Cultivate new kinetic energy and strengthen new industries. Under the background of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the industrial development of the Bay Area is accelerating the road of butterfly change. In December last year, Nandu Bay Finance Society took the lead in breaking the problem with "new industry", launched a deep investigation of new industries in the Bay Area, focusing on new technologies, new manufacturing and new industries, and launched a series of new economic reports to help the high-quality development of industries in the Greater Bay Area. Related reports are detailed in the special topic: In-depth Investigation of New Industries in the Bay Area
On August 24th, the Nandu Bay Area New Industry Research Group walked into Shenzhen Guanghua Weiye Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Guanghua Weiye") to investigate the new exploration and new development of biomaterials and 3D printing in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Founded in 2002, Guanghua Weiye is mainly engaged in the research and development, production and sales of environmentally friendly biomaterials and their application products, and is one of the earliest enterprises engaged in biomaterials in China.
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In 2022, Guanghua Weiye's wholly-owned subsidiary was selected as a "little giant" enterprise specialized in the new key by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and it is also the undertaking unit of the national strategic emerging industry new material project and the top ten enterprises of china's biodegradable materials. In the past 20 years, Guanghua Weiye has actively explored new applications in the field of 3D printing materials by virtue of its independent innovation of polylactic acid technology.
Luo Wei, secretary of the board of directors of Guanghua Weiye, introduced in the research forum that biodegradable materials and their products can meet the performance requirements and use requirements of traditional plastics, and can be degraded into environmentally friendly substances under certain conditions after use, which is a revolution in polymer materials. Polylactic acid (PLA) and polycaprolactone (PCL) are the two main types of biodegradable materials, which are expected to be deeply applied in many fields such as medical materials, industrial plastics, 3D printing, and ecological fibers, and are one of the national strategic development directions.
The current state of the industry
Biodegradable materials are one of the national strategic development directions
In March 2022, representatives of 175 countries reached an agreement at the United Nations Environment Assembly to end plastic pollution by the end of 2024, an agreement that is internationally legally binding. China and the European Union have upgraded the "plastic restriction order" to the "plastic ban order". As early as January 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the Opinions on Further Strengthening the Control of Plastic Pollution.
In the context of the global "legislative ban on plastics", the biodegradable materials market is about to explode. According to Shenwan Hongyuan research, by 2025, the demand for degradable plastics in mainland China will be about 4.11 million tons, of which the demand for polylactic acid will reach 2.08 million tons, and CAGR (22E-25E) is expected to reach 72.8%.
However, the core intermediate of domestic polylactic acid production ,"high optical purity propylide" is monopolized by overseas enterprises, forming a technical barrier to the expansion of polylactic acid production capacity of domestic enterprises, and the domestic propylene glycide production capacity gap is large. According to Wind data, from 1145.82 tons in 2007 to 25740.63 tons in 2020, the compound growth rate reached 27.05%.
At present, the epidemic has impacted the security of the global supply chain, the anti-globalization trend has begun to emerge, trade protectionism has continued to rise, which has further tested a country's independent innovation ability, and domestic substitution has also ushered in new opportunities. In recent years, the mainland has vigorously developed specialized new "little giant" enterprises, strategic emerging industries and future industries, which is an important measure to continuously strengthen the security and stability of the supply chain of the mainland manufacturing industry chain.
As a national-level specialized and special new "little giant" enterprise, Guanghua Weiye has achieved a technological breakthrough of independent innovation in the field of biodegradable materials. Luo Wei introduced that propylene is purified into the "card neck" link of the domestic polylactic acid industry, with high technical barriers, and the company has mastered the localization process and equipment technology. At the same time, the polylactic acid (PLA) chemical recovery technology mastered by Guanghua Weiye has solved the world problem of recycling and reuse of bio-based degradable materials, forming a "green circular" economy.
According to reports, Guanghua Weiye has applied for and authorized 79 patents, including 53 invention patents and 21 authorized invention patents; It is the leading drafting unit of polylactic acid 3D printing consumables and polycaprolactone two national standards and more than ten national and industry standards such as polylactic acid and biodegradable postal express packaging, and is currently leading the drafting of international standards for polylactic acid 3D printing consumables.
Luo Wei said that in the process of growing into a specialized new "little giant" enterprise, one is to insist on engaging in the biodegradable materials industry for nearly 20 years, without interference from the external environment, and persistence is the most critical; The second is differentiated positioning, continuously increasing research and development, R & D investment accounts for more than 10% of the revenue of independent products, and at the same time with relevant scientific research institutes to carry out open innovation exploration. The third is to build eSUN's own brand from the beginning, and the revenue of independent brands currently exceeds 50% of the overall revenue.
