As one of the key series events of the "2025 Donghu Forum", this forum attracted nearly 1,000 guests, including well-known domestic and foreign intelligent manufacturing experts, relevant principals of manufacturing enterprises, and representatives of intelligent manufacturing solution providers. Focusing on the theme of "Industrial AI Advances and Application Prospects", the invited guest speakers of academicians, experts, and representatives from leading enterprises brought in-depth exchanges on technologies and trends, jointly mapped out a blueprint for the collaborative development and presented a splendid international knowledge feast on intelligent manufacturing to all participants.
 
   
A host of leaders and renowned domestic and foreign experts in intelligent manufacturing attended the forum, including: Professor Ji Zhou (Honorary Chairman of ICIM, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering), Mr. Wenbing Zhang (Member of the Standing Committee and Executive Vice Governor of Hubei Province), Professor Peigen Li (Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering), Professor Huayong Yang (Chairman of ICIM, Fellow of the Chinese Academy of Engineering), Mr. Jinkun Li (Deputy Secretary-General of the People's Government of Hubei Province), Mr. Jun Wu (Director of Hubei Provincial Intellectual Property Office), Mr. Xinya Wang (Member of the Party Leadership Group and Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology of Hubei Province), Professor Liang Gao (Member of the Party Standing Committee and Vice President of Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Professor Andrew Kusiak (The University of Iowa, USA), Professor Juergen Grotepass (Standardization Council Industry 4.0, Germany), Professor Luis M. Camarinha-Matos (Head of the Department of Robotics and Manufacturing, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal), Professor Lihui Wang (Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden), and Professor Weiming Shen (Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology).

Also present at the forum were Professor Mingjian Zuo (Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering), Zhang Xijun (Secretary-General of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society), Ms. Ying Liang (Secretary-General of ICIM), Ping Zhou (Deputy Secretary-General of ICIM), Mr. Yongjun Qie (Vice President of SANY Group, Dean of Digital Twin Research Institute), and Dr. Pei Huang (Member of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee, CEO of e-works). The forum was hosted by Academician Ji Zhou and Academician Peigen Li. Additionally, Mr. Wuhua Zhang (Deputy Director of the Equipment Department of Hubei Provincial Department of Economy and Information Technology) and Mr. Li Li (Director of the Artificial Intelligence Department of Wuhan Economy and Information Technology) also attended the forum.
 
Mr. Wenbing Zhang, Member of the Standing Committee and Executive Vice Governor of Hubei Province, delivered an opening address at the forum. He stated that Hubei will focus on digital-driven development, further implement the "Sharp Blade" Project and the "Integration of Reality and Data" Empowerment Initiative, and make every effort to advance the "61020" full-chain research initiative. Hubei sincerely invites and welcomes global scientific research institutions, universities, enterprises, and talents engaged in intelligent manufacturing to conduct industrial cooperation, innovation, and entrepreneurship in Hubei.
   
