Be the "Stabilizing Core Leader" of High-End Manufacturing, Break Through the Intelligent Drive Track with Independent Innovation——Exclusive Interview of SMARTWIN Intelligent Equipment by Innovation World Weekly

Recently, Liu Yangsheng, Founder, Chairman and General Manager of Dongguan Smartwin Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd., was invited for an exclusive interview with the "New Maker" column of Innovation World Weekly—a central comprehensive economic media focusing on global innovation. During the interview, he shared in depth the company’s decade-long journey specializing in direct-drive motors, tackling core technologies, and advancing the in-depth localization of high-end automated equipment. He also decoded Smartwin’s growth formula and development philosophy: market demand-oriented, R&D innovation-driven, and brand service-supported.

Innovation World Weekly is a national comprehensive economic media focused on global innovation, supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, supported by the China Enterprise Management Research Association, and sponsored by China Light Industry Press and other institutions. Since its founding in 2016, it has always taken promoting the national innovation-driven development strategy as its core mission. The publication is directly distributed to national ministries and commissions as well as global political and business leaders. Rooted in innovative enterprises worldwide, it covers Party and government organs, enterprises and public institutions, research institutes, academic societies, and universities and colleges across the country. Boasting an extensive distribution network, it delivers the latest, most authoritative and most influential information. Its Innovation World Forum is hailed as a barometer for the innovative development of the global economy.

This exclusive interview by the authoritative media not only highly recognizes SMARTWIN 's industry standing, technical strength and innovation achievements in the direct drive motor track, but also highlights the company's industrial influence as a benchmark enterprise for domestic substitution of core components in high-end manufacturing.

Here is the full text of the interview published in the Innovative World Weekly (Issue No. 92) on April 10, 2026, under the column New Makers:

China's high-end manufacturing is bound to achieve breakthroughs, and the in-depth localization of high-end automated equipment has become an irresistible imperative. Smartwin Equipment has long been deeply engaged in the direct-drive motor sector and tackled core technological challenges, aiming to contribute its share to this industrial breakthrough.

Starting from a small 500-square-meter factory in 2013, the company now boasts a production workshop of over 20,000 square meters and firmly ranks among the top three in China’s direct-drive motor market. The decade-long growth of Smartwin Equipment serves as a vivid epitome of China’s high-end core components evolving from import reliance to independent substitution.

Recently, Liu Yangsheng, Founder of Dongguan Smartwin Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd., stated in an exclusive interview with the New Makers column of Innovative World Weekly, that he condensed the company’s development philosophy into 18 characters: Led by market demand, driven by R&D innovation, supported by brand services. Guided by this tenet, Smartwin Equipment has gained a firm foothold in micron-level precision manufacturing and forged steady progress on the track of high-end manufacturing.

Born for the Market

Before founding Smartwin Equipment, Liu Yangsheng had long been engaged as an agent for imported industrial control component brands. At that time, China’s consumer electronics terminal market began to boom, with leading manufacturers such as GoerTek and Luxshare Precision enjoying rapid development.

“The prosperity of the terminal market will inevitably drive the growth of domestic manufacturers of upstream precision automation equipment, and domestic supporting industrial control components will surely embrace rare development opportunities.” After identifying this business opportunity and conducting repeated deliberation and demonstration, Liu Yangsheng resolutely gave up his agency business. He invited Wang Huohua, a professional with a background in linear motor R&D, to join the team, and devoted himself fully to the independent R&D track of linear motors.

Everything is difficult at the start. When the company was founded at the end of 2013, its registered capital was only 500,000 RMB. It rented a factory of less than 500 square meters with a team of just a few people. Liu Yangsheng has a deep understanding of the hardships of starting a business. “Back then, product development, market expansion, production and installation, as well as after-sales service all fell on the shoulders of just a few of us. Although everyone’s monthly salary was barely over 1,000 RMB, we were all determined to make a name for ourselves in the high-end equipment manufacturing industry.”

To meet tight project schedules, Liu Yangsheng and the first batch of employees often worked through the night beside customized marble precision motion platforms and even took brief naps on-site. Especially when production capital was at its tightest, he ran into repeated rejections while seeking a 3-million-RMB financing round. “We had a drink together back then, and tears rolled down our cheeks as we talked. Yet we wiped away our tears, encouraged each other, and kept striving forward,” Liu Yangsheng recalled.

Such experiences gave Liu Yangsheng a clearer insight into entrepreneurship: “The survival of a startup lies in every detail of decision-making. The greatest advantage of small enterprises lies in rapid decision-making and fast iteration. Decision-making is essentially taking responsibility. When mistakes are made, we face them honestly and correct them quickly.”

From the very beginning, Smartwin Equipment has anchored its R&D and investment closely to market and customer demands. The firm firmly rejects empty conceptual hype and futile investment, concentrating all limited resources on technologies that are implementable and commercially viable.

Thanks to this strategy, Smartwin achieved a major breakthrough only two years after its establishment. In 2015, it launched China’s first ultra-thin linear motor with high thrust density, successfully entering the supply chain of leading equipment enterprises. In the same year, it secured its first stable key client, firmly establishing a foothold in the market. In 2017, revenue exceeded 20 million RMB and the company achieved sustained profitability, officially crossing the “valley of death” for startups.

