This Action Plan is formulated to implement the decisions and arrangements of the central and provincial governments regarding the promotion of digital transformation in the manufacturing sector, to deepen the intelligent upgrading, digital transformation, and networked connectivity of Wuxi’s manufacturing industry (hereinafter referred to as “Intelligent Upgrading, Digital Transformation, and Networked Connectivity”), and to coordinate efforts to advance the use of artificial intelligence to empower new industrialization and the development of Wuxi as a national pilot city for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises.
I. Objectives and Requirements
By the end of 2027, all industrial enterprises above designated size in the city will have completed intelligent transformation and upgrading. A synergistic force for digital transformation will be formed among enterprises, industrial chains, and key industrial parks, covering “points, lines, and planes.” A cumulative total of 5,000 smart factories will be cultivated to lead the development of the “465” modern industrial clusters. Artificial intelligence technology will be widely applied to empower the manufacturing sector, and 300 typical “AI + Advanced Manufacturing” application scenarios will be promoted. Comprehensive digital service capabilities will be significantly enhanced,new smart manufacturing models will accelerate, the city will successfully complete its mission as a national pilot city for SME digital transformation, build a first-class smart manufacturing powerhouse, and make a positive contribution to the province’s advancement of new industrialization.
II. Key Tasks
(1) Promoting the Tiered Development of Smart Factories
1. Popularize Basic-Level Smart Factories. Encourage enterprises to build foundational digital and networked capabilities, deploying necessary smart manufacturing equipment, industrial software, and systems around typical smart manufacturing scenarios to achieve real-time collection of core data, automation of key production processes, and informatization of production and operational management.By 2027, cultivate 1,800 enterprises annually that meet the standards for basic-level smart factories, achieving a coverage rate of 60% among industrial enterprises above designated size and full coverage of smart workshops. [The Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the people’s governments of all cities (counties) and districts, and the Wuxi Economic and Technological Development Zone Administrative Committee shall be responsible according to their respective duties. The following tasks shall all be implemented by the people’s governments of all cities (counties) and districts and the Wuxi Economic and Technological Development Zone Administrative Committee, and will not be listed separately.]
2. Cultivate Advanced-Level Smart Factories. Taking basic-level smart factories as the target for cultivation, encourage enterprises to enhance their digital and networked integration capabilities, widely deploy smart manufacturing equipment, industrial software, and systems, and achieve the interoperability and sharing of production and operational data, precise control of key production processes, and coordinated management of production and operations.By 2027, 450 enterprises meeting the standards for Advanced-Level Smart Factories will be cultivated annually, with a coverage rate of 15% among industrial enterprises above designated size, and a cumulative total of 500 enterprises selected as Provincial Advanced-Level Smart Factories. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
3. Enhancing Excellence-Level Smart Factories. Building on the foundation of Advanced-Level Smart Factories, enterprises are encouraged to systematically deploy smart manufacturing equipment, industrial software, and systems to achieve integrated data flow across design, production, and operations; intelligent control of manufacturing equipment; and real-time optimization of production processes, while conducting comprehensive optimization across the entire product lifecycle and all stages of the supply chain.By 2027, cultivate 150 enterprises annually that meet the standards for "Excellence-level" smart factories, achieving a coverage rate of 5% among industrial enterprises above designated size, with a cumulative total of 15 enterprises selected as national "Excellence-level" smart factories. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
4. Identify and Promote Pioneering-Level Smart Factories. Focusing on Excellence-Level Smart Factories, encourage enterprises to promote the deep integration of digital and intelligent technologies—such as next-generation artificial intelligence—with the entire manufacturing process. Achieve breakthroughs in the R&D and application of equipment, processes, software, and systems; explore future manufacturing models; and drive transformations in industrial models and corporate structures.By 2027, cultivate 30 enterprises annually that meet the standards for Pioneering-Level Smart Factories, achieving a coverage rate of 1% among industrial enterprises above designated size, with a cumulative total of approximately 2 enterprises selected as National Pioneering-Level Smart Factories. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
(2) Expand the Coverage of Intelligent Upgrades
5. Promote the digital transformation of specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises. Each year, facilitate the initial-level transformation of approximately 2,500 innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the standardized-level transformation of approximately 700 provincial-level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative enterprises, and the integrated-level transformation of approximately 160 specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative “Little Giant” enterprises, thereby creating transformation models.By the end of 2027, achieve full coverage of initial-level and above transformation for innovative small and medium-sized industrial enterprises, full coverage of standard-level and above transformation for provincial-level SRUI enterprises, and full coverage of integrated-level and above transformation for SRUI “Little Giant” enterprises. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
