Looking back at 2021, under the influence of many unfavorable factors such as chip shortages, high raw material prices and repeated epidemics, the mainland automobile industry has been in a difficult position, not only ranking first in the world for 13 consecutive years with the total production and sales of 26.082 million units and 26.275 million units; but also ending the situation of three consecutive years of decline in production and sales since 2018 with a year-on-year growth rate of 3.4% and 3.8%; passenger cars, In particular, new energy passenger cars are an important position to promote the overall production and sales of automobiles in mainland China in 2021.
It should be known that sales volume is not simply the presentation of terminal data, but also comes from the earth-shaking changes in the industrial chain. In the production and manufacturing process of automotive products, from the body, wheel hub, chassis, to the bumper, pedal, luggage rack, these parts from the blank processing to the assembly of the vehicle need to use various types of processing technology and equipment. Based on the gradual deepening of the requirements for automobile lightweighting at this stage, related equipment manufacturers have also ushered in new development opportunities.
Mr. Zhang Tao, Deputy General Manager of Yizumi and General Manager of Injection Molding Machine Division; Image source: Yizumi
"Global sales of our injection molding machine products for the full year of 2021 increased by about 30% year-on-year, the best year in history, largely due to the rapid growth of the new energy vehicle market. Based on this, the performance revenue generated by the automotive business has increased to 18%-20% of the company's total revenue. Mr. Zhang Tao, Deputy General Manager of Guangdong Yizumi Precision Machinery Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Yizumi) and General Manager of injection molding machine division, stressed, "Based on the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market in the future, the development of the injection molding machine industry will be more worth looking forward to." ”
The era of plasticized cars is coming, but opportunities are never left to those who are prepared
At present, under the "3060" double carbon target, low-carbon development has become the core issue of the entire automotive industry, and car companies and parts companies are trying to reduce body weight to reduce fuel consumption without affecting performance and safety. Especially since the outbreak of the new energy vehicle market, major new energy vehicle manufacturers have tried their best to increase the mileage, and automobile lightweight is one of the important means to increase the mileage.
According to the survey results of the Chinese passenger car sample survey, for every 10% reduction in the weight of passenger cars, fuel consumption can be reduced by 7.5%-9%; for every 10% reduction in the weight of electric vehicles, the cruising range will increase by 5.5%. Based on this trend, the "New Energy Vehicle Industry Development Plan (2021-2035)" and the "Energy-saving and New Energy Vehicle Technology Roadmap 2.0" all put forward clear development planning requirements for mainland automobile lightweighting.
Among them, plastics with light weight, high strength, good toughness, easy processing, reusability, etc., are considered by many experts to be one of the most ideal alternative materials for automobile lightweighting and environmental protection, and future automotive materials are being transformed from metal to plastic, and a plasticized automobile era is coming. For small electric vehicles, the combination of small light metal three-dimensional frame body structure and non-metallic material coverings will be the future direction of technological development.
As the largest and most used plastic injection molding machine (hereinafter collectively referred to as injection molding machine) in plastic processing machinery at this stage, it is ushering in new development opportunities with the boom of energy conservation and emission reduction and new energy vehicles.
Taking Yizumi, a leading enterprise in the mainland molding equipment industry, as an example, its main business is the design, development, production, sales and service of injection molding machines, die casting machines, rubber machines, high-speed packaging systems and molds, and robot automation systems. Over the past year, Yizumi's operating income is expected to reach approximately RMB3.53 billion, up approximately 29.7% year-on-year, and net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies is expected to be RMB509 million to RMB532 million, up 62.0% to 69.3% year-on-year.
As Mr. Zhang Tao explained above, such a brilliant performance is largely due to the rapid development of the new energy vehicle market, but he does not think that this is a simple "trend".
He pointed out that in the context of carbon neutrality, the use of cleaner energy and reduced energy consumption will be the future trend of automobiles, and the corresponding new energy, lightweight parts and components and the application of environmentally friendly degradable materials will also increase. But at the same time, for the plastic machinery industry, there is also a need for more energy saving, higher yield and the need to produce more efficient products, while also paying attention to the molding process technology of environmentally friendly and degradable materials. This means that in order to keep up with the development of the times, upstream material equipment manufacturers must be one step ahead.
Based on this understanding, for many years, for the automotive industry, in the product side layout and development of horizontal turntable multi-material injection molding machine, vertical turntable thru-injection molding machine, lamp special machine and other products; new technologies and new processes, the development of PU injection molding process, physical foaming and chemical foaming and other lightweight technologies, long glass fiber online compounding enhancement technology.
Yizumi new process and new technology customized solution application; image source: Yizumi
In addition, Yizumi has increased the development of all-electric injection molding machines and oil-electric composite injection molding machines, and as of now, the product specifications of all-electric injection molding machines have been extended to 1380 tons; DCIM systems for in-line blending and injection and solutions for the molding of degradable materials are now in use to better meet the needs of customers in the automotive industry.
"These products and technologies match the needs of the automotive industry to a high degree, so when new energy vehicles grow significantly, Yizumi's products and technologies can quickly meet the needs of customers and achieve higher growth rates." Mr. Zhang Tao introduced.
