AI Empowers Wooden Toy Enterprises to Unlock the "New Speed" of Intelligent Manufacturing
On September 16, reporters visited Zhejiang Youbel Toy Co., Ltd. Staff clicked the mouse, dragged a physical photo of a wooden children’s kitchen into the system. Within dozens of seconds, AI automatically disassembled product components to generate the BOM (Bill of Materials), and produced the optimal material nesting plan for parts.
According to Liu Lihong, ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system management specialist of the enterprise, this is a daily scene after the enterprise implemented digital transformation for component analysis. Zhejiang Youbel Toy Co., Ltd. is an integrated manufacturer engaged in the R&D, production and sales of bamboo & wooden toys, educational puzzle toys, children’s kitchen and bathroom furniture, wooden crafts and other products. With a rich product portfolio and reliable production craftsmanship, the enterprise has built solid market reputation. However, the wooden toy industry features tiny parts, diverse specifications and heavy customization, which brought troubles to the enterprise’s traditional production management.
"In the past, material file creation and BOM entry for new products fully relied on manual work. Technicians needed to read drawings one by one, manually measure part dimensions and input material information item by item. The process was time-consuming and labor-intensive with long file setup cycles. Manual operations inevitably caused data deviations and entry errors, which directly affected product quotation, raw material procurement and production scheduling." Liu Lihong told reporters that the traditional production management model had long restricted the high-quality development of the enterprise.
To tackle industry pain points and boost production efficiency, Youbel Toy carried out digital transformation for component analysis based on its production scenarios. AI intelligent tools were deeply embedded in the product information module of its intelligent manufacturing ERP system. Four core AI capabilities including photo analysis, drawing analysis, intelligent cutting nesting and optimal layout planning were integrated. The full digital business chain of "physical object/drawing analysis — automatic BOM generation — intelligent plate nesting — workshop cutting" has been successfully established, ending the traditional manual-dominated material and production management model.
Beyond improving efficiency in material file creation, AI intelligent nesting also acts as a powerful tool to cut waste and improve quality. On the screen, one wood board is cut into dozens of parts, with leftover areas marked in red. "Manual nesting depends on experience, while AI nesting relies on data." Liu Lihong explained. Compared with traditional methods, board utilization rate is effectively improved and wood waste is greatly reduced. Losses throughout the process can be traced and records can be retained.
"Previously, it took most of a day to finish one order." Liu Lihong said. The new system also integrates an AI intelligent customer service module that can answer real-time questions about system operation, data inquiry, process handling and other matters. It further reduces operation and maintenance costs, improves office efficiency, and delivers more complete and efficient supporting services for digital production.
From a photo to a BOM, from a drawing to a cutting plan, the deep integration of AI and ERP not only helps the enterprise cut costs and raise efficiency, but also provides a replicable path for digital transformation of wooden toy manufacturers. Moving forward, the county will further promote and empower digital technologies, guide more traditional manufacturing enterprises to embrace intelligent manufacturing, achieve quality improvement, cost reduction and efficiency gains, and fully drive the upgrading of regional traditional industries to unleash new development vitality.