When the growth rate returns to the rational machine tool, where is the enterprise road?

The deep-seated problems in China's machine tool industry have only been concealed by the rapid growth of numbers in the past few years. In the process of growth rate returning to rationality, the deep-seated problems of the industry will naturally emerge and appear to produce a mechanism of reversal. On the contrary, it is more conducive to the industry to face the reality, not to avoid the problem, to promote the willingness of all parties to form a long-term mechanism driven by innovation, and to promote the industry to enter a healthy development.

The crux of the past is that we lack serious thinking and truly solve a fundamental problem: Where is the source of corporate innovation? What is the path of innovation? On the basis of technological innovation, where is the space for further structural adjustment and business model upgrading?

Reminiscent of the decade of "happy hours"

Since 2009, the output value of China's metal processing machine tools has increased from US$15.3 billion to US$20.9 billion in 2010 and US$28.27 billion in 2011, an increase of 36.6% and 35.3%, respectively, while imports increased by 59.7% during the same period. 40.6%. At the same time, although the single value of China's metal processing machine tools is increasing year by year, according to relevant data, the unit price of China's export machine tools in 2011 was 33,000 US dollars per unit, while the price of imported machine tools in the same period was 219,000 US dollars per unit. 15% of the unit price of imports.

It can be concluded that the high growth of China's machine tool industry and the simultaneous growth of imports (trends) reflect that the high growth of the industry depends to a large extent on the continued strong domestic demand, the role of technological progress and management upgrades. Limited, despite the developmental momentum released by institutional changes and the support of national industrial policies.

The ratio of the import value of China's metal processing machine tools to the annual output value of the same period (38.6%, 45.1% and 46.8% in 2009-2011 respectively) shows that the (metal processing) machine tool industry can not fully meet the national economic development of the basic equipment. High-end demand, especially in the core manufacturing areas of key industries such as aero engines, automotive engines, marine diesel engines and nuclear power unit manufacturing, is still dominated by imports.

In the last decade, the market has given us the greatest opportunity. In the future, we will change from speed to quality, from scale to efficiency, and we need a revolutionary leap.

Trace to the source of innovation

For decades, the machine tool industry and enterprises have gone through several stages of innovation, from technology tracking and simulation to independent research and development, from introduction, digestion, absorption and innovation to integrated innovation, from independent innovation to original innovation.

It seems that it is difficult to move forward now, and it is in the strange circle of “lag behind – catch up – then fall behind – and catch up again”. In particular, the lack of power in the core manufacturing areas of the national economy and national defense security key industries is like the lingering "nightmare" of the industry.

In fact, the crux of it is that we lack serious thinking and truly solve a fundamental problem: Where is the source of corporate innovation? What is the path of innovation?

The source of innovation is the terminal of demand. From the perspective of the relationship between technology and industrial development, the healthy development of an industry depends on the corresponding technology research and development, that is, the continuous development of basic research, applied research and common technology research, depending on whether the enterprise as the main body of the market can integrate with the system. The role of having sufficient integration capabilities to explore the source of technology and to control the evolution of technology. The willingness and ability of enterprises to integrate related technologies is precisely due to the precise understanding of downstream users' processes.

Although a CNC machine tool can replace imports, it fills the domestic gap and achieves catch-up, but this is only a static follow-up. Actually, it is a product of imitation and reverse research and development, which cannot be exceeded theoretically. The current situation is often like this. When a medium-to-high-end machine tool in China was successfully developed, foreign competitors immediately reduced the price of “killer”, blocked the process of commercialization and industrialization of new products, and then launched an upgraded version of the same product. And improved version. Not only the machine tool industry, but also many high-end technologies and products of the entire machinery industry have been forced to stop. Another situation is that we know that we have a gap with others, but in order to survive, we have to produce, and ultimately we can't escape the end of low-end overcapacity. This is the sorrow of following the strategy.

It is the right way to study the path of innovation and establish positive development, which establishes the platform foundation for innovation. The positive innovation strategy aimed at mastering the principle and achieving breakthrough innovation includes the positive development of product technology and the positive development of the production process. The former builds its own technical barriers based on the forward research and development of product technology. On the basis of research and development capabilities, the latter decomposes, develops and manufactures the production process, and solves key equipment and core technology processes with high efficiency and low cost. Means problem.

For example, gear machine tool technology is one of the important aspects of Qinchuan Group's complex surface processing technology. Qinchuan Group uses its own exploration and practice to clearly outline the new path of China's gear machine tool development: "Gear transmission technology - tooth making process - Gear machine technology - design verification and user process verification - gear transmission technology. This kind of technology and industrial ecosystem that uses the industrial chain to aggregate elements to create a full-closed and spiral upgrade is one of the few platform innovation models in the domestic machine tool industry.