As the "thought engine" of the forum, a number of well-known domestic and foreign experts of intelligent manufacturing gathered and jointly discussed the current development status of intelligent manufacturing, and provided insights into the future development direction of intelligent manufacturing. Professor Huayong Yang, Chairman of ICIM, shared the application trends of artificial intelligence in high-end equipment manufacturing. Through the sharing of multiple practical cases, he explained the connotation of the digital foundation and industrial large models, demonstrated the application of personalized intelligent agents in industrial scenarios such as product R&D intelligent agents and production management and control intelligent agents, and introduced intelligent computing systems and intelligent terminals for high-end equipment. He pointed out that the integration of high-end equipment large models and the digital foundation of intelligent manufacturing is a digital system project to advance the new type of industrialization, and artificial intelligence will reshape the integration of R&D, design, and operation of high-end equipment.
  Professor Andrew Kusiak from The University of Iowa, USA, delivered a speech "Generative AI in Manufacturing: A Digital Twin Perspective". He explained the development of AI models from discriminative AI to generative AI and typical generative AI models, shared the application of generative AI in manufacturing, and demonstrated the specific practice of developing digital twin prototypes combined with generative AI by taking the injection molding twin model as an example. He stated that generative AI can serve as a productivity tool in model construction, model solving, data engineering, and digital twin prototype development, and has shown significant application value in scenarios such as mass customization and product quality control.
  Professor Juergen Grotepass from the Standardization Council Industry 4.0 (Germany) delivered a speech of "Skill Synergy: A Future of Human-Robot Collaboration for Skill Development and Task Sharing". He shared the latest insights from the 2025 Hannover Messe, the skill development of humanoid robots, and the comparison and collaboration of AI action plans among various countries. He noted that industrial data spaces will drive the application of artificial intelligence. He also emphasized that global technological collaboration needs to incorporate a geopolitical perspective, and countries need to strengthen regulatory coordination.
  Professor Lihui Wang, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Chair Professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden), focused on "Frontiers of AI and Smart Manufacturing". He elaborated on AI application scenarios in manufacturing such as human-machine collaboration, brain-computer robots, and vision-language-action integration, and shared the future challenges of AI applications and the vision of "human-centric assembly". He pointed out that AI has evolved from an auxiliary tool to a core driver of the manufacturing industry; in the future, it is necessary to center on human needs and use AI technology to enhance the sustainability, resilience, and efficiency of the manufacturing industry.
  Professor Weiming Shen, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering, Professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Dean of the School of Intelligent Manufacturing and Future Technology at Fuyao University of Science and Technology, shared insights around "AI Agents in Smart Manufacturing". He systematically introduced three types of agents—distributed AI agents, reinforcement learning agents, and AI agents based on large language models—and expounded on their application scenarios in collaborative intelligent manufacturing, such as equipment fault detection and prediction, product quality monitoring, and production planning and scheduling. Professor Shen proposed that agents have great potential in the application of Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM), and the combination of multi-agents is a solution in the field of CIM. However, the current application of AI agents in industry still faces many challenges. Professor Luis M. Camarinha-Matos, Head of the Department of Robotics and Manufacturing at Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), delivered a speech titled "Collaborative Networks in Smart Manufacturing". He analyzed the evolution process and classification system of collaborative networks, focused on their key roles in the six dimensions of Industry 4.0 and the three new dimensions of Industry 5.0, and shared the value of collaborative networks through case studies in industries such as energy and elderly care services. He pointed out that collaborative networks are the core to fulfilling the promise of intelligent manufacturing, but human-AI hybrid collaborative networks still face significant challenges.
  Dr. Pei Huang, Member of the National Intelligent Manufacturing Expert Committee and CEO of e-works, delivered a keynote speech titled "Smart Manufacturing and Industrial AI Application Trends". Dr. Huang analyzed the challenges and problems faced by China's manufacturing industry, expounded on the promotion characteristics of intelligent manufacturing and the five-level of smart factory construction. He stated that industrial AI applications should be closely aligned with the overall strategy of enterprises to ensure that the implementation of AI projects can directly support business development and value creation.
  Professor Huafeng Ding, Director of the Academic Committee of the School of Mechanical and Electronic Information at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Doctoral Supervisor, shared the intelligent mechanism design method in equipment innovation. Professor Ding pointed out that "mechanism", as the "skeleton" of mechanical equipment, its digital-intelligent integrated method is the key to high-end equipment innovation and a focus of competition among world manufacturing powers.
  Professor Liang Xuan, Vice Dean of the School of Intelligent Manufacturing, Jianghan University
Professor Xuan Liang, Vice Dean of the School of Intelligent Manufacturing at Jianghan University and Doctoral Supervisor, delivered a speech of "Architecture and Integration of Smart Manufacturing Systems Based on Industrial Machine Vision". He systematically explained how machine vision becomes the perception core of intelligent manufacturing. He pointed out that inspection runs through the entire process of intelligent manufacturing and provides key technical support for enterprises' intelligent transformation and digital upgrading.
 
Pioneer Enterprises Share Practical Experience
This forum not only focused on academic frontiers but also emphasized industrial practice. At the forum, senior executives from demonstration intelligent manufacturing enterprises such as SANY, CICT Group, China Railway Construction Heavy Industry, and Changhong Meiling Co., Ltd. shared "replicable and implementable" transformation experiences, providing valuable promotion ideas and practical experience for enterprises' exploration and application in industrial AI and intelligent manufacturing.
 
Professional Vendors Gather to Showcase Cutting-Edge Solutions
The advancement of intelligent manufacturing is inseparable from intelligent manufacturing solution providers. At this forum, representatives from well-known intelligent manufacturing vendors such as EpicHust and Baidu shared new technologies, new concepts, solutions, and practical cases in the field of intelligent manufacturing.
 
To allow participants to gain a more intuitive understanding of the solutions of various vendors, the forum also set up vendor booths, providing opportunities for enterprises and vendors. Through face-to-face communication and interaction with vendors, participants could learn about cutting-edge product technologies, industry-leading solutions, and application practices, providing reference for enterprises' future digital and intelligent transformation.
At this forum, through the sharing and exchanges between well-known domestic and foreign academic experts, representatives of benchmark manufactures, and intelligent manufacturing solution providers, four core hotspots and trends in the current field of industrial AI and intelligent manufacturing were released, providing great support for global manufacturing enterprises to promote digital transformation and intelligent manufacturing.
 
In the future, as industrial AI accelerates its advancement from single-point trial to large-scale implementation, technologies such as human-machine collaboration, digital twins, and federated learning will be deeply integrated into the entire manufacturing process, promoting the transformation of traditional industries towards "intelligent, green, and efficient" development. The global wisdom gathered and practical experience shared at this forum will further stimulate the exploration enthusiasm of manufacturing enterprises, trigger a new wave of intelligent manufacturing innovation, provide solid support for China to build an advanced manufacturing system and promote the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, and contribute to the advancement of global intelligent manufacturing towards a new future of collaborative symbiosis.