Also stemming from the deep understanding and technical reserves of the development of the automotive industry demand, Yizumi has carried out in-depth cooperation with BYD, Rötherling and other domestic and foreign car companies, high-end parts manufacturers, and in the future, with the introduction of further new processes and overall solutions, Yizumi is expected to replace imported equipment manufacturers, enter the automobile high-end user manufacturing chain, and become the best cost-effective solution provider.
Accelerate the pace of R&D layout to promote development, and aim to compete with international leading enterprises
"I think the era of injection molding machines being monopolized by foreign companies is over." When asked about the development status of China's injection molding machine industry, Mr. Zhang Tao said so bluntly.
Be aware that injection molding machines are used in the automotive industry to manufacture complex and critical parts, including interior and exterior decorative components, electrical and electronic components, and application components under the bonnet. At the same time, a series of development dilemmas such as the late development of the mainland manufacturing industry, the hollowing out of technology and the lack of talent reserves are not only affected by the automobile industry, but also injection molding machines.
However, it is worth affirming that after years of rapid development, the mainland has become the world's largest injection molding machine market and production base, and the mainland injection molding machine import and export trade has maintained a surplus for many years. And according to GrandViewResearch data, the global injection molding machine market size will reach 22.323 billion US dollars in 2025, with a compound growth rate of 4.7%, of which China has about 3.71 billion US dollars, Germany has about 2.23 billion US dollars, and China will account for 16.6% of the global market share. The above confirms a conclusion that the era of China's injection molding machine is coming.
In this context, narrowing the gap with international advanced technology as much as possible and being able to jump from industry followers to leaders can be the ultimate goal of every player in the industry.
At present, in the global market, the leading competitors in the injection molding machine industry in Europe and Japan, European companies in the performance stability of the machine, new process applications, intelligent technology and other aspects to maintain a leading position, the advantages of Japanese enterprises are concentrated in the field of all-electric injection molding machines, the market share is relatively high, the product line is rich. "From the perspective of the gap between injection molding machine products and foreign high-end brands, it mainly lies in the application technology of new processes, the reliability technology of machines, and intelligent technology." Mr. Zhang Tao analyzed and pointed out.
In order to break this status quo and further strengthen its competitiveness, "At present, Yizumi's annual R&D investment accounts for about 3%-5% of revenue, and it will continue to increase R&D investment in the future to develop leading products and new technologies and new processes, and continue to enhance the industry competitiveness of our product technologies and solutions." Mr. Zhang Tao said, "Through the construction of a global innovation center, we connect Chinese and European technologies, integrate innovation resources, accelerate the development and application of new technologies and new processes, and better meet the needs of our customers for technological progress." ”
Yizumi independently developed and manufactured 8500 tons of ultra-large high-precision injection molding machine; image source: Yizumi
At the same time, he further revealed that the 8500-ton ultra-large high-precision injection molding machine independently developed and manufactured by Yizumi has been installed. This super-large injection molding machine not only creates the largest in China in the tonnage of the machine, but also adopts advanced technologies such as precision micro-opening control technology, twin screw synchronous plasticization and injection technology, injection compression control technology, etc., to meet the molding process requirements of customer products, thus providing a lot of possibilities for expanding the application field of the company's large-scale injection molding parts, and many new application scenarios in the fields of automobile (truck) high-speed rail, ships, aviation, municipal building materials and other fields can be developed.
"Through the development of this machine, we have achieved the leading position of the super-large injection molding machine in the same industry in the world, leading the technological development in the field of super-large injection molding." Mr. Zhang Tao said.
Facing the future, Yizumi will also carry out a series of sub-topics around intelligent injection molding, mainly including the intelligent technology of injection molding machine products themselves and the intelligent management system of the injection molding industry. For example, injection weight intelligent control, clamping force intelligent control, key component failure early warning technology, and intelligent process optimization system, etc., the application of these technologies will improve the level of intelligent manufacturing of downstream customers, reduce the use of equipment and process settings and optimization of the operation requirements, to solve the customer's pain points and difficulties.
In order to cope with the high demand in the terminal market, Yizumi injection molding machine is further improving the capacity utilization rate of the existing four major production bases of Shunde Wusha First Factory, Shunde Wusha Second Factory, Suzhou Wujiang Factory and India Factory, ensuring that the annual output of each production base exceeds 1,000 sets, and it is currently accelerating the construction of Shunde Wusha Third Factory and a new factory in Gujarat, India, which is expected to be put into use as soon as the middle of this year. After the full production is completed, the annual production capacity of Yizumi global injection molding machine will be increased by 1000-1500 sets/month, so as to meet the company's sales growth needs in the next three to five years.
In addition, Yizumi has set up overseas subsidiaries and sales and service agencies in more than 30 countries around the world, and can provide our products and technical services to customers around the world. At present, overseas sales have maintained rapid growth, and the proportion of revenue is about 25%. "Next, I believe that the growth rate of overseas market development will be faster than that of the domestic market, and it is expected that the proportion of overseas revenue will further increase to 30% in the future."
"The good news is that our fastest growing markets in the past one or two years include not only the traditional developing country market, but also the High-end Market in Europe such as Germany and Italy, indicating that the comprehensive competitiveness of our products is rapidly improving." Mr. Zhang Tao said, "Yizumi currently ranks second in the domestic industry ranking released by the China Plastics Machinery Industry Association, and our goal is to become a world-class enterprise in the field of injection molding equipment in the next five to ten years, competing with the world's leading counterparts. ”