Market trends
"3D printing + thousands of industries" is expected to become a trillion-level market
In the process of research, Luo Wei recalled that in the early stage of development, the company also could not find downstream application scenarios. Later, on the basis of biodegradable materials, 3D printing was developed downwards. "3D printing is a support, can keep the company alive, is a good application direction."
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, is a manufacturing method based on a three-dimensional model, which uses a layer-by-layer superposition method that is completely opposite to the traditional subtractive manufacturing technology to directly manufacture a three-dimensional physical solid model that is completely consistent with the corresponding digital model.
3D printing is rapidly emerging in the manufacturing industry. According to Wohlers Associates.Inc., global sales of raw materials for additive manufacturing increased from $417 million in 2012 to $2.598 billion in 2021, representing a compound annual growth rate of 22.54%. According to the forecast of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, by 2025, the size of the mainland 3D printing market will exceed 63 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of more than 20% from 2021 to 2025.
National policies are also vigorously supporting 3D printing, encouraging qualified additive manufacturing companies to carry out direct financing through domestic and foreign listings. In the "14th Five-Year Plan" Intelligent Manufacturing Development Plan, it is clear that advanced technology technologies such as additive manufacturing are developed, and additive manufacturing is also included in key core technologies.
The categories and qualities of additive manufacturing materials determine the quality of additive manufacturing products and services. Luo Wei said that Guanghua Weiye is based on the synthesis and modification of biodegradable materials to expand low-cost and high value-added applications, and 3D printing materials are the focus of the company's expansion, as well as biomedicine, ecological fibers and disposable degradable products.
In the industry's view, although the current market size of 3D printing is only tens of billions, the future "3D printing + thousands of lines and hundreds of industries" is expected to become a trillion-level market.
Luo Wei believes that Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area are very perfect in the electronic industry chain, 3D printing materials are inseparable from equipment, and 3D printing equipment has natural soil in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. "We will cooperate with 3D printing equipment manufacturers to develop solutions for different industries according to different application industries." If 3D printing can be combined with some applications in various industries, it can also solve some pain points of traditional manufacturing methods. ”
The research team offered advice
This time, the Nandu Bay Area New Industry Research Group walked into Guanghua Weiye, led by Li Ying, director of the Nandu Commercial Science and Technology News Department, Yu Bo, vice president and secretary general of the Shenzhen Intelligent Manufacturing Industry Promotion Association, Lu Liang, assistant to the president of the Shenzhen Galaxy Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Zhang Guoping, postdoctoral fellow in economics of the Innovation and Industrial Development Research Center of China (Shenzhen) Comprehensive Development Research Institute, Chen Rusong, postdoctoral researcher of the Shenzhen Venture Capital Innovation investment research institute, and other experts from all walks of life from all walks of life participated in the joint participation of experts from all walks of life to provide suggestions and suggestions for the development of enterprises and the progress of the industry.
- 3D printing also faces problems such as higher costs
Luo Wei pointed out in the research forum that the current 3D printing industry has completed the introduction period, and the company currently has more than 3,000 customers, which have entered the growth period. He said that in the dental, jewelry, design and other industries, the application of 3D printing has become very popular. However, 3D printing is still facing the problem of high cost, and there are still professional thresholds in the field of consumer and civilian use, and intelligent, fool-like 3D printers are needed to accelerate popularization.
Chen Rusong, a postdoctoral researcher at the Shenzhen Venture Capital Innovation investment research institute, also believes that the current 3D printing technology is still facing problems such as high cost, poor performance of printed finished products, and low production efficiency that need to be further solved in the future.
- Focus on regionalized, distributed manufacturing models
However, Chen Rusong analyzed that in the manufacturing field that emphasizes customization and personalization, such as the consumer-side personal handicraft industry, high-end equipment industry, advanced robot industry, aerospace and other fields, the traditional mold forming technology cannot rely on large-scale flattening of mold opening costs, high cost, processing difficulty, 3D printing technology in these areas shows greater advantages. "At the same time, in the current unpredictable external environment, regionalized and distributed manufacturing models may change the current global division of labor manufacturing pattern to a certain extent in the future, which also brings new opportunities for 3D printing in the manufacturing field."
- Strengthen the emphasis on the upstream and downstream industrial chain of materials
At the end of the survey, Luo Wei said that at present, Shenzhen is also facing the problem of industrial transfer and insufficient industrial space, and material research and development especially needs specialized parks to deal with experimental emissions in a unified manner, hoping that Shenzhen will strengthen its attention to the upstream and downstream industrial chains of materials.
Planner: Wang Ying
Coordinator: Li Ying
Written by: Cheng Yang, reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Agency
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