Latest development of China's mold manufacturing industry and analysis of industry characteristics

During the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" period, China's molds have experienced rapid development. Although in the second half of 2008, the domestic and foreign markets of our molds have also been affected by the international financial crisis. The impact mainly comes from the tightening of the consumer and investment products market. In particular, the tightening of foreign products in these products caused the export of products to be hindered. As a result, orders for molds once used to produce these products were substantially reduced, cancelled, or postponed. Some countries and regions also imposed anti-dumping restrictions on Chinese exports, and some even had products Closed and closed down without a way out. This situation is only one-sided, because the impact of the mold industry is lagging behind, China's mold has become a leader in the recovery of the world mold industry. In 2010, the production and demand of China's mold market was buoyant, and the growth rate reached a double digit. The total sales of molds in China reached around 112 billion yuan, an increase of nearly 15% over the previous year. Among them, the development speed of mold export is higher than the overall development speed of the entire industry, and the trade surplus is realized for the first time.

Judging from the industrial layout, the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta are the areas where China's mold industry is most concentrated. Recently, the Bohai Rim region is rapidly developing, and molds in the Midwest are also rising. Luo Baihui, secretary-general of the International Mould, Hardware and Plastics Industry Suppliers Association, said in an interview with Mechat.com that since the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan”, more than 50 mold production areas in the country have further developed and gradually formed scales, including some The development of the "Mold City", which focuses on the modern service industry, shows a good momentum of development. The development of cluster-based production methods is mainly reflected in the development of mold production clusters. At present, some new production clusters have begun to serve various services platforms and service forms for SMEs in the mold industry. Service content is also increasing. More and more abundant, service output rose faster. According to incomplete statistics, there have been more than 2,000 companies that have entered the mold production clusters (mold towns, mold parks, etc.), and the total output has reached 30 billion yuan, of which the mold accounts for about two-thirds.

From the perspective of industrial technological progress, since the “Eleventh Five-Year Plan”, under the support and guidance of government policies, the mold industry has invested a lot, and the level and strength of enterprise equipment have greatly improved. The rapid development of the mold industry has also promoted the formation of key enterprises in the industry. There are now 110 key mold companies that have been identified and awarded by the China Mold Association. The formation of the industry backbone team has played a leading role in the development of the industry. In recent years, advances in science and technology have led to a significant increase in the level of mold products, and the trend toward high-end development has become more apparent. Some mold products have reached or are close to the advanced level in the world, among which are representative giant molds with a single mold weight of 120 tons, ultra-precision molds with a machining accuracy of 0.3-0.5 μm, and a service life of 300-400 million times. Life molds, high-speed precision stamping dies that can be used with high-speed punches of 2500 times per minute, multi-functional compound molds that realize multi-material and multi-process forming, and complex molds that can realize intelligent control.

From the point of view of marketing, the mold market is further developed and new growth points have been spotlighted. In the domestic market, automobile lightweighting, new energy, medical devices, aerospace, energy conservation and emission reduction have become important new growth points for the mold industry. In the international market, in addition to the traditional markets of Europe, the United States, Japan, and Southeast Asia, the development of emerging markets such as Brazil, India, Russia, and Australia has achieved results. At present, China's mold exports have reached more than 40 countries and regions.

In view of the global situation, the recent major earthquakes in Japan and political turmoil in Libya have produced a “butterfly effect” on the global mold industry chain, showing that the world today is still in a post-crisis era, and the development opportunities and challenges of the Chinese mold industry coexist. Luo Baihui analysis believes that the current mold industry presents the following characteristics:

1. China is still in the middle and low end of the global industrial chain of work, and its products are in the middle and low grades; mold is also the same. Due to the shrinking market capacity, the mold enterprise competition has intensified. The fierce price war and the sharp decrease in the prices of mould products have led to a decline in the efficiency of enterprises and the quality of their products.

2. In the development and production of tissue molds, developed countries generally adopt technologies and management methods such as concurrent engineering and project management, and have strengthened the control over workflows, shortened the cycle of mold development and ensured quality. The tightening of the market has affected the development of new products for enterprises, especially the slowdown in the development of new models of automobiles. This has directly affected the development and production of molds, and the mold industry, which has a large proportion of automotive molds, has been greatly affected.

3. In terms of professional production, developed countries are more common. Professional division of labor is an inevitable trend of increasing production efficiency, shortening mold design and manufacturing cycle, and guaranteeing product quality. It helps to highlight its core business and helps to accumulate experience in product development, production management and service to provide high levels in the short term. Quality, low cost molds.

4. In the application of high-tech, developed countries have applied more extensive and deeper applications in various high and new technologies and have higher levels, including digital mold technology (three-dimensional design, manufacturability design (DFM), CAPP, CAM, CAT ......), forming process simulation (CAE) technology, high-speed machining technology, automated processing technology, new material forming technology, surface treatment technology, new (multi-functional composite) mold technology, information management technology and so on. The continuous development and extensive application of high and new technology have made the design and manufacturing of molds reach an unprecedented height.

5. In terms of research and innovation of new technologies, including innovations in forming methods, innovations in improvement of forming quality, innovations in new material forming technologies, etc., China has yet to grasp the initiative, basically tracking the progress of technological development in developed countries.

Faced with the challenges, the Chinese government has adopted a series of positive measures such as expanding domestic demand, adjusting the structure, and ensuring the people's livelihood, such as increasing investment in infrastructure and stimulating production and consumption of investment products; implementing electrical appliances to the countryside, cars to the countryside, and building materials to the countryside Preferential policies such as tax deductions and taxation fees have played a positive role in product development and market expansion, thereby reducing the impact on the manufacturing industry including the mold industry. On the other hand, enterprises have strengthened management to varying degrees, adopted some measures to reduce risks, strengthened the management of cash flows, strengthened cost accounting and reduced costs, actively explored markets, strengthened research and development, increased product mix adjustment, and strengthened enterprise production. Management standardization, informationization, etc. achieved good results. The overall level of the industry has improved rapidly. Mainly reflected in the large-scale, sophisticated, complex, long-life mold as the main representative of the proportion of high-grade mold continues to rise, scientific and technological progress is obvious, the product level has been greatly improved. At the 13th International Mould Technology and Equipment Exhibition in May 2010, there were a total of 181 molds that received the "Premier Award", of which 55 were first prizes and 64 were second prizes. Not only were the numbers larger than before. The number of projects that have reached the international level is increasing, innovation is evident, and patents are increasing. The gap between the average price of imports and exports of moulds is continuously narrowing, reflecting the improvement of the overall level of China's mold industry and technological progress.