Since then, Smartwin Equipment has kept a close eye on downstream industry trends and forged ahead with market momentum. Starting from 2018, the company successively expanded into high-growth tracks including display panels, lithium batteries, photovoltaics and semiconductors, deploying tailored direct-drive product lines. Amid the explosive capacity expansion demand from downstream industries, it built up a complete product matrix in advance, driving steady revenue growth.

Smartwin Equipment’s revenue surpassed 200 million RMB in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate of 56% over the past five years. In 2025, its output value reached nearly 400 million RMB, almost doubling its performance scale.

Break Through with Technology

Linear motors are hailed as the "heart" of high-end equipment. For a long time, the three core components of the direct drive system — motors, drives and encoders — were monopolized by foreign brands."To break the monopoly, we must build a fully independent technological closed loop," said Liu Yangsheng with firm resolve and clear vision.

"None of the leading industrial control component giants at home and abroad focus on a single product line. Expanding product categories and building a product matrix ecosystem is an inevitable path for SMARTWIN to grow and strengthen," Liu Yangsheng stated. After gaining market traction with linear motors and emerging as a top domestic brand in the early stage, the company continuously reinvested steady profits into R&D, steadily expanding into bottleneck sectors including drives and encoders, with its annual compound growth rate of R&D investment exceeding 20%.

Technological breakthroughs stem from days and nights of relentless research and development. The high precision of linear motor modules relies on the in-depth coordination of the three core components."We have independently mastered the full-industry-chain technologies. Compared with adopting drives and encoders from foreign brands, we can independently optimize algorithms and source codes tailored to customer needs to achieve superior performance," Liu Yangsheng introduced.Currently, the linear motor modules developed by SMARTWIN can deliver a maximum precision within 0.1μm. Especially in the lithium battery coating scenario, speed fluctuation is controlled within 0.05%, greatly improving the consistency of electrode coating thickness.

SMARTWIN has a clear roadmap for R&D investment: On one hand, it improves the product system and enhances product performance to develop cost-effective products in response to customers' supporting demands for new products, new technologies and new processes. On the other hand, leveraging its existing underlying technologies, the company explores new fields and applications, and maintains close exchanges and diversified cooperation with universities.

Today, SMARTWIN is among the few domestic enterprises that have simultaneously mastered the three core technologies of direct drive systems, ranking among the top three in market share. Even so, the company has never stopped forging ahead. Established in May 2025, its subsidiary draws on technological accumulation in frameless torque motor drives, encoders and other products to develop joint modules for humanoid robots, with developed samples now in in-depth cooperation discussions with leading manufacturers. Meanwhile, the company has made early layouts in emerging sectors such as AI glasses, AI servers and 3D printing to foster a second growth curve.

“From following and keeping pace to taking the lead in certain segments”, SMARTWIN has proven through continuous innovation that Chinese enterprises are fully capable of developing world-class ‘Chinese core’ technologies in the high-end precision manufacturing industry”, Liu Yangsheng said with pride.

Go Far with Quality

In Liu Yangsheng’s view, an outstanding manufacturing enterprise must not only excel in technology and deliver reliable products, but also underpin long-term development with brand strength and professional services, while driving the standardized and sound development of the industry.

A long-standing pain point in the direct drive industry is the lack of unified standards. Inconsistent product specifications and poor interchangeability among different manufacturers have brought difficulties to product selection and complicated commissioning for customers, driving up industrial costs and restricting efficiency improvement.Against this backdrop, SMARTWIN has vigorously advanced product standardization and thoroughly implemented the "Lego-style modularity" concept. It offers a full range of standardized linear motors, drives and encoders with complete specifications and models. For customized customer demands, solutions can be realized simply through flexible modular combination, just like assembling Lego bricks.This initiative has not only greatly boosted production efficiency and delivery capacity, but also guided leading enterprises in the industry to gradually unify specifications and accelerate industrial standardization.

Meanwhile, Liu Yangsheng has actively advocated for and promoted the formulation of unified industrial standards. He has maintained frequent communication and cooperation with industry associations and standardization committees, striving to put an end to the industry’s status of having no unified evaluation benchmarks at an early date.

SMARTWIN today is vastly different from its early days. The company owns a self-built factory of 4,200 square meters and leased an additional 20,000-square-meter plant in July 2025. Equipped with CNC machine tools, laser etching equipment and other sophisticated facilities, its product delivery capability has been greatly enhanced.The workforce has expanded from 150 employees at the end of 2024 to around 260, with R&D and technical personnel accounting for over 20%. A group of post-95s and post-00s employees have grown into key business backbones and taken up core management positions.Its downstream business covers lithium battery, 3C, display panel, semiconductor and other fields, forming a steady development pattern of diversified business layout that hedges market risks.

"We do not seek instant success; instead, we are committed to solidly refining every product and serving every customer wholeheartedly, striving to deepen and consolidate our presence in the direct drive sector."Liu Yangsheng has set an even clearer vision for SMARTWIN’s future:"To become an absolutely leading domestic direct drive brand in our existing track, and continuously expand into emerging application scenarios such as AI glasses and AI servers; seize the opportunities of domestic substitution to enrich our product ecosystem and deploy more high-value component products; rely on Dongguan’s complete industrial supporting resources to further expand production capacity and enhance core competitiveness."