Research on the Indicator System for Constructing a Demonstration City for Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Industry in Dongguan, China

Dongguan City, located in the south-central part of Guangdong Province, is vigorously promoting the digital transformation of manufacturing industry. Its growing scale of manufacturing, optimized industrial structure, and superior geographical location make it a “strategic node city” in the Greater Bay Area. Dongguan City has a solid foundation for constructing a demonstration city for integration of digital technology in manufacturing and has already begun to show significant progress towards this goal. This paper aims to establish an indicator system for constructing a demonstration city for digital transformation of manufacturing industry in Dongguan. The goal is to provide a sustainable development model that can be used as a reference for integration of digital technology in manufacturing in China. Firstly, we establish a hierarchical structure based on different perspectives from Dongguan Municipal Government, manufacturing enterprises and digital enterprises regarding digital transformation. Then, Fuzzy hierarchical analysis (FAHP) is applied to establish an index system for constructing a demonstration city for digital transformation of manufacturing industry in Dongguan. Finally, proposals are offered based on data analysis to guide the construction of this demonstration city.