(Yicai) April 23 -- GE HealthCare said the US medical devices giant's Beijing manufacturing base has put its first lights-out production line for computed tomography detectors into operation, allowing for autonomous manufacturing and significantly boosting efficiency.

The new lights-out line integrates automated equipment, robotics, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things tech, GE HealthCare announced at an event marking the 35th anniversary of its Beijing plant on April 21. It enables automated production processes and smart interaction of information flow, while effectively mitigating quality control errors caused by manual operations, the Chicago-based firm noted.

Lights-out production lines or factories are workshops that operate autonomously with highly automated and intelligent equipment and without the need for human supervision, capable of achieving 24-hour uninterrupted production.

The Beijing factory is undertaking the production of key components for medical equipment using cutting-edge tech, Feng Jian, general manager of GE HealthCare Beijing Intelligent Manufacturing Base, told Yicai. More than 60 percent of the CT devices it makes are shipped overseas, Feng revealed.

The base will adopt more advanced technologies in the future, including embodied AI and wheeled robots, Feng added.

On the same day, the Beijing factory shipped its 200,000th imaging device overseas.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev