Recently, the reporter learned from the HEG-OEM (Tianjin) Electronics Co., Ltd., an enterprise in Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as "Tianjin HEG"), that last year, the Company achieved a sales revenue of RMB 193 million, an increase of 24% over the same period last year. Underlying the increase in data is the "intellectual" upgrading of the enterprise.

　　Founded in April 2000, Tianjin HEG has been concentrating on the R&D and manufacturing of electronic components over the long term. It is understood that the predecessor of the Company was Harbin Semiconductor Research Institute, which was established in 1965 and started to engage in electronics manufacturing since the 1990s, and was one among the first enterprises in China to enter the Surface Mount Technology (SMT) industry. Currently, Tianjin HEG has passed the certification of integration of IT application with industrialization as well as the certification of high-tech enterprise, and is capable of providing customized electronic components, production and assembly services for various types of automotive, industrial, communication and consumer electronics products.

　　With the deepening of the national strategy for intelligent manufacturing and the promotion of science and technology, SMT technology and industry have also experienced rapid development, making transformation and industrial upgrading once a challenge for Tianjin HEG.

　　The revolution of new technologies and cost pressures have spawned automated, intelligent and flexible manufacturing. Zhai Bo, General Manager of Tianjin HEG, is well aware that the only way for rapid development of the enterprise is to improve the level of automation in the electronics industry through technological advances, so as to enable less manpower, reduce labor costs and increase individual output, and maintain competitiveness. "We have actively responded to the national development strategy of digital economy and started the digital transformation process from 2016, and completed the intelligent upgrading of production lines and the construction of intelligent workshops in six years." Nowadays, Tianjin HEG has taken the wings of digitalization, with all production workshops adopting integrated MES system control of assembling, logistics loading and unloading, packaging and testing, and realized the automation, intelligence and traceability of electronic product production and assembly, thereby further saving materials, energy, equipment, manpower and time.

　　"High performance, usability, flexibility and environmental protection are inevitable trends for the development of SMT equipment." Zhai Bo further introduced to the reporter that the traditional production mode of the Company was mainly operated by manpower, with low production efficiency as well as high error rate and product defect rate. To break through the constraints of the traditional mode, Tianjin HEG has collaborated with software developers and core intelligent manufacturing equipment suppliers to organically integrate robotic arms, automatic insertion equipment, automatic labeling equipment, intelligent logistics equipment and production lines, and to integrate intelligent workshops by means of manufacturing execution systems (MES), remote control technology and end signal transmission technology, thereby realizing an automated production process without excessive human intervention. "Upon the integration of the intelligent workshops, though the number of employees was reduced by about 35, the production efficiency was increased by 40%, with more stable and reliable product quality, and more than 30% of electrical energy and 50% of transportation frequency were effectively saved, thereby fulfilling the purpose of energy saving and emission reduction and conforming to the national strategic goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality."

　　Tianjin HEG has attached great importance to the investment in R&D on product experiments. "In the first half of this year, we have invested RMB 7.94 million in R&D, mainly for technological innovation related to electronic component products." Zhai Bo stated that Tianjin HEG has 65 R&D staff, with R&D laboratories dedicated to product experiments in special areas, and various types of equipment worth RMB 10 million in specific areas of the workshop, such as automatic chip machines, solder paste printing machines and automatic tinning devices, for project experiments. Over the past three years, the Company has established an average of 6 R&D projects per year, for example, the development of key technologies such as "automatic vision positioning system" and "PIN cutting equipment". Among them, the PIN Cutting Equipment has been officially put into use, which effectively saves the manpower of over 10 operators and improves the production efficiency by 70%. Up to present, Tianjin HEG has obtained 35 intellectual property rights of various types, and has obtained a number of honors and qualifications, such as the certification of standard implementation under the informationization and industrialization integrated management system, national high-tech enterprises, and specialized, precise, special and innovative SMEs.

　　In accordance with the strategy of "Building the City Based on Manufacturing" of Tianjin and the deployment of "Strengthening the District by Manufacturing" of the Binhai New Area, Tianjin Port Free Trade Zone has seized the transformation of the real economy, promoted the digital transformation project of the manufacturing industry, promoted the in-depth integration of digital technologies such as cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, industrial Internet, Internet of Things and traditional industries, assisted the traditional electronic enterprises such as Tianjin HEG in continuously improving the level of industrial digitalization, networking and intellectualization, released the multiplier effect of digital technology, comprehensively promoted the quality and cost reduction and efficiency of industries and enterprises, and "added power and strength" for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry in Binhai New Area and Tianjin.