People select knifes and scissors made by Zhang Xiaoquan, a time-honored brand from Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. [Photo/VCG]

Standing at a height of 1.8 meters or so, Kai Feng is a one-arm robot that is capable of shaping 2,000 blades a day, with the edges of each steel blade as sharp and precise as that of the most skilled craftsman in China.

Kai Feng, which means blade shaping in Chinese, was developed by Zhang Xiaoquan, one of the world's oldest and largest knife-makers from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. Founded in 1628, more than two centuries before the founding of the German Empire and the industrialization of the steel industry, the cutlery brand used to take great pride in promoting its 72 steps for making a knife manually.

But with the winds of change, the company has joined the automation bandwagon. Zhang Xiaoquan, named after its eponymous founder, has been investing heavily in the automation of its manufacturing process so as to increase productivity. The company is currently preparing for an initial public offering to further expand its presence in the global markets.

"The reason why AI or automation has not yet happened in our industry is not because it's unnecessary, but because the industry is not lucrative enough for such investments," said Xia Qianliang, general manger of the company.

At the former State-owned business, which was acquired by a Zhejiang-based private firm in 2008, nine robots like Kai Feng will be put into operation by the end of this year, a project that has cost the company more than five years of research and development and an investment of nearly 6 million yuan ($866,250). Ideally, more robots, with varying functions, will be developed so that all the 72 steps in the manual knife-making can be automated.