News from Communication World (CWW): Since China began large-scale promotion of 5G factories in 2022, remarkable progress has been achieved, with over 1,200 such facilities established nationwide. The initiative is now accelerating toward deeper, multi-sector development. In 2025, the General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the 2025 5G Factory Catalog, listing a total of 560 projects. Among these, Anhui Province ranked sixth nationwide with an impressive tally of 35 5G factories.
Under the category of "Special Equipment Manufacturing," the "Anhui Tiankang High-Precision Measurement and Control Equipment 5G Factory" — jointly built by Anhui Tiankang (Group) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Tiankang Group") and China Mobile Chuzhou Branch — was included in the 2025 5G Factory Catalog, serving as a benchmark model for digital transformation in Anhui's manufacturing sector.
Recently, reporters from MIIT Smart Media visited Tiankang Group to gain an in-depth look at how this established factory is reinventing itself in the digital and intelligent era, continuing to write a new chapter for China's national industry. As one of the Top 500 Manufacturing Enterprises in China, Tiankang Group has a broad business portfolio covering instrumentation, optical cables and wires, medical and pharmaceutical products, smart electrical equipment, polymer cable trays, and more. With an annual revenue of RMB 27.982 billion, the Group has built a strong reputation and solid market foundation in the industry through consistent product quality and excellent services.
Charting the Course for Digital Transformation and Addressing the Customization Challenges of a Leading Enterprise
Digitalization and intelligentization have become core drivers for high-quality enterprise development. They not only effectively improve product quality, reduce operating costs, and enhance production capacity, but also help enterprises build sustainable competitive advantages. The mature application of 5G technology, in particular, has provided critical support for elevating enterprises' digital capabilities.
"Digital transformation is an essential path for high-quality enterprise development," said Mr. Mao Wenzhang, General Manager of Tiankang Group, during an interview. He emphasized that building a 5G factory is a core strategy for the Group to embrace the trend of intelligent manufacturing and drive the digital, networked, and intelligent upgrade of its entire production process. "Through 5G technology, we have achieved efficient equipment interconnection, real‑time data analysis, and production process optimization, which has significantly improved production efficiency and management levels, injecting new momentum into the Group's development."
Unlike the common challenges faced by small and medium‑sized enterprises in their digital transformation – such as capital, technology, and talent shortages – leading industry players like Tiankang Group encounter highly customized hurdles, including bespoke network deployment and system integration.
"During implementation, we faced multiple challenges, including inconsistent communication protocols among legacy equipment, difficulties in real‑time data synchronization, and stringent network stability requirements," said Mr. Hua Qiguo, Head of 5G Smart Manufacturing at Tiankang Group. Fortunately, with on‑site support from the China Mobile technical team, the two parties jointly developed tailored solutions to address critical issues such as edge computing and system platform compatibility.
Following the deployment of the customized digital solutions, Tiankang Group's production operations have undergone significant transformation: production line efficiency has greatly improved, product defect rates have continued to decline, and energy utilization has risen markedly. More importantly, the company has achieved a fundamental shift from "people looking for data" to "data‑driven" operations, laying a solid foundation for intelligent decision‑making.
Government‑Enterprise Collaboration Strengthens the Technical Foundation of the 5G Factory
The reason why China Mobile Chuzhou Branch was able to become the partner for Tiankang Group's 5G smart factory project lies in its leading capabilities in 5G technology and its extensive practical experience in the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector. The Anhui Mobile team possesses a deep understanding of manufacturing industry needs, demonstrating outstanding collaborative capabilities and execution efficiency through its high‑reliability, low‑latency network support and customized services.
To ensure precise project implementation, China Mobile Chuzhou Branch rolled out the Tiankang 5G smart factory construction in three phases:
Phase 1: Achieve full 5G private network coverage and deploy data acquisition systems, opening up the "first mile" of data transmission.
Phase 2: Break down data silos across various systems, build an Industrial Internet platform, and realize end‑to‑end production process visualization.
Phase 3: Introduce AI‑based quality inspection and intelligent scheduling systems, further deepening the application of 5G technology in core production processes.
"To gain a clear understanding of the enterprise's actual needs, we went deep into Tiankang's production front lines, accurately diagnosed core pain points such as data silos and insufficient flexible production, and ultimately custom-built an architecture featuring 'one 5G private network + one digital platform + N intelligent applications'," said Mr. Yang Kun, Deputy General Manager of China Mobile Tianchang Branch.
This architecture is built on a highly reliable 5G private network, integrated with edge computing capabilities to ensure millisecond‑level transmission of massive production data, meeting the stringent real‑time requirements of industrial operations. On this foundation, the two parties have deployed a series of innovative applications, including 5G+AI quality inspection, a 5G+Industrial Internet platform, and 5G+AGV scheduling, precisely addressing Tiankang Group's bottlenecks in quality inspection, equipment management, and logistics efficiency.
First-hand Experience Upgrades: Digital Empowerment Across the Entire Production Process
Stepping into Tiankang Group's production workshop, the clean and bright environment is filled with automated equipment operating in orderly fashion: AGV carts precisely transport production materials along preset routes; intelligent warehouse vehicles move goods in and out of heavy‑duty AGV storage facilities with seamless coordination. A digital production scene unfolds before your eyes.
"In the past, when equipment failed, technicians had to go to the site to troubleshoot one by one—time‑consuming and labor‑intensive. Now, the system automatically issues alerts, and we can pinpoint the problem precisely via our mobile phones. Maintenance efficiency has more than doubled," said Mr. Liu Chunbao, a 5G Smart Manufacturing Engineer at Tiankang Group, with deep emotion. The changes are equally striking in quality inspection: previously, product inspection relied on the experience and judgment of veteran workers, making it difficult to standardize criteria; today, AI inspection systems automatically identify product defects with higher accuracy and faster speed, making the job easier for staff.
"The biggest change I feel now is that repetitive labor and running around have been greatly reduced," Liu Chunbao said candidly. With 5G+AR remote collaboration technology, when shop‑floor operators encounter problems, they no longer need to wait for experts to arrive on site—issues can be resolved quickly through remote guidance. "Our role has gradually shifted from being mere 'operators' to 'equipment managers.' We truly feel the convenience and efficiency that digitalization has brought us."
From a time‑honored manufacturing enterprise to a model 5G factory, Tiankang Group's transformation journey is not only the result of the company's proactive drive for change, but also a vivid example of government‑enterprise collaboration in advancing digital transformation in the manufacturing sector. Looking ahead, as technologies such as 5G, AI, and digital twins continue to evolve, Tiankang Group will further deepen its digital transformation, providing more replicable and scalable practical experience for the high‑quality development of China's national industry.
