Lenovo's Wuhan base employs AI as factory 'chief steward'
The "Luban Super Intelligent Entity", a highly specialized artificial intelligence (AI) virtual manager, is overseeing every aspect of Lenovo's Wuhan industrial base located in Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone (Optics Valley of China, or OVC), from order scheduling and staff deployment to quality analysis and production operations.
When data from Lenovo's overseas factories revealed a color deviation issue in two cameras in a batch of products, Luban responded instantly, freezing all 172 boxes of materials distributed across three warehouses in Wuhan within 0.1 seconds. "In the past, we had to label and seal the warehouse items manually, but now the system does it automatically, making it much more convenient," said the warehouse manager.
A staff member checks job schedules generated by Luban. [Photo/WeChat account of Optics Valley of China]
Luban achieves this split-second response by integrating previously independent systems within the factory. It comprehends natural language commands through large models, extracts key data from disparate systems, and makes informed decisions.
"With an average of 10,000 employees at the base throughout the year, recruitment, training, deployment, and evaluation used to consume significant time and effort. With Luban's help, employee performance can be quantified into observable data," explained Chen Shuli, general manager of Lenovo's Wuhan industrial base.
The Luban project has been selected as a typical AI application case in Hubei province and achieved Level Four certification in national intelligent manufacturing capability maturity, making Lenovo the first communication equipment manufacturing enterprise in the province to receive such accreditation.
Chen mentioned that the company is currently developing the second generation of Luban to drive industrial and technological transformation through intelligent means, which is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
