An intelligent steel manufacturing plant in Zhangjiagang, Suzhou, Jiangsu province. [Photo/zjgonline.com.cn]

Two industrial companies in Zhangjiagang, a county-level city in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province, were recently included in a list of model enterprises in intelligent manufacturing released by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology.

One of them is the special steel bars production plant of Huaigang Special Steel Co, a subsidiary of the Zhangjiagang-based Jiangsu Shagang Group. The plant has applied digital management and control systems to the entire production and operation process, thus allowing for the efficient collection, transfer and storage of data related to raw materials, equipment and energy.

Lianfeng Steel (Zhangjiagang) Co has also built a plant equipped with many digital and intelligent systems. The plant is capable of treating and recycling different kinds of solid waste, including steel slag, construction waste, and metallurgical dust and mud.

The manufacturing plants on the list were selected by an expert panel from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology and the Department of Finance. Factories are judged based on factors such as use of intelligent equipment and the connectivity between devices.