Kelude Heavy Industry: Smart Crane Manufacturing Benchmark
Kelude Heavy Industry Named Provincial Smart Manufacturing Benchmark, with its digital factory model now being promoted across Henan Province. The facility, built around an intelligent overhead crane production line, achieves full-process digital control through equipment connectivity, data-driven operations, and AI-powered quality inspection.
Kelude Heavy Industry has been recognized as a Smart Manufacturing benchmark enterprise in Henan Province's crane manufacturing sector, and its digital factory approach is now being shared province-wide. Centered on an intelligent overhead crane production line, the facility integrates equipment networking, data-driven workflows, and AI-based quality inspection to deliver end-to-end digital control—from raw material cutting to final assembly. This recognition validates the company's digital transformation strategy and provides a replicable upgrade roadmap for peer manufacturers in the industry.
Digital Factory Architecture and Core Modules
The digital factory is built across four layers: production equipment, data acquisition, business applications, and decision analytics. At the equipment layer, welding robots, laser cutters, CNC machining centers, and other critical machinery are all connected to the industrial internet, with real-time status and processing parameters continuously uploaded. The data acquisition layer collects information from equipment and sensors via OPC UA and Modbus TCP protocols, while edge computing nodes handle data preprocessing and anomaly detection.
The application layer comprises three core modules: Manufacturing Execution System (MES), Quality Management System (QMS), and Equipment Management System (EMS). The MES covers production scheduling, work order dispatch, material tracking, and completion reporting—ensuring full traceability from order to delivery. The QMS centrally manages weld inspection, dimensional measurement, and surface quality data, with the inspection pass rate rising to 98.6%. The EMS logs maintenance plans and execution records for all production equipment, improving overall equipment effectiveness from 72% to 86%.
The QD type overhead crane intelligent production line enables automated, digitally monitored control of critical processes. Manufacturing data flows directly into the MES, providing the equipment-level data foundation for full-process traceability.
The decision analytics layer presents key indicators—output, quality, energy consumption, and delivery performance—through interactive dashboards, giving management a real-time view of plant operations. The dashboard system supports drill-down to individual processes and machines, enabling rapid identification of production bottlenecks and quality anomalies. Since the digital factory went live, product delivery time has been cut by 22%, work-in-progress inventory reduced by 30%, and energy consumption per 10,000 yuan of output value lowered by 14%.
Scaling the Benchmark Experience
As a Smart Manufacturing benchmark enterprise, Kelude has packaged its digital factory experience into a standardized solution framework covering equipment networking specifications, data acquisition standards, system integration interfaces, and quality control models. This framework has already been applied in digital retrofit projects at several crane manufacturers across the province, helping them cut solution design time by approximately 40% and reduce system integration risks.
Knowledge transfer also includes industry seminars and on-siteInspection visits. More than 60 companies from across the province and beyond have toured the digital factory to study its production line layout, data acquisition approach, system integration architecture, and real-world operational results. Through this experience sharing and solution replication, the digital maturity of the regional crane manufacturing cluster has been significantly elevated.
The remote operation and maintenance platform now connects over 500 cranes across 26 provinces, with digital factory manufacturing data providing a rich baseline for remote diagnostics.
FAQ
Q: What is the typical timeline and investment for a digital factory build?
A: The build takes approximately 18 months, rolled out in three phases. Phase 1 covers equipment networking and data acquisition infrastructure; Phase 2 deploys the MES and quality management systems; Phase 3 implements decision analytics dashboards and system integration optimization.
Q: How can legacy equipment be integrated into the digital system?
A: Legacy equipment is connected by retrofitting smart gateways and sensor kits without altering the existing electrical control system. The gateways support protocol conversion for major PLC brands including Siemens and Mitsubishi, while sensors cover current, temperature, vibration, and position—adapting to the data acquisition needs of different machines.
Q: What does the promotion package include?
A: The package comprises six components: equipment networking technical specifications, data acquisition standards, MES functional specifications, system integration interface specifications, and quality management models. Each component includes implementation guidelines, technical parameters, and acceptance standards.
Q: What new skills does the digital factory require from the workforce?
A: The digital factory expands the skill set for frontline operators from single-machine operation to a combination of equipment handling and system application. Kelude has rolled out digital skills training covering equipment operation, system usage, and basic data analysis, with over 300 training sessions completed to date.