6. Promote coordinated digital transformation of industrial chains. Deepen the development of the National Pilot City for SME Digital Transformation, using the integrated circuit, high-end equipment, and high-end textile and apparel industries as pilot sectors. Leverage the role of “chain-leading” enterprises and service providers within the “465” modern industrial clusters to explore a “chain-based” model for industry-wide digital transformation.Promote the high-end upgrading of industries with relatively high digitalization levels, such as integrated circuits, and drive comprehensive intelligent transformation in industries such as high-end equipment and high-end textiles and apparel. By the end of 2026, complete the national pilot tasks; by 2027, provide annual follow-up services for 100 key intelligent projects and cultivate 20 “chain-leading” enterprises in digital transformation. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
7. Create benchmark digital transformation parks. Encourage key industrial parks and specialty industrial parks to build digital benchmark parks, accelerate the large-scale application of new infrastructure such as 5G and the Industrial Internet, promote the upgrade of IoT terminals and network IPv6, construct an intelligent IoT sensing system, and facilitate the integration of data chains, innovation chains, industrial chains, and supply chains within the parks. Develop digital management platforms for the parks, establish a data integration system, strengthen data interoperability, sharing, and analysis, and enhance industrial services and smart decision-making capabilities.(Responsibility lies with the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the Municipal Bureau of Commerce, the Municipal Bureau of Data, and the Municipal Cyberspace Administration Office, in accordance with their respective duties)
(3) Accelerate the Empowerment of Advanced Manufacturing through Artificial Intelligence
8. Accelerate the development of artificial intelligence application scenarios. Encourage the formation of service consortia, focusing on leading enterprises in key sectors such as integrated circuits, biomedicine, and high-end equipment. Explore the application potential across R&D and design, pilot testing, production and manufacturing, after-sales service, and operational management to create a matrix of smart manufacturing scenarios. Promote the application of artificial intelligence across all stages and processes, and cultivate application benchmarks. Promote the construction of AI empowerment centers, innovation centers, data collection training centers, and joint innovation laboratories, and conduct AI diagnostics.Establish an AI application promotion community to provide computing power, data, financial, and comprehensive services. Encourage leading enterprises to develop industry-specific models and foster industrial AI agents. By the end of 2027, cumulatively create 100 application cases empowering new industrialization and promote 100 outstanding smart products. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the Municipal Development and Reform Commission, and the Municipal Data Bureau according to their respective duties)
9. Promote the innovative application of intelligent equipment. Advance the integration of advanced sensor systems with AI technology to provide innovative products and services in areas such as production monitoring, quality control, and safety assurance. Encourage enterprises to develop embodied intelligent robots and intelligent inspection equipment, and guide enterprises to carry out digital “micro-upgrades” and “light upgrades” of “dumb” industrial equipment.Promote the application of embodied intelligent robots and intelligent inspection equipment in material handling, visual inspection, coating, and assembly processes to drive the large-scale adoption of intelligent equipment. Support the development of institutions such as the Industrial Measurement and Testing Center for Humanoid Robots. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology and the Municipal Market Regulation Bureau according to their respective duties)
10. Promote the innovation and iteration of industrial software. Support key enterprises in the industry to develop foundational software, industrial software, and solutions tailored to the needs of sectors such as integrated circuits, shipbuilding, and high-end equipment. Promote domestically produced industrial software and facilitate the inclusion of “Made in Wuxi” products in the provincial supply list and the first-version promotion catalog.Deepen the development of platforms such as the Industrial Software Manufacturing Innovation Center and the Application Innovation Center, and promote the upgrading of industrial operating systems in key industries. By the end of 2027, a cumulative total of 15 outstanding industrial software enterprises will be cultivated, 30 outstanding products and first-edition software will be promoted, and 10,000 units (sets) of industrial operating systems will be updated. (The Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology and the Municipal Science and Technology Bureau are responsible according to their respective duties)
11. Develop new models of smart manufacturing. Encourage leading enterprises to collaborate with system integrators and software and equipment manufacturers to jointly develop standardized, modular solutions, thereby enhancing the intelligence level of the industrial chain. Encourage smart factories rated “Excellent” or higher to adopt flexible production to meet diverse demands; explore shared manufacturing to revitalize idle capacity; and explore virtual manufacturing to build a closed-loop digital system. Encourage enterprises to leverage artificial intelligence to create a new generation of smart manufacturing systems featuring efficient collaboration among people, information systems, and physical equipment. Organize the release of 10 major case studies annually.(Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
