Hengshui City has made significant strides in intelligent manufacturing, with 31 advanced-level smart factories and a breakthrough in achieving its first national-level excellent smart factory.

Intelligent manufacturing is not an overnight achievement but requires systematic advancement. The national classification of smart factories into four tiers provides a clear roadmap for industrial upgrading. Hengshui’s success lies in identifying a tailored approach—customizing cultivation plans for enterprises at different development stages. For weaker foundations, the focus is on digital groundwork; for better-equipped firms, the goal is reaching advanced benchmarks; and for leading enterprises, tackling excellence-level challenges. This "graded guidance, phased advancement" strategy prevents smaller firms from feeling overwhelmed while avoiding reckless leaps by larger players, ensuring steady progress across the board.

Policy leadership and precision services act as dual drivers, removing obstacles to transformation. Given the high costs, long cycles, and technical demands of smart manufacturing, individual efforts often fall short. Hengshui ensures full policy awareness through comprehensive interpretation and hands-on support for application processes, fostering a collaborative ecosystem where "the government sets the stage, and enterprises perform." This supportive approach shifts corporate mindsets from passive compliance ("transformation imposed") to proactive engagement ("transformation embraced"), creating unified momentum for intelligent manufacturing.

The true measure of smart upgrades lies in tangible results, not superficial spectacle. Hengshui emphasizes scenario-based innovation and outcome evaluation, guiding firms to identify breakthroughs across R&D, production, and management chains while incorporating economic metrics to validate efficiency gains. Technology upgrades must serve practical needs—blind pursuit of intelligence for its own sake only inflates costs. By prioritizing real-world applications and profit-driven goals, smart technology becomes a true "accelerator" for cost reduction and quality enhancement.

As intelligent manufacturing emerges as a core battleground in industrial competition, targeted strategies and phased execution are key to reaping rewards. With manufacturing digitalization entering deeper waters, Hengshui’s progress reflects not just quantitative growth but also a profound grasp of industrial upgrade principles. From foundational strengthening to excellence pursuit, and from policy support to results orientation, its tiered cultivation system offers a blueprint for traditional industries. As this system evolves, more enterprises will inevitably march toward intelligence.