The Real Fusion of AI and Manufacturing Scenarios
Starting with the case of embroidery enterprises partnering with AI companies, one can see the potential of AI-aided design in traditional craft industries. "If DeepSeek's penetration in Guangdong manufacturing reaches 30%, it could bring 300–450 billion yuan of incremental value before 2027." Guangdong's manufacturing sector leads the country in scale, yet its total factor productivity is only 68% of the US level, with risks spanning computing infrastructure, data assets, and talent.
SMEs Are the Key to AI-Enabled Industry
How SMEs deploy AI sits at the heart of the industrial revolution. The Siemens Chengdu factory case shows that competitiveness springs from innovation iteration across the supply-chain ecosystem. Through AI-enabled SME suppliers, defect rates dropped 40% and customer acquisition costs fell 28%. In Guangdong, enterprises participating in chain-wide transformation have seen AI application efficiency increase by 3 to 5 times. The marginal cost of AI trends toward zero, and cluster-level application can dramatically lower unit costs for individual firms.
Barriers to AI Enablement for SMEs
The main barriers include: organizational issues (insufficient management will), conceptual misalignment (treating AI as a cost rather than an investment), constraints from legacy management systems, inadequate supply of professional services, poor technical adaptability, and high costs. Some 72% of SMEs find that AI products on the market have "redundant functions."
Building an AI Enablement Ecosystem for SMEs
This includes targeted cultivation programs, internal capacity building within enterprises, nurturing AI service providers specialized in vertical domains, promoting low-code platforms, and establishing industrial knowledge bases. Through a combined framework of "scenario-based technology supply + tiered cost sharing + ecosystem-level data governance," the AI application potential of SMEs can be unlocked.
Originally published: Economic Observer · Microscope · 2025-02-22 · Read original →
Originally published in the "Economic Observer · The Walker’s View" column. The author is Executive President of the Guangdong SME Development Promotion Association. For reprints or citations, please contact the author or the Association Secretariat.