IOTRouter’s 2018 Milestone and Long-Term Engineering Path
In 2018, IOTRouter (known as Zongheng Intelligent Control) was officially included in the Chengdu New Economy Gradient Cultivation Program and recognized as a “Seed Enterprise.”
This recognition was not based on company size or short-term market performance. Instead, it focused on the technical direction the company had chosen, its level of product focus, and its long-term relevance to industrial IoT communication hardware, industrial communication infrastructure, and field-level embedded devices.
For IOTRouter, this recognition was not a stage result, but rather an early confirmation — confirming that its decision to focus on building industrial IoT communication hardware for real industrial deployment was a technically sound path with long-term value and worth sustained commitment.
Gradient Cultivation and Long-Term Evaluation
Launched in 2018, the Chengdu New Economy Gradient Cultivation Program was designed to support technology-driven emerging industries, with a focus on areas such as the industrial internet, IoT, smart manufacturing, and digital infrastructure.
Rather than emphasizing rapid expansion, the program adopts a gradient-based structure — from seed enterprises to quasi-unicorns and ultimately unicorn or industry-leading companies — and conducts continuous, multi-stage observation and evaluation. The emphasis is placed on technical direction consistency, continuity of engineering capability, and long-term alignment with industrial systems.
For companies developing industrial IoT communication hardware, inclusion in this program means that progress is assessed over a longer time horizon, rather than being judged by a single product launch or short-term milestone.
From Early Validation to Steady Growth in Industrial IoT Communication Hardware
After being recognized as a seed enterprise in 2018, IOTRouter continued to deepen its focus on industrial IoT communication hardware, including industrial communication devices, embedded systems, and field-level hardware platforms.
Instead of rapidly expanding product categories or pursuing short-term technology trends, the company invested its resources in more fundamental and long-cycle engineering work. This included long-term system stability, maintainability in complex industrial environments, and consistent performance across multi-project, multi-year deployments.
Between 2020 and 2023, this technical path gradually translated into higher-level enterprise recognition. IOTRouter successively passed evaluations for Gazelle Enterprise in Chengdu High-Tech Zone, Sichuan Innovative Small and Medium-sized Enterprisey Sichuan “Specialized, Refined, and Innovative” Enterprise.
For overseas partners unfamiliar with China’s enterprise certification system, these recognitions are not honorary titles, but function more like continuous qualification screening mechanisms. They examine whether a company focused on industrial IoT communication hardware can sustain long-term R&D investment, maintain stable core technologies, and demonstrate real engineering deployability over time.
Product Evolution Along an Industrial IoT Communication Hardware Path
IOTRouter’s product portfolio did not originate from a one-time plan, but instead evolved gradually through long-term project implementation and field-level feedback.
In the early stage, the company introduced microcontroller-based products such as the ZHC series RTU and DTU, designed to meet foundational industrial data acquisition and remote communication requirements. As project scale and on-site complexity increased, these capabilities expanded into daisy-chainable IO Modules, enabling more flexible field-level system integration.
As requirements for multi-protocol integration, edge computing, and system-level stability continued to rise, IOTRouter successively introduced multiple generations of industrial IoT communication hardware, including the EG series edge computing gateways. On this basis, the company further developed the EV HMI series to support on-site interaction and control.
In recent years, to address growing needs for customization and secondary development among system integrators and solution providers, IOTRouter introduced the EC series open-source edge gateways, expanding the flexibility of its industrial IoT communication hardware portfolio for more complex deployment scenarios.
Although product form factors and capabilities have continued to evolve, the core objective has remained unchanged: to deliver industrial IoT communication hardware that can be deployed, maintained, and operated reliably over long industrial project lifecycles.
An Industrial IoT Communication Hardware Partner for Long-Term Projects
Looking back at IOTRouter’s development path since 2018, a clear and disciplined pattern emerges: adherence to engineering-driven decision-making, sustained focus on industrial IoT communication hardware, and deliberate avoidance of short-term technology hype.
By prioritizing real project requirements, system reliability, and product quality, IOTRouter has gradually established itself as a partner suited for mid- to long-term industrial IoT projects, rather than one-off deliveries or experimental deployments.
What began as an early directional confirmation through seed enterprise recognition has since become the starting point of a long-term development path — one that continues to guide product development and engineering investment in industrial IoT communication hardware today.
Looking ahead, IOTRouter remains committed to building reliable industrial IoT communication hardware and infrastructure, supporting stable, long-term collaboration with partners across industries and regions.