Traditional tea factory becomes a Digital Enterprise

By deploying the Digital Enterprise and integrated IT/OT, China’s Xiao Guan Tea is ready to bring master-level teas en masse onto the global market.

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Nestled atop Mount Huangshan in China’s Anhui Province are the bright-white headquarters of Xiao Guan Tea, a high-end tea brand founded in 2011. Behind the buildings’ pristine façades is a factory in which a tradition spanning millennia meets the most advanced technology.

Tea is one of the world’s oldest and most popular drinks. China, presumed to be the birthplace of tea, has been producing tea for over 4,700 years. Xiao Guan Tea honors this tradition while seeking to transform it. “We wanted to leverage the power of technology to help the tea industry break free from the constraints of traditional workshop production,” says Han Meng, Production Director, Production Department, Xiao Guan Tea. To fulfil this ambition, the company invested 1.5 billion yuan, or circa $550 million dollars to upgrade its facilities.

Key benefits

90 % of manufacturing process automated

243 pieces of automation equipment

46 intelligent robots

Digital workflow and real-time data

Undergoing a comprehensive value chain assessment was Xiao Guan Tea’s first step towards 21st century production. The consultants of Siemens Digital Enterprise Services created a blueprint for digitally integrating the product lifecycle, order delivery, digital factory lifecycle, and production lines. The two companies then jointly developed the manufacturing execution system (MES). “We can collect and manage information throughout the entire production process, from order to delivery, and seamlessly integrate enterprise resource planning and warehouse management systems,” Siemens China’s Digital Business Architect Cui Ruiqian explains. “We integrated IT and OT, highly improving production and management efficiency.”

We wanted to leverage the power of technology to help the tea industry break free from the constraints of traditional workshop production.

Han Meng, Production Director, Production Department, Xiao Guan Tea

Xiao Guan Tea’s supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and anti-counterfeiting systems were likewise connected, completing the vertical integration. With real-time data from all aspects of its operations always at the ready, Xiao Guan Tea can maintain the highest quality and quickly respond to new circumstances.

AI-enabled automated production

243 pieces of automation equipment and 46 intelligent robots mean that 90% of Xiao Guan Tea’s manufacturing process is automated. AI-enabled robots swiftly remove impurities from the premium grade leaves at the start of the filling line. The leaves are then automatically filled, weighed, infused with nitrogen, sealed, and packed. Robots stack the pallets and store them in an unmanned stereoscopic warehouse.

Xiao Guan Tea state-of-the-art factory gets us one step closer towards our goal to meet the demands of today’s consumer markets and secure a place on the world stage.

Du Guoying, founder of Xiao Guan Tea

Technology transforming tradition

As the first intelligent tea factory in China, Xiao Guan Tea’s facilities incorporates industrial R&D, testing, inspection methods, and advanced production and storage solutions. “Digitalization enables the tea industry to transform expertise passed down across generations into replicable and tea production capability,” Zhang Zhe, Manager of Technical Competence & Projects Digital Industries, Siemens China, adds. “With it, the shopfloor staff are able to produce master-class tea at scale.”

“We are turning the traditional art of tea making into a science. That’s how we can meet the demands of today’s consumer markets and secure a place on the world stage,” says Du Guoying, founder of Xiao Guan Tea. “Xiao Guan Tea state-of-the-art factory gets us one step closer towards that goal.”