China Market Insider—Series "AI in Metal Processing" LE Robotics: From the Welding Motor of the Father to the Embodied AI of the Son

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Hu Haojie is a second-generation entrepreneur. He learned welding in his father's factory. Now he builds welding robots with artificial intelligence, and his company is growing rapidly.

The father and company founder Hu Yachun has been building welding motors since the 1990s. Over the course of three decades, he has built up the Loyalty Enterprises Group, a diversified industrial group that operates in almost 40 countries and has an annual turnover of almost one billion euros, as his son recently said in an interview with the business medium "Diyi Caijing".

The son, Hu Haojie, founded the company spin-off LE Robotics in Chengdu in 2022. He integrates AI with traditional welding and cutting robots. Hu not only sees AI and robotics as the future, but also sees his specialist knowledge from his father's company as a special opportunity for his company.

"Even a team of PhD students might not be able to build something like this," says Hu. You have to master welding technology, processes, image processing systems, algorithms and robot control at the same time. "The barrier to entry is so high that most competitors simply can't get in."

LE Robotics has developed an AI-supported solution for metal processing that Hu describes as a "hand-eye-foot-brain" system. The "eyes" scan workpieces with an industrial-grade 3D vision system to an accuracy of fractions of a millimetre and can locate weld seams within ten seconds.

The "brain" links AI algorithms with a welding knowledge graph and calculates the optimum processing path. The "feet" navigate autonomously and tracklessly through the factory hall. There is no need for pre-programming or manual teaching of the robots.

Unlike some competitors, LE Robotics covers both welding and cutting applications using a platform developed in-house and an RX knowledge database. The young Hu has brought experts from Tsinghua University in Beijing and experienced engineers from Germany and abroad into his team.

Companies such as Botsing and 3S Robotics, which we presented in an earlier episode of this series, specialize in welding in extreme environments. Speedbot, on the other hand, also described earlier in this series, enables more intelligent image processing across robots.

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LE Robotics takes a different, and again very unique, approach: a single platform for embodied AI covers two different metalworking workflows.

The RX welding and cutting knowledge database can be used for both welding and cutting work. The local daily newspaper "Chengdu Ribao" reports that welding efficiency, for example, has improved by more than 50 percent compared to conventional methods thanks to LE Robotics' AI.

The company's portfolio already includes more than 30 products in four categories, ranging from individual welding machines and cutting systems to intelligent welding workstations and complete factory solutions. Solutions from LE Robotics are used by manufacturers of construction machinery, wind turbines, oil production equipment and petrochemical plants, among others.

The robots from LE Robotics are often used where it is dangerous for human welders. One of its customers is the China National Nuclear Corporation. "In the past, workers had to wear heavy protective suits and stay in dangerous environments to carry out welding and cutting work. Our robots can now be sent into these environments remotely, and in more advanced versions they work autonomously," says Hu.

The CEO calls one of his creations an "application-oriented humanoid robot". This means that his company is building precisely the embodied intelligence or "embodied AI" that the Chinese central government in Beijing has listed as one of the country's most important future industries in its new 15th five-year plan.

Beijing wants to scale this industry to a billion-dollar volume by 2035. LE Robotics in the western province of Sichuan, like thousands of other SMEs, has been recognized as a "Zhuan Jing Te Xin" SME, a so-called "small giant" with particularly innovative products, i.e. the Chinese version of the German "hidden champions".

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LE Robotics started out with its own creativity, coupled with knowledge of the specific problems faced by companies in the metalworking sector. With almost 100 of its own core patents, the company has made a name for itself and has already been praised twice on state television CCTV. Finally, the central planners in Beijing also became aware of LE Robotics.

The demand for welding and cutting robots with integrated AI is high. Market penetration for steel structures in plant construction in China is currently estimated at around 30 percent. In other sectors such as shipbuilding, petrochemicals and pipeline construction, Hu estimates that the penetration rate for welding robots is still below ten percent, and in some cases even below five percent.

There is a shortage of 3.5 million welders in China. Only a few young people still want to do this hard, often dangerous work. However, the company founder emphasizes that his robots are not likely to completely replace workers and that he is not aiming to do so.

The CEO of LE Robotics believes that people will remain in the factories in the long term, welding and processing metal. Some workpieces have thousands of weld seams, he explains, many of which are very fine and complex. A welding coverage rate of 90 to 95 percent is the optimum, the rest still has to be done by skilled workers, says Hu Haojie.

However, the shortage of skilled workers is a great opportunity for the young company, not only in China, but increasingly also abroad. "We are going into regions where welders are in shortest supply and where there is demand for industrial reshoring," says Hu. In North America, for example, this combination of reshoring ambitions and a shortage of welders is particularly pronounced. LE Robotics has founded a subsidiary there.

"There are currently no providers of embodied intelligence in our field in Europe and the USA," says Hu. Other priorities for LE Robotics' expansion are the Middle East and Southeast Asia.

The CEO has calculated that the global market for embodied intelligence in the metalworking sector could grow to a total of around 300 billion euros (approx. USD 351 billion) in the coming years. Even if LE Robotics only captured one percent of this, it would correspond to an annual turnover of around 3 billion euros (approx. USD 3.5 billion), he said in an interview with "Diyi Caijing".

It aims to generate thirty percent of its revenue on international markets by 2025, half by 2026 and the majority by 2027. The company is already working with several large state-owned companies in China, including the state-owned oil and gas company CNPC and the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation (CRRC), the world's largest manufacturer of rail vehicles such as high-speed trains and metro carriages.

The CEO of LE Robotics does not just want to sell individual robots to such customers but, according to his own statements, wants to be a "comprehensive ecosystem service provider for industrial embodied AI" in welding and cutting.

The start-up's portfolio now includes specialized process consulting, tailor-made solution architectures, professional device maintenance and data-driven optimization services. The aim is to create added value for customers across the entire life cycle.

That seems to be working. According to the company's own figures, turnover in 2024 grew by 105% compared to the previous year. The concept is also popular with investors.

LE Robotics recently completed an A+ financing round. This was the second round in the double-digit million yuan range (several million euros each) in quick succession. This makes it clear that the company has no shortage of growth capital.

The company's international focus is particularly well received by investors. According to a report by the US market research company IDC, Chinese manufacturers of industrial robots generated foreign sales of around 1.2 billion euros (approx. USD 1.4 billion) in 2023. The export business is already becoming an important growth driver for Chinese suppliers of embodied intelligence in metalworking.

Henrik Bork is Managing Director at Asia Waypoint, a consulting agency based in Beijing that specializes in China. "China Market Insider" is a joint project of the Vogel Communications Group, Würzburg, and Jigong Vogel Media Advertising in Beijing.