简体
繁體
Automation achievement of Qianhai Larsemann featured in China Daily Asia!
Nov 22, 2016
China Daily Asia has interviewed our founder, chairman and CEO Mr. Lam Kwong Yu regarding the rapid change of business environment in China and what Qianhai Larsemann has achieved in automation to cope with the change.
"Starlite — a Hong Kong-based and listed group involved in the traditional printing and packaging business — is one of them, seeing its net profit plunge 82 percent for the year ended March 31 2015.
Founder-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lam Kwong-yu said his colleagues in the sector, including toys and clothes manufacturers, have been forced to relocate their factories out of the region.
He expressed understanding and sympathy for their plight, noting that the minimum salary for blue-collar workers in Shenzhen is 3.7 times higher than that of their peers in Mexico, and double that in Myanmar.
But, Lam chose to stay in Guangdong, with Starlite having increased its investment in mainland factories instead of following others and move out.
The company had also opened a new intelligent factory in Shenzhen in October, utilizing self-owned robots to solve the problem of labor shortages.
Lam said the new factory, Qianhai Larsemann Intelligence System (Shenzhen) Co Ltd, has developed some 100 “smart” machines.
One of them is the “Smart Turntable” — an automatic bead applicator capable of handling glue application and the precise placement of circular beads, which are normally operated manually and used in making greeting cards.
This new development has quickened production by 30 percent, and can replace up to eight workers per machine, according to Starlite. Lam said that, in the past, production would need about 10,000 workers, but the new investment has now cut the number down to between 5,000 and 6,000.
“Meanwhile, both our production ability and quality have gone up remarkably.”
Lam said withdrawing from Shenzhen cannot solve the problems faced by Hong Kong’s traditional manufacturers. But, transforming to “Industry 4.0” — which further embeds automation and data exchanges in manufacturing — can.
He’s confident that with such an upgrade, SAR manufacturers can introduce intelligent factories in the United States and Europe in a bid to become more market-driven rather than labor-intensive."