A growing number of companies in east China’s Zhejiang province, a manufacturing powerhouse, have introduced automated machines to resume production and boost industrial capacity amid the ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic.

An automated production line in Jack Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. (Photo/Wang Wenlong)

In the glasses frame workshop of Kanghua Glass Co., Ltd. in Taizhou, more than 60 pieces of automatic manufacturing equipment developed by the company are fully operational.

“We needed six or seven workers to carry out this process before,” said Yang Gaolian, director of the company’s R&D department, adding that the company now just requires one machine to complete the same workload, which can produce 300 pieces per hour, doubling or even tripling efficiency, according to Yang.

Automation has also been introduced to production lines at a smart factory of Jack Sewing Machine Co. Ltd. in the same city. The company now only needs 10 workers at each production line, while previously requiring about 150.

“Thanks to the obvious advantages of our automated production lines, we are gaining the upper hand in resuming production and will deliver our products at an early date,” said an official with the company.

In Ningbo, two automated production lines of Zhejiang Zheneng Catalyst Technology Co., Ltd. have also resumed operations.

“We just need eight workers to operate smart manufacturing equipment covering four main production processes in the entire workshop,” said Chen Hangwu, an official with the company, adding that the smart production lines have improved efficiency and quality, while also guaranteeing production safety.

Local governments are also helping enterprises make the manufacturing process digital and smart in order to turn risks into opportunities. Yueqing has rolled out 32 measures to help enterprises resume work and production, including greater support for sectors such as robots, big data and artificial intelligence.