High-end automation into the machine tool industry competition weapon

In 2011, the total output value of the machine tool industry was as high as 660.65 billion yuan, but there is still a certain gap between the overall development of the machine tool industry and market demand. The market is dominated by low-end products, and high-end products are mainly imported. According to industry insiders, the only way to improve the competitiveness of the machine tool industry is to grasp the development direction of high-end automation, constantly upgrade the technology level in the competition, and enhance the company's core competitiveness.

Medium and low-grade product proliferation

As a "machine manufacturing machine", after more than ten years of development, China's machine tool industry has become the largest importer and consumer nation for eight consecutive years.

“Although China is currently a major player in machine tool manufacturing, there is a trend toward a low-end manufacturing process.” Duan Jiaxuan, a researcher in China Investment Consulting Machinery Industry Group, said in an interview with a reporter from the “China Sankei Shimbun”.

According to the data released by the China Machine Tool Industry Association, in 2011, the growth rate of China’s machine tool product imports remained high, with a total import volume of US$ 20.29 billion and exports of US$ 8.90 billion.

In 2010, China's machine tool trade deficit was only US$8.042 billion, and by 2011, the trade deficit of China's machine tool industry was as high as US$11.39 billion, and the number of imports that grew year by year increased unabated. The increase in the number of imports means that China's machine tool industry is currently like a "virtual person."

Li Junhua, a researcher at China Business Intelligence Network, said in an interview with a reporter from the "China Sankei Shimbun" that China's machine tool products have fewer varieties, a longer period of development and delivery, unstable quality, and performance levels that do not meet the needs of the market.

“The main reason for this gap is that, on the one hand, in recent years, the explosive growth in the demand and supply of ordinary machine tools in China has constrained the overall technological level of users, and has also slowed down the overall manufacturing level of the machine tool industry. On the one hand, domestic companies have insufficient capacity for independent innovation, and they cannot meet the demand for products with high technical requirements such as heavy-duty machine sheets, which is also a structural problem in China's machine tools, Li Junhua said.

Qian Zhiqiang, deputy director of Kunshan Aokesen Machinery Co., Ltd., said in an interview with a reporter from the "China Sankei Shimbun": "The core technology of machine tools is a numerical control system. At present, we don't talk about systems. Even domestically produced ones are slightly better. Machine tools, high-precision ball screws used, bearings are mainly imported from Japan, and China's self-produced ball screws and bearings have problems in terms of accuracy and longevity. The domestic major machine tool factories and CNC systems are 100% purchased."

"China Sankei Shimbun" reporter learned that in the machine tool industry, the number of CNC machine tools to the standard axis, 3-axis and 5-axis for high-end products, more than 5 axes for high-end products. At present, China's machine tools are mostly low-end products with 3 axes or less.

As for why there are many low-end products in China, Duan Jiaxuan said that China's machine tool manufacturing started relatively late, and shortages of professionals and other shortcomings could not be remedied in a short time. To weaken dependence on imports, we should vigorously introduce and cultivate talents and increase investment in R&D of machine tools is the solution. Whether domestic machine tools can break through the siege of imported machine tools, but also whether China's high-end machine tool manufacturing can reach the world's leading level in the future.

High-end force is the key

As the market demand for high-end products continues to increase, whether machine tool companies can accelerate product technology upgrades to meet market demand, determines whether the domestic machine tool companies can occupy a certain amount of discourse power in the market competition.

A data show that from January to August of 2011, the average production rate of China's machine tool industry was 30.94%, a year-on-year increase of 2.9%. Compared with the level of 70% achieved by CNC machines in developed countries, the gap is more obvious.

In this regard, Duan Jiaxuan believed that the innovation spirit of the equipment manufacturing industry should be promoted, the innovation of the machine tool manufacturing should be increased, and a complete R&D system should be established to seize the market share of high-end products.

For the future development of the machine tool industry. Li Junhua said that, first of all, at the policy level, the government can impose preferential tariffs on the import of high-end machine tool parts. Secondly, machine tool companies must improve the self-development and manufacturing capabilities of CNC machine tools. It is necessary to focus on the development of high-end machine tools and improve the reliability and industrialization level of the whole machine. Third, the government and enterprises should pay attention to the cultivation and introduction of high-end technology and management personnel, and train advanced and experienced technically proficient foreign language technicians. The technological development of China's machine tool industry takes the path of sustainable development; finally, to strengthen the exchanges and cooperation with the international, machine tool companies can directly cooperate and cooperate with foreign scientific research institutes and foreign first-class enterprises, exchange technology with the market, and exchange unlimited funds with limited funds. The development of the mainstream products to achieve a high starting point, bulk, professional.