Focus on High-quality Development | Amitime: "Intelligent Reform and Digital Conversion" Empowering the Manufacturing Industry to Speed Up and Shift Gears

Nowadays, the digital economy is the "big trend" and "top stream" of high-quality economic development, and the implementation of intelligent transformation and digital transformation (referred to as "digital transformation") is an important way to promote the deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy, and to unleash the amplifying and multiplying effect of digital technology on economic development. This transformation is also a necessary approach to foster the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

In 2021, Zhongshan Amitime Electric Co., Ltd., hereinafter referred to as Amitime, launched a comprehensive digital transformation strategy to embrace the arrival of the Industry 4.0 era. Through intelligent, digital, and other industrial information systems, Amitime continues to lead the brand change, efficiency change, and value growth model change of its heat pump products.

Per capita output was 91 units in 2020 and 125 units in 2023, representing a 37.63% increase; the annual output value for 2023 reached 600 million yuan, marking an 181.86% increase compared to 2020. It is expected that the annual output value for 2024 will reach 1 billion yuan, and Amitime aims to achieve a target of 5 billion yuan within the next three years," said Amitime's president and chief technology officer, Fengxi Tong, in a recent interview with reporters. Tong added that with 21 years of experience in the heat pump industry, Amitime has accumulated a solid technical and market foundation.

"Digitalization" leads and empowers the transformation of the manufacturing industry in all aspects

Walking into the factory workshop of Amitime, the interior is comfortable and well-lit, the staff are young and energetic, and the products are placed in a neat and orderly manner. Copper tubes are transmitted to intelligent robots, which can bend them in just a few seconds, realizing an environmentally friendly, energy-saving, automated production process and digital management.

Amitime has an existing 200,000 square meters of a heat pump production base, 15 international advanced production lines, with an annual production capacity of 100,000 heat pump systems. "Since the configuration of advanced intelligent equipment, we have tasted the sweetness of digitalization, and the pace of enterprise transformation and upgrading is getting faster and faster," Director Chen of the production center of Amitime introduced.

Nowadays, with the rapid increase in domestic and overseas sales of Amitime's heat pump products, it is indispensable for the enterprise to have a comprehensive resource management system. For this reason, Amitime has introduced an intelligent MES manufacturing execution system. The company has comprehensively implemented the MES information management system across various departments, including R&D, process, manufacturing, and equipment management. It also covers real-time management of manufacturing data, planning and production scheduling, quality control, production process control, integrated analysis of bottom data, and integrated decomposition of top data.

The introduction of intelligent MES execution system has, on one hand, centralized and unified the procurement platform, shared technology and talents among production bases and production lines, achieving resource sharing and synergy in an all-round way; on the other hand, through intelligent project management, it has continuously optimized the process technology and upgraded and renewed the equipment, which has further improved the level of lean production and intellectualization.

"High-end" breakthrough, promoting the improvement of quality and efficiency in traditional industries.

Amitime has fully integrated digital tools into the Group's operational processes through an intelligent management system, encompassing the entire scope of the company's operations and management. This includes product research and development, design, production management, product sales, raw material procurement, logistics management, and financial management. Additionally, Amitime has synergized and integrated its information system with key third-party suppliers to enhance operational efficiency and optimize resource allocation.

With digital management, Amitime not only connects existing users and channel partners but also integrates internal company members, upstream and downstream stakeholders in the organization's supply chain, external partners, and ecological target customers and potential users. For instance, through artificial intelligence and big data analysis, it is possible to achieve a high degree of interconnectivity between heat pump production equipment, facilities, and the supply chain. This enables real-time monitoring and tracking of failures and helps reduce risks in actual production.

"In the past, an order might be nearing its delivery date when a problem in a certain link was discovered. Now, through electronic signage, we can monitor the supply of materials and production progress at any time, from global sales orders to the status of material inventory, and then to the production line. This fully realizes data-based operations and collaborative production, improving product quality and delivery efficiency," said Fengxi Tong.

The latest data show that Amitime's total industrial output value for 2023 is 728.82 million yuan. Compared to 2020, there was a year-on-year growth of 223.68 percent, with an annual output increase of 240.57 percent year-on-year. Overall, the growth has accelerated, indicating a positive trend.

"Intelligent" upgrading, and actively cultivate new business forms

As a pioneer in the field of inverter heat pumps, Amitime has been continuously broadening the boundaries of its products since the successful installation of the first heating heat pump in Norway in 2004. The company covers a wide range of innovative products such as swimming pool heat pumps, commercial heat pumps, specialty heat pumps, underfloor chillers, and hot water underfloor heaters. Amitime is committed to building whole-house intelligent energy solutions through the extreme application of heat pump technology, leading to an energy-efficient, comfortable, and healthy lifestyle.

With the continuous expansion of its business scale, Amitime faces the efficiency challenges common to large enterprises. Its nearly 1,000 product models are exported to 56 countries and regions around the world. For this reason, the company has invested in a production base of more than 200,000 square meters and has laid out more than 500 high-standard terminal shops and after-sales service points across the country to ensure extensive coverage and efficient operation of the service network.

Amitime understands the importance of information technology for the long-term development of the enterprise. The company has continuously invested a large amount of resources to actively promote its digital transformation strategy. This initiative not only realizes the fundamental transformation from single device operation to systematic operation, and from separation of management and control to the integration of management and control, but also builds a complete manufacturing information system framework with MES, ERP, OA, PLM, WMS, CRM, SCM, BI, and others as the core. This lays a solid foundation for the enterprise's intelligent upgrading.

In the high-quality development of heat cubic party honours constantly, has won the sixth batch of national speciality, speciality and new ‘small giants’, national high-tech enterprises, national key new products, speciality and speciality and new enterprises in Guangdong Province, national intellectual property advantageous enterprises, intellectual property demonstration enterprises in Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province, high-tech products, science and technology progress awards in Zhongshan City, Zhongshan quality benchmark and many other honours, and for many years won the heat pump industry top ten leading brands and other industry honours.

At present, Amitime is seizing the opportunity of digital transformation to comprehensively reshape the relationships between users, customers, employees, and the upstream and downstream supply chain. The company is focused on building a value symbiosis ecosystem and is committed to realizing the intelligent upgrading of the heat pump category, thereby promoting the development of the heat pump industry to a higher level.

Fengxi Tong emphasized that Amitime is steadfastly committed to high-quality development, aiming to support the country's efforts in low-carbon and energy-saving development and to enhance the quality of life for its people. To achieve this, Amitime will continue to invest deeply in the heat pump industry, leveraging the powerful momentum of digital transformation. The company remains dedicated to developing highly efficient, stable, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly heat pumps. By doing so, Amitime aims to contribute its wisdom and strength to the country's goals of achieving Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality, as well as to the sustainable development of society.