Hengtong Pioneers AI-Powered Manufacturing with All-Optical Networks

On the shimmering shores of Lake Taihu, at the crossroads of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, sits Qidu Town in the Wujiang District of Suzhou. Having long been a vital hub of waterways and trade, today it is renowned nationwide as the "Capital of Optoelectronics," commanding a 20% market share and proudly driving the sector forward.

Founded in 1993, Hengtong Group has deep roots in this thriving land. As one of the world's top three information and energy network service providers, Hengtong focuses on the full value chain of the optical communication industry. In China, the company has established a presence across 15 provinces and cities, and operates three high-tech industrial parks. Outside China, it has built 12 industrial bases along with more than 40 technical service companies. With business spanning over 150 countries and regions, its products are widely applied in fields such as communications, marine engineering, and new energy, driving innovation and connectivity across the globe.

Hengtong is dedicated not only to driving forward the optical communication industry, but also to advancing optical communication technologies. Working closely with Huawei, Hengtong has successfully built a Fiber to the Machine (FTTM) network, providing vital support for operations and production. Empowered by this all-optical network, Hengtong has accelerated its own digital and intelligent transformation, while innovating AI applications in industrial scenarios. In doing so, it has set a new benchmark for "AI + Manufacturing."

Intelligent Manufacturing Advances, and 10G Optical Networks Become a Must-Have

In recent years, the explosive growth of AI computing power has triggered a surge in fiber usage across intelligent computing centers. Leveraging its expertise and innovation in core technologies, Hengtong has always been at the forefront of the optical communication industry. As the company's business expands rapidly, its need for advanced intelligent manufacturing has become more apparent than ever.

To enhance the intelligence and precision of its manufacturing processes, Hengtong has independently developed a lean digital system and deployed a large number of digital devices. With a large number of processes and high production volumes, the system needs to handle more than 100 million data records every day. However, traditional networks struggle to support the real-time transmission of massive amounts of data and high-precision device control. As a result, the computational error rate once reached as high as 10%, making a network upgrade urgent.

At the beginning of 2023, Hengtong entered into a comprehensive partnership with Huawei, spanning industrial innovation across fields such as information communications, new energy materials, and digital and intelligent transformation. In the latter half of the same year, pilot projects for 10G optical network applications were launched, marking the dawn of the 10G era.

As 10G optical networks move from pilot testing to commercial deployment, Hengtong joined forces with Huawei and other partners to build an all-optical network. As a key infrastructure for the AI era and digital transformation, the all-optical network leverages fiber as the transmission medium and delivers core advantages such as ultra-high bandwidth, low latency, high reliability, and a green and simplified network, accelerating the company's journey toward digital and intelligent transformation.

In 2025, Hengtong reached a new milestone with the implementation of Huawei's FTTM solution. Commenting on this breakthrough, Hengtong's Device Director, Xuan Chuanwu, highlighted the company's commitment to creating a unified data network built on the 10G optical network, laying the groundwork for widespread AI adoption.

Building an All-Optical Foundation to Power Both Office and Production

For manufacturing enterprises, office and production scenarios are the ideal starting points for all-optical network deployment. In office environments, where frequent data exchanges and cross-department collaboration are essential, the all-optical network ensures the efficient flow of huge amounts of information. Meanwhile, in production scenarios, where real-time, high-volume data transmission is critical, the all-optical network precisely supports key applications such as industrial control and machine vision, helping enterprises enhance quality, reduce costs, and boost efficiency.

By focusing on these two core scenarios, Hengtong, together with Huawei, has built a 10G all-optical network foundation that shifts operations from process-driven to data-driven. This enables real-time data analysis and digital business operations and delivers remarkable improvements in execution efficiency, cost management, production process optimization, and customer service to underpin the company's decision-making.

In production scenarios, Hengtong has replaced traditional cable networking with Huawei's FTTM solution, significantly enhancing the stability and reliability of industrial site control while slashing cabling costs by 80%. By integrating the all-optical network with image recognition technology, Hengtong has achieved full-process automation in robotic material loading, bringing intelligence to every stage of production.

In office scenarios, Hengtong has deployed dual-port panel ONUs at workstations to implement fiber to the desktop, improving deployment efficiency by 70%. In addition, the CAD for optical terminal deployment is integrated with the network management system (NMS) to visualize physical locations and pinpoint faults in seconds. Built on the all-optical network foundation, Hengtong has also realized wired and wireless convergence, using a single fiber to carry multiple services and greatly simplifying the network architecture. Meanwhile, Wi-Fi 7 optical access points (APs) provide employees with an ultimate 10G access experience.

On top of that, Hengtong has also extended the all-optical network into intelligent monitoring of power distribution rooms. Leveraging the advantages of high bandwidth, strong anti-interference, and stable latency, the company achieves comprehensive monitoring of personnel access, environmental conditions, and power distribution devices.

Accelerating AI Innovation and Setting a New Benchmark for "AI + Manufacturing"

Today, as AI and manufacturing become increasingly intertwined, AI applications are evolving beyond isolated pilot projects into scalable replication and full-factory intelligence. In this process, manufacturing enterprises can build a deterministic, high-bandwidth, and scalable all-optical network that not only systematically addresses the bottlenecks of traditional networks in bandwidth, latency, reliability, and security, but also accelerates the large-scale replication of AI capabilities, fully enabling digital and intelligent transformation.

Thanks to the deployment of the 10G all-optical network, Hengtong is deeply integrating AI technology across the entire production and office processes. Currently, around 50% of its managers leverage AI large models to assist in office tasks, while more than 100 digital employees are already in use, with long-term plans for digital employees to account for over 10% of the total workforce. At the same time, Hengtong is exploring industrial models based on machine learning to analyze and forecast trends in quality, processes, costs, and energy consumption, thereby strengthening data-driven operational management and decision-making.

Hengtong has developed a cost analysis model based on massive volumes of data from production processes, finance, and engineering methods. This model enables precise cost analysis across orders, products, processes, and machines, allowing rapid root-cause identification and problem resolution. By providing strong data support for high-quality development, it has driven a 5.7% increase in first-pass yield of optical cable products and a 19.5% reduction in labor expenses.

Hengtong will continue to advance collaborative innovation between all-optical networks and AI technologies, deepening the integration of AI and manufacturing. While driving high-quality enterprise development, the company also aims to create a replicable model for digital and intelligent transformation in the manufacturing industry. Recently, Hengtong and Huawei officially signed a strategic cooperation agreement to deepen collaboration in optical communications, AI, computing networks, and energy interconnection. By joining forces, the two industry leaders are poised to make greater contributions to empowering industries with AI.