(IV) Enhancing the Driving Force of Data as a Key Factor
12. Build comprehensive data collection capabilities. With the goal of “full connectivity of equipment and comprehensive data collection,” construct an IoT sensing network covering “people, machines, materials, methods, and environment.” Encourage enterprises to deploy industrial sensors and edge computing gateways to rapidly collect operational parameters from critical equipment such as machine tools and integrate them into industrial internet platforms.Encourage enterprises to adopt technologies such as RFID tags to track the flow of work-in-progress, combine technologies like visual recognition to automatically record material feeding information at workstations, and use environmental sensors to monitor process stability in real time. Promote the establishment of data governance standards within enterprises, including equipment coding, data tagging, and quality standards, to resolve conflicts arising from multi-source heterogeneous data. (Responsibility shared by the Municipal Data Bureau and the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology according to their respective duties)
13. Fully leverage the value of data as a production factor. Encourage enterprises to build a “data-knowledge-decision” closed-loop to unlock the value of data. Integrate core data on production, supply chains, and quality through a data middle platform, promote efficient connections between manufacturing enterprises and digital service providers, drive manufacturing through digital supply chains, and stimulate network development based on data flow requirements to optimize the allocation of technology, capital, talent, and materials.Support the development of industrial big data platforms, data annotation centers, embodied intelligence training grounds, and corpus service providers to enhance capabilities in data acquisition, analysis, and application. Encourage state-owned enterprises to conduct data application demonstrations in fields such as the Industrial Internet and carbon footprinting. Promote the implementation of national standards such as the Data Management Capability Maturity Assessment Model to facilitate the comprehensive development of data collection, storage, cleansing, annotation, and training. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Data Bureau, Municipal Science and Technology Bureau, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, and Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission according to their respective duties)
14. Unblock the Core Channels of Smart Manufacturing. Focus on the entire process of discrete manufacturing and implement end-to-end digital restructuring of production. Support enterprises in introducing production execution systems to achieve online management of work order scheduling, material flow, and quality inspection.Encourage the deployment of systems such as SCADA to connect with the equipment layer, thereby improving data transmission efficiency. Promote digital twin technology to integrate lean management, Kanban pull systems, and data platforms, enabling real-time alerts for anomalies, automatic analysis of overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), and optimization of physical production line configurations. (Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology and Municipal Bureau of Data are responsible according to their respective duties)
(5) Strengthen Networked Collaboration Capabilities
15. Develop industrial internet platforms. Deepen the tiered development of enterprise-level, industry-level, regional-level, and “cross-sector” industrial internet platforms; continuously cultivate 10 key platforms; and encourage specialized platform development.Support all regions (industrial parks) in building “Industrial Brains” based on these platforms, accelerate enterprises’ transition to “cloud adoption, data utilization, and intelligence empowerment,” and promote the migration of small, medium, and micro enterprises to the cloud and onto platforms. By the end of 2027, a cumulative total of 30 provincial-level enterprise platforms, 20 industry- and regional-level platforms, and approximately 5 “cross-sector” platforms will be cultivated. (The Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology and the Wuxi Telecommunications Administration Office shall be responsible in accordance with their respective duties)
16. Establish a collaborative supply chain data ecosystem. Use digital platforms to connect upstream and downstream entities, promoting end-to-end collaboration across the supply chain’s “demand–planning–fulfillment” cycle. Guide enterprises to integrate internal systems such as ERP, WMS, and TMS to streamline data flows between sales orders, production plans, operational management, and warehousing/logistics; externally, establish supplier collaboration portals to share supply and demand information with key suppliers and enable online exchange of electronic forms. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
17. Upgrade network infrastructure. Deepen the development of internal and external enterprise networks, accelerate the coverage of gigabit optical networks and 5G networks, and advance the commercialization of 10-gigabit optical networks and 5G-A technology in phases. Optimize facilities such as broadband and data centers to create “10-gigabit industrial parks.” Support enterprises in applying technologies such as 5G private networks, IPv6, and Industrial PON to build 5G factories. Accelerate the construction of secondary nodes for the Industrial Internet identifier resolution system and promote the integration of “5G + Industrial Internet” scenarios.By the end of 2027, 70% of provincial-level and above development zones will have established “10-Gigabit Parks.” (Wuxi Telecommunications Administration Office, Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology; telecommunications operators and China Tower Corporation shall be responsible according to their respective duties)
