Company Introduction

Shandong Xinneng Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. is a subsidiary of Jining Energy Development Group. Established in May 2022, the company focuses on the R&D, design, manufacturing, and retrofitting of new energy ships. Covering an area of 1,757 mu with a total investment of approximately 5.03 billion RMB, the company has an annual capacity to build 400 inland ships of 1,000–5,000 tons and to repair or retrofit 100 ships, with expected annual revenue of 3.3 billion RMB. Construction began in October 2022, trial production started in October 2023, and full operation is expected by August 2024. This is the first demonstration base project in China that integrates R&D, design, and intelligent manufacturing for inland new energy ships.

In recent years, Xinneng Shipbuilding has adhered to the concept of "building green intelligent shipyards and constructing green intelligent ships," innovatively applying new technologies, processes, ship types, standards, and models to promote modular, standardized, and mass production of ships. The company builds lightweight, green, and intelligent inland vessels, leading the “digital and intelligent transformation” of inland shipbuilding, accelerating the upgrading and iteration of the industry, and aims to become a benchmark for domestic inland new energy shipbuilding.

Project Background

This project upholds the development concept of "green intelligent shipbuilding and building green intelligent ships." It benchmarks against seagoing ship production processes, adopts independently developed intelligent system solutions, and selects mature technologies to build a fully intelligent factory covering the entire process of inland new energy ship manufacturing, including equipment, workshops, and plants. It realizes smart, low-labor production throughout the process from steel storage and handling, loading/unloading, marking, cutting, sorting, logistics, plate and frame welding, sub-assembly welding, and longitudinal girder welding. A variety of standardized and serialized ship types are created to meet different scenarios, addressing the current issues in China’s inland shipbuilding—such as disorderly ship types, poor build quality, non-green processes, and heavy reliance on manual labor.

Construction Content

The green and intelligent factory project for Jining Energy Xinneng Shipbuilding undertaken by HGTECH covers a joint workshop area of 30,313.57 m². Following the integrated "hull-outfitting-painting" model and guided by intermediate product flow, the project optimizes shipbuilding processes and efficiently allocates equipment, space, and personnel. Construction includes intelligent storage yards and material management, intelligent steel plate cutting lines (1 large plate cutting line, 2 component cutting lines), intelligent profile cutting lines (2 profile cutting lines), sub-assembly welding lines (1 special-shaped and 2 standard lines), intelligent plate-frame welding line, and logistics and warehousing. Combined with an integrated platform for ship design, manufacturing, and operation, the project realizes intelligent and low-labor production across the full process of inland new energy hull production.

Workshop Capacity Planning: Based on a 90-meter ship type, the annual cutting length reaches 2,178,480 meters, and welding length 1,490,880 meters; with two shifts per day: daily cutting of 7,261.6 meters and welding of 4,539.5 meters. On average, 155 steel plates can be cut and sorted per day (85 from the large plate line, 70 from the component line), 384 profiles cut, 6 plate-frame panels (8m × 10m) produced, 300 standard sub-assemblies, and 60 special-shaped sub-assemblies. The hull joint workshop achieves automatic material loading and unmanned pre-processing, enabling real-time data collection and tracking. The cutting line automatically selects materials by specification, cuts, marks codes, and sorts them. The sub-assembly welding line uses automated fitting and tack welding technology, overcoming industry bottlenecks and granted a patent (ZL 202411631986.2), achieving a 98% weld pass rate. The plate-frame line integrates edge milling and laser hybrid welding, providing minimal deformation, high weld strength, and welding speeds 2–3 times faster than traditional arc welding.

Figure: Jining Energy Xinneng Shipbuilding Smart Factory Project Design Diagram

Benefits and Value

This project is currently in the joint commissioning phase. Upon completion, it is expected to achieve a 50% increase in hull production efficiency, a 10% improvement in design efficiency, a 20% reduction in operating costs, a first-time product pass rate of 95%, a 15% decrease in energy consumption per unit output, CNC equipment utilization of over 95%, and data acquisition rates above 98%. The process technology level will lead the domestic inland new energy shipbuilding industry, promoting standardized development, industrial integration, and large-scale application.