World Internet of Things Exposition and Wuxi visit by Fraunhofer IAO

China is a rapidly changing environment. Nevertheless, people value what they have achieved and their ancestors.

From November 8 to 13, I was in Wuxi again to exchange ideas with project partners and companies. After my arrival, I met Mr. Dou Lin, a former high-ranking decision-maker in Wuxi, on Saturday. As the head of the Economic Council, he knows many entrepreneurs and administrative officials. As he was born, grew up and made a career in Wuxi, he was keen to familiarize me with his city.

First we visited the Wuxi Studios. The area, which was originally an ironworks, was converted into a creative and filmmaking hub around 2010. Today it is the center for blockbusters on the Chinese market. In addition to huge studios for monumental sets, there is also the opportunity to experience VFX and understand how digital editing and real filmed elements make the illusion perfect. Huge rooms provide space for elaborate sets, such as the Empress Throne Room, where a picture of me on the throne was taken.

Side fact: How can you tell whether rooms were intended for the emperor or the empress? By the mystical animals. If they are dragons, the room is intended for the emperor. If they are phoenixes, it is for the empress.

After lunch in a small, local but well-known restaurant - we Europeans don't know it, of course - we visited Huishan Ancient Town Scenic Area. This is a mixture of a relic from earlier times, as the houses date from the beginning of the 20th century, and an amusement park with stores and restaurants. The number of ancestral houses is special. Influential families build and run these traditional houses to commemorate their ancestors and pay homage to the successes they have achieved. In addition to family trees, there are also valuable drawings, poems and other artifacts in the rooms. Without Mr. Dou Lin's explanations, I probably wouldn't know anything about it.

A tea break is always part of the program on a ”day off“. Accompanied by Mr. Dou Lin, we were invited to have tea with one of his friends. In addition to a small snack (orange, blueberries and seeds), we had delicious tea in a courtyard that completely shielded us from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding area...

After refreshments, we were invited to visit the company Wuxi Zhongyi Smart Technology. Mr. Jeff Zouthe CEO of the company, welcomed us. After a presentation of the products - measuring devices for electricity, gas, water and networking modules (based on LoRaWAN technology) - we were given a tour of the production facilities. The company develops, produces and tests all products itself. They purchase electrical components and manufacture the circuit boards on the assembly line, install them in the products and test them fully automatically. After a presentation by Fraunhofer and Fraunhofer IAO, there was a discussion about what companies in China need and how Fraunhofer could support them with research impulses.

Afterwards, we went to dinner with some of Jeff Zou's business associates to continue exchanging ideas and deepening our conversations. The restaurant was adjacent to the garden of the former residence of Zhu Dachan. Zhu Dachan (1856-1926) was an important industrialist - known as the “King of Electricity in China” - who made an important contribution to industrial development in Wuxi. In addition to good local food, there was also a lively exchange on IoT, as everyone is active in this area, in administration, companies and associations. A good start to the fair.

11.11.2024 - Opening ceremony of the World Internet of Things Exposition. In addition to speeches by officials, there were two presentations that I found exciting.

Dr. Tony Xu Han, CEO of WeRide presented the ambitious roadmap for autonomous driving. That alone would probably not have been exciting, as I have heard similar presentations from other companies. It really took off for me when I saw an autonomous bus with passengers and no driver in real traffic during the lunch break. That's right, the WeRide Robobus is driving around commercially in Wuxi. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try it out due to my lack of Chinese language skills. But if you are in Wuxi, you should!

Dr. Li Xiaojian, founder and chairman of We-Linking Medical Technologyshowed the development of human-brain interfaces in his presentation. He compared the approaches of various commercial providers. What is possible with them can also be used in Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart under the aegis of Dr. Mathias Vukelic experienced and discussed.

The exhibits on show were flashy, loud and colorful. Unfortunately, there was relatively little movement. It was more about the data platforms and gateways to collect and provide data. In discussions with the companies, I learned that they can collect and visualize data. However, they still lack value-creating use cases.

Data, the new oil, is taken seriously in China!

To stay with the analogy, they are currently only burning it in the lamp but do not yet have a chemical industry that can derive further value from it. But they will probably conquer the field faster than we can watch.

In the afternoon, I had my presentation - the font was messed up - to talk about the role of the digital twin as part of IOT and smart manufacturing. The talk was very well received, at least there were a lot of questions, most of which had to remain unanswered due to the tight schedule, unfortunately.

On Tuesday, I visited the EU-China Industrial Innovation Zone for the first time. I was able to get an idea of the dimensions and the current transformation projects. We then discussed the strategic development of our impetus with Weng Jiagung, the office manager in the Meicun sub-district. After a short breather in the Project Office in the facilities at the EU Project Innovation Center (EUPIC) we went to exchange ideas at the municipal government building. Accompanied by Mr. Dou Lin, I introduced the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft and Fraunhofer IAO. Together with Li Wen, Director of the International Cooperation Department of Wuxi Science and Technology Bureau, Zhu Yinhao, Deputy Director of Wuxi IoT Innovation Promotion Center, and Zhu Lin, Director of the International Cooperation Department of Wuxi Industrial Innovation Research Institute, we discussed possible formats for cooperation, such as innovation networks. We also discussed content for the visit by Prof. Wilhelm Bauer, member of the Fraunhofer IAO leaders team. The visit to Wuxi is planned for the first half of 2025.

The tour and the exchange at Wuxi Best Precision Machinery was both exciting and frightening. The company is well on the way to using smart manufacturing elements to promote competition. They have a control room where all the information comes together. The machines are already networked and send at least their status - productive, set-up, faulty - and usually much more. With six production sites, the company is expanding and manufactures its products using various production technologies. Coming from gauges and fixtures, they perform machining of high precision components and perform small scale assembly. I would like to thank Jimmy He and Tom Xingxiang for sharing their insights.

In the afternoon, I had an exciting exchange with Wuxi New District Science & Technology Bureau. The director Wang Cheng wanted to find out more about Fraunhofer IAO and possible collaborations. Based on the good and fruitful cooperation so far, he and his colleagues are interested in continuing and deepening the collaboration in order to provide impetus for the further development of the Fraunhofer IAO. Wuxi New District and the industrial parks managed by the organization.

As always in large cities - Wuxi has more than 7 million inhabitants - it can take quite some time to cover shorter distances. To give you an idea of the different points, the map shows these.