Home appliance giant Haier Group’s production base in Tianjin has hit upon a novel idea.Haier is offering consumers a chance to customize a washing machine remotely, just by using their mobile phones. Customers get to choose the functions, appearance and design of a washing machine without having to enter a physical store. Once they place an order, intelligent equipment at Haier’s interconnected factory automatically reads the information and starts production, tailor-made for each client.

It is using cutting-edge digital technologies, including 5G, artificial intelligence and big data, to improve the workshop’s productivity and cut energy consumption by more than 30 percent.