Development Prospects of Domestic Heavy Machine Tool Industry

In the ten years of the new century, China’s major sectors of the national economy have maintained sustained and rapid development. This has created a good environment for the development of the domestic heavy machine tool industry. Heavy-duty machine tool manufacturers are driven by strong market demand, product technology and manufacturing. The capability has been rapidly improved. R&D has produced and produced a series of major technical equipment that are urgently needed for key projects in key areas such as energy, shipping, aerospace, defense and military industry, and transportation. Among them, some products have reached or approached the international advanced level. At the level, the technical level of some products has entered the world's advanced ranks.

First, domestic heavy machine tools have entered the international advanced

Affected by the sluggish world machine tool market and the financial crisis, foreign manufacturing is undergoing a re-industrialization process. It wants to revitalize the manufacturing industry and lead the world manufacturing industry with advanced manufacturing. While China's heavy machine tool companies and markets are in a period of rising growth, many world-famous companies have come to China to invest in factories, joint ventures or factories, or co-production, further promoting the rapid development of domestic heavy machine tools, and become the world's most complete production country.

At present, China’s national economy is at a critical stage of transformation and upgrading. Aerospace, defense, industry, energy, rail transportation, shipbuilding, construction machinery and other industries all require a large number of mid- to high-end heavy-duty and super-heavy-duty machine tools for the sustainable development of China’s heavy machine tool industry. The development has provided a huge market space and brought development opportunities for the transformation and upgrading. The domestic manufacturing industry will enter a new period of development. In recent years, under the traction of national “high-end CNC machine tools and basic manufacturing equipment” major science and technology projects, a large number of medium and high-grade CNC heavy-duty machine tools with independent intellectual property rights have been developed. Except for a few high-end high-precision heavy-duty machine tool products, domestic Outside of production, it has basically been able to meet the needs of the market, and the technical level of the product has approached or reached the international advanced level. Therefore, the domestic heavy-duty machine tools have initially had the basis and conditions for competing with international advanced products.

Second, China's heavy machine tools into the transition period

At present, China has undergone profound changes in the economic development environment and economic growth factors. The overall tone of the country’s macroeconomic development is stability and progress, and the national economy has entered a period of comprehensive deepening reforms and in-depth adjustments. It closely focuses on promoting and promoting the industrial structure. The optimized adjustments and changes in the economic development mode have formulated various policies and measures, which are characterized by a rational growth rate and comprehensive transformation and upgrading. The state has determined the economic development mode of our country in the future, that is, the economic growth mode based on the connotative quality and efficiency type. The economic development model that blindly pursues scale development, relies on fixed-asset investment and low-cost expansion is no longer needed. To this end, we must completely change our concepts, lose all unrealistic illusions or wait for the wait-and-see approach, seize the adjustment period of the current market, further emancipate the mind, change concepts, and actively take the initiative to achieve a change in the mode of development. Market-oriented, adjust the company's development strategy, adjust product structure and market operation mode, effectively solve the problem of reliability and stability of domestic heavy-duty machine tool products, innovate new enterprise management mechanism, create excellent corporate culture and quality brand, and improve the company’s Comprehensive competitiveness, accelerate the competitiveness of domestic CNC heavy-duty machine tools in the international market.

Third, major gaps and existing problems

After nearly ten years of rapid development, China's heavy machine tool industry has made great strides both in terms of production capacity and product technology. However, from the industry's point of view, China's heavy machine tool product level is still far from the international advanced level, and it is still at the low end of the international division of labor and industrial chain. As the mid-to-high-end heavy machine tool products are not competitive in the market, they are still unable to compete with international advanced products. The gap between domestic heavy-duty machine tools and international advanced products is mainly manifested in: the reliability and stability of the machine tools are not high, the level and quality of the overall machine tool manufacturing process are lacking, the technical level of the core operating components needs to be improved, and the ability to fully resolve the solution is insufficient. This has become one of the main reasons for the long-term passive status of domestic heavy machine tool products in market competition.

1. The ability of independent innovation is weak, and key core technologies restrict the level of industry development. At present, China's heavy machine tool industry has basically been able to meet the needs of the domestic market for all types of medium-to-high-end heavy, super heavy machine tools, but there is no international market competitiveness of the "world-renowned brand" companies, this is due to the long-term lack of China's heavy machine tool industry Independent innovation, lack of research on basic common technologies, key core technologies, and forward-looking technologies.

2. Unbalanced production capacity structure, prominent contradiction between supply and demand. Since entering the new century, due to the rapid development of the heavy machine tool market, enterprises that did not produce heavy machine tools or other investors have entered the field one after another. The products produced basically cover all categories and varieties of heavy machine tool products, but they are vast. Some of them are general-purpose and mid-to-low-end products, while the high-end CNC heavy-duty machine tools and services needed in key domestic user fields, especially the specialized product supply capacity for high-end market segments, are insufficient, and they have to rely on imports.

3. There is still a big gap between the reliability, stability, and manufacturing process level of the machine tool and the world advanced level. The mean time for failure-free working of medium-to-high-end heavy-duty machine tools made in China averaged no more than 300 hours, while imports of high-end products were mostly above 2000 hours (800 hours for international standards), and the accuracy and stability were high.

