The essence of the new round of industrial revolution is the standard struggle for the future new industrial revolution. Each country is building its own intelligent manufacturing system, and intelligent manufacturing and intelligent factories have become the two main goals of the new round of industrial revolution.

The commonly mentioned smart factory is just one component of 'smart manufacturing'. Under intelligent manufacturing, traditional manufacturing processes will be reorganized with the aim of achieving product intelligence. Personalized customer needs and design, information access and sharing between suppliers and manufacturers, and rapid response to after-sales service, along with smart factories, have become crucial components of intelligent manufacturing.

At present, the manufacturing industry is undergoing a technological revolution. The United States proposed "Industrial Internet" and Germany proposed "Industry 4.0". However, the development stage and degree of our manufacturing enterprises in China are uneven. We also released "Made in China 2025". Its core is to gradually promote "intelligent manufacturing" and achieve the strategy of building a strong manufacturing country.

China is the only country that has all the industrial categories in the United Nations Industrial Classification, with 39 major industrial categories, 191 medium categories, and 525 subcategories, thus forming a global and comprehensive industrial system. Intelligent manufacturing aims to inject the soul and wisdom of lean management culture into the mind of this industrial giant. Otherwise, it would be a brain with various software, sensors, and information technology, as well as automated bones and muscles. Although intelligent and strong, it lacks great wisdom.

Intelligent manufacturing is a new production method based on the deep integration of new generation information and communication technology and advanced manufacturing technology, which runs through various aspects of manufacturing activities such as design, production, management, and service. It has functions such as self perception, self-learning, self decision-making, self execution, and self adaptation. The construction of intelligent factories is the core of realizing new production methods for intelligent manufacturing. In the construction of intelligent factories, it is necessary to ensure that the "people, machines, materials, methods, environment, and measurement" in the factory have intelligent characteristics, and all have the ability to perceive, learn, make decisions, execute, and adapt.

Smart factory is a new stage of modern factory informatization development. It is based on digital factories, using Internet of Things technology and equipment monitoring technology to strengthen information management and services, clearly grasp the production and sales process, improve the controllability of the production process, reduce manual intervention on the production line, collect production line data in real time and accurately, and reasonably arrange production plans and schedules. Through the application of emerging technologies such as green intelligent means and intelligent systems, it builds an energy-saving, green and environmentally friendly, and environmentally comfortable humanized factory.

The core characteristics of a smart factory are: intelligence of products, automation of production, and integration of information flow and material flow. Currently, many companies worldwide are moving towards the direction of smart factories.

The major feature of the era of intelligent manufacturing is innovation, with new technologies, products, business models, and new forms constantly emerging, which provides great development space for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises. In the intelligent manufacturing ecosystem, innovative small and medium-sized enterprises must strive to solve the problems of high research and development costs, long innovation cycles, and high market risks, and not let their advantages become traps that hinder development.

For Chinese manufacturing enterprises, it is currently a difficult period of "overlapping three phases". They hope to balance the development direction of Industry 4.0 or Made in China 2025 with small investment, quick results, and guaranteed success rate. How to strike a balance between the two is a very practical and important issue.

For the valve industry, intelligent manufacturing is the key for China's valve industry to follow the world's development trend and enhance its development quality advantage. Firmly grasping this main direction has an important and far-reaching impact on promoting the deep integration of the Internet, big data and valve industry, and consolidating the foundation for the development of the real economy.