The
World Economic Forum (WEF) has named
Siemens’ Nanjing factory in China as a Lighthouse Factory, adding it to the WEF’s Global Lighthouse Network of the most advanced operational sites in the world, naming it ‘Distinguished’ in the productivity category and recognising it for achieving ‘exceptional performance in cost and quality through digital twins and continuous AI-driven transformation’.
The award highlights ‘improvements in asset utilisation, worker enablement, and resource management’ at Siemens’ plant in Nanjing. It is the fifth Siemens manufacturing site to be named Lighthouse Factory by the WEF, following Amberg, Erlangen, and Fürth in Germany, and Chengdu in China.
Cedrik Neike, a member of the managing board of Siemens AG and CEO of Digital Industries, said: “We call our Nanjing facility a ‘digital-native factory’, as it was designed, tested, and optimised entirely in the virtual world before a single brick was laid. This approach enabled us to not only construct the factory faster and with outstanding cost-efficiency but also to build it under the toughest pandemic conditions.”
Mr Neike added: “By combining our global manufacturing expertise with local insight and a digital-first mindset, we continuously optimise every part of the operation, making it one of the most efficient and flexible factories in the world.”
The Nanjing site is Siemens’ largest research and production centre for machine tool CNC systems, drives, and electric motors outside Germany. For Siemens, the 73,000m
2 factory in Nanjing is a showcase project on many levels. The Digital Native Factory Nanjing, including its production processes, was planned and simulated fully digitally, allowing optimisation in the virtual world before construction began.