The area's first 'dark factory' has officially started operations, aiming for an annual cardboard production of 250 million square meters.
Recently, the smart corrugated cardboard and premium carton production base project, introduced by the Economic Development Zone of Jinhu County, Huai'an City, Jiangsu Province, officially started construction. It adds new support for the local packaging industry's smart upgrade and the improvement of the industrial chain.
The project, invested and built by Jiangsu Chuangxin Intelligent Packaging Co., Ltd., is positioned as a large-scale integrated smart corrugated packaging production base.
The project purchased a 3.35-meter-wide fully automatic corrugated paper production line from Jingshan Light Machinery (a national-level single champion product), along with a slotting machine, paper feeder, film cutting machine, printing machine, and other full-system carton production equipment. It also plans to introduce a fully intelligent logistics system, aiming to create the county's first "dark factory." Once fully operational, it can produce 250 million square meters of corrugated cardboard (up to 7 layers) annually and 40 million square meters of printed corrugated packaging boxes (up to 5 colors), providing 50 jobs.
A "dark factory" refers to an intelligent factory that relies on technologies like robot clusters, industrial internet, and AI algorithms, using robotic arms, unmanned transport vehicles, and automated visual inspection systems to achieve unmanned production. Because the production process doesn't require human supervision, the factory can keep running in "lights-off" mode, hence the name "dark factory."
The project focuses on smart corrugated paper and premium color box digital production. It will introduce advanced automated production lines, intelligent warehousing, and online quality inspection systems to build a green and intelligent modern packaging base. The company will strictly adhere to engineering quality and safety responsibilities, schedule backwards from deadlines, and monitor progress closely to ensure early completion and production, contributing to the high-quality development of the local economy.
"The business environment in the development zone is excellent, and government services are practical and efficient, making it a prime place for businesses to settle and grow," said Zhang Zhongling, the project manager. Throughout the project implementation process, the Jinhu County Economic Development Zone has adhered to the principle of 'projects come first,' providing full-cycle, preemptive services, proactively guiding site selection, planning, environmental assessments, energy consumption, and more. They offer assistance with approval procedures, facilitate parallel processing of project filings, planning, and land usage; simultaneously, they work on land clearing, construction access roads, temporary water and electricity support, organize multi-department on-site consultations, and promptly resolve bottlenecks to ensure smooth project commencement.
Next, the county's economic development zone will continue to deepen full-life-cycle services for projects, closely monitor key stages such as construction, completion, and production, conduct regular site visits and on-site scheduling, address concerns like building material transport, labor, and supporting utilities, help ensure projects are completed and operational on time, fill gaps in regional packaging support, attract upstream and downstream enterprises to gather, and strengthen the industrial foundation of the park.