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Machine tools have always been known as the "mother machines" of industry. They provide equipment to all sectors of the national economy and are an important indicator of a country's level of mechanical manufacturing.
China ranks fourth in the world in terms of machine tool production, but high-end CNC machine tools still rely mainly on imports. To comprehensively enhance China's machine tool level - the mother machine must focus on numerical control (CNC).
In recent years, China's mother machine industry has consistently maintained double-digit growth. Last year, its output value reached 26 billion yuan, placing it fourth in the world by volume. However, China's consumption of machine tools exceeded $5.9 billion (approximately RMB 48.8 billion), propelling it to the top spot globally for the first time.
An output level of 26 billion yuan contrasts sharply with a consumption exceeding 22 billion yuan more, necessitating reliance on imports to make up the difference. According to customs statistics, last year China imported approximately $3.15 billion worth of metal cutting machine tools and forging/pressing equipment—another world-first! Meanwhile, the entire industry’s exports were merely one-tenth of imports at $310 million. The current state of China's machine tool industry can be summarized as three bigs and one small: a large consumer, a large producer, a large importer, and a small exporter, said Yu Chengting, General Secretary of the China Machine Tool Industry Association.
The level of mother machines is determined by CNC. In 1992, China produced only over 4,200 CNC machine tools annually. Last year, that figure had grown to over 24,800 units, an increase of 41.6% from the previous year. Over the past decade, China's CNC metal-cutting machine tool production has quadrupled. Development of CNC machine tool products has accelerated, and a number of high-end CNC machine tools reflecting the current trends in global CNC machine tool development have emerged, such as linear motor-driven machining centers, five-axis turning-milling compound centers, and five-axis gantry machining centers. It can be said that the overall quality of China's machine tool industry has significantly improved.
However, compared to developed countries, China's CNC rate for machine tools is still relatively low. Currently, the CNC rate for production value is less than 30%, and the CNC rate for consumption value is less than 50%. In contrast, most developed countries have CNC rates around 70%. Taking metal-cutting machine tools as an example, China produced 230,000 units last year, of which only 24,000 were CNC machine tools, accounting for just over one-tenth of total production. High-end CNC machine tools and their accompanying components can only be imported.
China has unparalleled market space for developing its machine tool industry. Especially in the coming years, industries such as automobiles, information technology, and high-tech will experience robust growth in China. Yu Chengting believes that China's machine tool industry has already entered a golden era.
- Industries represented by the automobile industry, such as electromechanical and equipment industries, are placing higher demands on the machine tool industry. According to statistics from the three major automobile manufacturers and nine key factories, this year they plan to invest 26.1 billion yuan in technical upgrades, while investments in technical upgrades for automobile parts will reach nearly 7.3 billion yuan, of which 4.2 billion yuan is related to the machine tool and tooling industry.
- The information industry is China's fastest-growing leading industry and will undoubtedly provide strong support for the development of China's machine tool industry. New material, new energy, and automation-based high-tech industries will also become new highlights in China's economic development, requiring a large number of high-precision, composite, intelligent, multi-axis controlled, and automated high-end machine tools. Many national key projects also trigger significant demand for machine tools.
- The pace of technological transformation in traditional industries is accelerating, with increasing requirements for manufacturing equipment levels and CNC rates.
- Military industries such as aviation and aerospace, to accelerate new product research and development and mass production capabilities, have annual scaled technical transformation investments and need to purchase large quantities of machine tools...
The potential market is indeed tempting, but enjoying it won't be easy.
Yu Chengting pointed out that the development of the machine tool industry hinges on CNC—success or failure depends on CNC. With the current development and production capacity of high-end CNC machine tools and complete line equipment in China, the variety, quality, and quantity cannot yet meet market needs. Taking the automobile industry and aerospace industry as examples, currently urgently needed high-end CNC machine tools include: high-speed machining centers, multi-axis联动 machining centers, dual-spindle turning centers and turning-milling centers, precision grinders and composite grinders, precision EDM machines, precision large-scale boring and milling machines, and precision floor-type boring and milling machines, high-efficiency CNC special-purpose machines, etc. Domestic enterprises cannot yet adequately meet these needs, and the industrialization level still needs improvement.
Focus on CNC to improve the level
Yu Chengting said that improving the overall level of China's machine tool industry is urgent. At present, particular attention should be paid to enhancing international cooperation based on quickly improving the autonomous development of CNC machine tools, thereby raising the supply level of high-end CNC machine tools and complete sets of equipment.
CNC technology integrates computer software and hardware technologies, network technology, and precision measurement. Currently, CNC technology is developing towards high speed, compositeness, intelligence, precision, and environmental protection. Yu Chengting believes that waiting solely for other countries to transfer the latest and most advanced technology and equipment will only lead to missed opportunities. It is necessary to rapidly improve the autonomous development and manufacturing capabilities of CNC machine tools. For this purpose, effective CNC technology development centers should be established to strengthen research and experimentation on key processes, forming comprehensive development capabilities; simultaneously, through cooperative production and joint ventures, achieving high starting points, mass production, and specialization of mainstream products.
To improve the quality of machine tools, a new type of machine tool enterprise development model must be established. Industry insiders believe that machine tool enterprises need to streamline operations, refine core businesses, and master the core technologies of critical components and key processes. General part processing can fully implement international procurement. Additionally, strategic alliances for enterprise development should be strengthened, and companies can directly collaborate with domestic and foreign research institutes to obtain the latest technology faster.
Compared to CNC machine tool hosts, the development of functional component manufacturers in China lags even further behind. However, functional components not only determine the overall performance of machine tools but also account for about 60% of the total cost of the machine tool. Their development status directly relates to the competitiveness of machine tools. Currently, China's functional component manufacturers are generally small in scale, scattered geographically, and some are still dependent on host factories or research institutes. Straightening out the system of functional component manufacturers and making them stronger and larger is now urgent.