4, lack of original innovation and high-quality technical personnel, skilled workers. Due to historical reasons, China's heavy-duty machine tool companies still have the problem of "hardware, soft, soft," that is, "heavy technology, light technology, heavy design, light foundation, focusing on the front, light and long-term." At the same time, there is still a lack of original innovation and high-quality technical personnel, industrial and technical workers in the industry, and a lack of corporate culture to pursue perfect manufacturing quality.

Fourth, the successful experience and enlightenment of foreign machine tool development

Learning and drawing lessons from the successful experiences and lessons learned from developed countries in the development of heavy machine tools play an important role in enhancing the market competitiveness of China's heavy machine tools.

From the history of the development of German machine tools, "Made in Germany" and "German machine tools" have many similarities with today's "Made in China" and "China Machine Tool" more than 100 years ago, and they are also catch-up latecomers. Today's "Made in Germany" has become synonymous with global "quality, credibility." Even after entering the new century, when other industrialized countries pay more attention to the service industry and compete to develop financial innovation, Germany will still focus mainly on the improvement of product quality and technological level of the manufacturing industry.

The distinguishing feature of “Made in Germany” is the “special”, “exquisite” and “exclusive” of the product, and thus it has a huge market value. German companies pay great attention to their own characteristics, are willing to spend energy, take the time to learn and create, and strive to find more solutions to occupy the high-end professional market segments. Concentration is an important factor in their success in segmentation. In terms of product quality. Germany actively intervenes in industrial products through the Standardization Committee (DIN). Through the formulation of standards for the unified planning of industrial products, to enhance the overall competitiveness of German products in the international market.

V. Strengthen innovation capacity building and increase market competitiveness

1. As soon as possible, establish a technological innovation system in which enterprises are the main body, and production, education, and research are closely integrated. Based on China's national conditions, we must give full play to the role of the enterprise as an innovation subject, take the initiative to integrate all parties' resources and mobilize the enthusiasm of scientific research personnel as the starting point, explore the construction of a heavy machine tool industry R&D institution or institution suitable for China's national conditions, and establish a complete heavy machine tool R&D innovation And test detection system. To encourage enterprises to increase investment in innovation, as soon as possible to change the current status of China's heavy machine tool industry technology research and development capabilities are weak or missing.

2. Enterprises should develop towards differentiation, characterization, and customization. According to its own characteristics, enterprises must work hard to adapt the product structure to the market and product quality, formulate development strategies and directions that are in line with the market structure, and must do something different, focusing on lean and specialty products. Form a differentiated development pattern and realize sustainable development.

3, through the market to achieve optimal allocation of resources. The state or industry should take necessary measures and formulate relevant policies and regulations and market rules, establish a sound social credit system, create a platform for fair competition, and build a sound market economy and order in China. In accordance with international practice, the “corporate blacklist” system can be established so that vicious competitors and consumers’ rights and interests are harmless.

4, comprehensively improve the reliability and stability of high-grade heavy-duty machine tools. This is a systematic project involving many links inside and outside the company, including R&D, testing, design, manufacturing, assembly, outsourcing of parts, materials, services, and users. Enterprises must first take the market as the starting point, increase their investment in independent innovation, establish a complete R&D innovation, testing and inspection system, start with factors that affect the reliability and stability of the machine tool, and strengthen the experiment and research on basic technologies. Breakthrough in the "bottleneck" of key core technologies.

5, to improve the ability to provide users with complete solutions. After entering the new century, enterprises must not only make high-quality heavy-duty machine tools, but also have the ability to provide complete solution services for users. It covers the user's processing technology, tool selection, fixtures, software programming, measurement testing, equipment maintenance and use, remote diagnosis and many other content. It has become an inevitable trend for the development of China's heavy machine tool industry to improve all-round quality services characterized by overall solution service capabilities.

7, focus on promoting the traditional processing and manufacturing to the high-end extension of the value chain. There are two main ways to achieve the transformation from low-end to high-end manufacturing industry. First, to the high-end of the global manufacturing industry chain, that is, to the development of high value-added, high-tech equipment and emerging industries; the second is the manufacturing industry chain. The upgrade is based on the existing equipment manufacturing industry and promotes the traditional processing and manufacturing to the high end of the value chain.

8. Strengthen the construction of talents. We must actively cultivate a large number of high-quality first-line engineering and technical personnel and industrial and technical workers. First of all, we must advocate the concept of respect for the social atmosphere of industrial technicians and skilled workers. At the same time, efforts should be made to change the current status of front-line workers in the industry, improve their social status and treatment, improve the social security system, and ensure that front-line workers in the industry can get a decent living. This will help our country's equipment manufacturing industry recreate the quality of the demographic dividend advantage.

VI. Outlook

The output value of the heavy machine tool industry dropped continuously in 2012 and 2013, and the situation facing us is not optimistic. The current difficulties are not merely the shrinking of market demand, but the transformation and upgrading of products and the adjustment of product structure to get rid of the passive situation of overcapacity as soon as possible.

From the characteristics of domestic and foreign markets, we can see that in the future, the market will focus on the competition of high-end CNC machine tools, all countries in the world are transforming and upgrading, and using advanced technology to reconstruct the equipment manufacturing industry. The heavy machine tool industry should comply with this new trend, strengthen the integrated competitiveness of design, development, manufacturing, service, and application as a whole, comprehensively increase market competitiveness, fully prepare for participation in international competition, and create a new situation for the development of heavy machine tools.