From BMW to ZF, see how Zhuosheng Lighting is pioneering new pathways for Energy saving and carbon reduction in modern factories!

Under the dual-carbon policy and the Industry 4.0 wave, factory lighting has long gone beyond simply “illuminating spaces.”

Recently, Mr. Cheng Tianhui, Senior Lighting Application Architect at Zhuosheng Lighting, presented at the 【RAY・Zhuo Jian Zhi Guang】salon series on the topic of “Decoding the ‘Trinity’ Smart Light Environment in Modern Factories”. Drawing on global top-tier factory case studies from BMW, ZF, and others, he thoroughly dissected the diversified demands and intelligent solutions for industrial lighting, delivering a highly informative technical session for the industry.

Industry Pain Points Emerge as Industrial Lighting Reaches an Upgrade Turning Point

Mr. Cheng Tianhui began by highlighting four core pain points currently facing industrial lighting:

◇Low luminous efficacy, high energy consumption: Traditional luminaires generally offer less than 80 lm/W; with large spaces requiring numerous lights, electricity costs represent a significant portion of operational expenses.

◇High-altitude maintenance challenges: Repairing fixtures in 8–20 meter-high factory ceilings is costly—rental fees for aerial work platforms reach 800 yuan/day, labor costs 50 yuan/luminaire—and mixed lifetimes lead to wide power variations and frequent maintenance.

◇Substandard product quality: Industrial workshops demand strict IP and IK ratings, impact resistance, and lumen depreciation control; existing products often fail to meet these standards, with issues like inadequate IP/IK ratings and lumen depreciation exceeding 80%.

◇Non-compliant illuminance uniformity: Current lighting design standards are too generic to meet the nuanced needs of different industries and processes, resulting in poor illuminance uniformity that severely impacts production efficiency.

The Current State and Characteristics of Industrial Lighting

Policies are sending clear signals. The State Council’s “Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction Action Plan (2024–2025)” lists energy conservation and carbon reduction in the industrial sector as a key priority, emphasizing technological upgrades to improve energy efficiency. Furthermore, the National Development and Reform Commission’s “Special Management Measures for Central Budget Investment in Energy Conservation and Carbon Reduction” explicitly prioritizes support for industrial lighting retrofit projects. Energy conservation, carbon reduction, quality improvement, and efficiency gains have become the core drivers behind upgrading industrial lighting.

Policies and Industry Trends

A One-Stop Smart Solution Tackles Core Factory Lighting Challenges

In response to industry pain points and policy requirements, Mr. Cheng Tianhui detailed Zhuosheng Lighting’s smart industrial lighting solution, centered around two main pillars: “luminaire upgrades + intelligent control.”

Low-Carbon, Energy-Efficient Lighting Solutions

Luminaire Upgrades: Full-Scene Coverage from “Functional” to “User-Friendly”

On the product side, Zhuosheng Lighting has built a comprehensive product line covering all scenarios.

For high-ceiling areas, its highest-efficiency canopy light reaches 180 lm/W (Hao Rui Canopy Light Gen 4), boasts a lifespan of up to 50,000 hours (L70 standard), supports multiple dimming methods including on/off, 1–10V, and Digital Addressable Lighting Interface (DALI), and offers optional anti-glare aluminum shades and safety ropes.

Cleanroom lights meet precision manufacturing needs, with a yellow-light version available for chip lithography workshops.

Freezer lights feature an IP65 rating, ensuring stable long-term operation in -30°C to +35°C environments, making them ideal for extreme conditions.

Specially designed for flexible production lines, modular trunking lights enable tool-free assembly and installation at any position, perfectly adapting to dynamic line adjustments.

Additionally, bracket lights, downlights, and panel lights span full power ranges and offer multiple color temperatures, catering to diverse settings such as industrial facilities, warehouses, and offices.

Typical Luminaire – Canopy Light

Canopy Light Accessories

Typical Luminaire – Freezer Light

Intelligent Control: A Core Breakthrough from “Passive Maintenance” to “Proactive Management”

Intelligent control stands out as the solution’s centerpiece. Based on Germany’s e:cue technology, Zhuosheng’s SYMPHO® Industry integrated smart control platform delivers centralized management, energy data collection and storage, analytics and reporting, an open platform, user interaction, and fault alarms.

It features five major advantages: professionalism, stability, compatibility, security, and flexibility.

Platform Functions

Zhuosheng Smart Industrial Lighting Solution – Platform Features

Built on a TCP/IP framework, the platform is compatible with various industrial communication protocols including BACnet, Modbus, OPC UA, and MQTT, enabling seamless integration with enterprise MES, ERP systems, and third-party smart building systems.

Zhuosheng Smart Industrial Lighting Solution – Compatibility

Hardware encryption via U-Shield and AES-128-level data encryption, combined with a dual-server backup system, ensure secure data transmission and storage.

Zhuosheng Smart Industrial Lighting Solution – Security

Customizable data dashboards and 2D/3D visualization interfaces allow real-time monitoring of luminaire status, energy consumption, and faults, enabling remote centralized management via PC and mobile devices. The system has been operating stably worldwide for over 10 years.

Summary

This three-in-one system of “hardware adaptation + intelligent regulation + data empowerment” ultimately delivers three core values: automatically adjusting brightness and switching times through light and human presence sensors to achieve energy savings; enhancing operation and maintenance efficiency via centralized management and proactive fault alerts (email/SMS notifications); and optimizing work environments through scenario-based lighting design to boost productivity.

