Siemens’ AI powered Nanjing facility named World Economic Forum Global Lighthouse Factory

The World Economic Forum (WEF) has named Siemens’ Nanjing factory in China as a Lighthouse Factory, adding it to the WEF’s Global Lighthouse Network of the most advanced operational sites in the world. Distinguished in the productivity category, the WEF recognized the Nanjing factory for achieving exceptional performance in cost and quality through digital twins and continuous AI-driven transformation.

The award highlights improvements in asset utilization, worker enablement and resource management. The Siemens plant in Nanjing is the fifth Siemens manufacturing site to be named Lighthouse Factory by the WEF, following Amberg, Erlangen and Fürth in Germany, and Chengdu in China.

“We call our Nanjing facility a ’digital-native factory.’ It was designed, tested, and optimized entirely in the virtual world before a single brick was laid. This approach not only enabled us to construct the factory faster and with outstanding cost-efficiency but also to build it under the toughest pandemic conditions. By combining our global manufacturing expertise with local insight and a digital-first mindset, we continuously optimize every part of the operation, making it one of the most efficient and flexible factories in the world,” said Cedrik Neike, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO Digital Industries.

The WEF jury was convinced by the continuous digital transformation of the production site and the cutting-edge implementation of AI applications. The factory overhauled its production processes in response to mounting operational pressures. The production site was facing increasingly varied customer orders requiring production line reconfiguration every four weeks. Another challenge was that delivery windows had shrunk from 45 days to 10 while market demand was fluctuating.

To address these challenges in its high-variety, low-volume manufacturing operations, Siemens implemented a digital excellence strategy, deploying end-to-end digital twins, modular automation, manufacturing operations management systems, and more than 50 artificial intelligence applications. Compared to 2022, the initiative has reduced lead times by 78 percent and time-to-market by 33 percent, while productivity increased 14 percent by 2024. Field failures dropped 46 percent, and the factory cut its direct and energy-related carbon emissions by 28 percent.

The Nanjing site is Siemens’ largest research and production center for high-performance controls for machine tools (CNC systems), drives and electric motors outside Germany, setting standards in terms of digitalization and sustainability. For Siemens, the 73,000 square-meter factory in Nanjing is a showcase project on many levels. The Digital Native Factory Nanjing, including its production processes, was planned and simulated fully digitally, allowing optimization in the virtual world before construction began.

Launched in 2018, the WEF Global Lighthouse Network brings together and celebrates the success of the world’s leading industrial sites that have achieved exceptional performance in productivity, supply chain resilience, customer centricity, sustainability and talent.

Siemens Digital Industries (DI) empowers companies of all sizes within the process and discrete manufacturing industries to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformation across the entire value chain. Siemens’ cutting-edge automation and software portfolio revolutionizes the design, realization and optimization of products and production. And with Siemens Xcelerator – the open digital business platform – this process is made even easier, faster, and scalable. Together with our partners and ecosystem, Siemens Digital Industries enables customers to become a sustainable Digital Enterprise. Siemens Digital Industries has a workforce of around 70,000 people worldwide.

Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a leading technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, mobility, and healthcare. The company’s purpose is to create technology to transform the everyday, for everyone. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers customers to accelerate their digital and sustainability transformations, making factories more efficient, cities more livable, and transportation more sustainable. A leader in industrial AI, Siemens leverages its deep domain know-how to apply AI – including generative AI – to real-world applications, making AI accessible and impactful for customers across diverse industries. Siemens also owns a majority stake in the publicly listed company Siemens Healthineers, a leading global medical technology provider pioneering breakthroughs in healthcare. For everyone. Everywhere. Sustainably. In fiscal 2025, which ended on September 30, 2025, the Siemens Group generated revenue of €78.9 billion and net income of €10.4 billion. As of September 30, 2025, the company employed around 318,000 people worldwide on the basis of continuing operations. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.