Introduction

In 2026, every manufacturing CEO is asking "how do we use AI?" This article distills a reusable 3-step method from 5 Hongguan-delivered manufacturing projects.

Step 1: Discovery (1–2 weeks)

Pick the "high-frequency, repeatable, ROI-positive" steps from the business process:

• Inspection: 2 inspectors per line × 5 lines = 10 people × ¥8k/month = ¥960k/year
• Customer service: 200 tickets/day × 60% repetitive = 120 tickets auto-answerable
• Scheduling: Excel scheduling → AI scheduling → save 1 planner

Step 2: POC validation (4–6 weeks)

Pick the highest-ROI scenario for a minimum-viable pilot — 4–6 weeks to ROI estimate.

Step 3: Production rollout (2–3 months)

Scale from a single point to the full plant, with MLOps and data governance in place.

Case: Visual Inspection

For one auto-parts factory Hongguan served, the defect-escape rate dropped from 5% to 0.5%, saving 2 inspectors per line — 5 lines saved ¥960k/year.