Upgrade business model and make strategic structural adjustments

China's machine tool industry has experienced three stages: the first stage is from the founding of the country to the early 1980s, it is a typical planned economy period, the country is "a game of chess", and each enterprise is a specialized division of labor within the industry. Born. The second stage, from the 1980s to the end of the 1990s, was the transition of the planned economy to the market economy and the establishment of a market economy. The third stage is the decade after the new century, which is the decade in which the industry has integrated into globalization.

Today, with the global flow of production factors, foreign machine tool brands have changed their straight-line killing techniques. With their core technology and the top advantage of the tiger clam industry chain, they have carried out curvilinear encirclement of emerging markets including China. Embed global resources firmly at the bottom of the "smile curve" they control. Qinchuan Machine Tool has created a new advantage in the whole industry chain, which not only played the role of “global response to the world”, “chaining against the chain”, but also adjusted the group structure, deep transformation, innovation platform construction, core technology research and development and conservation, The cultivation and aggregation of high-end talents, the research and negotiation of target markets (service areas) provide the freedom to convert time and space, and the endogenous drive of the industry chain and the strong pull of the downstream market form a benign "coupling".

During the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, Qinchuan Machine Tool built a "three-chain group and one industry" ("three-chain" refers to the complex surface processing equipment industry chain, high-efficiency CNC machine tool equipment industry chain, aircraft engine key parts processing equipment industry chain;" A group of “key functional component clusters; “one industry” refers to the modern manufacturing service industry) technology and business model, based on meeting external market needs and user processes as the forerunner, strategic structural adjustment and model transformation, in a controlled industry In-chain autonomy provides complete solutions and system integration services to the market.

If the above three industrial chains are the strategic core of Qinchuan Group, then “functional component cluster” and “modern manufacturing service industry” constitute the two wings of the group strategy. It not only strengthens the imitation and irreplaceability of its own development, but also transforms the core competence of the enterprise into multiple value chains and expands the profitable space.

From "selling products" to "all-round industrial services"

As a capital goods machine tool, the number of consumption can be divided into three parts of the consumption process along with the whole life cycle, new product (equipment) purchase investment, that is, initial consumption; transformation due to maintenance, repair and conversion adjustment, for secondary consumption Carry out numerical control transformation, upgrade, overhaul and renovation, for three consumption. With the highly specialized and efficient development of the downstream market, it is possible to “outsource” the professional functional departments of machine tool users, and the deep “machine tool aftermarket” will gradually emerge, which will provide new products for the machine tool industry and qualified enterprises. Source of profit. When the market share of the machine tool reaches a certain amount, the sales of the main engine and the start of the “post-machine market” are two important factors that stabilize the efficiency of the machine tool enterprise, and also the fundamental of the sustainable development of the enterprise.

The remanufacturing of machine tools (gear grinders, guide grinders, coordinate boring machines, spline milling machines, machining centers, etc.) and auto parts products is becoming a new economic growth point for Qinchuan Machine Tools. In the past three years, more than 400 sets of machine tools and special equipment have been refurbished, upgraded, and more than 40,000 sets of revolving power steering pumps have been built. The accumulated sales revenue has reached 250 million yuan. The company has been involved in major domestic automobile manufacturing and shipbuilding enterprises. Currently, it is negotiating with many users in different industries to negotiate the outsourcing of its equipment management functions, including tool distribution and sharpening.

The second and third consumption of the machine tool is not only a re-recognition of the user's craft, but also creates opportunities for learning and improvement through the large-scale modification and manufacture of imported equipment. In recent years, Qinchuan has designed and produced the inverted chuck for the steel pipe enterprises of domestic petroleum enterprises by overhauling and renovating the production line of petroleum steel pipes, solving the problem of production of steel pipe clamps for petroleum conveying equipment; designing and manufacturing processing precision for nuclear power enterprises. "Special equipment and special equipment for horizontal deep hole drilling machines for key parts of nuclear islands."

Let its own existence be embedded in the user's production process, so that the self-worth is reflected in the user's process equipment and production process is more professional, more efficient, and more competitive in the market. During the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, Qinchuan Machine Tool will complete the transition from a simple “commodity supplier” to a “user craftsman and equipment division” role: the front end is the user process planning and design, and the middle end is based on independent research and development system integration. Provide a full range of industrial services.