(6) Improve the Digital Service System
18. Strengthen digital transformation service providers. Taking key industrial clusters and critical industrial chains as focal points, aggregate 100 high-quality software and hardware service providers, and establish approximately 10 empowerment centers for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises. Strengthen the collaborative working mechanisms between these empowerment centers, cluster promotion agencies, and industrial parks, build a municipal-level public service platform for intelligent transformation, digital transformation, and network connectivity, and construct a “1+10+100” service provider system.Encourage the establishment of national-level manufacturing digital transformation promotion centers. Organize 100 events annually, including supply-demand matching sessions and policy briefings, to provide services to tens of thousands of enterprises. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
19. Deepen the assessment of enterprise digital transformation levels. Based on a standardized assessment framework, routinely monitor the levels of intelligent transformation, digital transformation, and network connectivity in the manufacturing sector. Organize self-assessments for more than 10% of large-scale industrial enterprises annually and conduct detailed analyses. Promote online diagnostic evaluations of smart manufacturing capability maturity, the level of integration between informatization and industrialization, and the digitalization level of SMEs.By the end of 2027, cumulatively develop and promote 300 “small, fast, lightweight, and precise” digital products and solutions, and provide follow-up services for 600 lightweight intelligent projects. (Responsibility: Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology)
20. Enhance advanced computing service capabilities. Guided by market and enterprise needs, plan and advance centralized, low-carbon intelligent computing projects; strengthen the coordinated dispatch capabilities of the city’s computing power center to provide computing support for large-scale models and digital-intelligent scenarios.Advance the “Computing-Network City” pilot program to promote the coordinated development of computing, transport, and storage capacities, and encourage the development of edge computing. By the end of 2027, the city’s computing centers will have 70,000 standard racks, with intelligent computing capacity exceeding 6 EFlops and total computing capacity exceeding 7 EFlops. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the Municipal Data Bureau, the Wuxi Telecommunications Administration Office, and telecommunications operators and China Tower Corporation according to their respective duties)
21. Enhance industrial network and data security capabilities. Improve the security protection system and deepen the classification and grading management of industrial internet security. Guide enterprises to fulfill their primary responsibility for data security and encourage the conduct of risk assessments. Organize no fewer than one security training session and one offensive-defensive drill annually. Cultivate leading enterprises in network and data security, advance the construction of cybersecurity industrial parks, and strengthen the supply of end-to-end security solutions for key industries.By 2027, launch no fewer than 10 outstanding solutions and cultivate no fewer than 20 star-rated security protection enterprises. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Cyberspace Administration Office, the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the Wuxi Telecommunications Administration Office, telecommunications operators, and China Tower Corporation, in accordance with their respective duties)
22. Accelerate the development of a professional digital talent pool. Establish an expert database for intelligent transformation, digital transition, and network connectivity, and advance the capability assessment of Digital Excellence Engineers in the industry and information technology sector. Support universities in building smart manufacturing internship and training bases as well as industry-oriented colleges to cultivate skilled digital technology professionals. Support training institutions in expanding the supply of vocational skills training in manufacturing and digital fields, with annual training reaching at least 15,000 participants for each category. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Municipal Education Bureau, and the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, in accordance with their respective duties)
III. Support Measures
The Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology shall take the lead in strengthening overall coordination and collaboration, clarifying annual objectives and key tasks, and ensuring thorough implementation of all measures. Financial support shall be strengthened to guide financial and social capital in jointly supporting intelligent manufacturing, digital transformation, and network connectivity. Enterprises shall be guided to fully utilize fiscal interest subsidies for manufacturing loans to purchase equipment for intelligent manufacturing, digital transformation, and network connectivity. Support shall be provided for the promotion of first-of-a-kind equipment, first-batch new materials, and first-version software products.Strengthen fiscal support to drive enterprise digital transformation and foster the development of a digital transformation service ecosystem. Each district shall be specifically responsible for advancing the intelligent, digital, and networked transformation of its local manufacturing sector, reinforcing work coordination and the implementation of measures, and strengthening policy promotion, supply-demand matching, and the dissemination of best practices to create a favorable environment. (Responsibility lies with the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, the Municipal Finance Bureau, the Municipal Party Committee Financial Affairs Office, and the People’s Bank of China Wuxi Branch, in accordance with their respective duties)
