unmanned closed-loop operation in complex open scenarios. It will provide strong support for improving logistics efficiency, optimizing operational costs, strengthening intrinsic safety, and promoting green operations.
Moving forward, MCC Huatian will continue to promote the deep integration of key technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital twins, and industrial internet with steel metallurgy scenarios. The company will accelerate the transformation, application, and promotion of achievements, continuously build benchmark demonstration projects, advance the engineering and productization of results, and form industry solutions that are practical, replicable, and scalable. This effort aims to provide solid support for the digital transformation and high-quality development of the steel industry.
