With the in-depth construction of smart cities, leveraging digital technology to innovate travel modes has become a new direction for the future development of smart transportation. GRG Intelligent has taken the lead in integrating into this new development pattern, innovating and creating multiple smart travel application scenarios, and has been awarded titles such as “National ‘Specialized, Refined, Characteristic, and New’ Little Giant Enterprise” and “Guangzhou Seed Unicorn Innovative Enterprise.” Recently, Information Times conducted an in-depth interview with GRG Intelligent, interpreting how specialized, refined, characteristic, and new enterprises are riding the wave and taking the lead. The following is the original report:

In Huangpu District and Guangzhou Development Zone, a group of specialized, refined, characteristic, and new enterprises that have long been deeply engaged in specific segments have gathered. Each of them has its own “unique skill”: strong professionalism, sufficient innovation drive, and they are important participants in the industry chain. Established in 2016, Guangzhou GRG Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “GRG Intelligent”) has grown on this entrepreneurial soil. Today, empowered by artificial intelligence, new changes are taking place in traffic management and urban management, and there are more new ways of smart travel. As a technology innovation pioneer in the industry, GRG Intelligent has long been deeply engaged in specific segments, continuously exploring the deep integration of AI new technologies with industry business scenarios, and empowering new experiences in smart travel.

GRG Intelligent’s main products are intelligent terminal equipment for rail transit. “In addition to the equipment, we can also provide core modules and overall system solutions separately, which is one of our competitive advantages. We can meet the diversified needs of customers, not only through ‘individual efforts’ but also through ‘collaborative cooperation’,” said Zeng Qingning.

In just a few years, GRG Intelligent has grown rapidly. “We mainly adopt an independent R&D approach, deeply integrating customer needs with advanced technologies to develop innovative products and empower the industry,” said Zeng Qingning. At the same time, the policy benefits brought by the location advantage, such as significant government subsidies and fast disbursement, have also alleviated some of the pressures during the company’s growth.

It is reported that GRG Intelligent has maintained an average annual growth rate of over 20% in the past three years, showing a steady growth trend. In 2021, the company’s operating revenue was RMB 436 million, with core module products being the main source of profit. Focused on R&D, Leading Industry Technological Innovation: Facing a rapidly changing market, technology companies need to continuously increase R&D investment and support product innovation with technology to stay ahead in the market. GRG Intelligent understands this well and has always focused on R&D innovation. “We invest over 10% of our annual revenue in R&D,” said Zeng Qingning.

From early compact banknote processing core modules and coin processing core modules to today’s smart modules, the R&D of each core technology is a long and costly process. Taking the R&D of the “banknote recycling module” as an example, “we invested professional engineers in mechanical structure, electronic circuits, image algorithms, software development, and other aspects. It took us five years to develop two generations of the product. After mature mass production and market launch, the product has undergone multiple market tests and outperforms foreign competitors in various key performance parameters, with a market share exceeding 50%,” Zeng Qingning told reporters.

Enterprise innovation is continuous, not one-time. Around 2016, GRG Intelligent reached a thrilling “turning point” in its development. At that time, “cashless” payment methods, mainly based on scan-to-pay, were gradually becoming prevalent in society, while GRG Intelligent’s main products at the time were related to banknote processing, automatic ticketing, and other equipment or systems. Should they continue to adhere to the original direction or embrace new market changes? GRG Intelligent chose to not abandon its original products and market but also actively embrace new changes.

Seeing that scan-to-pay would become a trend, GRG Intelligent quickly adapted to market changes, seized development opportunities, and began collaborating with subway companies, Tencent, and others to develop the “ride code,” which was first implemented in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and other places, taking the lead in the industry. “This is a transformation from ticket-centric to people-centric in subway travel, which not only reduces the operation and maintenance costs of banks, subways, and other related enterprises but also enhances the happiness of people’s travel,” said Zeng Qingning. Such innovation also brings a sense of achievement and pride to the company.

It is understood that due to the continuous investment in R&D activities and the high standards set for R&D goals, GRG Intelligent has built the most core and comprehensive product line in the industry, which also constructs their moat. Scenario Empowerment, Creating New Ways of Smart Travel: Reporters learned during the interview that GRG Intelligent’s “territory” is continuously expanding, covering multiple application scenarios such as subways, high-speed rails, airports, bus stations, ports, docks, and highways, mainly addressing industry pain points and difficulties such as low efficiency in toll collection and ticket inspection, high labor costs, and low intelligence levels in these scenarios.

“GRG Intelligent began its transformation as early as 2017, actively exploring the deep integration of new technologies with AFC business in the rail transit industry, developing new smart ticketing modes, creating a series of innovative smart self-service terminal equipment, and building a number of smart stations, embarking on the path of smart travel upgrades,” said Zeng Qingning.

For example, the face recognition module developed based on biometrics and internet technology has upgraded the traditional gate business functions. It has been launched in more than ten cities nationwide, enabling passengers to have a contactless face scan for gate passage throughout the journey, providing convenient and comfortable travel experiences for millions of passengers.

For subway high-traffic security check scenarios, “our smart security check equipment can quickly identify items carried by passengers, simultaneously achieve non-contact temperature measurement, and collect data in real-time for networking, enabling rapid security checks for passengers, greatly reducing the work pressure and labor input of staff, and lowering operating costs,” Zeng Qingning told reporters. Currently, GRG Intelligent has implemented the application of smart systems and terminal equipment products in the high-speed rail and civil aviation sectors: such as railway e-ticket sales and inspection equipment, and the “face scan” boarding terminals at Baiyun International Airport’s T2 terminal. Another example is the smart customer service center product built by GRG Intelligent based on smart voice and knowledge graph technology, which has also been launched in dozens of cities including Guangzhou and Shenzhen. According to reports, this smart voice series can replace over 80% of the functions of traditional subway manual ticket booths, with a cost reduction of over 40%.

Zeng Qingning told reporters that in addition to the rail transit sector, GRG Intelligent has also been actively exploring the highway self-service toll collection system and urban road traffic signal control in the past two years, and some products have already been launched. Next, GRG Intelligent will continue to focus on the “AI + transportation” field, creating more new travel experiences. Industry Observation: How Should Smart Travel Be Upgraded? Empowered by artificial intelligence, smart travel is the future direction of travel development. In Zeng Qingning’s view, with the widespread application of AI, big data, and 5G technology in daily life, the smart transformation of the travel industry is imminent. “Smart travel requires a solid foundation of travel facilities, using the latest information technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence to establish connections between travel facilities, including self-service equipment, roads, vehicles, and travelers, forming an efficient integrated travel system, maximizing the energy efficiency of travel facilities, ensuring smooth traffic flow, and improving service quality.” In his view, the key to solving smart travel is to focus on “serving people,” break stereotypes, and seek a new “combinatorial” travel solution.

In addition, the pace of urban rail transit is significantly accelerating, and smart urban rail systems are becoming a trend, bringing good development opportunities to some specific technical fields. “The annual new market capacity of the AFC specialty in rail transit, coupled with the gradual smart transformation of existing stations, will result in a market demand of over RMB 10 billion each year. Among them, energy management is also a major direction with broad prospects in transformation and upgrading,” said Zeng Qingning. For GRG Intelligent, this is a rare development opportunity. “We will continue to improve our overall solution for smart travel based on new technologies such as artificial intelligence, industrial IoT, and digital twins, integrating industry demands, continuously assisting in the optimization of station scenarios and the enhancement of riding experiences, and promoting industry upgrades and transformations.” At the same time, the company will further expand its presence in the large transportation scenarios of urban road traffic, highways, and civil aviation airports, forming new business growth points.