The development of automotive mold industry lies in technological innovation and system transformation

In the rapid development of the domestic automobile industry today, the mold industry has become a symbol of the level of development of a car manufacturer and even a country’s automobile industry to a large extent.

However, the reporter learned a few days ago that the body mold imported by China in 2004 amounted to 200 million U.S. dollars, and almost all the luxury car molds came from abroad. In order to have a more detailed understanding of the development of China's automobile molds, the reporter went to FAW Mold Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to interview the chairman of the China Die and Mould Industry Association, the general manager of FAW Mold Manufacturing Co., Ltd. and the automotive mold industry expert Ren Zhanmou.

High-end shortages and low-end melee warfare "In the past two years, the rapid development of the auto industry has greatly promoted the rapid development of the auto body and mold industry. China's auto mold industry is facing enormous business opportunities that have never been seen before." The output value of the mold is more than 530 billion yuan, which is more than 4 billion yuan more than the 49 billion yuan target of the 2005 "tenth five-year plan." The average annual growth rate of auto cover molds is even higher than the industry average, and the average annual growth rate is estimated to be close to 20%.

However, at the same time of rapid development, Yan Kexin also pointed out to reporters that there is currently a potential crisis in China's mold industry - China's mold industry compared with foreign countries, the overall level is not high, the high-end product supply in the mold market is insufficient, the low-end market in the melee status. He analyzed that this kind of crisis restricts the development of China's auto industry.

Yan Kexin reminded reporters of a fact that should not be overlooked, that is, "China is currently only a big producer of molds, and it can not be said that it is a powerful country for mold production. At present, many mold companies can only produce molds with low technological content, so they call domestic mold companies to engage in vicious prices. The situation of competition has occurred frequently, in order to attract children at the expense of each other's prices, and even deal at a loss. There is a small number of companies that have the ability to produce high-end products, resulting in a shortage of high-end products, and supply exceeds supply."

According to Yan Kexin, although China's mold industry has developed in the past decade, in the developed countries such as the United States and Japan, more than 50% of the products in the mold industry are automotive molds. In China, only one-third of the mold products are for the automotive industry. Moreover, manufacturing large and medium-sized plastic molds such as bumpers, dashboards, fuel tanks, steering wheels, etc., from the current production capacity of the industry, the satisfaction rate is only about 50%.

This situation also led to the annual high number of auto molds imported from China. Expert in the automotive mold industry, Ren Zammou, gave reporters a series of figures in an exclusive interview with reporters. In automobile production, more than 90% of parts and components, including body parts, engines, and interior parts, need to be molded and manufactured. An ordinary car needs about 1000 stamping dies and more than 200 interior dies. About 90% of these molds are not "Made in China," and the vast majority of mid-to-high-end car molds rely on imports. In particular, 80% of car cover molds are imported.

Inadequate mold development capability "Now, new models are being launched faster and faster, and the speed of mold manufacturing can not keep up with the pace of development of the Chinese auto industry. In addition, due to the long-term foreign models introduced by vehicle manufacturers, no one believes that China is capable, and Foreign countries will not allow you to make money in this area.For example, most of the molds of Audi, Sonata, Honda, and Toyota are imported, and all of them made in China are non-critical molds. Die imports.” Yan Kexin believes that the reason for this problem is mainly due to our development and innovation and production capacity can not keep up.

Yan Kexin said that he learned during the inspection of many large-scale automobile companies abroad that the development of foreign body molds can be completed in a relatively short period of time. "Five years ago, the global time to complete the development of body molds took about 24 months, three years ago took 18 months, and now it only takes 12 months. At present, Japan's development speed is the fastest, only 8 months. This kind of development in China is much slower."

Ren Zammou believes that to measure the overall competitive strength of a country’s auto industry, we must not only consider the number of auto production, but also consider the auto development, manufacturing level and capabilities. Since more than 90% of parts and components in automobile production rely on mold molding, it can be said that automotive mold technology is an important process basis for the automotive industry and a fundamental requirement for competition with the world's auto manufacturing industry. Although the level and capability of China's automotive mold technology have developed rapidly after more than ten years, it is still at a medium-to-low level in the global automobile manufacturing industry.

“There are not many auto mold manufacturers in China, but the market for high-quality molds is occupied by the mold factories in neighboring countries and regions. If we do not recognize the seriousness of the matter, the Chinese auto industry will have no roots. Can it survive? ?" Ren Zhanmou is very worried about the current status of China's current mold industry.

Systematic change and technological innovation are key to the high level of the mold industry The rapid development of the automotive industry has brought unprecedented challenges and opportunities to domestic mold and die enterprises. How to grasp the opportunities and keep up with the pace of development of the automotive industry is placed before the domestic mold and die industry. A problem that needs to be solved urgently.

"From the point of view of technology development, high precision, low cost, and short delivery time are trends in the development of molds in the future, and we must catch up with the international advanced level. Technological innovation is a crucial link." , "How does the automobile mold factory realize merger and reorganization under the new situation, improve one's own ability, succeed in realizing the transformation of the system, it is also the question that we should consider in the development process."