In 2012, Germany launched the concept of "Industry 4-point-0" in its manufacturing sector. Three years on and the Chinese version of the initiative or the "Made in China 2025" has debuted. Both countries belong to the world's manufacturing powerhouses. But will they be partners or competitors as they move through the digital age?
The heart of Sino-German Industrial Park is where BMW produces its latest engines. It's also where small and medium-sized Chinese companies are revving up.
Like this family-owned factory which produces auto seat parts for BMW. It's no-longer a manual workshop.
"If you want to be supply to a company like BMW, you have to keep pace with new technologies, like the robots you can see behind me. I think moving from automated machines to machines with artificial intelligence, we are facing a new revolution," said Xu Jiaming, general manager of Puqi Automobile Parts Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
China and Germany are the world's industrial powerhouses, though with some differences: While China's industry has grown largely on the back of low cost labor, the German industry was pushed towards advanced automation by high labor costs. Obviously the concept of Industry 4.0 will help Chinese companies to progress towards the digital age, but what is in it for German companies?
We met Hans from the world's leading manufacturer of planetary gearboxes at the construction site where the company's first production base in China will start operation next year.
"Our customers are Chinese machine builders and Chinese machine manufactures, from Germany the deliver time is about 4 weeks or maybe longer, this is not acceptable for the Chinese market. So this is the reason we have to be here," said Hans Stiefvater, director of Neugart Planetary Gearboxes Co. Ltd.
Hans's company will be the first to set foot in the Sino-German Industrial Park. The Shenyang government has always been keen to revitalize its old industrial base with the help of German technologies, like the city's joint venture with BMW.
While China is catching up in terms of innovation-driven development, German companies might start to worry that a handful of Chinese concerns are already major players globally.
"In Germany, all our competitors are in the same level of us, and they have the same tools. I think one of the principle of an open market is competition, and competition means everybody must have the same right and the same chance to use technology. And if you want to open the market, you have to share the knowledge, and shouldn't be afraid of competition," Stiefvater said.
Partners or competitors? It is too early to tell. But one thing is certain: the Sino-German cooperation will help to build a manufacturing industry that fully reflects the needs and demands of customers around the world.
