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Global Times: Exploring the "turnaround" of China's construction machinery in first-line factories

2021.06.06

On June 5, the "Global Times" reported on the story behind Sany Excavator's sales championship in 2020 with the title of "Exploring the "Turnaround Road" of China's Construction Machinery in First-line Factories".

In the report, the reporter of "Global Times" walked into the intelligent manufacturing factory of Sany Group, went deep into the front line to feel the development trends of the construction machinery industry, and started a dialogue with enterprises and industry experts.

Gambling with foreign brands

Walking into the excavator production workshop of Sany Heavy Machinery located in Shanghai Lingang Industrial Park, hundreds of robots are busy with cutting, welding, painting and other work. Each production line has an excavator off the assembly line in as little as 5 minutes.

In the bright and tidy Sany Heavy Industry Changsha Industrial Park No. 18 lighthouse factory, eight major production processes are condensed into one plant. Compared to the traditional building, the staff has been reduced by 67% and the production capacity has been doubled.

"In 2020, the domestic market accounted for nearly 90% of Sany excavator sales. This is mainly due to China's first control of the domestic epidemic and economic recovery", Sany Heavy Industry President Xiang Wenbo said in an interview with the Global Times, on the one hand, the Chinese government in recent years to introduce "six guarantees and six stability" and other measures to increase investment in infrastructure construction, which has created a great market demand for the construction machinery industry. On the other hand, China's aging population is accelerating the process of replacing human labor with machines. The labor force in China's traditional infrastructure industry is decreasing, and in terms of replacing labor, excavators as industrial robots also cater to market demand.

In the 60s of the last century, China began to independently develop excavators, which started almost at the same time as Japan, but due to the weak industrial base, industrial development has always been relegated. Compared with foreign brands, the domestic machine at that time was like "industrial waste", and the technology, process, performance and quality were all backward. Until around 2000, in the domestic excavator market, foreign brands such as Japan and the United States still accounted for more than 90% of the share. In today's domestic market, Chinese brands have accounted for about 75% of the share, most of the construction machinery products such as excavators, aerial work platforms, etc., have fully replaced imports, and the proportion of exports is increasing year by year.

"Why can China's construction machinery industry get up? First of all, the domestic supporting capacity has formed a system as a whole. Second, the domestic engineering volume is large, giving construction machinery a lot of opportunities to display its capabilities, and it is a good training ground. Third, compared with foreign brands, Chinese machinery is more cost-effective." Bai Ming, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation of the Ministry of Commerce, said in an interview with the Global Times that after years of market and technology accumulation, the overall strength of China's construction machinery industry has been significantly improved and expanded. "Even if there is no time lag brought about by China's economic recovery after the epidemic, it is only a matter of time before China's machinery manufacturing sales surpass foreign brands."

Break through the "stuck neck"

According to reports, at present, the domestic construction machinery supply chain system has been able to meet the needs of OEMs, to a certain extent, to solve the problem of "stuck neck" of core components that has existed before.

"In terms of hardware, cylinders, hydraulic parts, and engines have always been the core components of the construction machinery industry, and now these core parts have been independently developed and produced." According to Hu Qi, general manager of Sany Heavy Machinery Mining Company, the most powerful part of the excavator was hydraulic parts in the past. Especially around 2015, U.S. hydraulic press manufacturers restricted the supply of domestic manufacturers in various ways. Before 2011, the number of excavators produced in the Chinese market depended on how many products were invested in the Chinese market by the two major international cylinder factories at that time. "Later, it took us about 5 years of independent research and development, and finally made the hydraulic parts, and all kinds of cylinders can also be produced by ourselves."

Jiang Qingbin, deputy general manager of Sany Pumping Company, said that previouslyPump trucksThe field is also facing the problem of "stuck neck". The boom of the pump truck should be lifted up to 86 meters, and the steel used in it is required to be light in quality and strong in strength, otherwise it is easy to break. "In the past, we used to buy imported steel, which was very expensive. Now we buy ordinary steel on the market, which is turned into high-strength steel plate after our own special processing. ”

Before 2019, more than 70% of the chassis of Sany pump trucks used Dongfeng, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo and other brand products. At present, 75% of Sany pump trucks use their own chassis technology. "The epidemic has disrupted the market, and we need to pay in full 6 months in advance to buy the chassis of some foreign brands, and we can only supply them after 6 months, which is a very long cycle. We boldly introduced our own chassis technology. Jiang Qingbin explained that the core technology of the chassis lies first in the engine. The higher the machining accuracy of the engine, the lower the fuel consumption and noise. Hydraulic parts are also very important. If the machining accuracy of the hydraulic parts is not enough, it will be very shaky when hitting the pump, like kowtowing. Originally, I played this position, but it ended up being 5 meters away. "Japanese companies are very good at this technology, but now we can produce it ourselves."

According to Jiang Qingbin, there is no difference between Chinese brands and the world's leading brands in terms of technology and quality in excavator products such as large digging, medium digging and small digging. The advantage of Chinese brands is that the service response speed is fast, and the advantage of foreign brands is that the technology has been precipitated for a longer time and there are more old customers.

digital transformation,Either "turn over" or "capsize"

At the same time, China's construction machinery industry is also seeking digital transformation. The reporter of the "Global Times" saw on the big screen of Sany Intelligent Factory that the screen monitored the production status and production data of various equipment in real time. The prototype of Sany's digital transformation began in 2007, when the company's excavator production line began to use welding robots. After using the robot, the excavator's after-sales problems decreased by 3/4, and the service life quadrupled.

Liang Wengen, chairman of Sany Group, once said that in the face of the digitalization of construction machinery and manufacturing, Sany Group will either "turn over" or "capsize". He believes that the construction machinery industry has encountered two major opportunities: one is the historical opportunity for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and the other is the industrial opportunity for the arrival of the industry 4.0 era. These two intersections determine that there will definitely be a drastic change in the construction machinery industry, and the support point of this drastic change is digital transformation.

"At present, we are not yet a world-class company, and the international market accounts for only about 20% of the group's sales. In the future, we hope to truly become a world brand recognized by international consumers. Xiang Wenbo said that he hoped that after three or five years of hard work, he would build another "Sany Heavy Industry" overseas.

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