Humanoid robots and AI help China's construction giant boost production

Zoomlion, a leading Chinese construction and agricultural machinery company, is significantly advancing its digital transformation by integrating AI and robotics across its operations. Since 2024, the firm has developed embodied-intelligence humanoid robots and established a full-chain AI system that spans construction machinery, intelligent manufacturing, management, and robotics. At its Zoomlion Smart City in Hunan province, the company operates 12 smart factories with over 300 production lines, including 20 fully automated “lights-out” lines. These factories utilize AI-driven scheduling and an industrial internet platform to coordinate processes such as cutting, welding, machining, painting, and assembly, managing over 100,000 material types and producing more than 400 product variants. This system enables agile, multi-model, small-batch manufacturing, exemplified by the production of an excavator every six minutes and other machinery at similarly rapid rates. Zoomlion’s robotics program, active since 2006, has evolved from programmable industrial robots for single-product lines to adaptive robots