Real-World Benchmark Projects Unlock Replicable Best Practices

Beyond theory, Mr. Cheng shared practical experiences from several global benchmark projects, adding substantial reference value to the solution.

BMW Shenyang Plant (Completed in 2015): A Model for Automotive Manufacturing Lighting

Zhuosheng Lighting supplied nearly 40,000 lighting units to the plant’s final assembly, painting, and other areas, covering 400,000 square meters with total sales reaching 18 million yuan.

Industrial Lighting Case Study: BMW Plant

Key implementation highlights include:

◇Using DUS® IP60, Mirrortec, and other luminaires paired with DALI dimming systems to ensure stable illumination across diverse work scenarios;

◇Employing rail-mounted trunking lights to solve complex wiring challenges, with dual-circuit power designs balancing stability and energy efficiency;

◇Modular design significantly reducing construction and post-installation maintenance costs, perfectly meeting automotive production’s multifaceted demands for safety, comfort, and environmental protection.

ZF Electric Drive System New Plant in Shenyang: A Benchmark Practice of the “Trinity” Approach

This project won the Silver Award in the “Industrial Space” category at the 6th DALI Alliance China Awards. As a core component of ZF Group’s electrification strategy, the plant adopted a design philosophy of “green intelligent manufacturing and efficient collaboration.”

Industrial Lighting Case Study: ZF Project

End-to-End Digital Empowerment — Data as Productivity

Zhuosheng Lighting customized a full-scenario solution for this project, covering multi-floor spaces including production and finished-product areas, deploying a total of 6,018 luminaires (including cleanroom lights, triple-proof lights, strip lights, etc.). Integrated with the SYMPHO® Industry control platform, using one main control cabinet (with built-in FX host), six lighting switch boxes, and fifteen lighting distribution boxes, along with 101 DALI control modules and 47 eight-channel power modules, they achieved real-time monitoring and intelligent regulation of all area luminaires. Genius power modules collected energy consumption data, while customized dashboards supported operational decision-making, establishing the site as a model for smart industrial lighting.

Other Global Benchmark Cases

Zhuosheng Lighting’s solutions have been successfully applied to projects at COMAC Shanghai Aircraft Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (wireless control solution), Audi Eching Plant in Germany, FAW-Volkswagen Changchun Platform Plant, and Osram Kulim LED Chip Factory in Malaysia (the world’s most modern 6-inch LED chip fab), accumulating cross-industry experience spanning automotive, aerospace, electronics, and logistics.

Interactive Q&A

Q

Beyond basic illumination, what emerging needs and development directions should modern industrial lighting focus on?

A

Mr. Cheng Tianhui stated that the energy-saving potential of luminaires themselves is nearing its limit; future growth in industrial lighting will center on intelligent control technologies.

By dynamically adjusting light power, illuminance, and color temperature, combined with big data collection and AI algorithm analysis of production line activity patterns, “demand-based lighting” can be realized. This approach not only further reduces energy consumption, extends luminaire lifespans, and cuts maintenance costs but also enhances production efficiency through refined light environment design—this will be the industry’s primary development direction.

Q

What replicable lessons can be drawn from ZF Plant’s smart lighting practices?

A

The core lesson lies in providing an integrated solution encompassing “hardware + platform + software + data.”

Mr. Cheng emphasized that Zhuosheng Lighting does not merely sell luminaires or control equipment; instead, it offers end-to-end services—from terminal hardware to the SYMPHO® Industry control platform, customized software interfaces, and data output—tailored to specific industrial scenarios. In particular, the mechanisms for collecting energy-saving data and providing real-time feedback across different scenarios can be widely applied to lighting operations in various factories, facilitating a shift from “passive maintenance” to “proactive management.”

Q

Can Zhuosheng Lighting undertake lighting retrofits for existing plants?

A

Mr. Cheng gave an affirmative answer. He noted that Zhuosheng Lighting can provide flexible retrofit options, supporting a “replace-at-original-location” model that swaps traditional luminaires for high-luminous-efficacy, highly reliable smart fixtures equipped with communication, sensing, and control capabilities. Alternatively, customers may opt to upgrade only the intelligent control system or adopt a combined “fixture + control” upgrade approach, specifically addressing the energy-saving, carbon-reduction, and smart upgrade needs of existing facilities.

Conclusion

Through solid theoretical foundations, rich practical experience, and clear explanations, Mr. Cheng Tianhui provided the industrial lighting sector with a resource that balances technical depth and practical value.

As new productive forces advance and intelligent technologies develop, smart industrial lighting will unlock broader application prospects. Zhuosheng Lighting’s German-technology-based “trinity” solution continues to offer a clear roadmap for industry upgrades.

Future sessions in the 【RAY・Zhuo Jian Zhi Guang】salon series will bring more cutting-edge lighting technologies and scenario-based case studies. Industry professionals interested in staying updated are encouraged to follow Ming Classroom platform announcements to unlock additional industry insights!

Note: This article is compiled from the recording of Mr. Cheng Tianhui’s January 20, 2026 presentation on “Decoding the ‘Trinity’ Smart Light Environment in Modern Factories” at Ming Classroom, authorized by Zhuosheng Lighting and published by Ming Classroom.

Click here for the course replay